Synopses & Reviews
In his new book, acclaimed religious scholar Geza Vermes subjects all the sayings of Jesus to brilliantly informed scrutiny. Profoundly aware of the limits of our knowledge but immersed in what we do have—both the “official” gospels and associated Jewish and early Christian texts—Vermes sieves through every quote ascribed to Jesus to let the reader get as close as possible to the charismatic Jewish healer and moralist who changed the world. The result is a book that creates a revolutionary and unexpected picture of Jesus—scraping aside the accretions of centuries to approach as close as we can hope to his true teaching.
Synopsis
In The Authentic Gospel of Jesus, renowned biblical scholar Geza Vermes distils a lifetime's knowledge to examine every saying attributed to Jesus and return to the true teachings of the man behind the messiah. Who was the real Jesus? What was the original message of the charismatic Jewish healer and moralist who changed the world? There can be no doubt that Jesus, 'a religious genius' as Geza Vermes describes him, lived and taught in Palestine some 2000 years ago. The influence he has had is incalculable. How though can we distinguish between the doctrines shaped to the needs of the burgeoning Christian church and the original views laid out by Jesus himself? How can we dig back through the additions, misinterpretations and confusions of later writers and two millennia of tradition to get back to the authentic gospel of Jesus? In The Authentic Gospel of Jesus, Vermes subjects all the sayings of Jesus to brilliantly informed scrutiny. The result is a book of unique value and novelty -scraping aside the accretions of centuries to come as close as we can hope to be to the true Jesus. 'The greatest Jesus scholar of his generation'
Sunday Telegraph 'A pleasure to read from cover to cover'
Literary Review 'One of the most commonsensical, wise books on the Bible ever published. Nobody can fail to be impressed by the magisterial scholarship and knowledge'
Daily Express 'Vermes has made his fine scholarship wonderfully accessible to the general reader' Karen Armstrong, Sunday Times 'A truly fascinating book'
Independent on Sunday Geza Vermes is director of the Forum for Qumran Research at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. His books, published by Penguin, include The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, The Story of the Scrolls and The Changing Faces of Jesus as well as the 'Jesus' trilogy: Nativity, Passion and Resurrection."
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.