View source for Jesus, the Man and the Myth: A Jewish Reading of the New Testament by Frederic Seager

{{infobox1
|title=Jesus, the Man and the Myth: A Jewish Reading of the New Testament
|author=Frederic Seager
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
|summary=Frederic Seager looks at the New Testament with a critical eye and challenges both Christian and some Jewish responses to it and proposes new interfaith relations going forward. Analytical and with deep historical and religious understanding, it's written in a positive and accessible way.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=283
|publisher=Independently Published
|date=April 2021
|isbn=979-8736148233
|cover=B092BWWG9Y
|aznuk=B092BWWG9Y
|aznus=B092BWWG9Y
}}

I was brought up in a family where religion played little or no part. Culturally Irish Catholic on one side and Welsh Methodist on the other, nobody really discussed religion and the adults around me ranged from lapsed to agnostic to atheist. Other than the odd church wedding or baptism or the school nativity play, I didn't think too much about faith or what people did or didn't believe. It wasn't that faith was derided or mocked so much as it wasn't often discussed. As an adult, I'm without faith but much more interested - not just in the ethical systems that underpin world religions but in the history of their ideas and how these are so often lost in endless conflicts.

So I was happy when a copy of ''Jesus, the Man and the Myth'' arrived. Having reviewed [[Neville Chamberlain's War: How Great Britain Opposed Hitler, 1939-1940 by Frederic Seager|a previous book]] by Frederic Seager for Bookbag, I knew that I'd get a potentially provocative argument but one with clarity and accessibility and borne of deep knowledge of the topic. I was not disappointed.

Seager gives a reading of the Christian New Testament from a Jewish perspective. It's rich in detail about the historical context and in particular about the ideas and methods and traditions of the Jewish religious authorities and thinkers of the time. From this perspective, he challenges the meaning and the context of some of Christ's deeds and words and how they are interpreted, not just by Christians themselves but also by many Jewish commentators. From a critique of the true meaning of the Old Testament's "eye for an eye" through Christ's advice to pay tax to the Romans to the smiting of the barren fig tree, it is a provocative and fascinating read. 

The parts I found most affecting were those that discussed the Christian notion of being saved and the purpose of religion being to attain life hereafter via personal salvation compared to an emphasis on serving God by making the world we live in better, while we are living in it. The book isn't an attack on Christianity itself and this comparison of religious purpose leads Seager into an interesting section on interfaith dialogue and on different faiths living together in a modern, interconnected, technological society. 

You don't need to be either Christian or Jewish to find ''Jesus, the Man and the Myth'' an engaging and thought-provoking read. I'm neither and I don't hesitate to recommend it.

You can read more about Frederic Seager [[:Category:Frederic Seager|here]] and you might also enjoy his [[Neville Chamberlain's War: How Great Britain Opposed Hitler, 1939-1940 by Frederic Seager|fascinating book]] about the Phoney War from 1939-40.

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