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saxonnefragile's review against another edition
5.0
Dans ce court texte (dont je ne vais pas détailler les savantes interprétations), Daniel Boyarin souligne la porosité qui existe entre le christianisme des origines et le judaïsme antique.
Contre l'idée qui voudrait que Saint Paul est tracé une ligne de séparation radical entre judaïsme d'un côté et christianisme d'une part, Boyarin souligne que ce n'est pas avant le Concile de Constatinople donc pas avant le IVème siècle, que les judéo chrétiens sont clairement condamné par l'Eglise. En effet, dans l'Antiquité on ne différencie pas l'ethnie de la religion. D’où la place particulière du judaïsme de nos jours en tant que "ethno-religion" (faute d'un meilleur terme).
Jésus, selon Boyarin, ne cherchait pas à détruire de l'intérieur (la judéité de Jésus étant depuis longtemps admise) le judaïsme ni la Torah. Il cherchait à le réformer.
La "créativité de Jésus" s'explique uniquement dans le contexte du judaïsme palestinien.
Contre l'idée qui voudrait que Saint Paul est tracé une ligne de séparation radical entre judaïsme d'un côté et christianisme d'une part, Boyarin souligne que ce n'est pas avant le Concile de Constatinople donc pas avant le IVème siècle, que les judéo chrétiens sont clairement condamné par l'Eglise. En effet, dans l'Antiquité on ne différencie pas l'ethnie de la religion. D’où la place particulière du judaïsme de nos jours en tant que "ethno-religion" (faute d'un meilleur terme).
Jésus, selon Boyarin, ne cherchait pas à détruire de l'intérieur (la judéité de Jésus étant depuis longtemps admise) le judaïsme ni la Torah. Il cherchait à le réformer.
La "créativité de Jésus" s'explique uniquement dans le contexte du judaïsme palestinien.
horthhill's review
5.0
"Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ" by Daniel Boyarin was right up my alley. Ancient History and the very early days of Christianity are subjects I usually like to read. Boyarin's interpretation of select passages from Mark and elsewhere in the Gospels was new to me and he does provide compelling arguments for his interpretations. Well worth pondering.
anna_hepworth's review
I'm not finding this interesting enough to go on with. The historical details are presented well enough for someone with very sketchy knowledge of the time period, but I'm not familiar enough with either Judaism or Christianity to follow the discussions of faith.
erindarlyn's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
A thoroughly interesting and thought-provoking premise. I have been on a quest to learn more about first century Christianity and the connection it had with Judaism, and a lot of what the author had to say was both fascinating and compelling. I can see myself revisiting this one.
jmccyoung's review
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Daniel Boyarin is an remarkable scholar of the Bible and Talmud and this short and relatively easy book argues that Christianity not only began as a Jewish sect, it continued in that role until the early 4th century. He provides the background of Second Temple Judaism necessary to understand the New Testament in its historical and theological context. I took a detour to read this while partway through Paul's Three Paths to Salvation (https://www.eerdmans.com/Mobile/Products/3921/pauls-three-paths-to-salvation.aspx) and the timing was helpful because I was already aware of some of what Boyarin writes about.
rachael9109's review
5.0
This book was FASCINATING and really radical, as stated on the back cover of he book. Boyarin presents a whole new way of understanding how Christianity got its start and that what Christians believe is radical to Jews is not so radical after all. Highly recommend any Christian to read this.
piccoline's review
5.0
A vital read, at least if you consider yourself some form of Christian. Boyarin is a Talmud scholar, and this short book is packed with strong, well-researched insights. He is careful in his arguments, cites his sources, provides caveats, all while remaining very readable. His overarching point is that Jesus must be understood within his context. One hopes that this, at least, is not controversial.
What is truly great about this book, though, is that moving on from this, Boyarin not only fleshes out much of that context, he also provides re-framing of several New Testament passages that are otherwise (and have always been for me, all the way back) somewhat mystifying. This is what truly elevates this book. It's one thing to have a strong, bold re-framing. To then have that re-framing lock several problem passages into more explicable form? Excellent work.
[Edit to add: you can probably skip the Foreword. It's not bad, but it seems to be mostly there to convince Christians that it's okay to read a Talmud scholar. I hope that's not necessary. But if you're someone who does need such reassurance? Well, I guess it's there for you.]
What is truly great about this book, though, is that moving on from this, Boyarin not only fleshes out much of that context, he also provides re-framing of several New Testament passages that are otherwise (and have always been for me, all the way back) somewhat mystifying. This is what truly elevates this book. It's one thing to have a strong, bold re-framing. To then have that re-framing lock several problem passages into more explicable form? Excellent work.
[Edit to add: you can probably skip the Foreword. It's not bad, but it seems to be mostly there to convince Christians that it's okay to read a Talmud scholar. I hope that's not necessary. But if you're someone who does need such reassurance? Well, I guess it's there for you.]
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