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Author Spong, John Shelby.

Title Liberating the Gospels : reading the Bible with Jewish eyes : freeing Jesus from 2,000 years of misunderstanding / John Shelby Spong.

Publication Info. [San Francisco, CA] : HarperSanFrancisco, [1996]
©1996

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 University of Saint Joseph: Pope Pius XII Library - Standard Shelving Location  226.06 S763L    Check Shelf
Edition First edition.
Description xviii, 361 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 345-350) and index.
Summary "With a keen eye and years of deliberate investigation, Spong traces the long period of history in which the Gospels were "cut away from their essential Jewishness" and interpreted as if they were primarily gentile books, distorting their meaning with a deeply prejudiced anti-Jewish bias. To remedy both that bias and the continued misinterpretation of the Gospels' message, Spong believes we must recognize the Gospels as the thoroughly Jewish books they are and learn to read them with a clear understanding of the Jewish context, frame of reference, vocabulary, and history that shaped in informed them." "By connecting the Gospels to the style of the Jewish midrashic literature of Jesus' era, he shows how the Gospel authors intended their stories to be perceived, not as historic accounts of actual events, but rather as interpretive narratives about the meaning of Jesus, using images and themes from the Hebrew Bible. Some examples of his fascinating arguments and conclusions are the significant events of Jesus' life follow an orderly cycle of Jewish feasts and rites of passage; Judas never existed but was a fictional scapegoat created to shift the blame for Jesus' death from the Romans to the Jews; leading characters of Jewish scripture make cameo appearances in the Gospels; and stories about Jesus, from the infancy narratives to the resurrection, can all be freshly understood as interpretative tales based on key passages in the Old Testament." "Like any good detective story, Liberating the Gospels is a riveting account of facts and theories coming together, piece by piece, to form a brilliant, convincing whole. Spong approaches the Gospels with reverence and a determination to restore their meaning, their vivid historical context, and the respect so long eroded between Christians and Jews. The result is a remarkable revisioning of Jesus and the Gospels that brings us closer to how Jesus was really understood in his day and should be in ours."--BOOK JACKET.
Contents Understanding the Biblical issues. The crisis in faith today: finding a new question and a new starting place -- The Gospels are Jewish books -- How these Jewish books became Gentile captives -- Examining the Gospel texts from a Jewish perspective. The Jewish calendar and the Jewish liturgical year -- Mark: the story of Jesus from Rosh Hashanah to Passover -- Matthew: setting Matthew into a Jewish Framework -- Matthew: reading Matthew through a Jewish lens -- Luke: seeking the Jewish clue that will unlock the Third Gospel -- Luke: the story of Jesus told against the Order of the Torah -- Acts and John: a very brief glimpse -- Looking with Jewish eyes at critical moments in the Christian faith story. Jewish stars in the stories of Jesus' birth -- Joseph: the shadowy figure -- How the Virgin birth tradition began -- He died according to the Scriptures I -- He died according to the Scriptures II -- Judas Iscariot: a Christian invention? -- Raised according to the Scriptures I -- Raised according to the Scripture II -- Ascension and Pentecost: how the life of Jesus was shaped by the figure of Elijah.
Subject Goulder, Michael D.
Bible. Gospels -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Bible. Pentateuch -- Liturgical use.
Haftarot.
Bible. Pentateuch -- Relation to the New Testament.
Bible. Prophets (Neviʼim) -- Relation to the New Testament.
Synoptic problem.
Other Form: Online version: Spong, John Shelby. Liberating the Gospels. 1st ed. [San Francisco, CA] : HarperSanFrancisco, c1996 (OCoLC)605058986
ISBN 006067556X
9780060675561
0060675578 paperback
9780060675578 paperback
0060675349 intl. pbk.
9780060675349 intl. pbk.
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