The Book Blawg

The Reluctant Parting: How the New Testament's Jewish Writers Created a Christian Book, by Julie Galambush

Ms. Galambush write from a unique perspective. She is a former ordained Baptist minister who converted to Judaism, and is a professor of religious studies. This book basically goes through the books of the New Testament and explains who the author was, who the audience was, who the different groups were, what the authors meant when they used terms like "Greek" and "Jew". Obviously, she takes a scholarly approach which 1) for the layperson, can get a little dull at times; and 2) may bother some people as she does not accept the inerrancy of scripture. Overall, though, I learned a lot from this book.

Here's a gem from a sidebar:

According to Rom. 3:22 as translated in the NRSV, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, "through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe."... Remarkably, the translation reflected in the NRSV (and all modern translations) is almost certainly incorrect. While it is possible to translate the Greek pistis iesou as "faith in Jesus", it is grammatically awkward to do so. Scholarly consensus has moved steadily toward accepting the translation "faith of Jesus," with faith understood as faithfulness of fidelity.... The choice of translation is crucial; at stake is whether one is saved by Jesus' faith or one's own.

Wow... think of the implications...