The Jewish Gospels

The Story of the Jewish Christ

By: Daniel Boyarin

Narrated by: Tom Parks

Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

In July 2008, a front-page story in the New York Times reported on the discovery of an ancient Hebrew tablet, dating from before the birth of Jesus, which predicted a messiah who would rise from the dead after three days. Commenting on this startling discovery at the time, noted Talmud scholar Daniel Boyarin argued that "some Christians will find it shocking-a challenge to the uniqueness of their theology".

Guiding us through a rich tapestry of new discoveries and ancient scriptures, The Jewish Gospels makes the powerful case that our conventional understandings of Jesus and of the origins of Christianity are wrong. In Boyarin's scrupulously detailed account, the coming of the messiah was fully imagined in the ancient Jewish texts. Jesus, moreover, was embraced by many Jews as this person, and his core teachings were not at all a break from Jewish beliefs and teachings. Jesus and his followers, Boyarin reveals, were simply Jewish. What came to be known as Christianity came much later, as religious and political leaders sought to impose a new religious orthodoxy that was not present at the time of Jesus's life.

In the vein of Elaine Pagels' The Gnostic Gospels, here is a brilliant new work that will break open some of our culture's most cherished assumptions.

©2012 Daniel Boyarin (P)2021 Tantor

Jewish features promote a Jewish reading!

Boyarin argues against the impulses of many New Testament scholars who overemphasize the influence of Greek culture on the Jewish writers of scripture and understand them from that perspective. Boyarin highlights Jewish features of the Gospels, like midrashic interpretation, Jesus' defense of dietary laws in light of scribal innovations, multiple attestation to the development of the divine Son of Man from Daniel 7:14-15 in 1 Enoch and 4 Ezra, and Talmudic witnesses to the identification of the suffering servant of Isaiah with the King Messiah.

The midrashic process.

I liked the evidence provided for the Jewish interpretation of the Gospels and the connections to Jewish thought in the first century.

Interesting but not helpful

If you are looking for scholarly support for they have Hebraic foundation of modern Christianity. This book can help with some of that. At the same time, it seems to try to discredit the divinity of Jesus.

loved it

cant wait to read more like it, will look at more later on, be back soon. by

Great

Great information from both sides of the faith I recommend to listen to this book.

Overall review

Did not agree with some of his comments either due to the confusing way he described things vs the truths recorded from convergence of New and Old Testament. Man always seems to add one’s own interpretations which may mis-lead, so if one listens to this, consider the author’s opinion that is opinion based on his own interpretation.