Pope’s second book on Jesus of Nazareth is finished

I missed this the other day… from CNA:

Pope’s second book on Jesus of Nazareth is finished

Vatican City, Jan 20, 2010 / 09:12 pm (CNA).- After meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience, American Rabbi Jacob Neusner, prolific writer, professor and expert in Judaism, told L’Osservatore Romano newspaper about his history with the Pope. He also mentioned that the Holy Father confided to him that the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth is complete. 

The two met privately on Monday at the Vatican for 20 minutes, which the Rabbi Neusner called a "great gift" and said was "time enough for a nice meeting between two professors."  During this encounter, the Pope chose to reveal to him that the second volume on Jesus is ready for the press.

The American rabbi was in Rome to take part in Catholic-Jewish dialogues following the Pope’s visit to the Synagogue of Rome.  He’s no stranger to the environment, having dedicated his life to the scholarly study of Judaism, including how it interacts with Christianity and Islam.

Rabbi Neusner has written various treatises addressing inter-religious subjects.  In fact, so impressive was his 1993 treatise "A Rabbi talks with Jesus" that then-Cardinal Ratzinger wrote that it was "the most important novelty in the last decade for Jewish-Christian dialogue," a review which the Rabbi published on the inside cover of the book.

The next contact between the two came in 2007 when Pope Benedict XVI dedicated several pages in his first volume on Jesus of Nazareth to the Rabbi’s treatise, which concerns Christ’s teaching of the beatitudes on the mount.

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3 Comments

  1. TomG says:

    I’ve long thought Rabbi Neusner to be a mensch.

  2. I can’t wait for this to be printed in English.
    The first volume has been the constant companion for my meditations; what a wonderful contribution to the Church of our times.
    I don’t know anything about Rabbi Neusner.
    But what the Pope says in the first volume about his response and the reality that he (Neusner) acknowledges the radical statements of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (which separates Jews from Christians) in the light of Jewish tradition is very powerful. He takes Jesus seriously but does not believe. I think that says a lot, esp. in these days of “Scripture scholars” who water down every possible statement of Jesus or try to make it look like He never said them (the ‘beloved community’ made it all up, you know!).

  3. Dave N. says:

    “Jacob Neusner, prolific writer, professor and expert in Judaism….”

    Well, I’d agree with the prolific and professor parts. In fact, Neusner is so prolific that often times his arguments are not very well thought out.

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