What We're Reading

What We're Reading
Judeo-Christian Research
research@juchre.org

Gospel according to Moses, The: What My Jewish Friends Taught Me about Jesus, Athol Dickson
Product Description: "Years ago I exposed myself to the possibility that Judaism might have great truths to offer, and Chever Torah (Jewish Bible study) rewarded my open mind with radical improvements in the way I live and view my Christian faith." -from the Introduction After he spent five years attending Chever Torah, Athol Dickson found his faith radically changed-the result being a deeper relationship with God. In beautiful and simple language, The Gospel according to Moses illustrates Dickson's journey of faith exploring some of the primary theological differences and similarities between Christianity and Judaism. He draws generously on both Old and New Testament scriptures, looking at Christian and Jewish perspectives on topics such as suffering, grace vs. works, and the place of Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures.

The Jewish Study Bible: featuring The Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation
From the Back Cover: Now, readers of the Bible who are interested in Jewish traditions have a one-volume resource specifically tailored for their needs. The Jewish Study Bible's content reflects both contemporary biblical scholarship and the richness of Jewish tradition. Its wealth of supplementary materials address biblical interpretation within the Bible itself and during the rabbinic period, through medieval, mystical, early modern, and current approaches. No knowledge of Hebrew is required to make use of this unique volume. Anyone wishing to acquire a fuller understanding of the Bible will benefit from reading the Jewish Study Bible.

Meet the Rabbis: Rabbinic Thought and the Teachings of Jesus, Brad Young
Product Description: Meet the Rabbis explains to the reader how rabbinic thought was relevant to Jesus and the New Testament world, and hence should be relevant to those people today who read the New Testament. In this sense, Rabbinic thought is relevant to every aspect of modern life. Rabbinic literature explores the meaning of living life to its fullest, in right relationship with God and humanity. However, many Christians are not aware of Rabbinic thought and literature. Indeed, most individuals in the Western world today, regardless of whether they are Christians, atheists, agnostics, secular community leaders, or some other religious and political persuasions, are more knowledgeable of Jesus’ ethical teachings in the Sermon the Mount than the Ethics of the Fathers in a Jewish prayer book. The author seeks to introduce the reader to the world of Torah learning. It is within this world that the authentic cultural background of Jesus’ teachings in ancient Judaism is revealed. Young uses parts of the New Testament, especially the Sermon on the Mount, as a springboard for probing rabbinic method. The book is an introduction to rabbinic thought and literature and has three main sections in its layout: Introduction to Rabbinic Thought, Introduction to Rabbinic Literature, and Meet the Rabbis, a biographical description of influential Rabbis from Talmudic sources.

Everyman's Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages, Abraham Cohen
Amazon.com Review: The Talmud is among the great books of wisdom—like the Bible, the Quran, and the Bhagavad Gita—whose citation gives a speaker instant credibility. Also like the Bible, the Quran, and the Bhagavad Gita, the Talmud is a powerful source of allusion in large part even though so few people have really read it. People don't read the Talmud because they think it's inaccessible—the sprawling collection of rabbinic writings is added to in each generation, and its significance is nothing less than the summary of Judaism. The best guide to the Talmud's labyrinthine form is Abraham Cohen's Everyman's Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages—a monumental work of scholarly summary that describes all the basic doctrines of Judaism. Everyman's Talmud includes concise chapters on everything from sin to superstitions to a Jew's duty to animals. You probably won't be able to read it straight through—doctrine, even elegantly distilled, is hard to take in big doses—but you'll be led back to it again and again, by questions that arise in daily life, at dinner parties, and from the pages of the daily newspaper. Michael Joseph Gross

The Perpetual Flame: Offering Acceptable Worship Unto God, Jamie Perez
Excerpt from Introduction: Just what do we mean by offering acceptable worship to God? For the clearest response, we can turn to Philippians 3:12-14 (Jewish New Testament) where Sha'ul is admitting that despite all he has done and been, he still did not consider himself to have "arrived," but was still on his journey. He said, "It is not that I have already obtained it or already reached the goal—no I keep pursuing it in the hope of taking hold of that which the Messiah Yeshua took hold of me. Brothers, I, for my part, do not think of myself as having yet gotten hold of it; but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind me and straining forward toward what lies ahead, I keep pursuing the goal in order to win the prize offered by God's upward calling in the Messiah Yeshua." For Sha'ul, offering acceptable worship to God was the pursuit of righteousness, as defined by God. He was actively seeking to bring God's righteousness to the surface, or acting outwardly who he was inwardly. This required a complete submission to God's Ruach and Word. That is the goal of this book, as well. The Perpetual Flame will challenge your preconceived ideas of righteousness and godliness, and raises the stakes—and demands your response. This is not a philosophical look at Scripture, but a hands-on application of His standards to your present day behaviors. This knowledge demands action.
Table of Contents:

Who Is God, Anyway?
Getting to Know Him
So Let's Talk about Him
Me? Practicing Idolatry?
Digging for the Truth
You Believe It? Show It.
Take A Load Off
Cool! A Pilgrimage!
Where Did We Go Wrong?
So Where Does God Dwell?
What Do Priests Have to Do With Me?
It's My Stuff! Why Does God Want It?
God Doesn't Want Just Anything

