Reviews for Judaism Before Jesus

The average rating for Judaism Before Jesus based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-10-10 00:00:00 Anthony Hollingsworth Tomasino's book gets a lot of good reviews. I think they're merited, but I also think those reviews are as much a negative rating of most historical works that cover the intertestamental period (from around 400BC to 6 or so AD) as they are of Tomasino's work. That aside, he writes well, and is more engaging than many purely historical writers. He also formats the book well--there's a main line and then lots of sidebars. Additionally, the sidebars stand alone, and are good flip-through material even after reading the main line. Tomasino is probably also going to appeal to many non-Christians who are casual historians, simply because he rarely takes a strong Christian position. He assumes to a large degree the truth of the Bible, but never seems theologically bent. In fact, he often discusses the heavy cultural and mythical influences he sees in both secular and non-secular works of the time, as well as the Bible itself. This lends some degree of credence to his work, and probably argues that he's done his homework and really is trying to appeal to a large audience. Unfortunately, for a Christian--and especially a conservative one who reads the Bible as truth, rather than an amalgamation of stories--this creates some negatives. Tomasino keeps Jesus and Scripture at arm's length, and there are times where his belief in Scripture seems tentative. The Bible is often treated as an important historical source, simply a weightier Antiquities or Against Apion. Finally, Tomasino is so obviously familiar with this period that his writing is sometimes difficult to follow. There are a lot of characters, obviously, and keeping up with them is non-trivial. History is always resplendent with names, but Tomasino could go a little further in making sure the absolute minimum are in view at any one time, making it easier to follow. All that said, this is still a good introduction, and a readable one at that.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-03-04 00:00:00 Rebecca Ayers This honest , well balanced and comprehensive account of the circumstances in which Israel finds itself is essential for anyone interested in the truth about the Middle East .One by one Benjamin Neyanyahu strips away the lies that have come to characterise the unjust and hostile views in the world today about Israel and the Palestinians.Taking us the the history of the country we learn how the link of the Jewish people to the Promised Land has remained strong throughout history, how there have always been Jews living in Israel and that in period between the destruction of the Temple by the Romans and the creation of the modern Zionist movement there was always a significant Jewish presence He explains how Britain and the world agreed to a Jewish homeland in the whole of Palestine which consisted of what is today Jordan , the West Bank (Judeo and Samaria) and the rest of Israel and 80% was cut off and awarded to the Arabs in 1922 creating the Hashemite Kingdom Jordan hence already giving the Palestinians their state? Why should Israel which only consists of 20% of mandatory Palestine be further cut in half to create a second Palestinian state and a 22nd Arab nation It is impossible to cover all the worthwhile points illustrated in this book but we also learn how there never was a Palestinian nation and the name Palestinian was only adopted in recent decades as distinct identity among Arabs He points out the double standards prevalent in the world today,a world which so strongly condemns the only democracy in the middle East for surviving while turning a blind eye to the horrific human rights abuses in the Arab world (and elsewhere): 'This is the root of the infamous , twisted standard by which the Arabs remain completely blameless for expelling hundreds of thousands of people -as Saudi Arabia did to its Yemenis in 1990 and Kuwait did to its Palestinians in 1991- while Israel is excoriated for deporting a cadre of terrorists or by which Israel is condemned for maintaining the presence of a few hundred soldiers in a six mile sliver of Lebanon while Syria annexes almost the entire rest of the same country ;or by which Saudi Arabia and Jordanian apartheid laws forbidding Jewish residence go unnoticed ; while Israel , whose Arab citizens are freer than those of Arab states , is accused of racism for quelling riots' He explains how anti-Israel sentiments are a result of a wider hatred of the West and a ll it stands for like democracy , freedom and Judaeo-Christian values.While one is left with frustration at the gross injustice of the hate campaign -stronger today than ever- against Israel - he also leaves the reader with hope as he explains how Israel CAN prevail and how REAL peace can be achieved.His knowledge and straightforward presentation of the truth is a pleasure to read