A Jewish Understanding of the New Testament

In a readable but carefully argued way, Sandmel lays out some key Christian doctrines and the apparent motivations for various statements and stories in the New Testament. This research can certainly be found elsewhere, but the author presents it in a way that's particularly understandable and relevant to those with a Jewish background. He has an agenda, however: he emphasizes the influences of Greek philosophy on Christianity to the point of minimizing its Jewish roots.

I am in the process of converting to Judaism from Christianity. This means that I have lots of questions and confusion about who Jesus was if he was not the messiah. When I bought this book, I expected it to be dry and difficult to get through. Indeed, the introduction is, but it's largely unnecessary for the enjoyment of the remainder of the book. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book is both easy to read and engaging. It is well-researched and written, but also written for the casual reading. In other words, you don't need to be a Bible scholar in order to understand it. Even more surprising, the book is written in a very respectful and non-controversial way. Although it does not apologize for Jewish beliefs, it also does not pass judgment on Christian ones. Instead, it states Christian beliefs (such as the resurrection) as neither fact nor fiction, but rather as what various people believed. The book is structured in several parts, covering the cultural and historic contexts, Paul and his writings, Jesus and the Gospels, the other writings (Acts, Revelation, etc.), and the significance of the New Testament. This book is great for both Christians and Jews, and probably my favorite on Jewish-Christian relations and/or studies.