Fr. 52.70

Jesus in the Talmud

English · Paperback / Softback

Shipping usually within 3 to 5 weeks (title will be specially ordered)

Description

Read more

Scattered throughout the Talmud, the founding document of rabbinic Judaism in late antiquity, can be found quite a few references to Jesus--and they're not flattering. In this lucid, richly detailed, and accessible book, Peter Schafer examines how the rabbis of the Talmud read, understood, and used the New Testament Jesus narrative to assert, ultimately, Judaism's superiority over Christianity. The Talmudic stories make fun of Jesus' birth from a virgin, fervently contest his claim to be the Messiah and Son of God, and maintain that he was rightfully executed as a blasphemer and idolater. They subvert the Christian idea of Jesus' resurrection and insist he got the punishment he deserved in hell--and that a similar fate awaits his followers. Schafer contends that these stories betray a remarkable familiarity with the Gospels--especially Matthew and John--and represent a deliberate and sophisticated anti-Christian polemic that parodies the New Testament narratives.He carefully distinguishes between Babylonian and Palestinian sources, arguing that the rabbis' proud and self-confident countermessage to that of the evangelists was possible only in the unique historical setting of Persian Babylonia, in a Jewish community that lived in relative freedom. The same could not be said of Roman and Byzantine Palestine, where the Christians aggressively consolidated their political power and the Jews therefore suffered. A departure from past scholarship, which has played down the stories as unreliable distortions of the historical Jesus, Jesus in the Talmud posits a much more deliberate agenda behind these narratives.

About the author










Peter Schäfer

Product details

Authors Peter Schafer, Peter Schäfer
Publisher Princeton University Press
 
Languages English
Product format Paperback / Softback
Released 13.09.2009
 
EAN 9780691143187
ISBN 978-0-691-14318-7
No. of pages 210
Dimensions 156 mm x 234 mm x 15 mm
Series Princeton University Press
Subjects Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Christianity

RELIGION / Christianity / General, RELIGION / Judaism / Talmud, Christianity, Religious issues & debates, The historical Jesus, Religious issues and debates, Judaism: sacred texts and revered writings, Judaism: Sacred Texts

Customer reviews

No reviews have been written for this item yet. Write the first review and be helpful to other users when they decide on a purchase.

Write a review

Thumbs up or thumbs down? Write your own review.

For messages to CeDe.ch please use the contact form.

The input fields marked * are obligatory

By submitting this form you agree to our data privacy statement.