What Crucified Jesus?: Messianism, Pharisaism, and the Development of Christianity [Paperback]

Ellis Rivkin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1997

This landmark book by noted scholar Dr. Ellis Rivkin examines the legacy of the Gospels, which traditionally assigned the responsibility for the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus to the Jewish people.

Product Details

• Paperback: 181 pages
• Publisher: Urj Press (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807406309
• ISBN-13: 978-0807406304
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,326,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Jews and Christians alike, this book is win-win, December 17, 1998

By 

"research7" - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Crucified Jesus?: Messianism, Pharisaism, and the Development of Christianity (Paperback)

Ellis Rivkin has written a book that confronts head-on the erroneous perception that the Jews crucified Jesus. This would be a surprise to most Christians. It was to me. With a reasoned and enlightened style, Rivkin takes us back to the historical, religious and political context of the New Testament, with special analysis of what it was like to be an observant Jew living in Israel under total Roman domination at a time when Jews, as today, were doctrinally divided on key interpretations of Scripture, such as the resurrection from the dead, temple worship, and messiah. Essentially what Rivkin does for us is to provide the vital historial, religious, and political context to the New Testament (NT) narratives, a context that is missing or out of focus for most Christians, who, wanting to focus mainly on the Gospel message, also absorb the palpable anti-Jewish tone throughout the narratives. Rivkin points out repeatedly that the anti-Jewish tone must be understood in the right context and cannot be construed as being anti-semitic in intent or interpreted as some kind of justication for the Christ-killer libel that has been propagated against Jews for centuries. In other words, for Christians, there is no justification based on NT Scripture that the Jews crucified Jesus; and, for Jews, there is no justification for slandering the writers of the NT by saying that they hated the Jewish people and thereby have spread their presumed hatred to the world through the NT Gospels, Letters, and histories. There is much more to this book, and it is worth the inexpensive price. It should be read by itself for the analysis and style, although it is repetitive in places because it is apparently an edited compilation of speeches by the author on the topic of Christian anti-semitism. An if any Christian doubts the extent of Christian anti-semitism in Church history and today, let him or her also read another seminal title, "The Anguish of the Jews" by the eminent and scholarly priest-author Edward Flannery, who died in 10/98 in his 80's. These books deal with a topic that is as current as today's headlines, on an issue that is at the heart of peace and justice in the world today, and at the heart the prophetic stories in the Bible. Importantly, Rivkin's book can give Jews and Christians another reason to understand and even trust each other a little bit more because of their common heritage and their G-d, in spite of doctrinal differences.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Intelligent Guide to the Origins of Christianity and Judaism, December 18, 2006

By 

James E. Egolf "James E. Egolf, MA" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Crucified Jesus?: Messianism, Pharisaism, and the Development of Christianity (Paperback)

Ellis Rivkin's WHAT CRUCIFIED CHRIST is an impressive collection of essays that should be read by serious Christians and Jews if they want to have an accurate understanding of both similiarities and differences between contemporay Judaism and Christianity. Ellis Rivkin's book gives the reader insight into both religious views and effectively explains that Christianity developed from Jewish roots.

Prof. Rivkin provides a clear political history of the Judeans (Jews) from the time of the Maccabean Rebellion (c.170 BC to 160 BC). One should be aware that this rebellion may have been part of the serious differences between those Jews who were not affected by Greek thought and culture and those Jews who were Hellenized or influenced by the Greek language and thought. The Septuagint, which was completed c. 250 BC, was the first translation of the Torah from Hebrew to Greek. From c. 160 BC until 63 BC, the two powerful families of the Herodians and the Haesmonians were involved in bitter disputes over authority in Judea. Only when the Romans entered Judea and Palestine in 63 BC was this dispute partially resolved in favor of the Herodians.

Prof. Rivkin uses the historical background of the Roman Empire in explaining the serious political tensions that led to persecution of some Jewish leaders and their followers. What the uninitiated need to realize and what Prof. Rivkin effectively explains are the internal Jewish political/religious tensions and the fragile relations between some of the Jews and the Romans. For example, the more conservative Jewish leaders such as the Sadducees and Pharisees had confined their differences to debate but debate that was often sacastic. Such debates were over interpretation of the Torah and the Law. The Sadducess argued that only the first five books of the Bible were canonical or binding while the Pharisees argued that there was a Written Torah and an Oral Torah or Oral Law. Some readers may be interested in the fact that the Pharisees redacted much of the TANAKH or Jewish Bible which for Christians is the Old Testament. They also argued in favor of a Messiah and an afterlife. Rivkin makes clear that in Matthew'Gospel (chapter 23)that Christ tells his listeners to do as the Pharisees instructed while at the same time, He calls them vipers,hyocrites, etc. The divisions between the Sadducees and Pharisees were not the only differences among Judeans. The Essenes and what some may call the Zealots were part of the ongoing religious debate.

