The Sage From Galilee

Introduction by James H. Charlesworth This new edition of David Flusser's classic study of the historical Jesus, revised and updated by his student and colleague R. Steven Notley, will be welcomed everywhere by students and scholars of early Christianity and Judaism. Reflecting Flusser's mastery of ancient literary sources and modern archaeological discoveries, The Sage from Galilee offers a fresh, informed biographical portrait of Jesus in the context of Jewish faith and life in his day. Including a chronological table (330 BC - AD 70), and twenty-eight illustrations, The Sage from Galilee is the culmination of nearly six decades of study by one of the world's foremost Jewish authorities on the New Testament and early Christianity. Both Jewish and Christian readers will find challenge and new understanding in these pages.

This second edition of Jesus and the Gospels prepares readers for an intensive study of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the events they narrate. Craig Blomberg considers the historical context of the Gospels and sheds light on the confusing interpretations brought forth over the last two centuries. The original 1997 book won a Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and this updated version, factoring in new scholarship, debate, critical methods, and the ongoing quest of the historical Jesus, ensures the work will remain a top tool for exploring the life of Christ through the first four books of the New Testament.

Translated by Azzan Yadin Foreword by David Bivin David Flusser was a very prolific scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and his contributions to Scrolls research, apocalypticism, and apocalyptic literature are inestimable. With this English translation of many of his essays, Flusser's insights are now available to a wider audience than ever before. Here Flusser examines the influence of apocalypticism on various Jewish sects. He states that the teachings of Jesus, while reflecting first and foremost the views of the sages, were also influenced by Jewish apocalypticism. Examining the Essenes, their effect on Hebrew language, the split of sects, and much more, Flusser's collected essays offer an important source of study for any Dead Sea Scrolls scholar.

Essential reading for anyone interested in the historical Jesus debate, this volume offers a comprehensive and balanced account of research into the person of Jesus.

James H. Charlesworth begins from a burgeoning point of scholarly consensus: More and more scholars are coming to recognize that the Fourth Gospel is more historically complex than previously thought. Charlesworth outlines two historical horizons within John. On the one hand, there is the Jewish background to the text (complete with the evangelist's knowledge of Palestinian geography and Jewish customs) which Charlesworth perceives as offering a window into pre-70 Palestinian Judaism. On the other hand, the gospel also reflects a post-70 world in which non-believing Jews, with more unity, begin to part definitely with those who identified Jesus as the Messiah. Split into four sections, this volume first examines the origins of the Fourth Gospel, its evolution in several editions, and its setting in Judea and Galilee. Charlesworth then looks specifically at the figure of Jesus and issues of history. He proceeds to consider this Gospel alongside earlier and contemporaneous Jewish literature, most notably the Dead Sea Scrolls. Finally, the volume engages with John's symbolism and language, looking closely at key aspects in which John differs from the Synoptic Gospels, and raising such provocative questions as whether or not it is possible that Jesus married Mary Magdalene. From one of the New Testament's most noted scholars, this book allows deeper understanding of the ways in which the Gospel of John is a vital resource for understanding both the origin of Christianity and Jesus' position in history.

Not since David Strauss' Life of Jesus shook European Christianity to its foundations in the nineteenth century has any scholarly discussion of the historical Jesus made the impact on a popular level that the Jesus Seminar is presently making in America. Popular magazines have provided a remarkable amount of space for the Jesus Seminar, including Time and Newsweek which made their work cover stories. At the forefront of the movement lies the work of John Dominic Crossan and Burton L. Mack, who have popularized the Jesus as Cynic sage view. The growing popularity of this new paradigm should be of significant concern for all who hold to the historic Christian faith. To date, however, no thorough evangelical response has been provided to these revisionist views of the historical Jesus. This book is written to fill this void. It provides a serious critique of the Cynic thesis, accessible to laypeople and of interest to thoughtful observers. With interest in the quest for the historical Jesus continuing anew, Boyd's Cynic Sage or Son of God? provides an orthodox defense of the biblical Jesus.