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The Resurrection: History and Myth
The Resurrection is the rock of faith on which Christianity is founded. But on what evidence is the most miraculous phenomenon in religious history based?
World-famous biblical scholar Geza Vermes has studied 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.
World-famous biblical scholar Geza Vermes has studied 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.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
8 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Géza Vermes
83 books54 followersGéza Vermes was a Jewish Hungarian scholar and writer on religious history, particularly Jewish and Christian.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 29, 2024
The story of Christ's crucifixion and subsequent resurrection is the basis on which Christianity is founded, but what evidence is there that the resurrection took place?
In this book, the respected biblical scholar Geza Vermes studies the evidence that still remains over two thousand years after Jesus Christ was reported to have risen from the dead. Geza Vermes considers the various options that are possible and I won't spoil your reading of this book by telling you what those options are and how worthy of consideration Geza Vermes believes them to be.
Suffice to say the conviction in the spiritual presence of the living Jesus accounts for the resurgence of the Jesus movement after the crucifixion. However, it was the teaching and doctrines of St Paul that allowed Christianity to grow into the powerful resurrection-centred religion of today.
In this book, the respected biblical scholar Geza Vermes studies the evidence that still remains over two thousand years after Jesus Christ was reported to have risen from the dead. Geza Vermes considers the various options that are possible and I won't spoil your reading of this book by telling you what those options are and how worthy of consideration Geza Vermes believes them to be.
Suffice to say the conviction in the spiritual presence of the living Jesus accounts for the resurgence of the Jesus movement after the crucifixion. However, it was the teaching and doctrines of St Paul that allowed Christianity to grow into the powerful resurrection-centred religion of today.
January 29, 2011
This is another short and accessible exploration of a topic drawn from the New Testament written by Vermes. He starts by exploring the notion of resurrection and afterlife in Jewish and pagan thought which is an interesting report. Unlike the centrality of the notion of afterlifea nd resurrection in today's Christianity, the notion of resurrection didn't even enter Jewish thought until rather late, around the time of the Maccabean revolt (mid 2nd C BC), aside from possible references in Ezekiel, which he interprets as a national resurrection, not literal resurrection of the flesh of individuals, and references in Daniel- the latest book in the OT. Previous to this concepts of the afterlife included life in Sheol, a dreary underworld in which the righteous and unrighteous alike basically slept. God, for the Jews, was a God of the living, not the dead. Even during the time of Christ it is unclear how many Jews believed in a resurrection- the Pharisees obviously did, but the Sadducees rejected it and the Essenes seemed to embrace a more Platonic notion of soul and body separation.
He then goes on to explore the resurrection in the NT and surprisingly reports that the references are more scarce than expected given the centrality of the notion in Christian thought now. There is a lot of time spent on describing Jesus' resurrection and post-crucifixion time in the gospels, but it is unclear what import the notion has. Paul takes the resurrection of Christ to be the first fruits of a future resurrection in which we participate through resurrection. Also, Christ's resurrection allowed him to attain his full stature as Son of God and to release the Holy Spirit to the earth. Beyond that, the references in the NT are surprisingly scarce.
Vermes ends his book exploring possible ways that the story of the resurrection got started (including ithe two extremes of a literal bodily resurrection of Christ and the thing being made up whole cloth). This is so much in the realm of hypothesizing with basically no evidence that I found it a distracting way to end the book.
He then goes on to explore the resurrection in the NT and surprisingly reports that the references are more scarce than expected given the centrality of the notion in Christian thought now. There is a lot of time spent on describing Jesus' resurrection and post-crucifixion time in the gospels, but it is unclear what import the notion has. Paul takes the resurrection of Christ to be the first fruits of a future resurrection in which we participate through resurrection. Also, Christ's resurrection allowed him to attain his full stature as Son of God and to release the Holy Spirit to the earth. Beyond that, the references in the NT are surprisingly scarce.
Vermes ends his book exploring possible ways that the story of the resurrection got started (including ithe two extremes of a literal bodily resurrection of Christ and the thing being made up whole cloth). This is so much in the realm of hypothesizing with basically no evidence that I found it a distracting way to end the book.
January 21, 2009
I had just started reading this little book when my mother took ill and misplaced it in the days leading up to her death. I finally found and finished it in the waning days of 2008.
Vermes offers a clear and interesting comparison between Jewish, early Christian and contemporary views on the afterlife. He also analyzes the different accounts of the resurrection in the gospels and recounts varying explanations as proposed by believers and non-believers.
An interesting little book.
Vermes offers a clear and interesting comparison between Jewish, early Christian and contemporary views on the afterlife. He also analyzes the different accounts of the resurrection in the gospels and recounts varying explanations as proposed by believers and non-believers.
An interesting little book.
