PDF James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls I The Historical James Paul the Enemy and Jesus' Brothers as Apostles eBook Robert Eisenman

Product details File Size 1297 KB Print Length 629 pages Simultaneous Device Usage Unlimited Publication Date December 28, 2018 Sold by  Digital Services LLC Language English ASIN B07MDNLMY7

James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls I The Historical James Paul the Enemy and Jesus' Brothers as Apostles eBook Robert Eisenman Reviews

• I rate nonfiction books on the basis of whether or not they impart knowledge I didn't have, are clearly written, and whether the author has solid evidence to support the theories/arguments given.
  
  I have read other books by Eisenman and can say that he always has many references to back up his views. These two volumes on James is no exception. He invites the reader to use the references he has used so that the reader can keep up, because he is meticulous with notes and every paragraph has relevant information. I suppose that is why he needed two volumes to get the job done. He is very easy to read. It doesn't matter if one agrees with his conclusions or not. What is important is that if you are interested in Biblical history, this is a super two volume set. You may or may not agree with him. That is up to you.
• Eisenman deserves considerable credit as a political credit in making the Deep Sea Scrolls to the public, and providing some initial description of what is in them. This, and its sequel, total 800 pages in which Eisenman seeks to explain characters described by generic identifiers as specifically applying to James, the brother of Jesus Christ, and the Apostle Paul. Alhtough considered a Historian, Eisenman argument really qualify as comparative analysis, and time one is convinced that his arguments are completely flaky. To make things worse, he interprets everything through the lens of Anti-Semitism even for things which clearly are not. For his part, he repeated goes off on anti-Christian rants. His misrepresentation of Christian culture and belief makes one concerned that his representations of Jewish culture and belief is equally off base. Nevertheless, as a Jew, he provides what is clearly the best survey of Jewish writings as enlighten understanding of Christian writings. And for all the problem of his less than credible conclusions, the process of and vigor of his attacks against understandings which have been held for thousands of years incorrectly as settled, and not subject to challenge. He does not well end the debate, but he begin unapologetically an adversarial academic conversation which needs to be had and does, at least, shake your conviction that factual accounts that Christian have long accepted need to be reviewed and revised. At his worst, Eisenman completely loses professional objectivity, attacking the content of written accounts by asserting, with nothing more than a sarcastic mocking tone, that certain passages of the New Testament are complete nonsense. At this best, Eisenman gives insights that should shake your Christian world view. Of questionable weight, and at time obnoxious in the tone of his criticism the book still deserves a high rating, and should be considered a must read for the serious student of the history of the Intertestamental, and New Testament, periods.
• Robert Eisenman is brilliant! He is one of the best original thinkers in the study of early Christianity. Of course, he encountered some opposition from mainstream traditional thinkers, but you can read his scholarship for yourself and come to your own opinion. You might also want to watch the Caesar's Messiah video on YouTube or watch his Dead Sea Scrolls course.
• Robert Eisenman is one of my big three scholarly giants in the subject Biblical history along with the late Hyam Maccoby and James D. Tabor. Eisenman has a particularly endearing position due to his work in breaking up the 40 year publication logjam of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This book condenses his previous exhaustive '96 work, "James the Brother of Jesus" (What, Jesus had a brother!?!). Not only does he equate James with the DSS "Teacher of Righteousness", he also makes an excellent case for Paul being a Herodian and the "Spouter of Lies" in the DSS. I think he makes an ironclad case for Paul's familial connections, which is the source of his birthright as a Roman Citizen. Bells start going off and pieces of the puzzle start falling into place with the information he presents here.
  
  Though they sometimes disagree with each other, this book, Maccoby's "The Mythmaker", and Tabor's "The Jesus Dynasty" & "The Jesus Discovery" (the latter with Simcha Jacobovici), should always be at hand for those looking to decode the tangled web of information about early Church history and the religion that came to be known as Christianity.
• This is the most sensitive and insightful reading of Josephus and Paul’s letters. The approach to understanding Jesus through our knowledge of James his brother and head of the first Jerusalem Church was brilliant and convincing. This is not an easy read, but the reward is very well worth the effort
• I had trudged through the original book (James, the Brother of Jesus) which was fascinating but unbelievably wordy. I sprang for this one because the topic is crucial and the guy does his research. I hoped that he had figured by now that his interminable details and repetitions were making for an exceedingly tough read. No such luck.
  Again, a very thorough book on a neglected and very important topic, so something of a must-have for people interested in the genuine roots of what we know as Christianity. Lots of real revelations here, but unfortunately written again in a style so mired in repetition, redundancy and exhausting detail that getting through the whole book is an absolute trial. Still recommend it, but I do wish the author would pay attention to the many comments and complaints that his writing style is impossibly granular and verbose. He really needs to work with an editor or co-author who would be able to sift through the manuscript and sift out all the endless repetitions and rewordings of the key teachings.
• Haven’t read yet