A Commentary on the Jewish Roots of Romans, Joseph Shulam
Excerpt from Introduction: Paul himself, of course, was Jewish, and his language, terminology, methodology, and style all reflect the Jewish education which he received and the Jewish traditions in which he was brought up. An additional reason for looking at Romans (as representative of the New Testament as a whole) as a Jewish text is the fact that it reflects, mediates, passes on, and builds on interpretations of biblical passages already current in Second Temple Judaism. The Targumim, for example—the early Aramaic translations of the Tanakh—make explicit references to the Messiah in verses which make no outright mention of him. Much of Paul's understanding of the Tanakh and therefore of the arguments which he puts forward is filtered through these contemporary interpretations. These are themselves diverse in character, representing the various streams and tendencies within Second Temple Jewish thought. Moreover, his arguments and goals are those which emanate from the vision of Israel's prophets. Paul's pathos is therefore that of Israel and his eschatology, including his "messiology" (doctrine of the Messiah), is part of that of Second Temple Judaism. Finally, most of Paul's writings are dedicated to working out the participation of Gentile believers within the early community—how God's plans, announced through His prophets, were to elect a chosen people, Israel, through whom He could bless all the nations of the earth.
Without knowledge of these contemporary interpretations and the methods which they used to exegete the biblical text, the most logical assumption, drawn almost by default by most Christian commentators trained in the anti-Judaic atmosphere of institutional scholarship, is that Paul's conclusions were completely new. This attitude is largely the consequence of scholarly emphasis on the Hellenistic background of the New Testament and a corresponding neglect, at times even rejection, of the Jewish and rabbinic character of its writings. We do not intend to ignore either the Hellenistic elements within Second Temple Judaism or in the book of Romans. However, the reader who is aware of the claim that Second Temple Judaism was to a large degree already hellenized will also recognize that although this may well be true, Paul was still writing within a Jewish and rabbinic context. Our claim is simply that the Jewish character of the New Testament writings is far more important for their correct understanding than is an emphasis on their difference from the Jewish thought of the time.

Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, Marvin Wilson
Excerpt from Preface: The roots of Christianity run deep into Hebrew soil. Though the Hebrew heritage of the Church is rich and extensive, many Christians are regrettably uninformed about it. Most of it has been treated either passively and superficially, or more often, it has simply been left unexplored...
"Heritage" implies something which has been conveyed or handed down from generation to generation. It means the transference of a legacy. If it is to be our Judeo-Christian heritage it is important to understand what our predecessors in the faith have delivered over to us. Unfortunately, few Christians have had the tools and encouragement to familiarize themselves with this vast heritage. Indeed, currently there is a notable lack of textbooks and other study materials suitable for classroom use written by Christians who are active in the field of Jewish studies and Christian-Jewish relations. This volume is an attempt to help bridge this education gap.

Gospel & Law: Contrast or Continuum?, Daniel Fuller
Excerpt from Foreword: ...I have concluded that proper exegesis of Romans 10:4 is that Christ is the telos of the law, not in the sense of being its termination, but as climaxing it as the One who is in a continuum with it. I have also concluded that the "law of faith" in Romans 3:27 is not the principle of justification by faith alone...but that it is the very Mosaic law itself. I have further concluded that compliance with the Mosaic law is an "obedience of faith" (Rom 1:5, 16:26). But perhaps my most radical conclusion is that in Pauline and other biblical theology, true faith is not merely accompanied by good works as something coordinate with it, but that faith itself is the mainspring for producing good works.

Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion, E. P. Sanders

Jesus and Judaism, E. P. Sanders
Product Description: This work takes up two related questions with regard to Jesus: his intention and his relationship to his contemporaries in Judaism. These questions immediately lead to two others: the reason for his death (did his intention involve an opposition to Judaism which led to death?) and the motivating force behind the rise of Christianity (did the split between the Christian movement and Judaism originate in opposition during Jesus' lifetime?).

Galatians, Avi ben Mordechai
From the Back Cover: Author Avi Ben Mordechai feels that the time has come to jettison all false "New Testaments," peel off centuries of crusty Jewish and Gentile theological barnacles and sweep the house clean of careless interpretations erroneously attributed to Paul, particularly in Galatians. It is time to return to the true New Testament, as Yeshua taught in Matthew 5:17-19:
"Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill."
This verse-by-verse commentary on Galatians will allow you to break through centuries of decayed dogmas built upon the shaky foundations of confusion and misapplication of Paul's teachings.
Three excerpts are now available for you to see, about: atonement , and tutors , and the yoke of slavery. Also, there are two samples of the extensive index: Index Sample #1, and Index Sample #2.

Jesus in Context: Background Readings for Gospel Study, Bock/Herrick
Product Description: Knowing the historical and cultural background of the Bible is crucial to properly understanding and interpreting it. But the passing of 2,000 years often prevents today's reader from fully understanding the significance of various actions and teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. For example, the radical nature of Jesus's healings on the Sabbath may go unnoticed without an awareness of first-century Jewish teaching on what was and was not permissible. Pastors and other serious Bible students may not have access to important early writings that would provide this background, nor the time to wade through volumes of source material to find relevant tidbits. This unique reference work gathers into one handy volume the key extrabiblical texts that provide the necessary background for passages in the Gospels, along with introductory comments by the editors.

Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels, Geza Vermes
Amazon Review: This book is absolutely essential--whether you are a historical Jesus scholar, a Christian, and especially if you are concerned with anything Jewish. This is the groundbreaking work which has paved the way for "Meeting Jesus again for the First Time" (Marcus Borg), "Rabbi Jesus" (Bruce Chilton), and Richard Horsley's "Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs". Geza Vermes was/is professor of Jewish studies at Oxford, and his excellent approach in this tome is to avoid both the pitfalls of narrow-minded orthodoxy and the sterile, mechanistic strains of German theological scholarship. Instead, Vermes lets Jesus' Jewishness speak for itself, and letting his Galilean nature breathe like a sea breeze blowing onto Capernaum. Vermes is curious, but never heavy-handed or brow-beating, either as a scholar or a theologian. He rightfully insists that his goal is not Christian or Jewish theology; he is an historian and reads Jesus as such. He delves into the rustic, Galilean strain of charismatic Chasidism for his Jesus, rather than the Hellenic waters of recent scholarship, and through his excellent studies one will be exclaiming "Rabbouni!" in awakened recognition of the Jew Jesus was and truly is. This has long since become a textbook classic of New Testament/Jewish studies, but it is absolutely essential reading for either the Jew seeking to know more about Christ, or for the Christian who might be seeking to know the Jew behind the gospels. Again, this is not theology. For those looking for synthesis of scholarship and theology, Marcus Borg is a better and more current place to start. But to understand Christianity, you must first understand Judaism; and to understand the relationship between the two, you must understand Jesus. This book is definitely a step in the right direction towards understanding the man from Nazareth, but the reader must make his own judgments about the Christ of faith, separate or in addition to this Jesus of history.

They Loved the Torah: What Yeshua's First Followers Really Thought About the Law, David Friedman
From the Back Cover: Did Yeshua observe the Law? Did Paul teach his congregations to abandon the Torah? Was the devout Jew, Peter, persuaded that the Commandments were cancelled? The answers you'll find in They Loved the Torah may surprise you!
Even though many Jews believe that Paul taught against the Law, this book disproves that notion. Most Christians are disconnected from the Torah; reading this book will reconnect them. Dr. Friedman makes an excellent case for his premise that all the first followers of Messiah were not only Torah-observant, but also desired to spread their love for God's entire Word to the Gentiles to whom they preached.

Joseph, Jesus, and the Jewish People, C. V. Tripp
Product Description: Did you know the story of Jacob's favorite son, Joseph, is: a gospel tract hidden in Genesis? a key that unlocks prophecies of the end times? a help to dispel confusion on key theological issues? a miniature portrait of the Messiah, Israel, and the church? Joseph, Jesus, and the Jewish People divides this rich and inspiring story into two parts that correspond to the two advents of the Messiah. No other study examines the account of Joseph as a type of Christ in this manner. The author demonstrates that the second part of this intriguing story prophesies many unfulfilled events that pertain to the end times currently under debate today. The author counters unjustifiably divisive assumptions regarding Israel, to help the Church come closer to unity and appreciate and love her Jewish roots. In addition, the author hopes that this slant on the story of Joseph will lead Jewish people closer to the truth of their Messiah.

Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus: New Insights From a Hebrew Perspective, Bivin/Blizzard
Book Description: This book clearly describes ways of understanding some original Hebrew and Greek techniques and discovering the true meanings of many of the words of Jesus. This book will be an important addition to your personal or group Bible study time.

Lost In Translation Series (Vol 1): Rediscovering the Hebrew Roots of Our Faith, Klein/Spears
Product Description: Despite the sensational nature of its subject, Lost in Translation- Rediscovering the Hebrew Roots of our Faith is written in simple, clear, rational language that relies 100 percent on the Bible as the ultimate authority. The authors shed light on centuries of confusion surrounding subjects that are seldom addressed in modern sermons and Bible studies. Using ancient Hebrew language and culture, the authors clarify many of the Bible's so-called "mysteries" and help the reader uncover the treasure of foundational truths that have been "lost in translation." Topics include: *Who is the Bride of Messiah? *Is there a difference between covenant and testament? *How does the rainbow reflect God's plan for mankind? *What is the difference between devils, demons, and Nephilim? Join us on an exciting adventure to rediscover the treasures still buried within the pages of The Book that reveal the pathway to the heart of God.

Hebrews Through a Hebrew's Eyes: Hope in the Midst of a Hopeless World, Stuart Sacks
Product Description: Written to Messianic Jews in the first century, the Book of Hebrews, understood properly through Jewish eyes, edifies and encourages all. This epistle is one of the outstanding theological treatises in the New Testament.
This book teaches the message of this important letter in a fresh, new way. Dr. Stuart Sacks, himself a Messianic Jew, offers insights into Hebrews that only a Jewish believer in Yeshua can give.