The Changing Faces of Jesus (Hardcover)

by Geza Vermes (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Changing Faces of Jesus is a reflection on the ways that translations of Scripture have transformed believers' understandings of Jesus. Author Geza Vermes, a biblical scholar perhaps best known for his English translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, reviews the varying portraits of Jesus in Scripture, particularly focusing on the letters of Paul and the Gospel of John. The author contends that, "by the end of the first century Christianity had lost sight of the real Jesus and of the original meaning of his message." The real Jesus, a "religious man with an irresistible charismatic charm," was replaced by "Jesus the Christ, the transcendent object of the Christian religion." Vermes avoids the polemic tone often adopted by scholars who make similar arguments. Here is an example of the modest style in which this author makes his momentous claims:

As a historian I consider Jesus, the primitive church and the New Testament as part and parcel of first-century Judaism and seek to read them as such rather than through the eyes of a theologian who may often be conditioned, and subconsciously influenced, by two millennia of Christian belief and church directives.

This tone will help readers--even those predisposed to disagree with Vermes--to understand his argument that religious belief has skewed understanding of the central figure of the Christian religion. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly
This academic yet accessible book tackles the question of Jesus' identity by attempting to strip away theological and historical interpretations in order to reach the original, Jewish, human Jesus. Vermes, professor emeritus of Jewish studies at Oxford, begins with the Gospel of John, which he asserts was the first to ascribe divine status to Jesus, and proceeds through the Pauline letters, the Book of Acts and the Synoptic Gospels. Along the way, he dismantles any statements about Jesus' life that he feels to be inaccurate or questionable. Vermes argues instead that if one returns to the actual and indisputable words of Jesus as stated by the Synoptic Gospels, and if one also takes into account the historical and Jewish religious tenor of the time, Jesus is revealed as a "prophet-like holy man, mighty in deed and word, a charismatic healer and exorcist." Vermes's Jesus is a teacher concerned with the Kingdom of God on earth, in the tradition of other Jewish holy men. The book sometimes engages in speculative reasoning: for example, a) Luke was an associate of Paul, b) Paul's theology is missing from Acts, c) "one would have expected an associate of Paul to do better than that," so d) Luke must not have written Acts. For the most part, however, Vermes ably poses the critical questions that have characterized the "quest for the historical Jesus," adding a few of his own.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (March 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670894516
• ISBN-13: 978-0670894512
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #861,267 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful but nonpolemical, May 23, 2001

By	John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Silver Lake, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful book. Although I think Ed Sanders's _The Historical Figure of Jesus_ is probably the best single volume on the "Jesus of history," Geza Vermes is perhaps my favorite writer on the subject.

In the present work he continues his project of reclaiming Jesus as a (solely) human being and a Jew of his own time. Here he tackles a topic he has not treated in his previous three volumes: the Christian New Testament's presentation of Jesus outside of the three synoptic gospels. He also gives the synoptics themselves another look after he has dealt with John and Paul.

His theme here is that Christian understanding(s) of Jesus have been colored heavily by the New Testament's portraits. Vermes wants to recover, as far as possible, the human being behind the theology. The portrait Vermes presents here will hold no surprises for readers of his other works: he regards Jesus as a charismatic Galilean holy man with an emphasis on God as father, a somewhat "individualistic" approach that decentralized the importance (though not the necessity) of the social/communal aspects of Torah observance, and the occasional touch of chauvinism.

There is much to accept in Vermes's portrait, and I am in essential agreement with most of it. My worries are about what he omits; as with his earlier work, I am simply unconvinced by his claim that Jesus was crucified simply for doing the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I also do not see that he has adequately dealt with the possible historicity of Jesus's resurrection. (I would supplement Vermes's account on these points by, respectively, Hyam Maccoby's _Revolution in Judea_ and Rabbi Pinchas Lapide's _The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish View_.)

But in its positive aspects, Vermes's portrait is compelling on the whole. And at the end of the volume, he shifts out of "historian" mode to provide a short fantasy about what Jesus might say if he returned today. I will not spoil it by giving away its content, but it's very nicely done. (Okay, I'll give away a _little_ bit. Vermes's Jesus is pleasantly surprised by all the attention he's gotten from non-Jews, especially after the mean things he occasionally said about them. But he suggests that some Christians ought to be a little less devotional and a little more self-reliant.)

Beyond strictly historical interest, it has long been one of Vermes's main concerns to present the figure of Jesus as an offer of hope to those outside the fold of organized religion. His previous works have, I think, been successful in this regard; the present volume is, if anything, more so.

28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vermes ruffles some theological feathers, September 1, 2001

By	"myerb" (Surfers Paradise, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews

One of Vermes' first books, _Jesus the Jew_, was the seminal work dealing with the historical Jesus through a Jewish perspective. It was an innovative work that took a highly original approach to discovering the true figure of Jesus. Two books later (_Jesus and the World of Judaism_, _The Religion of Jesus the Jew_), Vermes has released another masterpiece. In his previous works, his analysis of the historical Jesus was based solely upon the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke). In _The Changing Faces of Jesus_, he goes a step further in attempting to unravel Jesus' true nature. He commences at the most theologically advanced Gospel (i.e. John) and works back through Paul, Acts and finally the Synoptics.

To begin with, Vermes demonstrates to the reader that the Gospel of John is significantly different to the rest of the Gospels as it elevates the figure of Jesus to a divine status that would have been quite foreign to the Jewish way of thinking (even to Jesus!). He shows how influences from Paul and the early gentile church contributed in formulating this divergent account. He illustrates that from a theological point of view, John has been tailored to omit/modify many passages (that were present in the Synoptics) that may have detracted from the portrayal of a divine Jesus. Furthermore John's portrayal of Jesus is that of a self-centred, assertive and transcendent figure which is not present in the Synoptics. In John, Jesus is shown as answering the question "Are you the Messiah?" with a firm positive answer that is unparalleled in the earlier Gospels. Vermes adds that the metaphoric title of "Son of God", that is so prominent in biblical and post-biblical Jewish literature, is taken literally in the fourth Gospel. Vermes argues that this and other details assert that the fourth Gospel is far removed from the historical, Jewish Jesus and instead portrays the gentile vision of a divine God-man whose purpose is to redeem the sins of the world (another foreign concept to Judaism and to Jesus).

When Vermes turns to Paul and his writings, it may be seen that Paul, who never met Jesus in the flesh, influenced the nature of the early Church immensely. In fact it is he who is credited with founding the Christian Religion. Vermes demonstrates that Paul's concept of the Messiah was a significantly modified version of the one commonly portrayed in Jewish literature. Paul's messiah offers himself as a sacrifice for humanity and is later resurrected. This portrayal is totally foreign to the notion of a Davidic messiah that would occupy the throne and redeem Israel. From this it is easy to comprehend why the Jews weren't so quick in accepting Jesus as the messiah. Firstly he was not a king and secondly he did not usher in the age of redemption for Israel as promised. It was therefore possible for Paul to preach his "revised" version of Jesus' messianic role to the gentiles as they had no background in Jewish tradition and would not question his story or his authority. An interesting thing that Vermes shows when dealing with Paul is that although his writings were more theologically advanced than the Synoptics, unlike John, he still saw separation between God the father and Jesus the son. It could be seen through his prayers that although he would pray "through" Jesus, he would still be praying to God.

Vermes continues to go through the changing faces of Jesus in Acts and finally ends up at the Synoptic Gospels. Vermes is by far one of the most qualified men today to discuss Jesus in the earlier Gospels. His experience studying the synoptics as well as many biblical and non-biblical sources (including the Dead Sea Scrolls), is very relevant when analysing the way Jesus was portrayed in Mark, Matthew and Luke. He illustrates that the titles ascribed to Jesus in these early Gospels are all within the parameters of biblical literature. Titles such as "Lord" and "Son of God" are convincingly shown to be similar to those given to other prophetic and charismatic Jews of the time (e.g. Hanina Ben Dosa). This means that it was the later Pauline church that misinterpreted these and many other sayings to suit the gentile church. Through careful analysis, Vermes lends meaning to obscure passages in the Gospels. He investigates them through a Jewish perspective and allows the reader to come a step closer to the original historical Jesus.

