Book Description

For centuries, most Christians have believed that Jesus was a fair-skinned, blue-eyed Gentile, and that because the New Testament was written in Greek the study of its Greek roots should take priority over the study of the Hebrew Scriptures. In recent decades, those conceptions have begun to change. Jewish and Christian scholars have engaged together in examining the Jewishness of Jesus, the Hebrew origins of Christianity, and the Hebraic origins of Scripture with renewed interest. In Faith of the Ages, author Richard Rhoades explores the Jewishness of Jesus, the first century community of believers and when, where, how, and why early Christian leaders rejected those Hebraic origins. Faith of the Ages investigates the origins of the Christian Church and looks at the anti-Semitism of the Greek and Latin Church fathers, the Roman Emperor Constantine, Roman Catholic Church authorities, and leaders of the Reformation, who all played a major role in moving Christianity away from its Hebraic roots. Rhoades also examines passages of Scripture that Catholic and Protestant translators have changed by adding to and subtracting from certain words found in the ancient Greek manuscripts. Simply stated, Faith of the Ages answers questions about the Jewishness of Jesus, the first century community of believers, the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith and its rich Hebrew heritage, and provides a compelling historical and biblical impetus for believers to reexamine their Christian faith.