This is a short, very readable book by Geza Vermes, retired Professor of Jewish Studies at Oxford and a leading historian on Judaism in the era of Jesus.

In Part One he examines Jewish attitudes towards the afterlife in the times leading up to and including the life of Jesus. Was belief in resurrection a feature of Judaism in the time of Jesus? Definitely not. Pharisees held this belief, but their influence was small, mostly limited to the towns of Judea, and almost entirely nonexistent in the Galilee region of Jesus and his followers. To the vast majority of Jews of this era, the concept of bodily resurrection would have been either repugnant (Hellenized Jews) or unfamiliar (the rural mass of Palestinian Jewry).

In Part Two, he examines the New Testament claims regarding the Resurrection of Jesus, and very briefly offers his own thoughts on what may have happened. He begins by noting that Jesus spent very little of his ministry preaching about the afterlife. He did, however, predict his death and resurrection to his disciples. But they in turn never seemed to grasp what they were being told. Mark writes that the apostles had no idea what rising from the dead meant when Jesus predicted this to them, which confirms the previously established argument that bodily resurrection was a foreign concept to Galilean Jews of this time.

So we come to the accounts of Jesus' resurrection in the Gospels, Acts, and letters of Paul, which contain discrepencies and contradictions between them. Vermes lays these out. He then discusses how Paul was crucially responsible for making the resurrection story into the central defining argument of the emerging Christian Church.

In the last chapter Vermes gets to the question: What Really Happened? We have two classes of evidence presented in the New Testament: the account of the empty tomb and the appearances of the risen Jesus to various individuals. He seems convinced of the veracity of the empty tomb. To mention one reason, every single account has women finding the tomb empty, and in Jewish society the testimony of women had no standing. This would be an exceedingly poor start to making up such a story in that historical era.

As for the appearances of the resurrected Jesus, they are no good at all as evidence for today's historian. They can convince only the already converted believer of today.

He then rules out no fewer than 8 explanations for what may have historically happened to explain the stories of the empty tomb and appearances - ranging from the true belief of the religious fundamentalist to the denial of the entire thing as mere fantasy by the committed skeptic.

What explanation does this leave? In the epilogue Vermes discusses how the apostles are transformed from a fearful, terrified band of followers in hiding following the death of their leader into brave evangelists openly preaching, defying the authorities at risk of death, and seeking converts. Something happened to them. Vermes posits that they heard of the empty tomb and experienced some "apparitions", felt themselves under the influence of the Spirit, ventured forth with some ray of hope and found renewed self-confidence and success.

Note that this does not explain why the tomb was actually empty, which Vermes accepts as a likely historical fact, and that he has previously rejected various theories that would explain this. And that reference to "apparitions" is really begging for further clarification.

Throughout, the book is written in a neutral and scholarly tone, which is most welcome for a book on this topic. ( )

A noted biblical scholar lays to rest the doubts concerning the reality of Jesus Christ and presents telling evidence for at least an incredible event, perhaps a resurrection, yet to be explained away by worshipers of the simple is best explanation when evidence is unreliable. ( )

This is a short, very readable book by Geza Vermes, retired Professor of Jewish Studies at Oxford and a leading historian on Judaism in the era of Jesus.

In Part One he examines Jewish attitudes towards the afterlife in the times leading up to and including the life of Jesus. Was belief in resurrection a feature of Judaism in the time of Jesus? Definitely not. Pharisees held this belief, but their influence was small, mostly limited to the towns of Judea, and almost entirely nonexistent in the Galilee region of Jesus and his followers. To the vast majority of Jews of this era, the concept of bodily resurrection would have been either repugnant (Hellenized Jews) or unfamiliar (the rural mass of Palestinian Jewry).

