Just in time for Easter, the New York Times reviewed a selection of books about the Resurrection. These books correct some common myths among Jews and Christians. The New York Times reports, “The very idea of resurrection is widely and badly misunderstood.” To correct these errors, the New York Times suggests Resurrection: The Power of God for Christians and Jews, by Kevin J. Madigan and Jon D. Levenson.

This book, written for religious and nonreligious people alike in clear and accessible language, explores a teaching central to both Jewish and Christian traditions: the teaching that at the end of time God will cause the dead to live again. Although this expectation, known as the resurrection of the dead, is widely understood to have been a part of Christianity from its beginnings nearly two thousand years ago, many people are surprised to learn that the Jews believed in resurrection long before the emergence of Christianity. In this sensitively written and historically accurate book, religious scholars Kevin J. Madigan and Jon D. Levenson aim to clarify confusion and dispel misconceptions about Judaism, Jesus, and Christian origins.

The New York Times said that Levenson continues the ideas he began in Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life. The Jewish Book Council awarded this book the 2006 National Jewish Book Award in Scholarship, and the Biblical Archaeology Society named it the 2007 Best Book Relating to the Hebrew Bible.

This provocative volume explores the origins of the Jewish doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Jon D. Levenson argues that, contrary to a very widespread misconception, the ancient rabbis were keenly
committed to the belief that at the end of time, God would restore the deserving dead to life. In fact, Levenson points out, the rabbis saw the Hebrew Bible itself as committed to that idea.

Read the entire New York Times article here.