Birger Gerhardsson

The Shema in the New Testament : Deut 6:4-5 in significant passages Birger Gerhardsson

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." So the first and most important part of Israel's creed (the Shema`) runs. The scribes and rabbis saw deep significance in each of the words "heart", "soul", and "might (mammon)". Jesus and each of his male disciples certainly recited the Shema` every morning and evening. Dr. Gerhardsson has found that the quoted words have, in their scribal interpretation, played a central role for Jesus and Early Christianity, and he has over a period of 30 years presented his findings in a series of ground-breaking articles. Seventeen of these studies, written in English, German and French, have now been collected into one volume. They put a number of significant New Testament passages in a fresh light: basic sayings and parables of Jesus, the narratives about the temptation and crucifixion of Christ, the prose-poem about love in 1 Corinthians XIII, and others. They illuminate the centre of New Testament ethics, they focus attention upon the ethical dimension of Early Christology, and they uncover the basic criteria of the original dispute between the Church and Israel.