| According to the Scriptures: The Origins of the Gospel and of the Church's Old Testament Contributor(s): Van Buren, Paul (Author) |
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ISBN: 0802845355 ISBN-13: 9780802845351 Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company OUR PRICE: $17.55 Product Type: Paperback Published: October 1998 Annotation: The final statement of Paul van Buren's noted career, According to the Scriptures explores the origins of the Christian gospel in Israel's scriptures and calls for a reevaluation of the Old Testament and its role in today's church. By defending the view that Jesus' disciples discovered in the Jewish scriptures and traditions the words and images for interpreting the events of Good Friday and Easter, van Buren offers hope that Jews and Christians can be drawn closer through mutual respect for each other's traditions. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Biblical Criticism & Interpretation - General |
| Dewey: 220.67 |
| LCCN: 98028327 |
| Physical Information: 0.41" H x 6.3" W x 9.02" (0.54 lbs) 158 pages |
| Themes: - Theometrics - Academic - Religious Orientation - Christian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book calls for a reevaluation of the Old Testament and its role in the Church. It is written out of the conviction that the church needs to claim the Old Testament as its own but also to grant the legitimacy of the Jewish claim on Israel's sacred Scriptures. The author is concerned to debunk several ideas, including the popular notions that Paul was the real inventor of Christianity; that a great gulf exists between the Old Testament and the New Testament; that the early Christians used the Old Testament to prove their already established belief in Jesus; and that Christianity is less credible or valuable if it is seen to depend on Jewish traditions. Van Buren's starting point is an exploration of the meaning and origin of the early Christian confession, "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures"-particularly the last part of the confession. Van Buren argues that the wording of this early, pre-Pauline gospel confession was the result of a creative application of early Jewish interpretations of scripture, especially of the Binding of Isaac story in Genesis 22. Christians need to affirm the legitimacy of their understanding Christ in light of the Old Testament, argues van Buren, but they also need to grant the legitimacy of the Jewish reading of scripture. The interpretive traditions of both religious communities-Judaism and Christianity-need to be respected. Clearly and elegantly written, this book represents a sensitive ecumenical effort at fostering Jewish-Christian dialogue: a book that both Jews and Christians can read with profit. |