"We must understand that some of the early Christians [in the decades after Jesus' death] saw the message of Jesus largely within the context of Judaism. Indeed, Christianity might have remained as a sect within Judaism . In this initial stage there was little or no thought of any dividing line between Christianity and Judaism."-The Catholic Study Bible (written by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, ruling body of the American Roman Catholic Church)
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When the world's largest Christian denomination acknowledges that early "Christianity" was merely a sect of the Jewish religion-both during Jesus' life and for years thereafter-isn't it time to reexamine what the New Testament really says about the Man from Nazareth?
The Roman Catholic Church monopolized the New Testament for over fourteen hundred years, forbidding laypeople from reading or interpreting it. Although this monopoly was shattered by the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, knowledge about Jesus' first-century world was too sparse for anyone to understand the New Testament in its proper context. Today, we know more about Jesus' times than ever before. Yet Christian religious leaders have been reluctant to disseminate these new insights-largely because they reveal that Jesus was a Jewish prophet who insisted on adherence to traditional Judaism. In Jesus the Misunderstood Jew: What the New Testament Really Says About the Man from Nazareth, Dr. Robert Kupor illuminates the New Testament in a way that allows both Christians and Jews to understand this seminal document in a startling new light. Jesus the Misunderstood Jew will surprise and enlighten you.
