Modern Jews Engage the New Testament: Enhancing Jewish Well-Being in a Christian Environment »

Despite the New Testament's impact on Jewish history, virtually all Jews avoid knowledge of its underlying dynamics. Jewish families and communities thus remain needlessly stymied when responding to a deeply Christian culture. Their Christian friends, meanwhile, are left perplexed as to why Jews are wary of the Gospel's "good news."

This long-awaited volume offers an unprecedented solution-oriented introduction to Jesus and Paul, the Gospels and Revelation, leading Jews out of anxieties that plague them, and clarifying for Christians why Jews draw back from Christians' sacred writings.

Accessible to lay people, scholars and clergy of all faiths, innovative teaching aids make this valuable resource ideal for rabbis, ministers and other educators. Topics include: The Gospels, Romans and Revelation-the Key Concerns for Jews, Misusing the Talmud in Gospel Study, Jesus' Trial, the "Virgin Birth" and Empty Tomb Enigmas, Millennialist Scenarios and Missionary Encroachment, The Last Supper and Church Seders, Is the New Testament Antisemitic?.

While written primarily with Jews in mind, this groundbreaking volume will also help Christians understand issues involved in the origin of the New Testament, the portrayal of Judaism in it, and why for centuries their "good news" has been a source of fear and mistrust among Jews.

Publishers Weekly

This arcane treatise aims to familiarize Jews with the New Testament. According to Cook, Jews shortchange themselves by failing to learn about the New Testament since they live in a Christian environment where their ignorance is a handicap. He wrote this manual to help Jews overcome this limitation, which he contends is a departure from the value Jews place on knowledge. At Hebrew Union College, where Cook teaches Judeo-Christian studies, rabbinical students have to learn the New Testament, a requirement that he feels should be mandated for all Jewish seminarians and college students. His handbook lays out the content for such courses for the benefit of non-Jews and secularists as well as Jews. Unfortunately, instead of presenting a primer, Cook offers a complicated text, replete with esoteric diagrams. His assumption of a base of knowledge contradicts his assertion that Jews know little about the New Testament. He examines the Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Revelation, discussing their abstruse and often contradictory meanings. Most beginning readers will get lost in Cook's perplexing consideration of minutiae, despite his comprehensive expertise. (June)

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Before We Proceed: How to Read This Book     ix
Introduction: Reversing "Statuary Blindness" -the Goal That Distinguishes This Book     xiii
Notes on Terminology-Keeping Our Referents Straight     xviii
Renouncing Intentional Ignorance
When Advice of Sages Ceases to Be Sage Advice     3
Results of Ignorance: Evolving Jewish Views of Jesus     12
Presenting the New Testament: Order and Dis-orders     18
Basics We Should Know
Prisms for Viewing Early Christianity     33
Jesus and His Setting in the Land of Israel     40
Paul in His Diaspora Context     58
Reasoning Matters Through
Characteristic Jewish Perspectives on the Gospels     75
Mastering "Gospel Dynamics": Avenues to Ponder     83
Christian Holy Days: Beneficial Applications of Jewish Gospel Study
Christmas: Why the Infancy ("Virgin Birth") Stories Arose     95
Maundy (Holy) Thursday: Can We Right What's Wrong with Church "Seders"?     109
Good Friday: Responding to Blame for Jesus' Death     121
Good Friday (Extended): Did the Sanhedrin and Barabbas Episodes Actually Occur?     133
Easter: Empty Tomb Enigmas     149
Primary New Testament Writings: A Concern for Jews from Each
Romans 9-11: Why Paul's Anxiety for Israel?     163
The Gospel of Mark:Destabilizing a Betrayal by "Judas" ("the Jews"?)     176
The Gospel of Matthew: Why So "Pro-Jewish" a Flavor to So "Anti-Jewish" a Gospel?     192
The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts: Did Jews Flock to Christianity? Luke's Myth of the "Myriads"     210
The Gospel of John: Why Are Jesus' Enemies So Conspicuously Termed "the Jews"?     219
When Wariness Is Warranted: New Testament Knowledge for Self-Defense
The Christian Apocalypse: Jews as God's Odometer in End-Times Scenarios     233
Neutralizing Missionary Encroachment: Conceptual Frameworks     251
Integrating Matters
My Personal Positions: Where They May Be Distinctive     267
Is the New Testament "Antisemitic"?     278
Never Again! Never Before!     289
Suitability Index for Using This Multipurpose Book: Matching Contents to Occasion     300
Listing of Figures     303
Acknowledgments     306
Abbreviations     308
Notes     312
Selected Bibliography     336
Modern Author Index     342
Scripture Index     345
Gospel Dynamics Index     352
Subject Index     355