December 29, 2019
I found this dissection of the resurrection riveting reading. It analyzes the Gospels, the Tanakh, and other ancient source material like Josephus or archaeological records for any information about Jewish practices, beliefs, and understandings about resurrection or afterlife. Then it looks at specifics about Jesus' and the New Testament's teachings about resurrection and the depiction of Christ's resurrection as recounted in the Gospels. It concludes with possible theories to explain Jesus' resurrection.
Never conclusive, Vermes doesn't proselytize or affirm any specific dogma; he simply presents evidence from ancient writings for his reader.
The Resurrection is a book I would like to have written if I had the time and resources to complete such research for myself; as I have neither, I am thankful that Vermes took the time and energy to put this book together for me to read and ponder.
Never conclusive, Vermes doesn't proselytize or affirm any specific dogma; he simply presents evidence from ancient writings for his reader.
The Resurrection is a book I would like to have written if I had the time and resources to complete such research for myself; as I have neither, I am thankful that Vermes took the time and energy to put this book together for me to read and ponder.
February 7, 2020
The late Geza Vermes was a hugely respected New Testament scholar and this is his short take on the key to the Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus.
Vermes surveys the evolving views on post-mortem existence in the Old Testament from a peaceful burial, to the shadows of Sheol and the developing idea of resurrection, final judgement and heaven. He clearly has a deep respect for the 'healthy realism of the ancient Hebrews' that the supreme goal was 'to enjoy a God-fearing, long and happy life amid their families and expect at the end, having reached the fullness of years, to join peacefully their predecessors in the ancestral tomb' (p16). My guess is, this was close to his own belief and advocates a deeply religious view of life that doesn't seem to be too weighed down by notions of the afterlife (p26).
He examines the various views on eternal life around the time of Jesus and his view that the resurrection did not play a central role in the teaching of Jesus. He considers the reported miracles of the dead being raised and the significance, if any, of those events as reported in the Gospels. He considers the general reporting of the Gospel writers to be contradictory and not offering a consistent narrative or view on the resurrection. Yet Christianity appears to have offered something quite distinct from the prevailing views. It preached the sure hope of a bodily resurrection where a person's spirit would be united with a new and imperishable body that could, through faith in God, receive eternal life.
The survey as a whole is wide-ranging, brief and worth-considering. Some of the questions Vermes raises are not easily dismissed, particularly around how the disciples could both understand and yet misunderstand Jesus' apparently clear predictions of his resurrection and Matthew's more spectacular reporting, with the dead wandering around Jerusalem but without any word as to what happened next.
He considers the appearances to be of no historical value and unable to withstand scrutiny but he does consider the empty tomb to be a genuine fact. Therefore, for me, as a Christian, the most fascinating part of his review was the final chapter. What did he think happened?
Vermes considers 8 possibilities. Well, when I say considers he actually dismisses two out of hand. He rejects both the idea that the resurrection was a pure invention and that it actually happened. Then he considers six alternatives (that the body of Jesus was moved by someone, stolen by the disciples, the empty tomb was a different tomb, Jesus didn't actually die, Jesus went to Kashmir or Rome, and that the resurrection was a spiritual, not physical thing) and rejects all of them. Interesting!
His solution is 'resurrection in the hearts of men'. "The conviction in the spiritual presence of the living Jesus accounts for the resurgence of the Jesus movement after the crucifixion" (p152). Essentially, because the disciples found they could still perform miracles, that was evidence they needed that Jesus had risen from the dead. But he doesn't seem to account for the empty tomb at all.
I think Vermes prefers the idea of a spiritual resurrection but that fails to account for why the early church insisted on an empty tomb. They could just as easily have preached that the spirit of Christ appeared to them and been ok with the idea of the body still being in the tomb. That would have been novel but acceptable and certainly not nearly as novel as the idea that Jesus was physically resurrected and ascended to heaven.
They didn't do that and although their accounts seem contradictory to Vermes they all agree on three basic facts: Jesus was crucified, there was an empty tomb, his followers claimed to have seen him. Vermes agrees with all three claims but doesn't satisfactorily account for claim 2 & 3.
If you want a scholarly overview of the New Testament material from a non-Christian but non-cynical view then this is probably as good as you'll get. Vermes knows his stuff, takes it seriously, deals with faith respectfully and rejects the more polemical approaches even if he himself was never convinced by the churches own interpretation.
Vermes surveys the evolving views on post-mortem existence in the Old Testament from a peaceful burial, to the shadows of Sheol and the developing idea of resurrection, final judgement and heaven. He clearly has a deep respect for the 'healthy realism of the ancient Hebrews' that the supreme goal was 'to enjoy a God-fearing, long and happy life amid their families and expect at the end, having reached the fullness of years, to join peacefully their predecessors in the ancestral tomb' (p16). My guess is, this was close to his own belief and advocates a deeply religious view of life that doesn't seem to be too weighed down by notions of the afterlife (p26).
