The Jewish Roots of Divine Christology | Discussion with Dr. Daniel Boyarin

Jesus was Jewish. He was a Jewish man with a Jewish family in a rural Jewish town, with teachings rooted in Jewish tradition drawing from Jewish scriptures. Christians call him Christ, which means Messiah, and Messiah is a Jewish concept. But what does it really mean to be the Messiah? What kind of person were ancient Jews awaiting? It’s an important question, especially because Christians don’t only say Jesus is the Messiah; they worship him as God. Is that conjunct coherent? A divine Father and a divine Messiah as the one God—did that notion originate with Christians, or are there non-Christian Jewish precedents for belief in Two Sovereign Powers? Moreover, considering how steeped Jesus was in Judaism, what was his relationship to the Jewish Scriptures (or what many Christians call the Old Testament)? Did he relax a number of the laws, did keep all the commandments conservatively, or is the truth more nuanced?

These are some of the questions I ask Dr. Boyarin, an expert on Hebrew literature, Semitic languages, Talmudic culture, and the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Enjoy this 13th episode of The Life Discussion!

#interview #jewish #jesus #christ #divine #christology #study #scholar #expert #talmud #judaism #christianity #bible #hebrew #twopowers #worship #messiah

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RESOURCES

The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ (book by Dr. Boyarin) --
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1595588787/

"Jesus and the Pharisees" (lecture by Dr. Bruce Chilton) --
   • Bruce Chilton tape 5 Jesus and the Pa...  

Mark: A Commentary (critical commentary by Dr. Adelo Yarbro Collins) --
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0800660781/