012
Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes
John Shelby Spong
(San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) 361 pp., $24
In his latest challenge to traditional Christian doctrine, Spong, the Episcopal bishop of Newark, argues that in separating the Gospels from their Jewish roots, Christians have formed a skewed understanding of his message. Unlike much of Christianity, which assumes that the Gospels are an accurate description of literal events, the Gospel authors were Jews writing within the midrashic tradition and intended their stories to be read as interpretive narratives, not historical accounts, Spong writes. Among his provocative conclusions: Judas was a fictional character invented to transfer the blame for Jesus’ death from the Romans onto the Jews.
The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy
Commentary by Jeffrey H. Tigay
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996) 548 pp., $60
Tigay, of the University of Pennsylvania, merges traditional Jewish scholarship with contemporary research from archaeology, biblical history, Semitic languages and the religion of Israel in the final volume of the JPS Commentary series. He divides Deuteronomy into five major sections, each preceded by a synopsis and notes on major themes and structure. The format is traditional, with passages of the Hebrew text and the new JPS English translation arranged according to the weekly synagogue Torah readings and followed by commentaries on the passage. The volume also includes an introduction, a glossary, six maps, and excurses on 33 subjects ranging from the concept of war in Deuteronomy to Moses and monotheism.
Rembrandt: The Old Testament
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996) 143 pp., $29.99
This unique collection couples 68 reproductions of the 17th-century master’s works with the biblical passages that inspired them. Like many artists of his time, Rembrandt was drawn to Old Testament stories, especially those from Genesis, which were intimately familiar to him from his devout Calvinist upbringing. The art chosen for this volume, including oil paintings, pen-and-wash drawings, and black-and-white etchings, spans Rembrandt’s career and demonstrates the development of his talent. Excerpts from the lyrical New King James Version of the Bible accompany the works.
Heretics: The Other Side of Early Christianity
Gerd Lüdemann
(Louisville: John Knox, 1996) 335 pp., $24
According to Lüdemann, professor of New Testament and director of the Institute of Early Christian studies at the University of Göttingen, the “heretics” of the first two centuries of Christianity actually represent a more authentic Christianity than the one that has come down to us. Central to his argument is that the Christian faith and church existed prior to the writing of the New Testament. Lüdemann presents the Christian canon as the collection of the victors in an early Christian struggle for doctrinal authority and as designed to suppress the groups that they had overcome.
Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes
