Geza Vermes

Jesus the Jew : a historian's reading of the Gospels

This now classic book is a significant corrective to several recent developments in the study of the historical Jesus. In contrast to depictions of Jesus as a wandering Cynic teacher, Geza Vermes offers a portrait based on evidence of charismatic activity in first-century Galilee. Vermes shows how the major New Testament titles of Jesus-prophet, Lord, Messiah, son of man, Son of God-can be understood in this historical context. The result is a description of Jesus that retains its power and its credibility.

A History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.-A.D. 135)

Introduction 1. Scope and Purpose of the Work 2. Auxiliary Sciences 3. The Sources- The First Period 4. Religious Crisis and Revolution 175-164 B.C. 5. Judas Maccabaeus 164-161 B.C. 6. Jonathan 161-143(2) B.C 7. Simon 143(2)-135(4) B.C. 8. John Hyrcanus I 135(4)-104 b.c. 9. Aristobulus I 104-103 B.C. 10. Alexander Jannaeus 103-76 B.C. 11. Alexandra 76-67 B.C. 12. Aristobulus II 67-63 B.C. The Second Period 13. Hyrcanus II 63-40 B.C. the rise of Antipater and his Sons Phasael and Herod 14. Antigonus 40-37 B.C. 15. Herod the Great37-4 B.C. 16. Disturbances after Herods Death 4 B.C. 17. From the Death of Herod the Great to Agrippa I 4 B.C.-A.D. 41. 18. Agrippa I A.D. 37, 40, 41-44. 19. The Roman Procurators A.D 44-66 20. The Great War with Rome A.D. 66-74 21. From the Destruction of Jerusalmen to the Downfall of Bar Kokhba/Appendices

Book Reviews : Introduction To Rabbinic Litera Ture

very valuable study of a complex passage; A. Malamat with 2 Sam 7 in the light of Mari and other material; S. Segert with syntax and style in Johah a technical linguistic discussion; J. V. M. Sturdy on the ’prose sermons’ of Jeremiah. Three articles are in French, covering Buber and Heschel (E. Jacob), Isa 47 and the Babylon motif (R. Martin-Achard), doublets in Jeremiah and their exegetical significance (A. Marx); the remaining six are in German, covering Ezekiel’s temple plan (J. Maier), Hosea and foreign policy (A. Soggin), the name of Amos (J. J. Stamm), the potter motif in relation to Jer 18 (G. Wanke), Zech 11-6 (A. S. van der Woude), exegetical developments within Ezekiel (W. Zimmerli). A bibliography for G. Fohrer is added. It is a volume

Short review and book note

Peter Brown Society and the Holy in Late Antiquity. London, Faber & Faber 1982, viii+347, £10.50 I.R. Netton Muslim Neoplatonists, An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity 1982 George Allen & Unwin London, x+150, £12.50 Bruno Petzold Joseph P. Strelka Goethe und der Mahayana buddhismus 1982 Oktopus Verlag Vienna, 116 pp. 20DM. Stuart D.B. Picken Shinto, Japans Spiritual Roots 1981 Kodansha Tokyo, 80 pp. 10.50 Yen. Sean Freyne, Galilee from Alexander the Great to Hadrian: 323 B.C.E. to 135 C.E. A Study of Second Temple Judaism 1980 Michael Glazier Inc. and University of Notre Dame Press Wilmington, Delaware and Notre Dame, Indiana, xv+491 pp., 3 maps. Andrew Lowth Discerning the Mystery: An Essay in the Nature of Theology 1983 Clarendon Press Oxford, xiv+150pp.