Since the late nineteenth century, New Testament scholars have operated on the belief that most, if not all, of the narrative parables in the Synoptic Gospels can be attributed to the historical Jesus. This book challenges that consensus and argues instead that only four parables—those of the Mustard Seed, the Evil Tenants, the Talents, and the Great Supper—can be attributed to the historical Jesus with fair certitude. In this eagerly anticipated fifth volume of A Marginal Jew, John Meier approaches this controversial subject with the same rigor and insight that garnered his earlier volumes praise from such publications as the New York Times and Christianity Today. This seminal volume pushes forward his masterful body of work in his ongoing quest for the historical Jesus.

The Anchor Bible reference library. Contents: v. 2 Mentor, message, and miracles. Includes bibliographical references & indexes.

***SEE BELOW FOR AN IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!*** While the dawn of the new millennium has brought an unprecedented interest to the field of New Testament studies and the search for the historical Jesus, a critical piece in early Christian development has been noticeably absent: Tertullus laid charges against Paul in the following address to the governor: "Your Excellency we have found him to be a troublemaker a ringleader of the sect known as the Nazarenes Paul said "I admit that I follow the Way, which they call a sect. I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the books of prophecy. I have hope in God, just as these men do, that he will raise both the righteous and the ungodly." Acts 24:2,5,11-15 (NLT) Put simply, the world has so embraced the story of how the apostle Paul took a small Jewish apocalyptic sect and transformed it into a global Gentile movement, that it has forgotten the very first followers of Jesus, otherwise known as "Nazarenes". What were they like, and how did their beliefs differ from the Roman based model that sprang up later? Even from the Catholic fathers, we are given some tantalizing clues: "But these sectarians did not call themselves Christians, but "Nazarenes," however they are simply complete Jews. They use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do They have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the Law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion, except for their belief in the Messiah, if you please! For they acknowledge both the resurrection of the dead and the divine creation of all things, and declare that God is one, and that His Son is Y'shua the Messiah. They are trained to a nicety in Hebrew. For among them the entire Law, Prophets and the Writings are read in Hebrew, as they surely are by the Jews. They are different from the Jews, and different from Christians, only in the following. They disagree with the Jews for they have come to faith in Messiah; but since they are still fettered with the Law circumcision and the Sabbath, and the rest they are not in accord with Christians They have the Good News according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew. For it is clear they still preserve this, in the Hebrew alphabet, as it was originally written." Epiphanus; Panarion 29 (fourth century) Are these Nazarenes actually the unknown continuation of the Apostle Paul's ministry? What about the "Jerusalem Church" mentioned so frequently by Paul and headed up by Peter and James the Just? Why is it only now that we can tell the story of Christendom's most influential group throughout its first fifty years and above all what happened to them? Furthermore, even a casual glance at any New Testament will show the Gospel of Matthew given the honor of being the first book in the collection. Such an arrangement, directly derived from ancient belief of what was written when, is currently ignored because modern scholarship accords this honor to Mark. Similarly, while the scholarly world has all but forgotten the Nazarenes, they have proclaimed almost universally that the New Testament was originally written in Greek, despite strong early testimony and clear textual evidence to the contrary. However, since the fourth century, the Nazarenes at some time seem to have vanished off the face of the earth. As a result, their existence has now been rendered into little more than a footnote in history, and their connection to the original Christian movement and their Semitic scriptures, have been believed to be lost forever. That is, until now. Now, for the first time, a modern Nazarene breaks his silence and details the results of more than four years of research in his provocative new book "Signs of the Cross". As a work destined to turn upside down the current Greek compositional model of the New Testament, "Signs of the Cross" breaks new grou

In this provocative, intelligent, and highly original addition to the Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library, Susan R. Garrett argues that angel talk has never been merely about angels. Rather, from ancient times until the present, talk about angels has served as a vehicle for reflection on other fundamental life questions, including the nature of God's presence and intervention in the world, the existence and meaning of evil, and the fate of humans after death. In No Ordinary Angel, Garrett examines how biblical and other ancient authors addressed such questions through their portrayals of angels. She compares the ancient angel talk to popular depictions of angels today and considers how the ancient and modern portraits of angels relate to Christian claims about Jesus. No Ordinary Angel offers important insights into the development of angelology, the origins of Christology, and popular Western spirituality ranging from fundamentalist to New Age. In doing so, it provokes stimulating theological reflection on key existential questions.

In this sparkling debut, a young critic offers an original, passionate, and erudite account of what it means to feel Jewish—even when you’re not. Self-hatred. Guilt. Resentment. Paranoia. Hysteria. Overbearing Mother-Love. In this witty, insightful, and poignant book, Devorah Baum delves into fiction, film, memoir, and psychoanalysis to present a dazzlingly original exploration of a series of feelings famously associated with modern Jews. Reflecting on why Jews have so often been depicted, both by others and by themselves, as prone to “negative” feelings, she queries how negative these feelings really are. And as the pace of globalization leaves countless people feeling more marginalized, uprooted, and existentially threatened, she argues that such “Jewish” feelings are becoming increasingly common to us all. Ranging from Franz Kafka to Philip Roth, Sarah Bernhardt to Woody Allen, Anne Frank to Nathan Englander, Feeling Jewish bridges the usual fault lines between left and right, insider and outsider, Jew and Gentile, and even Semite and anti-Semite, to offer an indispensable guide for our divisive times.

"Proceedings of the twenty-fourth annual symposium of the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization and the Harris Center for Judaic Studies, October 23-24, 2011"--p. [i].