Abstract

After centuries of persecution, oppression, forced migrations, and exclusion in the name of Christ, the development of a Jewish “Quest for the Historical Jesus” might seem unexpected.  This book gives an overview and analysis of the various Jewish perspectives on the Nazarene throughout the centuries, emphasizing the variety of German voices in Anglo-American contexts. It explores the reasons for a steady increase in Jewish interest in Jesus since the end of the eighteenth century, arguing that this growth had a strategic goal: the justification of Judaism as a living faith alongside Christianity.

“Perhaps the most significant contribution of the book is the chapter on Joseph Ratzinger (Pope
Benedict), whose trilogy on Jesus was largely ignored by Jewish scholars. Rabbi Homolka’s careful and thoughtful assessment of Pope Benedict’s views are important for Jews to read and understand. Rabbi Homolka’s book returns the discussion of “Jesus the Jew” to some of its original roots in Germany 150 years ago to a newly reconstituted twenty-first-century Jewish community there… required reading for those engaged in modern dialogue.” • Journal of Jewish Identities

“…a brief and very helpful summary of a large body of scholarly work [that] includes an extensive and very useful bibliography.” • Journal of Ecumenical Studies

“The book is well researched and is presented in a way that is accessible to any adult reader. This title would be appropriate for any collection serving an adult population.” • Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews

“This book offers a constructive contribution to the debates on the theological significance of Jewish and Christian approaches to the historical Jesus. The author’s knowledge of Jewish and Christian discourses on both sides of the Atlantic is impressive.” • Werner G. Jeanrond, University of Oxford

Rabbi Walter Homolka is the rector of the Abraham Geiger College, Germany’s first rabbinical seminary after the Holocaust, and a professor of Modern Jewish Thought at the School of Jewish Theology of the University of Potsdam in Germany. Active in Jewish-Christian dialogue, he is author of many books, including The Gate to Perfection: The Idea of Peace in Jewish Thought (Berghahn 1995), Jewish Identity in Modern Times: Leo Baeck and German Protestantism (Berghahn 1995), and co-author with Hans Küng of How to Do Good & Avoid Evil: A Global Ethic from the Sources of Judaism (Skylight Paths, 2009).