{"id":16030,"date":"2023-05-11T09:37:22","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T15:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=16030"},"modified":"2023-05-11T09:37:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T15:37:22","slug":"jesus-the-man-and-the-myth-a-jewish-reading-of-the-new-testament-by-frederic-seager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=16030","title":{"rendered":"Jesus, the Man and the Myth: A Jewish Reading of the New Testament by Frederic Seager"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thorough, extensive, and well-researched\u2026 A stunning work of history.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seager, a retired professor of history from the University of Montreal, makes some profound observations about Jesus and the New Testament, awareness of which he believes is a must for the masses, particularly contemporary Jews, who are generally unfamiliar with the politics of Jesus\u2019s day. For example, Jesus misrepresented the Hebrew Scriptures, giving Judaism a bad name (his claim “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” encourages vengeance of reprisal. There is absolutely nothing in Judaism about hating one\u2019s enemy: \u201cIf your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink.\u201d \u2014  Old Testament prophesy edition). He further states that the Jesus story puts the Jews and Judaism in a bad light, which not only kindles anti-Semitic sentiments but also presents Jews as ignorant souls who rejected \u201cthe greatest man who ever lived.\u201d. He vigorously defends Judaism against its numerous detractors, rejecting several widespread myths about Jesus in the process (women were given superior positions during Jesus; the commandment to love one\u2019s neighbour and several others originated with Jesus). Seager also takes on Jewish academics who try to present both Jesus and The New Testament as a whole in the most favorable light possible. Ignoring Jesus\u2019s call for violence (\u201cDo not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.\u201d), his attitude toward Gentiles which ranged from calculated indifference to undisguised contempt (\u201cGo nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u201d), and other delinquencies (derogatory remarks about Jews, such as calling them sons of the devil), they either ignore it or offer convoluted theories as a justification. He criticizes rabbis who embrace Jesus as one of their own. Their sole purpose, he states, is to improve relations with Christians, hoping \u201cthat Jesus can become a \u201cbridge\u201d between Jews and Christians (\u201cThe cleansing of the Temple\u201d incident supposedly inspired Hitler to order genocide of the Jews.). Rejecting the approach, the author states that the above attempt on their part may in time help reduce anti-Judaism among Christian theologians. But hoping that \u201cit will affect the growing number of atheists whose views on Jesus and Judaism are derived from Christianity,\u201d is expecting too much. Instead, it can encourage Jewish alienation, if nothing else. Arguing that Christianity interprets the Hebrew Scriptures in a way totally inconsistent with Jewish tradition, Seager says that merely writing books explaining how to refute the time-worn claims about Jesus will not solve the problem. A lot more needs to be done: \u201cfirst, a coherent analysis of the Nazarene\u2019s ministry and his compatriots\u2019 reaction to it; second, an explanation of his moral teachings and their relevance, if any, for the problems of our own day.\u201d To achieve that one needs to read the New Testament, and especially the Gospels. And though both the narratives are full of inconsistencies, these still provide a key to understanding why Jesus\u2019s mission among his fellow Jews, despite some initial successes, eventually failed. To many devoted Christian readers, some of the arguments may seem convoluted. However, Seager\u2019s questions and observations about Jesus and the New Testament are thought-provoking and wholly convincing. The biographical essay and end notes provide useful context. This well researched, powerful, and provocative guide on Christianity from a Jewish perspective is a must-read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus, the Man and the Myth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Jewish Reading of the New Testament <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frederic Seager<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pub date April 13, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISBN 979-8736148233<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price $6.10 (USD) Paperback, $0.00 Kindle Unlimited<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thorough, extensive, and well-researched\u2026 A stunning work of history. Seager, a retired professor of history from the University of Montreal, makes some profound observations about Jesus and the New Testament, awareness of which he believes is a must for the masses, particularly contemporary Jews, who are generally unfamiliar with the politics of Jesus\u2019s day. For example, Jesus misrepresented the Hebrew Scriptures, giving Judaism a bad name (his claim “an eye for an eye and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145610851,"featured_media":16031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[],"tags":[7223,91,3328,178,723769865,1136176,723769873,723769872,3748,1473,1008073,856121,309,349],"class_list":["post-16030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-author","tag-blogging","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-history","tag-indie-books","tag-jewish-history","tag-judaism","tag-non-fiction","tag-reading","tag-review-blog","tag-review-website","tag-reviews","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/jesus.jpg?fit=333%2C499&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pajKJn-4ay","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/145610851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16030"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16034,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16030\/revisions\/16034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}