We Are the Pharisees

By Kathleen Kern

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0836136713
• ISBN13: 9780836136715
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Herald Pr
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.5" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

They aren't who you think they are!

I must admit, the title _We Are the Pharisees_ made me do a double-take. I'm a good, church going, Bible reading Christian. I wasn't sure I could believe I was one of those religious bad guys I've heard so many sermons about.Exactly. If nothing else, Kern's book shows how the Pharisees weren't what I've heard most references of them to be. In fact, they are more like me than I wanted to see. That alone is worth the read. However, the book later also delves more deeply into how that bias might affect our view of the Jewish faith today.The book is written in a book study format, with seven chapters. The format is as engaging for the individual as well as for any group. The questions are thought provoking and personal. The text of the chapters is littered with plenty of dry humor and real-life examples, while also being an intelligent discourse on cultural viewpoints of the day. I often imagined a teacher trying to convey the different historical viewpoints in a lively, animated way.The first part of the book deals with what the Bible says about the Pharisees. "Admittedly," Kern writes, "we find no passages in the New Testament that one could subtitle, 'The Pharisees: What a Swell Bunch of Guys!' " (p. 42) But, I appreciated her pointing out the "value-neutral" passages, and elaborating on those which were actually complimentary to the Pharisees.She then explores the Pharisees in the light of legalism. I think this quotation summed up how the book impacted me the most: "God gave us these laws because he [sic] _loves_ us. Following these laws makes it easier for us to become complete human beings. Abusing our bodies or alienating other people in the end will always lead to unhappiness, which God does not want for us." (p.84)Christians or other interested readers of the Bible cannot view the Pharisees today without also bringing in their presumptions about Jews, whether positive or negative. It is this point that enables Kern to open up the book to the next logical step of the issue of Jewish-Christian relations on the whole. Indeed, in the Preface she states outright that she prays that "a deeper understanding of Scriptures will facilitate better relationships between Christians and Jews."There were just two things I wish could be different. First, the book is written to an Anabaptist audience, and those not familiar with the religious history of that sect may find the repeated references too narrow. Second, as who the Pharisees really were came to light, a tangible, meaty definition of Sin would have enhanced the comparisons of them to us.Having many of my misbeliefs proved false by the Truth of Scripture itself was challenging and renewing to my mind. This small volume is jam packed with scholarship and encouragements to help anyone do just that.