by fulltimestudent 4 Replies latest social current
If you dont know of him, may I recommend, what may have been his last book, " Christian Beginnings, From Nazareth to Nicea, AD 30-325." He was surely one of the best of contemporary Bible scholars( Yeah, seriously (haha) better than dear Freddy).
And, here's one of a number of obituaries around at the moment:
Sad to hear. I've read many of his books, including Jesus the Jew - perhaps the best. He's the thinking person's Bart Ehrman.
Sad news, someone as clear thinking as him, with the wonderful teachers art of being able to put things in a way the non specialist can understand, is a huge loss to the academic community and the World.
What I like about his books is being able to recommend them to JW's , he cannot be seen as someone with any axe to grind, just a pure scholar .
Vermes chose to end "Christian Beginnings, From Nazareth to Nicea, AD 30-325," with a postscript, in which he asks a question about Jesus?
"What," he asks, " would the historical Jesus have made of the Council of Nicea?" .... " Would Jesus, hearing about his consubstantiality with the Father, be as perplexed as (the) Moses of the legend was, when confronted with the rabbinic interpretation of the law?"
Others found him thin-skinned, narrow, repetitive, and selective in his approach. He could brilliantly link texts that suited his arguments, but seemed to brush aside evidence that contradicted them: John’s gospel, for example, or the writings of the Apostle Paul.
Interesting comment -- seems typical of all religous researchers.
I'll look for his book, sounds interesting.
