Jesus and Judaism

Year 1985
Type Book
Genre biblical studies
Tradition Protestant
Original language English

For For readers ready for a scholarly historical study of Jesus in his Jewish setting; detailed and argued for specialists, not a devotional or a short introduction.

Should I read this?

For the general reader: 2 of 5 worth a look
For the researcher: 5 of 5 essential
Difficulty: 4 of 5 hard

His 1985 historical study of Jesus as a Jewish prophet of Israel's restoration, built on the facts about him that are most secure. It won the Grawemeyer Award; long and scholarly.

How it proceeds

Philosophic 2 of 5
Scriptural 4 of 5
Experiential 0 of 5
Sociological 3 of 5
Historical 5 of 5

Independent intensities, 0–5 — what the work is made of, not how good it is.

Published by SCM Press and Fortress Press in 1985, this is Sanders's major study of the historical Jesus. Rather than starting from the sayings, he begins from facts about Jesus that he regards as nearly certain, among them his baptism by John, his calling of twelve disciples, his action in the Temple and his execution by the Romans, and he argues from these that Jesus was a prophet of the restoration of Israel who expected God soon to bring in a new order, including a new Temple. The book also argues that Jesus' conflicts with his contemporaries have been misread when Judaism is painted as legalistic. It won the Grawemeyer Award in Religion in 1990, and it is commonly counted among the defining works of the so-called third quest for the historical Jesus.

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Catalog IDW.6VBY35.1

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