The Resurrection of Jesus

By Gerd Lüdemann

Book Overview

Since his student days, Gerd Ludemann has noted how both New Testament scholars and theologians have tended to be evansive about what actually happened at the resurrection of Jesus. How was Jesus seen? Was the tomb really empty, and, if so, what happened to the body? Dissatisfied with so much of what he read, he set out to write his own book, making a thourough examination of all the passages relating to the resurrection in the New Testament, beginning with the fanmous verse in 1 Corinthians 15 and going through to the last chapter of John's Gospel. The results of this exhausttive study are largely negative, Ludemann succeeds in demonstrating just how much tradition and the evangelists themselves have contributed to the Easter story. THis is an honest scholarly book with the ring of truth, and needs to be read without prejudice. Those who do so will find that in fact it is remarkably positive.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0334025605
• ISBN13: 9780334025603
• Release Date: April 2012
• Publisher: SCM Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Highly informative

Ludemann does his usual masterful dissection of the Gospels et al to show the resurrection for what it is/was--a powerful visionary experience. A healthy dose of commonsense plays a role in his conclusions as well--the deceased do not return to life and go gallivanting about. This is painful fact for Ludemann--one that cost him his faith ... and his job! There's a reason why the miraculous happened to the Ancients, but do not happen today. They did not occur then, either. People viewed the miraculous far, far differently then we do in the 21st Century. It was quite normal for gods to appear to their creation, for statues to weep, for faith healers to cure the sick so forth and so on. This was the norm of the day ... and this the fact of the resurrection--visionary. I think James Robinson put it best when he stated: "... One by one, then in smaller or larger groups, the disciples experienced Jesus still calling on them to continue his message and lifestyle. Thus he reentered their lives as they experienced anew the reality of his message and in turn were commissioned to carry it on just as he had. This is the experience that was and is the reality of Easter."--The Gospel of Jesus, Robinson, James, M., p. 206 A personal note on the resurrection ... Not in recorded history has a miracle, like that which occurred in the Bible, been observed--ever. Jesus supposedly stated that this would not be the case--that believers would do greater miracles than he. Has never happened. No one has ever walked on water, calmed a storm, raised the dead, changed water into wine--nothing! Now, if they don't occur today ... they never happened to the ancients. The dead simply do not come back to life.