Resurrection of Jesus

Pinchas Lapide, and orthodox Jew, makes the case that, being so steeped in history as the Tanakh is, that it is inconsistent for Jews to reject the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The extreme change in the actions of the Apostles and the rise of Christianity point toward an actual event of, well, Biblical proportions. Neither the Romans nor the Jews would have stolen the body of Jesus, because his death was meant to quell the rumors of rebellion and heresy. That the early Christians would embrace martyrdom for a fraud is not logical. From this acceptance of the resurrection, Lapide does not claim to embrace Jesus as Messiah or as God incarnate. He instead notes that many prophets of the past have also been associated with similar miracles. Enoch walked into Heaven, Elijah was carried away on a flaming chariot, Elijah raised a child from the dead as did Elisha, and merely touching the bones of Elisha was enough to return a man to life whose corpse had been thrown into that prophet's tomb. None of these claimed divinity or the title of Messiah. Lapide continues that even the Jewishness of the Gospels portrays Jesus as being raised, not as raising himself. Much discussion can be made of whether Pauline theology or early Church dogma somehow twisted the meaning of the resurrection or if Jesus truly was the third person of the Trinity. Lapide avoids this discussion and instead affirms that Jesus of Nazareth can be accepted by believing Jews as a prophet who was resurrected, and whose resurrection was the catalyst used by God to spread Judaism and its unique monotheism throughout the world. That Christianity is a monotheism is not to be doubted, Lapide claims, even if to Jews it is an odd monotheism. That Lapide can approach this subject with such candor is refreshing and enlightening. He has achieved what he had set out to achieve: to contribute a valuable work in opening a Jewish-Christian dialogue about faith.

I'm a Christian, and this book has given me a new perspective on early Christianity and the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus. I'm an Episcopalian/Anglican, and I have many questions. Growing up, I was told very plainly that Jesus was a Jew,which has colored my views of our related, but very different, religious traditions. So I was very interested to read a warm, meticulously presented "Jewish Perspective" on Jesus. I wish all Jewish comments on Christianity were as open to our different views as my religious training was, and is, open to our religious forebear, Judaism.

This book will not offend. It is a very pro-jewish look at the role of resurrection in jewish religious literature (Talmud, Tanakh, midrash, etc.) with refreshing results. It does not try to create a syncretism of the two religions but shows that Christianity is a "fellow faith" with its own purpose with God. The book also clearly states why resurrection is not enough for proof of Messiahship in Judaism. Brilliant! The introduction is largely written for the Christian audience which puts Judaism in its place within its own religion (Christianity). Personnally, I did not like but it is a good connective beginning for the Christian. If your Jewish, I suggest that you read the book first then the introduction. Translation quality is also superb. This book gets a big thumbs up! Too bad such popular authors as Rabbi H. Kushner doesn't treat the interfaith dialogue with as much sensitivity as this author does [see Kushner's To Life].

In this remarkable volume -- unfortunately not now in print -- Pinchas Lapide, an Orthodox Jewish scholar of the New Testament, mounts a surprising argument that the resurrection of Jesus was a historical event. Dr. Lapide, recognizing that Christianity stands or falls with the resurrection itself, regards Jesus the man as a Torah-faithful Jew "who wanted to bring the kingdom of heaven in harmony, concord, and peace." Noting that the resuscitation of the dead by God is, and has long been, a part of Jewish belief, he examines the New Testament accounts of the resurrection of Jesus and finds what he describes as a "Jewish faith experience" in full consonance with the historical teachings of Judaism. He concludes as follows: "[A]s a faithful Jew, I cannot explain a historical development which, despite many errors and much confusion, has carried the central message of Israel into the world of the nations, as the result of blind happenstance, or human error, or a materialistic determinism . . . . [T]he Easter faith has to be recognized as a part of divine providence." He does not regard resurrection as literally "miraculous," if that word denotes an arbitrary suspension of cause and effect. But he does not see why a resurrection is any more "miraculous" than a birth -- in which, after all, dead matter in some way springs to life as a person. If once, why not twice? He also points out carefully that the resurrection does not make Jesus "the Messiah of Israel for Jewish people." Jesus, he insists (with textual support from two millennia of Jewish history, including Moses Maimonides), was/is a "paver of the way" for the Messiah, not (necessarily) the Messiah himself -- though Dr. Lapide has said elsewhere that if the Messiah comes and _does_ turn out to be Jesus, that will of course be fine with him. All in all, this marvelous little book is thought-provoking in its own right, utterly remarkable as a sympathetic Jewish understanding of Christianity, and a tremendous contribution to Jewish-Christian dialogue that has not, to my knowledge, received the attention it deserves. I hope it comes back into print. In the meantime, anyone interested in its contents is advised to seek a used copy.

Have you ever considered whether the resurrection of Jesus really happened? Rabbi Pinchas Lapide, a devout Orthodox Jewish man has not only thought about it, he sets out in this book to prove it. When an Orthodox rabbi says Jesus rose from the dead, you can expect some interesting discussion. The book does not disappoint. Lapide looks at the resurrection with Jewish eyes. Resurrection, he says, is a Jewish concept in the first place. Furthermore, the gospels are just too honest about the disciples' faithlessness to be fiction. While Lapide is not a follower of Jesus, his book made a splash in the religious world when it came out in 1979. Time Magazine ran an article on this book in the religion section (May 7, 1979). Lapide sees Jesus' resurrection as ordained by God to bring in non-Jewish people to monotheistic faith. The book is an easy read for anyone interested in the subject and the discussion is compelling throughout. Some of Lapide's arguments will surprise, even shock some people of Christian or Jewish background. Although it is out of print, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in Jewish-Christian dialogue, in the resurrection, in modern Judaism and its trends, or in the Jewish roots of Christianity.