Another splendid title from Hendrickson

Meet the Rabbis: Rabbinic Thought and the Teachings of Jesus
Brad H. Young
Hendrickson, 2007
270 pages
Buy from Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA

Here is the TOC:
PART 1: Introduction to Rabbinic Thought

1. Introduction to Rabbinic Thought
2. Master Teachers and Their Disciples
3. Torah is More Than Law
4. The Great Sanhedrin
5. Parallel Rabbinic and New Testament Texts

PART 2: Introduction to Rabbinic Literature

6. Introduction to Early Jewish Writings
7. Ethics of the Fathers
8. The Amidah Prayer
9. Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith
10. Hillel’s Seven Principles of Bible Interpretation

PART 3: Introduction to the Rabbis

11. Meet the Rabbis
12. Both Torahs Were Revealed on Mount Sinai
13. Utopia or Plan of Action?

PART 4: Study Helps

• Of Books, Commandments, Laws, Holy Days, and Lineage
• Glossary of Terms
• Bibliographic Helps
• Index of Modern Authors
• Index of Subjects
• Index of Ancient Sources

Here’s the endorsement from the back:

Brad H. Young has published Jesus the Jewish Theologian and The Parables; now, he continues to illustrate how rabbinics is essential for understanding the New Testament documents and elucidates the historical Jesus. Moreover, Meet the Rabbis is an engagingly written introduction to rabbinic though, literature, and the lives of the most influential rabbis. Young proves how rabbinics helps to clarify the origins of Christianity. The rabbis come to life, providing insights into how to live, being faithful to God and the needy among us. He succeeds in illustrating how Jewish thought clarifies the theology of the Sermon on the Mount. This is a must read for everyone interested in Judaism and Christian origins. — James H. Charlesworth

Jim Charlesworth’s blurb really says it well. This is a clear and readable introduction to rabbinic thought and how it can illuminate the NT. Throughout the book, Young draws parallels with the Sermon on the Mount in particular (especially chapter 5). This book draws a nice balance in its introduction to rabbinic figures, writings, and thought and makes an excellent introductory textbook. My only quibble with this book has to do with the ancient text index. For a book focused on rabbinic literature, I am surprised how sparse the rabbinic literature section is. A very small taint in what is otherwise an excellent book.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 2:08 am by Danny Zacharias and is filed under Hendrickson, Book Blurbs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.