From:    John Musselwhite                         Kill
To:      All                                      Msg #396, 04-Aug-93 11:26pm
Subject: "Jesus Within Judaism"

Hi All!

    I am part-way through an extremely good book and as I mentioned it in a
previous missive I thought I'd give some more information about it. Even
though I haven't finished it yet, I SERIOUSLY recommend it to anyone
interested in this subject.

    Jesus within Judaism (ISBN 0-385-23610-7) sheds "New Light form Exciting
Archaeological Discoveries" as it's dustjacket proclaims. It's the first
volume in the Anchor Bible Reference Library (Doubleday), and it "offers a
thorough re-creation of the intellectual atmosphere which shaped Jesus' life,
and which has molded the life of Western society for two millenia." (quoted
from the jacket)

    The author is James H. Charlesworth, who is the George L. Collard
Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and Chairperson of the
Dept. of Biblical Studies at the Princeton Theological Seminary at Princeton,
NJ. Charlesworth is also the editor of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.

    Charlesworth delivers a fascinating picture of Jesus' life in light of
the archaeological discoveries of this century and others. The notes and
references are very clear and detailed and the illustrations, although not by
any means copious, are quite interesting. Through the use of the OT
Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Nag Hammadi Codices, Josephus
(yes... his arguments are sound and I'll repeat them if asked), the Jesus of
history and the archaeology of Palestine he reveals in one book much of the
current knowledge about Jesus' life.

    Like all of the books in the Anchor Bible Reference Library and the
Anchor publications in general, it is written for the broadest-possible
readership from world-class scholars to the general public.

    I'll probably have finished it by the time you read this... I'll answer
any questions at that time if you have any.

          John