THE
LIFE AND TIMES
OF
JESUS THE MESSIAH
BY THE
REV ALFRED EDERSHEIM, M.A.OXON., D.D., PH.D.
Sometime Grinfield Lecturer on the Septuagint in the University of Oxford.
Βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι δι᾽ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι
TWO VOLUMES IN ONE
THE EIGHTH EDITION, REVISED
NEW YORK
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
LONDON AND BOMBAY
1896
TO
THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS, AND SCHOLARS
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
THESE VOLUMES
ARE
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
Preface to the Second and Third Editions
In issuing a new edition of this book I wish, in the first place, again to record, as the expression of permanent convictions and feelings, some remarks with which I had prefaced the Second Edition, although happily they are not at present so urgently called for.
With the feelings of sincere thankfulness for the kindness with which this book was received by all branches of the Church, only one element of pain mingled. Although I am well convinced that a careful or impartial reader could not arrive at any such conclusion, yet it was suggested that a perverse ingenuity might abuse certain statements and quotations for what in modern parlance are termed ‘Anti-Semitic’ purposes. That any such thoughts could possibly attach to a book concerning Him, Who was Himself a Jew; Who in the love of His compassion wept tears of bitter anguish over the Jerusalem that was about to crucify Him, and Whose first utterance and prayer when nailed to the Cross was: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’—would seem terribly incongruous and painful. Nor can it surely be necessary to point out that the love of Christ, or the understanding of His Work and Mission, must call forth feelings far different from those to which reference has been made. To me, indeed, it is difficult to associate the so-called Anti-Semitic movement with any but the lowest causes: envy, jealousy, and cupidity on the one hand; or, on the other, ignorance, prejudice, bigotry, and hatred of race. But as these are times when it is necessary to speak unmistakably, I avail myself of the present opportunity to point out the reasons why any Talmudic quotations, even if fair, can have no application for ‘Anti-Semitic’ purposes.
First: It is a mistake to regard everything in Talmudic writings about ‘the Gentiles’ as presently applying to Christians. Those spoken of are characterised as ‘the worshippers of idols,’ ‘of stars and planets,’ and by similar designations. That ‘the heathens’ of those days and lands should have been suspected of almost any abomination, deemed capable of any treachery or cruelty towards Israel—no student of history can deem strange, especially when the experience of so many terrible wrongs (would they had been confined to the heathen and to those times!) would naturally lead to morbidly excited suspicions and apprehensions.
Secondly: We must remember the times, the education, and the general standpoint of that period as compared with our own. No one would measure the belief of Christians by certain statements ...
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About The Life and Times of Jesus the MessiahThe product of many years research, Edersheim's Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah is an "illustration" of the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Arranged chronologically as a series of episodes, Edersheim puts the events of Jesus' life and ministry as given in the gospel accounts into their historical, social, and cultural context, including extensive references to early Jewish and rabinnical sources. Contains nineteen appendixes dealing with such diverse topics as the date of the Nativity, the New Testament Psudepigrapha ("false writings") and Apocryphal gospels, and Jewish angelology and demonology. |
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