Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus

by Susannah Heschel

Book Overview

Was Jesus the founder of Christianity or a teacher of Judaism? When he argued the latter based on the New Testament, Abraham Geiger ignited an intense debate that began in nineteenth-century Germany but continues to this day.

Geiger, a pioneer of Reform Judaism and a founder of Jewish studies, developed a Jewish version of Christian origins. He contended that Jesus was a member of the Pharisees, a progressive and liberalizing group within first-century...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226329593
• ISBN13: 9780226329598
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 332 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Lucid and accessible research. Recommended.

Geiger is without doubt one of the most lucid commentators on Liberal Judaism. Heschel has done an excellent appraisal of his work and this book is destined to become a standard text for the critique of Geiger. Geiger's work now has to be seen in the light of the wonderful and more revelatory "The Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth..." by Richard G Patton which delivers the HUman Being of Christ in the same context as Geiger but without kowtowing to the early Christian politics. I hope Heschel has more works to offer because I found this work truly informative and easily accessible.