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Jesus in the Talmud
Peter Schäfer
review
"The most explicit Jesus passages in the Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) date back, at the earliest, to the late-200/early-300 A. D. (p. 8). Schaeffer includes a helpful tabular Appendix (pp. 132-144) that details the various editions of the Bavli, listing the relevant verses and their comparative translations. [As a non-Jew, I found it a rewarding experience to read the printed and online Talmud myself. Particularly instructive verses deal with Jesus the Bastard Son (Sanhedrin 67a, Shabbat 104b), His execution (Sanhedrin 43a), and Him burning in hell in hot excrement (Gittin 57a). One useful online source, though in denial about Him in the Talmud, is the English Soncino Babylonian Talmud, located at halakhahdotcom.]
Discrepancies between Bavli and the New Testament accounts have been used to argue that there is no Talmudic reference to Jesus at all. Instead, such discrepancies can be accounted for by 1) The rabbis' superficial knowledge of Christianity reflected by frequent elementary blunders, 2) Accounts written in code so as to afford plausible denial in case of Christian hostility, and/or 3) A creative mockery of Christian doctrines. Schafer emphasizes the latter.
Except for not mentioning the name of the Child, the Bavli essentially repeats anti-Christian Celsus' tale of Jesus being the product of an adulterous affair involving the soldier Panthera/Pandera, as also mentioned by several rabbinical sources. (pp. 18-20). Contrary to objections, the name Panthera is not that common, and the story is distinctive and stable enough to refer unambiguously to Jesus. (e. g., p. 20, 141; see also p. 98). The account is a creative mockery of the Virgin Birth of Christ and His claim to be of Messianic Davidic lineage."
review
^ UNPARDONABLE SIN.