Jesus and the Forces of Death
The Gospels' Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism
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Jesus and the Forces of Death
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Narrated by:
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Jim Denison
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By:
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Matthew Thiessen
About this listen
Named a Sejong Book of 2021, Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (KPIPA)
2020 Center for Biblical Studies Book Award (New Testament Runner-Up)
Although most people acknowledge that Jesus was a first-century Jew, interpreters of the Gospels often present him as opposed to Jewish law and customs—especially when considering his numerous encounters with the ritually impure. Matthew Thiessen corrects this popular misconception by placing Jesus within the Judaism of his day. Thiessen demonstrates that the Gospel writers depict Jesus opposing ritual impurity itself, not the Jewish ritual purity system or the Jewish law. This fresh interpretation of significant passages from the Gospels shows that throughout his life, Jesus destroys forces of death and impurity while upholding the Jewish law.
©2020 Matthew Thiessen (P)2023 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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- By RGO on 11-25-19
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy
- A Journey into a New Christianity Through the Doorway of Matthew's Gospel
- By: John Shelby Spong
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
A man who has consciously and deliberately walked the path of Christ, John Shelby Spong has lived his entire life inside the Christian Church. In this profound and considered work, he offers a radical new way to look at the gospels today as he shows just how deeply Jewish the Christian Gospels are and how much they reflect the Jewish scriptures, history, and patterns of worship.
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5 out of 5 stars
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understanding the jewish thoughts in the Gospels
- By John on 08-30-18
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Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Bart D. Ehrman
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 295
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4 out of 5 stars 100
Dan Brown's immensely popular New York Times best-selling The Da Vinci Code is one of the most successful books of recent history. It has captivated millions the world over with its enthralling suspense and its provocative questions about the true nature of Jesus' life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A historian's approach to the Da Vinci code
- By John Mertus on 01-23-05
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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The Misunderstood Jew
- The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus
- By: Amy Jill Levine
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 136
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 120
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 117
In The Misunderstood Jew, scholar Amy-Jill Levine helps Christians and Jews understand the "Jewishness" of Jesus so that their appreciation of him deepens and a greater interfaith dialogue can take place. Levine's humor and informed truth - telling provokes honest conversation and debate about how Christians and Jews should understand Jesus, the New Testament, and each other.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Courageous
- By Tad Davis on 07-27-17
By: Amy Jill Levine
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The Fourth Gospel
- Tales of a Jewish Mystic
- By: John Shelby Spong
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
John Shelby Spong, best-selling author and popular proponent of a modern, scholarly, and authentic Christianity, argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a literary, interpretive retelling of the events in Jesus' life through the medium of fictional characters, from Nicodemus and Lazarus to the "Beloved Disciple."
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very thought-provoking
- By Mark J Mickey on 03-18-23
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The Lost Gospel
- Decoding the Ancient Text That Reveals Jesus' Marriage to Mary the Magdalene
- By: Simcha Jacobovici, Barrie Wilson
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 449
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 386
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 385
Waiting to be rediscovered in the British Library is an ancient manuscript of the early Church, copied by an anonymous monk. The manuscript is at least 1,450 years old, possibly dating to the first century, Jesus' lifetime. And now, The Lost Gospel provides the first-ever translation from Syriac into English of this unique document that tells the inside story of Jesus' social, family, and political life. The Lost Gospel takes listeners on an unparalleled historical adventure through a paradigm-shifting manuscript.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Very well-crafted but uses lot of sketchy material
- By Leifen on 01-09-18
By: Simcha Jacobovici, and others
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How God Became God
- What Scholars Are Really Saying About God and the Bible
- By: Richard M. Smoley
- Narrated by: Richard M. Smoley
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story5 out of 5 stars 45
This epic, thrilling journey through Bible scholarship and ancient religion shows how much of Scripture is historically false - yet the ancient writings also resound with theologies that crisscrossed the primeval world and that direct us today toward a deep, authentic inner experience of the truly sacred.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Just Okay.
- By Thom on 10-28-21
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Reading the Bible Again for the First Time
- Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally
- By: Marcus J. Borg
- Narrated by: Maurice England
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story5 out of 5 stars 39
Many Christians mistakenly believe that their only choice is either to reconcile themselves to a fundamentalist reading of scripture (a "literal-factual" approach) or to simply reject the Bible as something that could bring meaning and value into their lives. In Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg shows how instead we can freshly appreciate all the essential elements of the Old and New Testaments - from Genesis to Revelation - in a way that can open up a new world of intelligent faith.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Marcus Borg's level of scholarship
- By Diana Johnson on 11-08-24
By: Marcus J. Borg
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A History of Judaism
- By: Martin Goodman
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 23 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and it has preserved its distinctive identity despite the extraordinarily diverse forms and beliefs it has embodied over the course of more than three millennia. A History of Judaism provides the first truly comprehensive look in one volume at how this great religion came to be, how it has evolved from one age to the next, and how its various strains, sects, and traditions have related to each other.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not easy to follow.
