Overview

Teaching the Historical Jesus in his Jewish context to students of varied religious backgrounds presents instructors with not only challenges, but also opportunities to sustain interfaith dialogue and foster mutual understanding and respect. This new collection explores these challenges and opportunities, gathering together experiential lessons drawn from teaching Jesus in a wide variety of settings from the public, secular two- or four-year college, to the Jesuit university, to the Rabbinic school or seminary, to the orthodox, religious Israeli university. A diverse group of Jewish and Christian scholars reflect on their own classroom experiences and explicates crucial issues for teaching Jesus in a way that encourages students at every level to enter into an encounter with the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament without paternalism, parochialism, or prejudice. This volume is a valuable resource for instructors and graduate students interested in an interfaith approach in the classroom, and provides practical case studies for scholars working on Jewish-Christian relations.

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9781322314860

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Reviews

'This collection provides a very valuable resource for anyone who teaches courses on the historical Jesus as well as those who are interested in furthering their own understanding about Jesus Jewish identity and context. The book will be helpful not only for those who teach in a range of different institutions and at different levels, but also for those who teach adult education courses in churches, synagogues or in the general community.' -Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa, Canada 'This fine collection of essays brought together by Zev Garber faces a double challenge. On the one hand, historical judgments about the historical Jesus are to some extent inescapably subjective. On the other hand the historical and pedagogical questions are situated in a long vexed history of misunderstanding between Jews and Christians. In the face of these challenges, these essays concerned with teaching the historical Jesus in Jewish contexts are most welcome. While there is some most apologetic advocacy voiced in these essays, they are marked by candor, by contextual specificity, and by a generous sensibility about the difficult subject they address. This collection will be of immense value for developing a wise pedagogy. Beyond that, this is a serious contribution to the on-going work of understanding and communication between Jews and Christians. It is the only book I know that takes on this difficult and important task of pedagogy.' -Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary, USA Teaching the Historical Jesus is an essential tool for classroom instruction. Zev Garber, a highly respected Jewish studies scholar, has taken on the challenge of bringing together a diverse group of scholars to write about the historical Jesus, a very difficult and controversial topic in the undergraduate curriculum. Respectable scholars, who teach in diverse environments, share their classroom experiences and encourage dialogues as well as critical thinking strategies. The authors do not shy away from addressing Christian misunderstandings, the so-called proselytizing (Christian) group Jews for Jesus as well as Jesus in film and art. The book is a significant contribution to Zev Garber's field of expertise in studying Jesus in his Jewish context, and has the potential to reach not only scholars in New Testament studies but also undergraduate students as well as a general audience. Editing a book for these diverse audiences is no easy feat, and stands as testimony to Professor Garber s skill as a knowledgeable and successful editor. -Rivka Ulmer, Professor of Jewish Studies, Bucknell University, USA

Author Information

Zev Garber is Emeritus Professor and Chair of Jewish Studies and Philosophy at Los Angeles Valley College. He is the Editor of Shofar and the author of The Jewish Jesus: Revelation, Reflection, Reclamation (2011).

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