In Part Two, he examines the New Testament claims regarding the Resurrection of Jesus, and very briefly offers his own thoughts on what may have happened. He begins by noting that Jesus spent very little of his ministry preaching about the afterlife. He did, however, predict his death and resurrection to his disciples. But they in turn never seemed to grasp what they were being told. Mark writes that the apostles had no idea what rising from the dead meant when Jesus predicted this to them, which confirms the previously established argument that bodily resurrection was a foreign concept to Galilean Jews of this time.

So we come to the accounts of Jesus' resurrection in the Gospels, Acts, and letters of Paul, which contain discrepencies and contradictions between them. Vermes lays these out. He then discusses how Paul was crucially responsible for making the resurrection story into the central defining argument of the emerging Christian Church.

In the last chapter Vermes gets to the question: What Really Happened? We have two classes of evidence presented in the New Testament: the account of the empty tomb and the appearances of the risen Jesus to various individuals. He seems convinced of the veracity of the empty tomb. To mention one reason, every single account has women finding the tomb empty, and in Jewish society the testimony of women had no standing. This would be an exceedingly poor start to making up such a story in that historical era.

As for the appearances of the resurrected Jesus, they are no good at all as evidence for today's historian. They can convince only the already converted believer of today.

He then rules out no fewer than 8 explanations for what may have historically happened to explain the stories of the empty tomb and appearances - ranging from the true belief of the religious fundamentalist to the denial of the entire thing as mere fantasy by the committed skeptic.

What explanation does this leave? In the epilogue Vermes discusses how the apostles are transformed from a fearful, terrified band of followers in hiding following the death of their leader into brave evangelists openly preaching, defying the authorities at risk of death, and seeking converts. Something happened to them. Vermes posits that they heard of the empty tomb and experienced some "apparitions", felt themselves under the influence of the Spirit, ventured forth with some ray of hope and found renewed self-confidence and success.

Note that this does not explain why the tomb was actually empty, which Vermes accepts as a likely historical fact, and that he has previously rejected various theories that would explain this. And that reference to "apparitions" is really begging for further clarification.

Throughout, the book is written in a neutral and scholarly tone, which is most welcome for a book on this topic. ( )

The story of Christ's crucifixion and subsequent resurrection is the rock of faith on which Christianity is founded. But on what evidence is the most miraculous phenomenon in religious history based? World-famous Biblical scholar Geza Vermes has studied all the evidence that still remains, over two thousand years after Jesus Christ was reported to have risen from the dead. Examining the Jewish Bible, the New Testament and other accounts left to us, as well as contemporary attitudes to the afterlife, he takes us through each episode with a historian's focus: the crucifixion, the treatment of the body, the statements of the women who found the empty tomb, and the visions of Christ by his disciples. Unravelling the true meaning conveyed in the Gospels, the Acts and St Paul, Vermes shines new light on the developing faith in the risen Christ among the first followers of Jesus. The Resurrection presents a comprehensive account of exactly what the earliest Christian sources report about the aftermath of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.

Geza Vermes's The Resurrection presents a comprehensive account of exactly what the earliest Christian sources report about the aftermath of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The story of Christ's crucifixion and subsequent resurrection is the rock of faith on which Christianity is founded. But on what evidence is the most miraculous phenomenon in religious history based? World-famous biblical scholar Geza Vermes has studied all the evidence that still remains, over two thousand years after Jesus Christ was reported to have risen from the dead. Examining the Jewish Bible, the New Testament and other accounts left to us, as well as contemporary attitudes to the afterlife, he takes us through each episode with a historian's focus: the crucifixion, the treatment of the body, the statements of the women who found the empty tomb, and the visions of Christ by his disciples. Unravelling the true meaning conveyed in the Gospels, the Acts and St Paul, Vermes shines a new light on the developing faith in the risen Christ among the first followers of Jesus. 'The greatest Jesus scholar of his generation'
Sunday Telegraph Geza Vermes is director of the Forum for Qumran Research at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. His books, published by Penguin, include The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, The Story of the Scrolls and The Changing Faces of Jesus as well as the 'Jesus' trilogy: Nativity, Passion and Resurrection.