Is early Christianity simply Judaism in a foreign accent? Do we have evidence from the Jewish side concerning which biblical verses Jews and Christians bickered over in their interpretations? What did Jesus and Pharisees really argue about? By closely examining the exegetical underpinnings of the controversies between Jews and Christians, Herbert Basser discovers the Jewish side to a debate that, until now, has not received adequate scholarly treatment. He goes behind the words of the gospels and behind the words of the rabbis to decipher the sources upon which both are based in order to make...

Basser examines the fierce debates between Christians and Jews, which took place in the process and the aftermath of the Christian break from Judaism. After the Christian-Jewish schism, church writers recast dialogues of law and lore into descriptions of bitter controversies between Jesus and Pharisees. These reflected the strife then current between Christians and Jews. Jews justified their ill-will towards Christians who undermined their doctrines. By closely examining the exegetical underpinnings of the controversies between Jews and Christians, Basser discovers the Jewish side to a debate...

In The Gospel of Matthew and Judaic Traditions, Herbert W. Basser, with the editorial help of Marsha Cohen, utilizes his encyclopaedic knowledge of Judaism to navigate Matthew's Gospel. This close, original reading explicates Matthew's use of Jewish concepts and legal traditions that have not been fully understood in the past. Basser highlights Gospel sources that are congruent with a wide swath of extant Jewish writings from various provenances. Matthew affirms Jesus' end-of-days--the coming of the Kingdom--salvation message: initially meant for Jews, it is the Gentiles who embraced...