Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel
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The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life
Jon D. Levenson
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Format: PaperPrice: $32.00
The author meticulously traces the belief in resurrection backward from its undoubted attestations in rabbinic literature and in the Book of Daniel, showing where the belief stands in continuity with earlier Israelite culture and where it departs from that culture. Focusing on the biblical roots of resurrection, Levenson challenges the notion that it was a foreign import into Judaism, and in the process he develops a neglected continuity between Judaism and Christianity. His book will shake the thinking of scholars and lay readers alike, revising the way we understand the history of Jewish ideas about life, death, and the destiny of the Jewish people.
"In this volume Levenson does what he does so well: he picks up a standard scholarly consensus and turns it on its head. Anyone wishing to maintain the consensus view will have to reckon seriously with the claims this work makes."—Gary A. Anderson, University of Notre Dame
“Levenson’s thesis is fresh and unprecedented in biblical scholarship. He makes a persuasive case for rethinking conventional wisdom on a major issue in Judaism and the Hebrew Bible—resurrection from the dead.”—R. W. L. Moberly, Durham University
“[Levenson] draws out subtle connections and makes fine distinctions, never claiming more for his evidence than what it will bear. . . . The prose of Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel is clear and often powerful, having absorbed much of the poetry and primal strength of the biblical passages it examines. Professor Levenson has written for an audience well beyond his fellow biblical scholars.”—Peter Steinfels, New York Times
“Jon Levenson has established himself as the foremost theological interpreter of the Hebrew Bible from a Jewish perspective in a way that contributes to the larger theological discussion. While he makes a sustained appeal to rabbinic tradition, he also invites and compels attention from Christian readers. This book serves as a companion piece to and an advance beyond his important 1993 book The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son. Whereas that book focused on the particular theme of ‘the death of the beloved son’ with special reference to Genesis 22, this book considers more broadly belief in the resurrection of the dead as a characteristic and pervasive mark of Jewish faith.”—Walter Brueggemann, Christian Century
“Bound to be controversial, this revisionist reading of biblical afterlife beliefs commands the attention of biblical scholarship.” - International review of Biblical Studies, Vol. 54:2007/2008
Publication Date: April 17, 2008
