Since Pope Benedict’s second volume of Jesus of Nazareth was released to the public March 10, the Register has run several stories on the subject. Mark Brumley’s column “Jesus for Jews?” on page 7 is the latest.

Brumley tackles the latest confusion sown in the mainstream media that seeks to divide Christians and Jews over Jesus’ role. He appropriately delineates the Holy Father’s continued efforts to heal the relationship between the Church and the Jews, while at the same time casting a clear light on the Church’s evangelical mission.

One thing is clear: Pope Benedict’s work in this area is compelling even to those outside of the Catholic Church. Protestant scholar Craig Evans of Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia called the book “a remarkable achievement. … It’s the best book I’ve read on Jesus in years. This is a book that I think all Christians should read, be they Protestant or Catholic.”

Rabbi Jacob Neusner, distinguished research professor of religion and theology at Bard College in New York, said the Pope aimed to unify theology and critical history in response to the failure of critical scholarship during the last century: “He has accomplished something that no one else has achieved in the modern study of Scripture.”

We couldn’t agree more.