The Gospel According to the Jews

At the end of the Foreword to his Jesus as Others Saw Him, Joseph Jacobs (1854-1916) made the essential point that, “It is only by knowing exactly where we [Jews and Christians] differ that we can hope ultimately to agree.” In order to fully appreciate the differences between Christianity and Judaism it is imperative that, just like Christians present their view on Judaism, Jews present their view on Christianity as well. Due to nearly two millennia of persecution, Jews had never been given the opportunity to share with the world their own version of the Christian Gospel. Modern times offer the Jew an exceptional window of opportunity to present the Jewish view on the life and death of Jesus as registered by Jews who knew him and his followers in the land of Israel. The purpose of this work is to explore and further articulate this view. In The Gospel According to The Jews, José Faur develops the history of Jesus on the basis of Talmudic and Rabbinic sources and by reading the Christian Scripture critically. Surprisingly, both the Jewish and Christian sources coincide, providing that one dares read the texts analytically—that is, like a Talmudist.