- By Max on 03-12-19
By: Martin Goodman
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After Jesus, Before Christianity
- A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements
- By: Erin Vearncombe, Brandon Scott, Hal Taussig, and others
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
From the creative minds of the scholarly group behind the groundbreaking Jesus Seminar comes this provocative and eye-opening look at the roots of Christianity that offers a thoughtful reconsideration of the first two centuries of the Jesus movement, transforming our understanding of the religion and its early dissemination.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent and informative
- By Claire Z. on 04-17-22
By: Erin Vearncombe, and others
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Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
- The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith
- By: Marcus J. Borg
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 170
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 145
Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining.
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1 out of 5 stars
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first thing he did was deny Christ's deity.
- By Amazon Customer on 03-15-19
By: Marcus J. Borg
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Understanding the Koran
- A Quick Christian Guide to the Muslim Holy Book
- By: Mateen Elass
- Narrated by: Don Reed
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 97
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4 out of 5 stars 78
A quick non-technical introduction to the Koran designed to help Christians understand a hidden book revered by 1.3 billion Muslims, covering the background on its writing, a summary of its contents, a perspective on how it’s used and viewed by Muslims, a comparison of differences and similarities to the Bible, and some suggestions on how it should and should not be used in conversations with Muslims.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Favors Christianity
- By Dianne on 12-18-15
By: Mateen Elass
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The Great Shift
- Encountering God in Biblical Times
- By: James L. Kugel
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Why does the Bible depict a world in which humans, with surprising regularity, encounter the divine - wrestling an angel, addressing a burning bush, issuing forth prophecy without any choice in the matter? These stories spoke very differently to their original audience than they do to us, and they reflect a radically distinct understanding of reality and the human mind. Yet over the course of the thousand-year biblical era, encounters with God changed dramatically.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Changing Conceptions of God and the Self
- By DJ on 10-27-22
By: James L. Kugel
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The Lost World of Adam and Eve
- Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate
- By: John H. Walton, N.T. Wright
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 330
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 292
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 286
For centuries, the story of Adam and Eve has resonated richly through the corridors of art, literature, and theology. But for most moderns, taking it at face value is incongruous. Author John Walton explores the ancient Near Eastern context of Genesis 2-3, creating space for a faithful reading of Scripture along with full engagement with science for a new way forward in the human origins debate.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Not For Me
- By Ax on 09-20-18
By: John H. Walton, and others
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The Rational Bible: Genesis
- By: Dennis Prager
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,481
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,301
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,291
Many people today think the Bible, the most influential book in world history, is not only outdated but irrelevant, irrational, and even immoral. This explanation of the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, demonstrates clearly and powerfully that the opposite is true. The Bible remains profoundly relevant - both to the great issues of our day and to each individual life. It is the greatest moral guide and source of wisdom ever written.
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5 out of 5 stars
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So glad I bought this!
- By Alex Martinez on 06-10-19
By: Dennis Prager
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James, the Brother of Jesus
- The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls
- By: Robert Eisenman
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 43 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Story4 out of 5 stars 62
James was a vegetarian, wore only linen clothing, bathed daily at dawn in cold water, and was a life-long Nazirite. In this profound and provocative work of scholarly detection, eminent biblical scholar Robert Eisenman introduces a startling theory about the identity of James - the brother of Jesus - who was almost entirely marginalized in the New Testament.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Regretable. Hard to follow. Repetitive.
- By Jimi on 08-18-17
By: Robert Eisenman
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When Christians Were Jews
- The First Generation
- By: Paula Fredriksen
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 97
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4 out of 5 stars 85
In this electrifying social and intellectual history, Paula Fredriksen answers the question of how Jewish missionaries ended up inaugurating a movement that would grow into the gentile church by reconstructing the life of the earliest Jerusalem community. As her account arcs from this group’s hopeful celebration of Passover with Jesus, through their bitter controversies that fragmented the movement’s midcentury missions, to the city’s fiery end in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, she brings this vibrant apostolic community to life.
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2 out of 5 stars
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nothing to see here, nothing to read here
- By Anonymous User on 12-10-18
By: Paula Fredriksen
What listeners say about Jesus and the Forces of Death
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Randall G Myers, Jr
- 06-23-24
Jesus as Torah observant
Thiessen does an excellent job of showing that Jesus did not reject ritual impurity or Torah as a whole, but instead uses a contextual reading that shows Jesus as Torah observant and that he does not abolish Torah as traditionally understood.
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