The Resurrection: History and Myth
Geza Vermes
Doubleday, 2008
171 Pages
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Here is the TOC:
Prologue: The Christian Notion of Resurrection and Its Historical Antecedents
Part 1: Afterlife in teh Jewish World Before Jesus

1. A Bird’s-Eye View of Human Destiny in the Bible: From Lost Immortality to Resurrection
2. Death and Its Sequels in Ancient Judaism: Paving the Way for Resurrection
3. Biblical and Postbiblical Antecedents of the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus
4. Martyrdom and Resurrection in Late Second Temple Judaism
5. Jewish Attitudes to Afterlife in the Age of Jesus

Part 2: Resurrection and Eternal Life in the New Testament

6. Introductory Note
7. The Teaching of Jesus on Resurrection and Eternal Life
8. Predictions of the Resurrection of Jesus
9. Resurrection Accounts in the New Testament Regarding Persons Other Than Jesus
10. The Gospel Accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus
11. Initial Evaluation of the Accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus
12. The Resurrection of Jesus in the Acts of the Apostles
13. The Resurrection of Jesus in Saint Paul
14. The Resurrection of Jesus in the Rest of the New Testament
15. The Meaning of the Concept of Resurrection in the New Testament

Epilogue: Resurrection in the Hearts of Men

Here is the dust jacket description:
World-famous biblical scholar Geza Vermes has studies all the evidence that still remains, over two thousand years after Jesus Christ was reported to have risen from the dead. Examining the Jewish Bible, the New Testament, and other accounts left to us, as well as contemporary attitudes toward the afterlife, he takes us through each episode with a historian’s focus: the crucifixion, the treatment of the body, the statements of the women who found the empty tomb, and the visions of Christ by his disciples. Unraveling the true meaning conveyed in the Gospels, the Acts, and Saint Paul, Vermes shines new light on the developing faith in the risen Christ among the first followers of Jesus.

This book is clearly meant to be an accessible introduction to this topic — evidenced by its size and its sparse reference and dialogue with studies on the topic.

Doubleday has sent me two books which I’m happy to blurb. Here’s the first:

Abraham’s Curse: Child Sacrifice in teh Legacies of the West
Bruce Chilton
Doubleday, 2008
259 pages
Purchase from Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA

Here is the TOC:
Part 1: The Test

1. Sacrificial Species, Human Offerings
2. Martyrdom, the Jewish Invention

Part 2: Blood of the Lamb

3. The Son’s Eternal Sacrifice
4. Martyrs, in the Flesh
5. Gnostic Laughter, Roman Pornography, Blood Payment

Part 3: Taking Leave of Moriah

6. Ibrahim’s Sacrificial Vision
7. Blood Harvest
8. The Long Descent

The Book includes a subject index as well.

Here is the jacket description:
The story of Abraham’s acceptance of God’s command to sacrifice his son Isaac is one of the most disturbing of all biblical stories. Isaac is spared only at the last moment, when an angel stops Abraham’s hand. Theologians and scholars have wrestled with the question of why God asked Abraham to kill his beloved son, why Abraham acquiesced, and why in some interpretations he actually killed his son.
In Abraham’s Curse, Bruce Chilton traces the impact of the story of Abraham and Isaac on the beliefs and teachings of Judaism (where Abraham is regarded as the forefather of Israel), Islam (where he provides the role model for Muhammad), and Christianity (where he is teh ancestor of King David, whose lineage culminates in Jesus). As Chilton examines the story’s significance, he makes the case that, far from only reflecting the violence of an ancient, unenlightened time, the sacrifice of children in the name of religion is still a fundamental part of our lives and culture—from Islamist suicide bombings to militant Zionism and graphic glorifications of the Crucifixion of Christ.

How is that for a weighty subject? I’m interested to see future reviews of this book and interested in reading the portions that relate to the early church.