The Messianic Idea in Israel from its Beginning to the Completion of the Mishnah by Joseph Klausner

A new book study on the idea and role of the Messiah

After 2000 years of Christian teaching, it’s commonplace to believe that a person, Jesus, is the Jewish Messiah.  But this was never the Jewish view.  Not because Judaism rejects the Christian assertion but because the idea of the Messiah is far different than the claim of a personal redeemer.  The concept of “Messiah” has a long history of changing understanding.  Joseph Klausner’s classic and definitive work, The Messianic Idea in Israel from its Beginning to the Completion of the Mishnah, is a study of the changes that occurred in the development of the idea of the Messiah.  Carefully reading this work will enlighten and challenge all of us.