He examines the various views on eternal life around the time of Jesus and his view that the resurrection did not play a central role in the teaching of Jesus. He considers the reported miracles of the dead being raised and the significance, if any, of those events as reported in the Gospels. He considers the general reporting of the Gospel writers to be contradictory and not offering a consistent narrative or view on the resurrection. Yet Christianity appears to have offered something quite distinct from the prevailing views. It preached the sure hope of a bodily resurrection where a person's spirit would be united with a new and imperishable body that could, through faith in God, receive eternal life.
The survey as a whole is wide-ranging, brief and worth-considering. Some of the questions Vermes raises are not easily dismissed, particularly around how the disciples could both understand and yet misunderstand Jesus' apparently clear predictions of his resurrection and Matthew's more spectacular reporting, with the dead wandering around Jerusalem but without any word as to what happened next.
He considers the appearances to be of no historical value and unable to withstand scrutiny but he does consider the empty tomb to be a genuine fact. Therefore, for me, as a Christian, the most fascinating part of his review was the final chapter. What did he think happened?
Vermes considers 8 possibilities. Well, when I say considers he actually dismisses two out of hand. He rejects both the idea that the resurrection was a pure invention and that it actually happened. Then he considers six alternatives (that the body of Jesus was moved by someone, stolen by the disciples, the empty tomb was a different tomb, Jesus didn't actually die, Jesus went to Kashmir or Rome, and that the resurrection was a spiritual, not physical thing) and rejects all of them. Interesting!
His solution is 'resurrection in the hearts of men'. "The conviction in the spiritual presence of the living Jesus accounts for the resurgence of the Jesus movement after the crucifixion" (p152). Essentially, because the disciples found they could still perform miracles, that was evidence they needed that Jesus had risen from the dead. But he doesn't seem to account for the empty tomb at all.
I think Vermes prefers the idea of a spiritual resurrection but that fails to account for why the early church insisted on an empty tomb. They could just as easily have preached that the spirit of Christ appeared to them and been ok with the idea of the body still being in the tomb. That would have been novel but acceptable and certainly not nearly as novel as the idea that Jesus was physically resurrected and ascended to heaven.
They didn't do that and although their accounts seem contradictory to Vermes they all agree on three basic facts: Jesus was crucified, there was an empty tomb, his followers claimed to have seen him. Vermes agrees with all three claims but doesn't satisfactorily account for claim 2 & 3.
If you want a scholarly overview of the New Testament material from a non-Christian but non-cynical view then this is probably as good as you'll get. Vermes knows his stuff, takes it seriously, deals with faith respectfully and rejects the more polemical approaches even if he himself was never convinced by the churches own interpretation.
April 21, 2020
Retired Jewish Studies scholar investigates the historical events of the resurrection, theological impact of the event and the Jewish tradition in which it is embedded. What we have is a forensic approach informed by deep knowledge of the subject. Christ was real, the resurrection is not fully explainable, but the truth of the spirit of Jesus as manifested drove the apostles and still does so today among the faithful and those with enough humility to keep an open mind.
February 28, 2024
An interpretation of the Christian claims to the resurrection of Christ, by a leading 20th century Jewish scholar of second temple era Judaism.
I think Vermes makes a few interpretive errors and overstatements, but it's valuable and interesting to read a Jewish historian review the first century historical, cultural, and textual material around the resurrection of Christ and wonder just what happened and just what meaning it bore to the early church and beyond.
I think Vermes makes a few interpretive errors and overstatements, but it's valuable and interesting to read a Jewish historian review the first century historical, cultural, and textual material around the resurrection of Christ and wonder just what happened and just what meaning it bore to the early church and beyond.
January 7, 2019
Excellent in its overview of the topic: complete and yet concise, crystal-clear in its representation. The only disappointment is in the last few pages. In the end, Vermes argues that the resurrection of Jesus is best seen as a resurrection in the hearts of his followers, ancient and modern. That's, well, just... meager.
August 22, 2022
Good book by a good author
February 26, 2009
I didn't really enjoy this as much as 'Jesus the Jew' and other Vermes books. I don't believe the myth in the first place, yet wasn't totally convinced with Mr Vermes's final conclusions either.
The book starts slow with an exploration of Judaism's history with the ideas of Resurrection, to it's position at the time of Jesus, and finally it's rooting into N.T. accounts.
The book starts slow with an exploration of Judaism's history with the ideas of Resurrection, to it's position at the time of Jesus, and finally it's rooting into N.T. accounts.
March 9, 2012
This is a really good book. Although, I don't agree with the views of the author, I admit he has written a compelling book which is quite different. He has dealt with Resurrection in a different way than most others do. It is a very compelling read. I urge both believers and skeptics alike, to read this book. A scholarly work!
April 16, 2008
Certainly makes me realise how little I know about my own religion, however an excellent book lucidly written. IT has helped me to understand things about early Christianity that i did not know and has made me realise that i need to explore early Christainity and the birth of the Christin church
February 13, 2013
Unhelpful skepticism.
Read
January 17, 2019Well tackled but lacking any discussion or place for Faith
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews