Scan barcode
A review by piccoline
The Jewish Gospels by Daniel Boyarin
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.]