David Flusser

David Flusser
David Flusser
	David Flusser
Born	15 September 1917; Vienna,Austria-Hungary
Died	15 September 2000(aged 83); Jerusalem,Israel
Nationality	Austrian
Occupation	Academic
Known for	Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research
Title	ProfessorofEarly ChristianityandJudaismof theSecond Temple Periodat theHebrew University of Jerusalem
Spouse	Chana
Children	2 sons (Yochanan and Uri)
Academic background
Education	Charles University in Prague
Alma mater	Hebrew University of Jerusalem(Ph.D.)
Thesis	(1957)
Academic work
Discipline	Biblical studies
Institutions	Hebrew University of Jerusalem

David Flusser(Hebrew:דוד פלוסר; born 1917; died 2000) was an Israeli professor ofEarly Christianityand Judaism of theSecond Temple Periodat theHebrew University of Jerusalem.

Biography

David Flusser was born in Vienna on September 15, 1917. He grew up inPříbram(Przibram, Pibrans, Freiberg i.B.),middleBohemia,Czechoslovakiaand attended theUniversity of Prague.There he met a pastor,Josef Perl,who piqued his interest in Jesus and Christianity.^[1]As a young schoolboy his parents had sent him to a Christian school, but in Palestine during the late 1930s he became an observant Jew.^[2]Flusser emigrated toMandatory Palestine,where he completed his doctorate at the Hebrew University ofJerusalemin 1957. He later taught in the Comparative Religions department for many years, mentoring many future scholars.

David Flusser was the cousin ofVilém Flusser.

Flusser died inJerusalemon September 15,2000,on his 83rd birthday.^[1]He was survived by his wife, Chana, 2 sons, Yochanan and Uri, and 7 grandchildren.

Academic career

Flusser was a devoutOrthodox Jewwho applied his study of theTorahandTalmudto the study of ancientGreek,Romanand Arabic texts, as well as the Hebrew of theDead Sea Scrolls.Flusser scrutinized the ancient Jewish and Christian texts for evidence of the Jewish roots of Christianity. While critically distinguishing thehistorical Jesusfrom the portrayal in the Gospels and other Christian writings, Flusser saw Jesus as an authentic Jew, misunderstood by his followers.^[3]

Jesusby David Flusser

David Satran, a professor of comparative religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said, "Dr. Flusser was rather remarkable in his strong insistence that not only was Jesus a Jew from birth to death, but that Jesus did nothing that could be interpreted as a revolt or questioning of the basic principles of the Judaism at the time."^[4]Personally, Flusser viewed Jesus as atsadikwith keen spiritual insight and a "high self-awareness" that near-contemporaries similarly expressed, such asHillel the Elderin the Talmud and the "Teacher of Righteousness" in certain Dead Sea Scrolls.

Flusser pursued his research at a time when many Jews blamed Christianity for Nazism. During his trial in Israel, the Gestapo officerAdolf Eichmannrefused to take an oath on the New Testament, insisting he would swear only "in the name of God." Flusser commented in an editorial inThe Jerusalem Post:"I do not know who is the God in whose name Eichmann swore, but I am certain that it is neither the God of Israel nor the God of the Christian church. It should now become clear to the strongest Jewish opponents of Christianity that Christianityper seimposes limitations, and that the greatest crime against our people was not committed in the name of the Christian faith ".

Flusser published over 1,000 articles in Hebrew, German, English, and other languages. The results of his many academic writings can be found in his book,Jesus(1965), whose augmented second editionThe Sage from Galilee(1998) was updated to incorporate his later research and views on Jesus.

One of Flusser's views which was particularly influential in Germany, being taken up and advocated also byJoachim Jeremias,was the suggestion that the nameYeshuused ofJesus in the Talmudwas "in no way abusive" but was in fact a Galilean dialect version, since according to Flusser, Galileans found the finalayinof the nameYeshuadifficult to pronounce.^[5]Flusser also took the view (1992) that theBirkat haMinimwas originally in reference toSadducees,not Judaeo-Christians.^[6]

Flusser was trained as a philologist and thus the study of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Aramaic manuscripts was central to his research interests. He was primarily interested in the medievalBook of Yosipponwhich claimed much of his time from 1940 to 1982 when he finished his edition of this medieval history of the Second Temple period. His studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament manuscripts illuminated both the contemporary period and the echoes in the Book of Yosippon. Flusser once quipped that he would like to chat with Jesus and the anonymous author of the Book of Yosippon once he reached the "academy on high". His final biography would emphasize his medieval training and interests.

Awards and recognition

Flusser was a member of theIsrael Academy of Sciences and Humanitiesand received theIsrael Prizein 1980, for his contributions to the study of Jewish history.^[7]Lawrence Schiffman,chairman of the Skirball department ofHebrewandJudaic studiesatNew York University,credited him with pioneering "the modern study of Christianity in thestate of Israelin a scholarly context ".

