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Revision as of 12:28, 4 April 2023
, 12:28, 4 April 2023no edit summary
So I was happy when a copy of ''Jesus, the Man and the Myth'' arrived. Having reviewed [[Neville Chamberlain's War: How Great Britain Opposed Hitler, 1939-1940 by Frederic Seager|a previous book]] by Frederic Seager for Bookbag, I knew that I'd get a potentially provocative argument but one with clarity and accessibility and borne of deep knowledge of the topic. I was not disappointed.
Seager gives a reading of the Christian New Testament from a Jewish perspective. It's rich in detail about the historical context and in particular about the ideas and methods and traditions of the Jewish religious authorities and thinkers of the time. From this perspective, he challenges the meaning and the context of some of Christ's deeds and words and how they are interpreted., not just by Christians themselves but also by many Jewish commentators. From a critique of the true meaning of the Old Testament's "eye for an eye" through Christ's advice to pay tax to the Romans to the smiting of the barren fig tree, it is a provocative and fascinating read.
The parts I found most affecting were those that discussed the Christian notion of being saved and the purpose of religion being to attain life hereafter via personal salvation compared to an emphasis on serving God by making the world we live in better, while we are living in it. The book isn't an attack on Christianity itself and this comparison of religious purpose leads Seager into an interesting section on interfaith dialogue and on different faiths living together in a modern, interconnected, technological society.
