abundance.1
Shortly after its publication it was reviewed by Emil Schurer in Germany’s most prestigious theological journal. Schurer himself would publish a major work on a similar subject just a few years later.2 He came from the more liberal, critical school of Biblical scholarship (for Edersheim’s response to this approach, see the category below called “Higher Criticism”). Still, Schurer recognized that “the chief value of this book without question is the rich information which the writer gives about the Jewish relations that are influencing the life of Jesus.” (author’s translation)3
In 1921 there was a tribute in a more creative form. One writer put together a piece called the Last Passover Night,4 which interpreted some of the pages of Life and Times to be performed as a drama. Another interesting review came from Shailer Mathews, dean of the Divinity School of the Chicago University. He said that although the book “suffers from an excess of pietism, his work is not only masterly but invaluable. If one were to own but one life of Jesus, it should be Edersheim’s.”5
At about the same time, the Jewish community as a whole also began interacting with the Jewishness of Jesus and the New Testament. One important volume in this wave was Joseph Klausner’s book, Jesus of Nazareth, which was originally written in Hebrew in 1922.6 Several times in this work he cites Edersheim’s book about the Temple, clearly acknowledging Edersheim’s expertise as a scholar of the period. Ironically, he does not use – or at least did not mention – The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah as a source. Unfortunately, most of the other books about Jesus from within the Jewish community have equally neglected to contend with this classic work.
One Jewish scholar who did take the time to interact with Edersheim’s work was Rabbi Solomon Schecter (1847–1915). Schecter was one of the architects of Conservative Judaism in America and served as the second President of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. One of his famous collections of writings is called Studies in Judaism, which was published in three separate volumes. The third and final series contains an article about Christian scholarship and the Talmud, and there is a section which offers a critique of The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.
Schechter found fault with Edersheim’s use of Talmudic passages. “Dr. Edersheim,” he wrote, “has apparently searched the Talmud diligently, but has done so with a mind preoccupied. He has arduously ransacked it for “contrasts,” and has found them by misunderstanding some parts of it, and by neglecting others.”7 This is an interesting statement coming from someone who famously broke away from traditional (Orthodox) Judaism. Indeed, the history of Rabbinic thought is nothing if not a series of debates and arguments over interpretations. Schechter offers no actual comments about Jesus or the New Testament itself. He was dealing with a very small aspect of Edersheim’s work. He did, however, say the following about The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.
The book is one eminently designed to attract attention. Not only is the subject one of superlative interest to the education and religious world, but the evident conviction and fervent faith of the author give it a persuasiveness difficult to resist.8
Finally, there is also a brand new book which comes from an unlikely perspective. It is written by a Mormon woman who describes herself as a fan, and even uses the word “groupie” of Edersheim. It is the first full volume in print to focus on Alfred Edersheim, and it emphasizes his writings about Jesus.9 Specifically, the author documents the history of Mormon writers who have quoted Edersheim in books and conference papers over the last one hundred plus years. Apparently, he is very popular in these circles as an historian. But, of course, the Mormons do not always agree with him – especially on theological issues which have traditionally kept Mormons distinct from historic Christianity. For example, the author believes that since Edersheim did not have the opportunity to learn of God’s “latter day revelation” (meaning the Mormon teachings), he is now in the afterlife learning such things at the feet of Mormon scholars.10 This affection for Edersheim is ironic. He was an historian as well as a theologian and linguist. He knew the importance of historical documentation to verify theological truths (see quotes below, for example, under the heading “Resurrection of Jesus”). The alleged miracles of Mormonism are said to have occurred during Edersheim’s lifetime. Yet, they remain undocumented and without historical verification. Mormons will usually say these events should be accepted merely on faith. But if this is the case, why be so enamored with such a great historian? If nothing else, this again shows the broad reach of his scholarship.
1. Cited in Mayhhew, 188
2. Schurer, Emil, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Christ (Edinburgh, T. and T. Clark, 1890)
3. Schurer, Emil, Review of The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, in Theologische Literatureitung, February 20, 1886, [Edited by Adolph Harnack and Emil Schurer]
4. Temple, William Henry, The Last Passover Night (London, S.P.C.K., 1921)
5. Mathews, Shailer, The Biblical World, Vol. VI, p. 528, cited in Einspruch, Henry, When Jews Face Christ (Baltimore, The Mediator, 1932)
6. Klausner, Joseph, Jesus of Nazareth (MacMillan, 1925)
7. Schechter, Solomon, Studies in Judaism, third series, (Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society, 1924), p. 191
8. Ibid, p. 164
9. Richardson, Marianna Edwards, Alfred Edersheim: A Jewish Scholar for the Mormon Prophets (Springville, Cedar Fort, 2008)
10. Ibid, p. 33
His Quotes
Abraham
With Abraham an entirely new period may be said to begin. He was to be the ancestor of a new race in whom the Divine promises were to be preserved, and through whom they would finally be realized.1
Abrahamic Covenant
For the terms of this promise were not made void by the seventy years which Judah spent in the captivity of Babylon, nor yet are they annulled by the eighteen centuries of Israel’s present unbelief and dispersion. The promise of the land is Abram’s “seed for ever.” 2
There is nothing narrow or particularistic, but a grand universalism, even about this presentation of the promise in concrete form.3
The great promise connected first with the patriarchs as God’s anointed, and then with Israel as a royal nation, now attached itself to