Prof. Rivkin gives careful attention to these debates and provides a historical background. For religious Jews to engage in serious debate over religion was not a serious problem. However, when charasmatic leaders such as John the Baptist preached about a Messiah, a king of the Jews, etc., such talk caught the attention not only of the Roman authorities but also some of the Jewish authorities. Prof. Rivkin is clear that the Roman authorities had no interest in religious disputes. However, the Roman procurators were very concerned about talk of a Messiah and the Kingdom to Come. The preaching did not concern them so much as the large crowds of people who listened to such leaders. The Romans faced continuous rebellion and used savage force to crush these rebellions. The Sadducees and Pharisees were also concerned because they knew that they might be victimized by such repression. These Jewish leaders also knew that the Judeans or Jewish people were often the victims of such reprisal.

The result of the fear of rebellions was that the Jewish and Roman leaders argued that they should crush a seemingly harmless leader and his followers rather than wait for a possible rebellion that would cost them both blood and treasure. Understanding the political history of Judea and Palestine during the time of Roman occupation gives readers an intelligent view. Rivkin does a good job in so informing his readers.

Prof. Rivkin also explains alleged anti-Jewish and anti-Jewish references in the New Testament especially John's Gospel. Prof. Rivkin explains that what some see as anti-Semiticism was actually fierce debates between one group of Judeans or Jews against another. During the Middle Ages, some Christians and some Jews misunderstood this context and made accusations and false claims against each other. Prof. Rivkin cites contemporary examples of the arguements between Orthodox Jews and Reform Jews. In other words, these debates are often fierce and polimical, but they are similiar to such arguements in the New Testament.

Prof. Rivkin's essays are redundant in places, but sometimes such repetition is necessary to make sure a historical point is impressed on the readers. Prof. Rivkin gives the reader an autobiographical odyssey of his investigation of the connections of Judaism and early Christianity.

A point that Prof. Rivkin makes very well is that Christianity is a mutation of Judaism, and there are similiarities. As an associate told this reviewer, the so-called early Christians were not aware they were Christians and thought they were part of Messianic Judaism.

This reviewer is impressed with Prof. Rivkin's WHAT CRUCIFIED CHRIST. A good book to help navigate WHAT CRUCIFIED CHRIST is Rivkin's book on the Pharisees. Prof. Rivkin provides readings from the TANAKH and The New Testament to help make connections in biblical literature. Any serious Christian or Jew who wants to understand rather than condemn would be well advised to read WHAT CRUCIFIED CHRIST.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gracious Study of the New Testament by a Jewish Scholar, April 13, 2009

By 

Marc Axelrod (Potter, Wi USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Crucified Jesus?: Messianism, Pharisaism, and the Development of Christianity (Paperback)

Ellis Rivkin is a kindly soul, and it comes out in this riveting, well written study of issues relating to the crucifixion of Jesus. Well, to be fair, the question of what crucified Jesus is only one of the topics tackled in this series of essays.

Rivkin concludes that it was the Roman imperial system that was responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. It was in the government's best interests to eliminate anyone who could gather a crowd together and get them all fired up, because crowds are dangerous. What if the people tried to make Jesus king by force? Then Rome would really have a major problem on their hands. So for the sake of the imperial system and its preservation, Jesus was handed over to be crucified.

I think that this is partially true, but it is somewhat of an oversimplification. The New Testament assigns responsibility to the Jewish people (Matthew 27:25, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, wicked people in general (Acts 2:22-24), and to the Gentiles (Mark 10:32-34). A cursory reading of the four gospels makes it clear that you can't just pin the blame on one group.

In another essay, Rivkin concludes that the New Testament is not anti-semitic, if we are talking about using religious texts to demonize a race or a people group. He concludes that the NT reveals a squabble within the confines of Judaism. I've heard another scholar call it a "family fight," which makes sense to me.

Rivkin also takes moderately conservative positions on the history of the Gospel portrayals of the trials of Jesus. He concludes that the hastily arranged trials were not official meetings of the Bet Din, though I wish he would have discussed the issue of whether or not these trials could have occured on the first night of Passover. This has been questioned a lot over the years, and I am amazed that Rivkin doesn't discuss it here.

There is also an essay entitled "A Jew Looks At the New Testament." This may have been the most fascinating essay of them all. Rivkin discusses his own faith journey from Orthodox Judaism to a more scholarly and ecumenical Judaism.

He also looks at the New Testament as a divinely inspired mutation of Judaism in the same way Reformed and Orthodox Judaisms are mutations from biblical religion. He says that he doesn't want to become a Christian because it would end his journey within Judaism, and he doesn't feel he could be satisfied with Christ. He wants to keep experiencing divine revelations of God, and the exclusivism of Christianity makes him turn away. This is strange to me because not only can we be complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10), but it assumes that once you become a Christian, you stop growing. Nothing could be further from the truth. A Christian never stops growing and never stops experiencing progressive light and insight from God.

Moreover, I wish Rivkin would have discussed how Christianity could still be considered a mutation of Judaism once it became clear that Christians believed in the divinity of Jesus Christ. I know of no other mutation of Judaism that teaches that the Messiah would be divine. Bart Ehrman and others try to say that this was a later development, but Philippians 2:5-11 makes it evident that Christians confessed Jesus as Lord very early on.

But I want to say that even though I find points in the book where I would want to strenuously question things, this book is a terrific read. You will learn a lot about intertestamental Jewish history along the way, and you will grow in your appreciation of Jesus and Paul.