It's obvious that Jesus fulfilled prophecies about the promised Messiah - or so the gospels make it seem. But the real story is more complex, and more compelling. In hindsight we can see that Jesus had help fulfilling prophecy. The gospel writers skillfully manipulated prophecies - carefully lifting them out of context, creatively reinterpreting them, even rewriting them - to match what Jesus would do in fulfilling them. The evangelists also used the prophecies themselves to shape the very stories that show their fulfillment. This book describes in detail how Christian authors "helped" Jesus fulfill prophecy. Studies of Greek oracles, the Dead Sea Scrolls, translations of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek and Aramaic, and the writings of Josephus explore the interpretive techniques that paved the way for the New Testament's manipulation of prophecy. This book analyzes how the belief that Jesus fulfilled prophecy became an argument to justify a new notion: the view that Christians had replaced Jews as God's chosen people. An aggressive anti-Judaism is analyzed in chapters on patristic theologians such as Justin Martyr and Augustine, who embedded it into the argument from prophecy. The book concludes with an ethical argument for why Christians should retire the argument from prophecy.
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A judicious critique of the argument from prophecy, showing how biblical prophecies were manipulated by the Gospel authors and Church Fathers in order to show Jesus as their fulfillment.
Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations and Short Titles Introduction Part 1: Prophecy, Prediction, and Fulfillment in Israel 1 Prophecy and Prediction in Ancient Israel 2 False Prophecies from True Prophets 3 Fixing Failed Prophecies 4 Prophecy as Mysterious Revelation: The Influence of Greece 5 The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls 6 The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the Septuagint, the Targums, and Josephus Part 2: The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the New Testament 7 The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the New Testament: Introduction 8 The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the Gospel of Matthew 9 The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the Gospel of Mark 10 The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles 11 The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the Gospel of John 12 The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the Letters of Paul 13 The Fulfillment of Prophecy in the Epistle to the Hebrews Part 3: The Argument from Prophecy in Patristic Thought 14 Justin Martyr and the Argument from Prophecy 15 Between Justin and Augustine 16 Augustine and the Argument from Prophecy Part 4: Modern Reckoning with the Argument from Prophecy 17 Modern Christian Thought and the Fulfillment of Prophecy 18 Reckoning with the Argument from Prophecy Appendix 1: Muhammad in the Bible? Appendix 2: Adam and Edom Translations of Ancient Sources Bibliography Ancient Texts Quoted
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"The fulfillment of prophecy has never been given its proper due by the critical scholar. Miller corrects that deficit with this compelling treatment of the claims of early (and modern) Christians about how Jesus fulfilled ancient Jewish prophecies. ... It is a meticulous, clear-eyed study that finally says what needed to be said." Stephen J. Patterson, George H. Atkinson Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies, Willamette University
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780718894443
Publisert
1900
Utgiver
Vendor
Lutterworth Press
Vekt
617 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
153 mm
Aldersnivå
UU, UP, 05
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
424

Forfatter

Biographical note

Robert J. Miller is Rosenberger Professor of Religious Studies and Christian Thought at Juniata College in Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Jesus Seminar and Its Critics (1999) and Born Divine (2003), and he is the editor of The Complete Gospels (4th ed., 2010).