The first two volumes of John Meier's monumental series, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, attracted the attention of The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, Christianity Today, and Commonweal, and are among the most popular and bestselling books in the Anchor Bible Reference Library. Employing the same meticulous scholarship and critical approach, John Meier continues his quest for authentic answers to questions about the historical Jesus in Volume III: Companions and Competitors.Meier widens the spotlight from Jesus himself to encompass both his followers and such rival groups as the Pharisees and the Zealots. He shows that contrary to the popular image of Jesus as an egalitarian leader indifferent to structure, Jesus shaped his ministry with great care and consciously competed against rival religious and political movements.

Focusing on the Jewish nature of Jesus, Meier provides an important corrective to recent portraits that present Jesus in the sometimes dubious setting of Greco-Roman culture and clarifies Jesus' vision of preserving the identity of Israel and fulfilling its destiny. Like the previous books in the series, it will spark much discussion among scholars and general readers alike.