Imagine yourself transported two thousand years back in time to Galilee at the moment of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. After hearing it, would you abandon your religious beliefs and ideology to follow him, or would you hold on to your own beliefs and walk away? In "A Rabbi Talks with Jesus", Jacob Neusner considers just such a spiritual journey. Placing himself within the context of the Gospel of Matthew, Neusner imagines himself in a dialogue with Jesus of Nazareth and pays him the supreme Judaic gesture of respect: making a connection with him through an honest debate about the nature of God's One Truth. Neusner explains why the Sermon on the Mount would not have convinced him to follow Jesus and why, by the criterion of the Torah of Moses, he would have continued to follow the teachings of Moses. He explores the reasons Christians believe in Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven, while Jews continue to believe in the Torah of Moses and a kingdom of priests and holy people on earth. This revised and expanded edition, with a foreword by Donald Akenson, creates a thoughtful and accessible context for discussion of the most fundamental question of why Christians and Jews believe what they believe.
| Owner | Jesus |
|---|---|
| Index | 967 |
| Added Date | Jan 05, 2016 18:04:00 |
| Modified Date | Jul 18, 2022 19:23:18 |
| Retail Price | $ 9.00 |
|---|---|
| Value | $ 9.00 |
Review
"A tour de force and very, very moving." Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain "By far the most important book for the Jewish-Christian dialogue in the last decade. The absolute honesty, the precision of analysis, the union of respect for the other party with carefully grounded loyalty to one's own position characterize the book and make it a challenge especially to Christians, who will have to ponder the analysis of the contrast between Moses and Jesus." Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger "Neusner here makes a contribution to Jewish-Christian understanding that is as lively as it is unusual ... To listen in as he talks with Matthew's Jesus is to get a surer sense of the real issues on this important front of interreligious dialogue." Schubert M. Ogden, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University
This book does a nice job in its judeo-christian dialogue. I was raised Christian but now I am marrying a Jew and have decided to convert to have a single faith marriage.
To start with, this book is written for Christians (emphasis), not Jews per se, so it goes into some repetition to emphasize its distinctions between Jewish interpretations of the Torah vs. Jesus' intepretations. I like its candor and it is very respectful of the Christian viewpoint. Though the writing at times can be a bit "klunky", I read the book quickly in a two day period so it is not too theroetical and states its main points clearly. What is discusses includes: interpretation of the Sabbath; ritual purity vs ethics; God's (Moses/Scripture)thou and community message vs Jesus' I and you message; following the religious message vs. any conflict to commitment to parents, etc.
My only drawback to this book is that the Rabbi considers Judaism "the only way" not "a way", hence his rightness on his position again and again. Judaism (at least Reform) doesn't take this stance, and when looking at the chapter headings, I feared a hidden negative diatribe against Christianity. But not to worry! If anything, he goes over backwards trying not to offend Chrsitians, even at the cost of his fictional "dialogue" with Jesus (who wants to be accused of putting words in his mouth?)
Book gets five stars from me. It is clear that Judaism and Christianity are two distinct, ethical religions and there is nothing incomplete or inferior with Judaism. To bad religion historically has been used is such negative ways.
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