What Jesus Didn't Say - Softcover

Ludemann, Gerd

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1598150308 ISBN 13: 9781598150308

Publisher: Polebridge Pr Westar Inst, 2011

Synopsis

Biblical historians have long held that the New Testament abounds in sayings incorrectly attributed to Jesus. In order to assemble as complete a collection of authentic sayings as possible, they have, for the most part, been intent on seeing how the sayings deemed authentic are connected to one another, and attempting to picture their specific contexts. In What Jesus Didn t Say, Gerd Lüdemann flips the coin and focuses on the inauthentic words of Jesus not only those thought to be clear inventions, but also sayings that exhibit noteworthy alterations to their original form and intent. For his selection, he uses sayings that: are attributed to Jesus after his crucifixion; presuppose a pagan rather than a Jewish audience; involve situations in a post-Easter community; reflect the editorial influence of the author. According to Ludemann, the sheer abundance of inauthentic Jesus-sayings demonstrates that, soon after his sudden and dramatic death, he became the center of a new faith. From the very beginning, Christians imagined what answers Jesus would offer to the questions that arose among them. When the words they recalled no longer seemed adequate, they revised or invented new sayings to suit the existing situation.

About this title

About the Author:

Gerd Lüdemann is Professor of New Testament at the University of Göttingen, Germany, Director of the Institute of Early Christian Studies, and Founder and Director of the Archive Religionsgeschichtliche Schule at the University of Göttingen. He has also served as Visiting Scholar at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee, and as co-chair of the Society of Biblical Literature Seminar on Jewish Christianity. His many books include The Earliest Christian Text: 1 Thessalonians, The Great Deception, The Unholy in Holy Scripture, and Heretics: The Other Side of Early Christianity.

Review:

Building from a wide range of scholarly discussion in recent decades, Gerd Luedemann offers his own careful analysis of statements ascribed to Jesus, in an easy-to-read and easy-to-discuss format. --Eugene TeSelle, Professor Emeritus of Church History and Theology, Vanderbilt Divinity

... Unquestionably, Lüdemann's conclusions are based on a detailed and meticulous analysis of the Gospels' sayings material. Lüdemann is to be commended for taking the Gospels seriously, and also for taking seriously Christianity's truth claims. Even Christians who find themselves at odds with his revisionist agendas can recognize his point. If the Gospels do consist largely of fabrications, then there is a serious lack of connection (to say the least), between the real Jesus and the church that rose from the ashes of his martyrdom. If Christianity intends to speak to the real world and proclaim in Jesus the telos of history, it must be grounded in actual historical events and not in the hopes of those who dream of an alternative existence. ... --Catholic Biblical Quarterly Issue 75 (2013)

About this edition

• Publisher: Polebridge Pr Westar Inst
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1598150308
• ISBN 13: 9781598150308
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 133