A rabbi talks with Jesus

"In this book I explain in a very straightforward and unapologetic way why, if I had been in the Land of Israel in the first century, I would not have joined the circle of Jesus's disciples." Imagine yourself transported two thousand years back in time to Galilee at the moment of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. After hearing it, would you abandon your religious beliefs and ideology to follow him, or would you hold on to your own beliefs and walk away? In A Rabbi Talks with Jesus, Jacob Neusner considers just such a spiritual journey. Placing himself within the context of the Gospel of Matthew, Neusner imagines himself in a dialogue with Jesus of Nazareth and pays him the supreme Judaic gesture of respect: making a connection with him through an honest debate about the nature of God's One Truth. Neusner explains why the Sermon on the Mount would not have convinced him to follow Jesus and why, by the criterion of the Torah of Moses, he would have continued to follow the teachings of Moses. He explores the reasons Christians believe in Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven, while Jews continue to believe in the Torah of Moses and a kingdom of priests and holy people on earth. This revised and expanded edition, with a foreword by Donald Akenson, creates a thoughtful and accessible context for discussion of the most fundamental question of why Christians and Jews believe what they believe. - Publisher

Originally published: New York : Doubleday, ©1993.

Come, let us reason together -- A practicing Jew in dialogue with Jesus -- Not to destroy but to fulfill vs you have heard that it was said, but I say to you -- Honor your father and your mother vs do not think that I have come to bring peace on Earth -- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy vs look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath -- You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy vs if you would be perfect go, sell all you have and come, follow me -- You shall be holy vs holier than thou -- The road from Capernaum -- You shall tithe all the yield of your seed vs you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law -- How much Torah, after all?