Reddit reviews Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography

Mod up for being an informed and rather open minded Christian. If more Christians took your attitude the world would be a better place. Of course, I'd rather they be atheists like me, but either way I'm good!

Regarding 2), the Pauline church was in power by AD 70, so the earliest accounts we have are from Paul and his disciples. Jewish Christianity burnt along with the rest of Jerusalem, and we don't have a copy of the Saying's gospel (Q).

To me, it's amazing how much of Jesus' Jewishness comes through even in the obviously gentile scriptures we have instead. I wonder how much more Jewish Jesus' own teachings might have been. One thing I'm sure of, he wouldn't have accepted Gentiles becoming Jews without observing the law of Moses! Luke was certainly Pauline, and even he affirms this in Acts 21!

One thing is clear, the Jesus we know about has been sanitized for a Gentile audience, so we'll probably never know his actual feelings on the matter. To me, even the sanitized story makes it clear that Jesus did not preach to gentiles, and I wonder how much more pro-Jewish he was IRL.

I've recently been reading a book that focuses on the Jewish nature of Jesus' message, called "Rabbi Jesus". It's a fascinating read.
http://www.amazon.com/Rabbi-Jesus-Biography-Bruce-Chilton/dp/0385497938

Jesus was a real person, a point which seems fairly agreed upon by historians (of which I am not).

I highly suggest reading Rabbi Jesus. While it's written by a Christian, it's well researched (dude learned dead languages to read source material) and really sets Jesus in historical context.

As an atheist I found the book very enlightening. Jesus is both a person from history and an archetype representing the good within all of us.

> Truth, justice, and compassion were within our grasp, [Jesus] taught, if only we would seize them.

I can't think of anything more true.