As may be seen from the above examples, Vermes beautifully goes through a succinct, step-wise approach in attempting to find the real Jesus. The reader observes the different "Faces" of Jesus by beginning at John's divine representation, and going back through time to those that were closest to the original man. I found this book a delight to read as well as being extremely informative. Vermes' comprehensive notes and selected readings are indispensable to the reader that craves further insight and direction to search for the real Jesus. Vermes' point of view will no doubt disturb those readers that are true believers and do not wish to see Jesus lowered from his divine perch to that of a charismatic, Jewish prophet from Galilee. However, whether they like it or not, the evidence offered by Vermes is very convincing and it all points to the fact that the Christianity of today is nothing like the religion that was taught and promoted by the original Jesus.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, intelligent stimulus for thinking about the NT., December 8, 2002

By	Philippe Ranger (Montreal, Can.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Changing Faces of Jesus (Paperback)

This is a clear, approachable and instructive work that wears its learning quite lightly, wastes few words and keeps within comfortable bounds of length - very English. Penguin provides a useful description of it by Vermes himself, at http://www.penguin.co.uk/Book/BookFrame/0,1007,,00.html?id=0140265244 . The following assumes you have read this.

First, some dates to keep in mind. Jesus died about 30. The authentic epistles of Paul begin early in the 50s and end in the mid-60s. Outside the Pauline domain, all we know of Christianity at the time was centered in Jerusalem and led first by Peter, then by James, Jesus's brother, who was killed in 62. Peter and Paul were executed in Rome in the mid-60s. In 66 an uprising began in Judea which led to the razing of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, in 70. The three synoptic Gospels were written in the 80s and early 90s, Mark first, then Matthew and Luke in debatable order. Around 100 were written the Acts of the Apostles, perhaps by the same hand as Luke. The gospel of John comes later, about 110, and the Revelation later still. All of the NT (New Testament) was written in Greek. Despite the traditional attributions, none of the authors had met Jesus. The author of Luke was not Jewish, and that of John may well not have been. The other writers generally were. All of this is a moderate stretch from, say, the notes in the pre-Vatican-2 Catholic Bible of Jerusalem. Only fundamentalists should be shocked (and they will not read Vermes).

"The changing faces of Jesus", then, are the earlier and earlier pictures of him that emerge when we begin scraping away layers of scriptural overpaint. The Jesus in question is the Galilean charismatic who, according to the synoptics, first acknowledged John the Baptist and probably joined him, then lived for less than a year after John was arrested.

The top layer is the gospel of John, and in the scraping we notice that almost all our christology was in there and in no prior layer. All of the NT prior to John is centered on the Kingdom of God, and none of it treats Jesus as God. John, for whom Jesus is God, only mentions the Kingdom once.

Vermes then jumps to Paul, who is explicit that he did not see Jesus and (not being the most agreeable man on earth) avoids reporting whatever the Christians in Jerusalem may have known. Paul affirms only two beliefs regarding Jesus, first of all redemption (the Cross), second resurrection - the disappearance of Jesus's body and his reappearance in the form of apparitions, the last of which occurred to Paul in Damascus. Paul's doctrine is that the man Jesus became the Redeemer (not God) on the Cross, and will return in Paul's generation as the Messiah at the end of the world, in universal redemption on the basis of faith, not respect for the Jewish Law. This is the Kingdom of God.

Vermes's next layer is the Acts, which he reads as a report on the beliefs of the church of Jerusalem two generations earlier. Those beliefs quite fit with Paul's, except for being explicitly Jewish and respectful of the Law, and for being impelled by Galileans who were with Jesus during his months of public travel. The church of Jerusalem is a group of Law-abiding unlearned Jews who, like Paul, believe in the advent of the Messiah in their generation. What this means for Gentiles is at best obscure. The Acts also show both Paul and the Jerusalem group working many wonders, in continuation with those attributed to Jesus and his disciples by the synoptics. Except for Paul's letters, all of the NT comes well after the end of this miracle-working generation and the fall of the Temple, so its doctrine about eschatology (last things) is much less here-and-now.

This overview of the first half of the book should give you an idea of its flavor. The second half comprises two chapters, one for the synoptics and one for "the real Jesus". Vermes was born in Hungary in 1924. He became a scriptural scholar while a Catholic priest and later returned to the Judaism from which his family had converted during his youth. Nevertheless the entire work is a work of faith. Most readers will value it as a deep and lively review of the foundational texts of Christianity. It matters little whether in the end one is convinced by Vermes's idea of the real Jesus. For my part, I found his analysis conservative to a fault, rather in the Catholic style. There are many passages in the synoptics that Vermes questions or resets, with the best of reasons, but I found it hard to see why he would not apply those reasons to other passages, which instead he follows like a thread to lead back to the real Jesus. His treatment of talmudic legends is even less questioning. Be that as it may, along the way every page feeds reflection. I would enthusiastically recommend the book to all readers who know the NT and are not put off by the survey in my second paragraph.