Christian Origins in Jewish Tradition
Scholars who set out to clarify a particular issue can proceed along one of two different lines: either they can scrutinize the existing sources critically or they can compass land and sea to discover new sources. As the former procedure is the established one so far as Christian origins are concern...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[1967]
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| In: |
New Testament studies
Year: 1967, Volume: 13, Issue: 4, Pages: 317-335 |
| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Scholars who set out to clarify a particular issue can proceed along one of two different lines: either they can scrutinize the existing sources critically or they can compass land and sea to discover new sources. As the former procedure is the established one so far as Christian origins are concerned and as it is indeed advisable since the New Testament sources are something apart, it may easily be understood that some more radical minds should venture to explore the other course. Voltaire was one of these. He urged his correspondent to consult the Jewish Toledoth Jeshu as they stem from the first century and contain ‘des choses beaucoup plus vraisemblables que dans nos évangiles’. Other men followed in his steps. But attempts to write a history of Jesus based on the Jewish reports and centred on details related by them-attempts made by some rare birds of the last century-were bound to prove unsuccessful. Jewish scholarship was quick to realize this and to dissociate itself from the Toledoth (and other material) as from absurdities or a ‘Schmarren’-something like a penny-dreadful-not worth looking at. There the matter rested. |
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| ISSN: | 0028-6885 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: New Testament studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0028688500018336 |