The authentic gospel of Jesus

by Géza Vermès

"There can be no doubt that Jesus, 'a religious genius', as Geza Vermes describes him, lived and taught in Palestine some 2,000 years ago. The influence he has had is incalculable. How, though, can we distinguish between the doctrines that have been shaped to the needs of the burgeoning Christian church and the original views laid out by the Master himself? How can we dig back through the additions, misinterpretations and confusions of later writers and two millennia of church tradition to return to the authentic gospel of Jesus?" "In his new book, Geza Vermes subjects all the sayings of Jesus to informed scrutiny. Profoundly aware of the limits of our knowledge but immersed in what we do have - both the 'official' gospels and associated Jewish and early Christian texts - Vermes sieves through every quote ascribed to Jesus to let the reader get as close as possible to the charismatic Jewish healer and moralist who changed the world. The result is a book that creates a revolutionary and