An Educated Man

From this prize-winning and best-selling author comes a magisterial new project: a dual biography, weaving together the preeminent figures of Judeo-Christian civilization and overturning the conventional view of Moses and Jesus as humble men of faith. Rooting the biographies of Moses and Jesus in their historical contexts, Rosenberg reads their narratives as cultural--rather than religious--endeavors. He charges that both Moses and Jesus were "educated" men, steeped in the literature and scholarship of their day. There were no old or new testaments for them, but rather a long history of writing and writers. When professors quote Moses in university courses, or pastors quote Jesus in sermons, they routinely neglect to inform us that Jesus himself is quoting the Hebrew Bible, often in the manner that Moses once quoted Egyptian medical texts. The remarkable ability of both men to recall and transform a wide range of sources is overlooked. Where did they get these profound educations? Part biography, part critical analysis, "An Educated Man" further challenges us to envision what defines "an educated man or woman" today--and how an understanding of our religious history is crucial to it.