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Title: The Religion of Jesus the Jew by Geza Vermes ISBN: 0-8006-2797-0 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: January, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Quest for the Historical Jesus Continues!
Comment: Vermes (Oxford) continues his reevaluation of the "historic" Jesus and his message, a concern previously addressed in Jesus the Jew (1973), The Gospel of Jesus the Jew (1981), and Jesus and the World of Judaism (1983). His purpose is to recapture the Jesus of history prior to, and independent of, his becoming the Christ and Lord of Christianity. This not unfamiliar line of approach separates the "real" Jewish Jesus from the post-Crucifixion theological interpretation of his life provided by Paul, John, and later Church teachers. For Vermes, Jesus was "a popular teacher, healer and exorcist, who fits perfectly into the first-century Galilee. He represents the charismatic Judaism of wonder-working holy men." In defense of this reading Vermes provides an interesting analysis of such basic issues as "Jesus and the Law," "Jesus the Teacher," "Proverbs and Parables," "Jesus and the Kingdom of God," "'Abba, Father': the God of Jesus," and "Jesus the Religious Man." He concludes for Jesus's humanity against traditional Christian dogma and belief as to his divinity. Whether one accepts Vermes's position will depend as much on one's own theological presuppositions as on the force of his argument, if not more. Recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: Jesus is a Jew
Comment: Vermes as always is easily understandable and enjoyably readable for anyone with an interest in the bridge between Christianity and Judaism. He is exquisitely accurate in illuminating Jesus' Jewishness. He is even-handed, respectful of Christian ideals, but opens fresh vistas on the Messiah, Prophet and first Christian. Vernes' Jesus is masterfully portrayed in the warm light of his Hebrew nationality and religion and his innovative ideas about God. Vermes lovingly reveals his evidence concerning the religio-historical niche for the man most Christians believe to be God incarnate and who unbiased others believe to be a Prophet who greatly influenced Jews, Muslims, Christians and others for nearly 2000 years.
If you want to know more about Jesus the Jew, his time and place in history as observed by his people, then and now, read this thoroughly enjoyable book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Know Torah, know Jesus; no Torah, no Jesus
Comment: This fine twenty-years-after sequel to Geza Vermes's _Jesus the Jew_ is actually the third book of a series: the second -- _Jesus and the World of Judaism_ -- is not currently in print as of this writing.
That's too bad, but the present volume is entirely readable on its own terms; in fact, strictly speaking, you don't _have_ to have read _Jesus the Jew_ first either, though it's recommended that you do so.
Here Vermes is continuing his attempt to reclaim Jesus as a faithful Jew and indeed a charismatic Galilean hasid. This volume provides a more in-depth look at Jesus's own teachings and religious practices than did _Jesus the Jew_, and illustrates well that nothing Jesus said or did involved either any departure from Judaism or any attempt to found a new religion separate from Judaism. A fine closing chapter suggests that Christianity might profit by moving closer to the religion _of_ Jesus and abandoning a good deal of the religion _about_ him.
On the minus side, a few of Vermes's conclusions are puzzling and probably wrong. For example, he is the only "Jesus scholar" I know of who rejects the parable of the Good Samaritan as "probably inauthentic." Moreover, in a brief reply to critics who charged that he had provided no account of why Jesus would have been crucified, he argues that Jesus was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time -- a reply which I find altogether unconvincing and which seems to me to point up some of the weaknesses in Vermes's account.
Nevertheless Vermes has pretty much led the way for modern Jews and Christians alike to recognize Jesus as a Jew of his own time. As I said, I'd recommend reading _Jesus the Jew_ first, but if you like Vermes, come back to this one.
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Title: Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels by Geza Vermes ISBN: 0800614437 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The Changing Faces of Jesus by Geza Vermes ISBN: 0142196029 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: March, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Jesus in His Jewish Context by Geza Vermes ISBN: 0800636236 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: Jesus and Judaism by E. P. Sanders ISBN: 0800620615 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: May, 1987 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Historical Figure of Jesus by E. P. Sanders ISBN: 0140144994 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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