Saint Saul : a skeleton key to the historical Jesus / Donald Harman Akenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Akenson, Donald H.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jesus Christ--Historicity.

Jesus Christ.

Paul, the Apostle, Saint.

Paul.

Bible. Epistles of Paul--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (357 p.)

Place of Publication:

Montreal [Que.] : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this follow-up to his acclaimed Surpassing Wonder, Akenson recreates the world of Christ, a time rich with ideas, prophets, factions, priests, savants, and god-drunk fanatics. Saint Saul sheds light on Yeshua's birth and his relationship to his family, clarifies Yeshua's views on issues such as divorce and resurrection, and examines his sense of himself as Messiah. Throughout Saint Saul Akenson insistently stresses the Jewishness of Yeshua. He dismisses the traditional way of searching for facts about him by looking for parallels among the four gospels, arguing that the gospels were handed down as a unit by a later generation. In contrast Saul, although he did not know Yeshua personally, knew his most important followers and wrote immediately after his death. Saul's teachings were approved, though sometimes reluctantly, by Yeshua's brothers and other early leaders. Akenson sifts and probes the evidence for and against the historical status of Saul and Yeshua, a mystery as fascinating as a good detective story and one where readers must come to their own conclusions about the circumstances and texts that gave rise to two great world-faiths, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

The World of Saul of Tarsus and Yeshua of Nazareth

The Wounded Magus

Exciting Times: The Religious World of Saul of Tarsus and Yeshua

Avoiding Words that Make Us Lie

The Front-Edge Quest

The Search for a Distant Dominion

Minting New Gospels

A Skeleton Key to the Yeshua-Faith

Saul’s Life and Letters

Missionary in a Swirling Universe

Saul and Four Basic “Facts” About the Historical Yeshua

Melding Saul and the Gospels: A Beginning

Words from the Master’s Table

Saul and the Imitation of Christ

Epilogue

Notes

Appendix

Winnie-the-Pooh and the Jesus Seminar

Hubris and Plasticity in the “Q”-Industry

Index of Subjects

Index to References to Ancient Texts

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [259]-309) and index.

ISBN:

0-7735-7447-6

OCLC:

244766346