Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus

The University of Chicago Press

Abraham Geiger and the Jewish JesusAuthor(s): Susannah Heschel\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: The University of Chicago Press, United States\nImprint: University of Chicago Press\nISBN-13: 9780226329581, 978-0226329581\nSynopsis\nWas Jesus the founder of Christianity of a teacher of Judaism? When he argued the latter based on the New Testament, Abraham Geiger ignited an intense debate that began in 19th-century Germany but continues in the late-20th century. Geiger was a pioneer of Reform Judaism and a founder of Jewish studies and developed a Jewish version of Christian origins. He contended that Jesus was a member of the pharisees, a progressive and liberalizing group within 1st-century Judaism, and that he taught nothing new or original. This argumant enraged German Protestant theologians, some of whom produced a tragic counterargument based upon racial theory. In this study, Susannah Heschel traces the genesis of Geiger's argument and examines the reaction to it within Christian t.