Selected works

Flusser, David; Lang, Justin; Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (1986).Mary: Images of the Mother of Jesus in Jewish and Christian Perspective.Fortress Press.ISBN 978-0-800-60765-4.OCLC 12975323.
——— (1988).Judaism and the Origins of Christianity.Jerusalem: Magnes Press and the Hebrew University.ISBN 965-223-627-6.
——— (1987).Jewish Sources in Early Christianity.Adama Books.ISBN 978-0-9153-6192-2.
——— (1989).The Spiritual History of the Dead Sea Sect.Translated byGlucker, Carol.MOD Press.
——— (1998).Jesus(second ed. augmented ed.). Jerusalem: Magnes Press and the Hebrew University.ISBN 965-223-978-X.
———; Van De Sandt, Huub (2002).Jewish Traditions in Early Christian Literature, Volume 5 the Didache: Its Jewish Sources and Its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity.Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum Ad Novum Testamentum. Leiden: Brill.ISBN 978-9-0232-3763-1.OCLC 50229418.
———;Notley, R. Steven(2007).The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Jesus' Genius(Revised and updated ed.). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.ISBN 978-0-8028-2587-2.
——— (2007).Judaism of the Second Temple Period: Qumran and Apocalypticism.Vol. 1. Translated by Azzan Yadin. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.ISBN 978-0-8028-2469-1.^[a]
——— (2009).Judaism of the Second Temple Period: The Jewish Sages and Their Literature.Vol. 2. Translated by Azzan Yadin. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.ISBN 978-0-8028-2458-5.^[a]
——— (2013).Jesus... The Crucified One and the Jews.Varda Books.- e-book only

References

^^a ^b"David Flusser (1917-2000)".Jerusalem Perspective.
^Beck, Mordechai (13 Nov 2000)."Obituary: David Flusser".The Guardian.Retrieved20 February2020.
^Flusser, David (2001).Jesus.Gefen Publishing House.ISBN 965223978X.
^"L'histoire de la religion juive et de la religion chrétienne".Chrétiens et juifs(in French).^{[better source needed]}
^Flusser, David (1987).Jewish sources in early Christianity.Adama Books. p. 89.ISBN 1557740097.The Hebrew name for Jesus, Yeshu, is evidence for the Galilean pronunciation of the period, and is in no way abusive. Jesus was a Galilean...
^Lambers-Petry, Doris; Tomson, Peter J., eds. (2003). "The War Against Rome".The image of the Judaeo-Christians in ancient Jewish and Christian literature.p. 15.doi:10.1628/978-3-16-157469-6.ISBN 978-3-16-157469-6.... who unearthed the conceptual background of the birkat ha-minim. In his analysis, the material of the berakha basically dates from temple times, when it was directed against such 'separatists' (perushim or porshim) as Sadducees who...
^"Recipients in 1980".Israel Prize Official Site(in Hebrew). Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-16.

Notes

^^a ^bUnfortunately, the translations made by Azzan Yadin are riddled with mistakes ranging from typographical errors to mistranslations to the omission of entire sentences, paragraphs, and (in one case) an entire page. These gross errors are deeply detrimental to the clarity and accuracy of Flusser's essays and reflect poorly on his scholarship. For a list of translation errors and other mistakes that have been noted in this translated collection of articles, see"Corrections and Emendations to Flusser'sJudaism of the Second Temple Period".Jerusalem Perspective.

External links

Flusser, David (1 January 2004)."Excerpts from David Flusser'sJesus".Archivedfrom the original on 4 October 2007.Retrieved5 September2006.
Rudin, A. James."David Flusser".Jewish-Christian Relations.Archivedfrom the original on 9 February 2007.Retrieved4 September2006.
Lowe, Malcolm (1990)."Bibliography of the Writings of David Flusser"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 5 March 2018.Retrieved16 January2016.
David Flusser interview with Roy Blizzard.Jerusalem Perspective. 14 September 2015.
Wilson, Edmund (6 May 1955)."The Scrolls from the Dead Sea".The New Yorker.
Flusser, David."Jesus' Temptation and its Jewish Background".Whole Stones.
Flusser, David."SanctusandGloria".Whole Stones.
Flusser, David."The Torah in the Sermon on the Mount".Whole Stones.
Flusser, David."Luke 9:51-56—A Hebrew Fragment".Whole Stones.
Tomson, Peter."Review: David Flusser's,Die rabbinischen Gleichnisse und der Gleichniserzähler Jesus(1981) ".Whole Stones.
Flusser, David."'Everything Written…in the Psalms About Me' (Luke 24:44) ".Whole Stones.
Flusser, David."Midrash in the New Testament".Whole Stones.
Flusser, David."'They Know Not What They Do': The History of a Dominical Saying ".Whole Stones.

[jerusalem_perspective-1] "David Flusser (1917-2000)".Jerusalem Perspective.

[2] Beck, Mordechai (13 Nov 2000)."Obituary: David Flusser".The Guardian.Retrieved20 February2020.

[3] Flusser, David (2001).Jesus.Gefen Publishing House.ISBN 965223978X.

[4] "L'histoire de la religion juive et de la religion chrétienne".Chrétiens et juifs(in French).^{[better source needed]}

[5] Flusser, David (1987).Jewish sources in early Christianity.Adama Books. p. 89.ISBN 1557740097.The Hebrew name for Jesus, Yeshu, is evidence for the Galilean pronunciation of the period, and is in no way abusive. Jesus was a Galilean...

[6] Lambers-Petry, Doris; Tomson, Peter J., eds. (2003). "The War Against Rome".The image of the Judaeo-Christians in ancient Jewish and Christian literature.p. 15.doi:10.1628/978-3-16-157469-6.ISBN 978-3-16-157469-6.... who unearthed the conceptual background of the birkat ha-minim. In his analysis, the material of the berakha basically dates from temple times, when it was directed against such 'separatists' (perushim or porshim) as Sadducees who...

[prize-7] "Recipients in 1980".Israel Prize Official Site(in Hebrew). Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-16.

[fn1-8] Unfortunately, the translations made by Azzan Yadin are riddled with mistakes ranging from typographical errors to mistranslations to the omission of entire sentences, paragraphs, and (in one case) an entire page. These gross errors are deeply detrimental to the clarity and accuracy of Flusser's essays and reflect poorly on his scholarship. For a list of translation errors and other mistakes that have been noted in this translated collection of articles, see"Corrections and Emendations to Flusser'sJudaism of the Second Temple Period".Jerusalem Perspective.

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