Rabbinic Literature and the New Testament: What We Cannot Show We Do Not Know

Here is a sustained criticism of the rather facile use of rabbinic literature by New Testament scholarship. In particular Neusner addresses the writings of Helmut Koester Samuel Sandmel Reginald Fuller Harvey Falk Geza Vermes E.P. Sanders S.J.D. Cohen Morton Smith John P. Meier and Brad H. Young. The book begins with a study of the characteristics of rabbinic literature and a demonstration of why this literature cannot be easily used for the kind of history New Testament scholarship proposes to produce. Then follow critiques of the writings by various New Testament scholars and the differences between Professor Neusner and his critics. A concluding section pays tribute to the New Testament field for all it has taught the author.