Journal: Global Journal of Classical Theology
Volume: GJCT 16:1 (Jun 2019)
Article: Jewish Scholars On Jesus’ Resurrection
Author: Gary R. Habermas

Jewish Scholars On Jesus’ Resurrection

Gary R. Habermas

and Benjamin C.F. Shaw

Abstract. Surveying various studies of the historical Jesus as viewed through the eyes of Jewish researchers,1 David Mishkin has done a very helpful and credible job of bringing together a wide variety of perspectives and critiques regarding the essential Christian message. It aims particularly at viewing these Jewish authors’ thoughts concerning the chief event of all—the resurrection of Jesus (214). This review essay will summarize various key findings of this volume, while also providing some additional critical interaction.

Overview

In his Introduction (Chapter One), David Mishkin states at the outset that his research on Jewish views of resurrection is the “first research of its kind, and it seeks to answer a straightforward question: what have Jewish scholars said about the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus?” (8, author’s emphasis; also 10). While acknowledging helpfully at the outset that he is a Messianic Jew (9), Mishkin also notes that much of this study, especially Chapter Four, “does not include those identifying as Hebrew Christians or Messianic Jews, although they will be occasionally mentioned” (9).

Mishkin includes other introductory notes as well, such as the landscape of Jewish scholarship on Jesus having changed significantly. He writes, “A century ago it was still all but taboo for Jewish scholars to talk openly about the life of Jesus, but a few pioneers attempted to break new ground” (6). Now Jewish scholarship on Jesus is much more common.2 Discussion on Jesus’ resurrection “did not advance quite as rapidly,” but recently this has likewise taken a new turn and has “begun to emerge as a topic of serious discussion among Jewish authors” (7). Mishkin’s book seeks to contribute to these more recent scholarly trends regarding the Jewish study of the historical Jesus in general and Jesus’ resurrection in particular.

Chapter Two is designed as a “backdrop” for the remainder of the book by providing a survey of fifteen different scholars who have documented Jewish research on Jesus and the New Testament (10). By doing this, Mishkin aims to present the wider context of Jewish scholarship before focusing more specifically on the analyses of Jesus’ resurrection. He believes that this will help orient the reader to the fact that “the resurrection has not been an issue of interest among Jewish New Testament scholars” (10).

Mishkin begins his survey with a chapter found in Clyde W. Votaw’s 1905 book, The Biblical World entitled, “The Modern Jewish View of Jes...