Gordon Clouser Jesus, Joshua, Yeshua of Nazareth

Annotation

Who was Jesus, really? Did he advocate the Jewish prophetic kingdom of God? Did he manifest theological convictions that prominently surfaced after his death? In the final analysis, does it make any difference for faith? One typically bypasses the fact that gospel authors not only did not support the theology of Paul but actively contended against it. The mental insertion of Pauls theology into the gospels constitutes the most prominent misreading of the New Testament. Because of the disconnect between these authors and Paul, later church scribes attempted to fine-tune the gospels to become more consistent with orthodox theology. How was it possible that Paul believed Jesus would return to judge the world when no thinking prior to Paul envisioned such a role for a messiah? Why did gospel authors reflect an indentity for Jesus as the Son of Man, a prominent figure of Jewish apocalyptic literature? These and other questions are addressed.