The Changing Faces of Jesus

by Geza Vermes

Overview

Who was the real Jesus? How was this Palestinian charismatic transformed by later generations into the heavenly savior who is the focus of the Christian Church? Did Jesus's own teachings lead to his divine characterization? Or did the church-centered needs of gentile Christianity hide his true face, obscuring the religion he preached and practiced? With unique authority, sensitivity, and insight, renowned scholar Geza Vermes explores these difficult questions by examining the New Testament writings, placing them in the context of the Jewish civilization of the first century. Starting with the elevated, divine figure of Christ presented in the most recent Gospel, the Gospel of John, Vermes travels back through earlier accounts of Jesus's life to reveal the true historical figure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142196021
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/26/2002
Series:	Compass
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.85(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Geza Vermes’s pioneering work on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the historical Jesus led to his appointment as the first professor of Jewish studies at Oxford University, where he is now professor emeritus. He is the author of several books, including The Authentic Gospel of Jesus.

Table of Contents

The Changing Faces of Jesus - Geza Vermes Prologue: From Christ to Jesus
1. John: The Odd Man Out Among the Evangelists
2. The Jesus of John: Messiah Figure or Stranger from Heaven
3. Paul: The Odd Man Out Among the Apostles
4. The Christ of Paul: Son of God and Universal Redeemer of Mankind
5. The Jesus of the Acts of the Apostles: Prophet, Lord, and Christ
6. The Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels: Charismatic Healer and Teacher and Eschatological Enthusiast
7. Beneath the Gospels: The Real Jesus
8. The Real Jesus at the Dawn of the Third Millennium
Epilogue: A Dream
Chronological Table
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A bold effort to sift out the 'real' Jesus from the theological embellishment in the New Testament that (according to Vermes) turned him into a divine persona." —The Washington Post

"Geza Vermes is one of the most distinguished living scholars of ancient Judaism. While he has specialised in the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in which his reputation is unsurpassed, he has an impressive command of all the Jewish sources from antiquity. Those who want to understand the historical Jesus and the evolving ways in which he was perceived in the following decades can do no better than to read his book. It is the masterly statement of a great scholar who has spent decades considering his topic, and whose work is gentle, irenic, relatively unargumentative, and written with exceptional skill ... in Vermes Jesus has found his best Jewish interpreter."—The New York Review of Books

"Sound research and passionate engagement with the subject make this a useful volume. The straightforward exposition of Johannine and Pauline interpretations of Jesus sheds light on the Jesus figure. A comprehensive study, certain to evoke both critique and praise." —Hal Warlick High Point University, NC

Editorial Reviews

"A bold effort to sift out the 'real' Jesus from the theological embellishment in the New Testament that (according to Vermes) turned him into a divine persona." —The Washington Post

"Geza Vermes is one of the most distinguished living scholars of ancient Judaism. While he has specialised in the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in which his reputation is unsurpassed, he has an impressive command of all the Jewish sources from antiquity. Those who want to understand the historical Jesus and the evolving ways in which he was perceived in the following decades can do no better than to read his book. It is the masterly statement of a great scholar who has spent decades considering his topic, and whose work is gentle, irenic, relatively unargumentative, and written with exceptional skill ... in Vermes Jesus has found his best Jewish interpreter."—The New York Review of Books

"Sound research and passionate engagement with the subject make this a useful volume. The straightforward exposition of Johannine and Pauline interpretations of Jesus sheds light on the Jesus figure. A comprehensive study, certain to evoke both critique and praise." —Hal Warlick High Point University, NC

From the Publisher

The Changing Faces of Jesus says some fascinating things about the religiosity of Jesus' time...

Detroit News

The Changing Faces of Jesus says some fascinating things about the religiosity of Jesus's time...

Washington Post

This academic yet accessible book tackles the question of Jesus' identity by attempting to strip away theological and historical interpretations in order to reach the original, Jewish, human Jesus. Vermes, professor emeritus of Jewish studies at Oxford, begins with the Gospel of John, which he asserts was the first to ascribe divine status to Jesus, and proceeds through the Pauline letters, the Book of Acts and the Synoptic Gospels. Along the way, he dismantles any statements about Jesus' life that he feels to be inaccurate or questionable. Vermes argues instead that if one returns to the actual and indisputable words of Jesus as stated by the Synoptic Gospels, and if one also takes into account the historical and Jewish religious tenor of the time, Jesus is revealed as a "prophet-like holy man, mighty in deed and word, a charismatic healer and exorcist." Vermes's Jesus is a teacher concerned with the Kingdom of God on earth, in the tradition of other Jewish holy men. The book sometimes engages in speculative reasoning: for example, a) Luke was an associate of Paul, b) Paul's theology is missing from Acts, c) "one would have expected an associate of Paul to do better than that," so d) Luke must not have written Acts. For the most part, however, Vermes ably poses the critical questions that have characterized the "quest for the historical Jesus," adding a few of his own. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Vermes (emeritus, Jewish studies, Oxford), one of the world's great Jewish scholars on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the historical Jesus indicates that as a historian, he considers "Jesus, the primitive church and the New Testament as part and parcel of first-century Judaism." Here he sets out to illuminate Jesus' teachings as they were understood in their original Aramaic. Using these assumptions and information, Vermes takes the fascinating and unusual approach of looking for Jesus in the Gospel of John. (Most writers on the historical Jesus begin with the Synoptics; i.e., Matthew, Mark, and Luke). He then moves from what he thinks are less authentic portraits of Jesus to those he considers more authentic: the Gospel of John presents Jesus as a "stranger from heaven;" Paul's Jesus is the Son of God and universal Redeemer; Acts presents Jesus as Prophet, Lord, and Christ; and in the Synoptics he is a charismatic healer, teacher, and eschatological enthusiast. Finally, Vermes looks for the real Jesus beneath the Gospels and deals with what he finds at the "dawn of the third millennium." Vermes's vast knowledge of first century Judaism ensures that this work will become one of the most important works in historical Jesus studies, and his readable style makes it useful for both public and academic library patrons. Highly recommended. David Bourquin, California State Univ., San Bernardino Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal