Amazon listing
I read these reviews and it sounds like a good book to hunt up.
One of the reviews:
Quote:
In this remarkable volume -- unfortunately not now in print -- Pinchas Lapide, an Orthodox Jewish scholar of the New Testament, mounts a surprising argument that the resurrection of Jesus was a historical event.
Dr. Lapide, recognizing that Christianity stands or falls with the resurrection itself, regards Jesus the man as a Torah-faithful Jew "who wanted to bring the kingdom of heaven in harmony, concord, and peace." Noting that the resuscitation of the dead by God is, and has long been, a part of Jewish belief, he examines the New Testament accounts of the resurrection of Jesus and finds what he describes as a "Jewish faith experience" in full consonance with the historical teachings of Judaism.
He concludes as follows: "[A]s a faithful Jew, I cannot explain a historical development which, despite many errors and much confusion, has carried the central message of Israel into the world of the nations, as the result of blind happenstance, or human error, or a materialistic determinism . . . . [T]he Easter faith has to be recognized as a part of divine providence."
He does not regard resurrection as literally "miraculous," if that word denotes an arbitrary suspension of cause and effect. But he does not see why a resurrection is any more "miraculous" than a birth -- in which, after all, dead matter in some way springs to life as a person. If once, why not twice?
He also points out carefully that the resurrection does not make Jesus "the Messiah of Israel for Jewish people." Jesus, he insists (with textual support from two millennia of Jewish history, including Moses Maimonides), was/is a "paver of the way" for the Messiah, not (necessarily) the Messiah himself -- though Dr. Lapide has said elsewhere that if the Messiah comes and _does_ turn out to be Jesus, that will of course be fine with him.
All in all, this marvelous little book is thought-provoking in its own right, utterly remarkable as a sympathetic Jewish understanding of Christianity, and a tremendous contribution to Jewish-Christian dialogue that has not, to my knowledge, received the attention it deserves. I hope it comes back into print. In the meantime, anyone interested in its contents is advised to seek a used copy.
Dr. Lapide, recognizing that Christianity stands or falls with the resurrection itself, regards Jesus the man as a Torah-faithful Jew "who wanted to bring the kingdom of heaven in harmony, concord, and peace." Noting that the resuscitation of the dead by God is, and has long been, a part of Jewish belief, he examines the New Testament accounts of the resurrection of Jesus and finds what he describes as a "Jewish faith experience" in full consonance with the historical teachings of Judaism.
He concludes as follows: "[A]s a faithful Jew, I cannot explain a historical development which, despite many errors and much confusion, has carried the central message of Israel into the world of the nations, as the result of blind happenstance, or human error, or a materialistic determinism . . . . [T]he Easter faith has to be recognized as a part of divine providence."
He does not regard resurrection as literally "miraculous," if that word denotes an arbitrary suspension of cause and effect. But he does not see why a resurrection is any more "miraculous" than a birth -- in which, after all, dead matter in some way springs to life as a person. If once, why not twice?
He also points out carefully that the resurrection does not make Jesus "the Messiah of Israel for Jewish people." Jesus, he insists (with textual support from two millennia of Jewish history, including Moses Maimonides), was/is a "paver of the way" for the Messiah, not (necessarily) the Messiah himself -- though Dr. Lapide has said elsewhere that if the Messiah comes and _does_ turn out to be Jesus, that will of course be fine with him.
All in all, this marvelous little book is thought-provoking in its own right, utterly remarkable as a sympathetic Jewish understanding of Christianity, and a tremendous contribution to Jewish-Christian dialogue that has not, to my knowledge, received the attention it deserves. I hope it comes back into print. In the meantime, anyone interested in its contents is advised to seek a used copy.
It's amazing how people can almost believe.
