| Saint Saul: A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus Contributor(s): Akenson, Donald (Author), Akenson, Donald Harman (Author), Akenson, Don (Author) |
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ISBN: 0773520902 ISBN-13: 9780773520905 Publisher: Carleton University Press OUR PRICE: $104.50 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2000 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Biblical Biography - New Testament |
| Dewey: 232.908 |
| Physical Information: 352 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In this follow-up to his acclaimed Surpassing Wonder, Akenson recreates the world of Christ, a time rich with ideas, prophets, factions, priests, savants, and god-drunk fanatics. Saint Saul sheds light on Yeshua's birth and his relationship to his family, clarifies Yeshua's views on issues such as divorce and resurrection, and examines his sense of himself as Messiah. Throughout Saint Saul Akenson insistently stresses the Jewishness of Yeshua. He dismisses the traditional way of searching for facts about him by looking for parallels among the four gospels, arguing that the gospels were handed down as a unit by a later generation. In contrast Saul, although he did not know Yeshua personally, knew his most important followers and wrote immediately after his death. Saul's teachings were approved, though sometimes reluctantly, by Yeshua's brothers and other early leaders. Akenson sifts and probes the evidence for and against the historical status of Saul and Yeshua, a mystery as fascinating as a good detective story and one where readers must come to their own conclusions about the circumstances and texts that gave rise to two great world-faiths, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. |