Maccoby, Hyam
Mythmaker Paul and the invention of Christianity Paul and the invention of Christianity The mythmaker Hyam Maccoby - New York Barnes & Noble 1998, c1986. - xii, 237 p. 24 cm.
Includes indexes
Contents:
Part I: Saul
The problem of Paul
The standpoint of this book
The Pharisees
Was Jesus a Pharisee?
Why was Jesus crucified?
Was Paul a Pharisee?
Alleged Rabbinical style in Paul's Epistles
Paul and Stephen
Part II: Paul
The road to Damascus
Damascus and after
Paul and the Eucharist
The "Jerusalem Church"
The split
The trial of Paul
The evidence of the Ebionites
The mythmaker
The author presents new arguments which support the view that Paul, not Jesus, was the founder of Christianity. He argues that Jesus and also his immediate disciples James and Peter were life-long adherents of Pharisaic Judaism. Paul, however, was not, as he claimed, a native-born Jew of Pharisee upbringing, but came in fact from a Gentile background. He maintains that it was Paul alone who created a new religion by his vision of Jesus as a Divine Saviour who died to save humanity. This concept, which went far beyond the messianic claims of Jesus, was an amalgamation of ideas derived from Hellenistic religion, especially from Gnosticism and the mystery cults. Paul played a devious and adventurous political game with Jesus' followers of the so-called Jerusalem Church, who eventually disowned him. The conclusions of this historical and psychological study will come as a shock to many readers, but it is nevertheless a book which cannot be ignored by anyone concerned with the foundations of our culture and society. -- Book jacket
0760707871 9780760707876
Paul--Jewish interpretations
Jesus Christ--Person and offices.
Christianity--Origin.
Church --history--Primitive and early church--ca. 30-600
Jewish interpretations of the Apostle Paul
225.924 Mac 8
Mythmaker Paul and the invention of Christianity Paul and the invention of Christianity The mythmaker Hyam Maccoby - New York Barnes & Noble 1998, c1986. - xii, 237 p. 24 cm.
Includes indexes
Contents:
Part I: Saul
The problem of Paul
The standpoint of this book
The Pharisees
Was Jesus a Pharisee?
Why was Jesus crucified?
Was Paul a Pharisee?
Alleged Rabbinical style in Paul's Epistles
Paul and Stephen
Part II: Paul
The road to Damascus
Damascus and after
Paul and the Eucharist
The "Jerusalem Church"
The split
The trial of Paul
The evidence of the Ebionites
The mythmaker
The author presents new arguments which support the view that Paul, not Jesus, was the founder of Christianity. He argues that Jesus and also his immediate disciples James and Peter were life-long adherents of Pharisaic Judaism. Paul, however, was not, as he claimed, a native-born Jew of Pharisee upbringing, but came in fact from a Gentile background. He maintains that it was Paul alone who created a new religion by his vision of Jesus as a Divine Saviour who died to save humanity. This concept, which went far beyond the messianic claims of Jesus, was an amalgamation of ideas derived from Hellenistic religion, especially from Gnosticism and the mystery cults. Paul played a devious and adventurous political game with Jesus' followers of the so-called Jerusalem Church, who eventually disowned him. The conclusions of this historical and psychological study will come as a shock to many readers, but it is nevertheless a book which cannot be ignored by anyone concerned with the foundations of our culture and society. -- Book jacket
0760707871 9780760707876
Paul--Jewish interpretations
Jesus Christ--Person and offices.
Christianity--Origin.
Church --history--Primitive and early church--ca. 30-600
Jewish interpretations of the Apostle Paul
225.924 Mac 8