Books Jesus Read

Resources for Application

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of redemption and an afterlife in eternity. Could these differences in perspective lie behind the differing beliefs of Sadducees and Pharisees in Jesus’ day? What other differences in point of view can you discern between 1–2 Maccabees? To enhance your understanding of the differences, I recommend watching the lecture on 1–2 Maccabees by Professor Daniel Schwartz, a preeminent Jewish scholar, available on YouTube at: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=5RQhysxU2GU . Finally, David deSilva’s The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude: What Earliest Christianity Learned from the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha provides an excellent but challenging introduction to the Apocrypha as essential background to the New Testament. Readers who wade through the pages describing the author’s careful methodology will discover insights that add an entire dimension to our understanding of Jesus’ teachings by examining them against the backdrop of Second Temple period Jewish literature. Abomination that causes desolation. The phrase found in 1 Maccabees 1:54 and Daniel 12:11, is also spoken by Jesus in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14. It refers to an object such as a false idol placed in the sanctuary which, by its very presence, desecrates or corrupts the holy place. Akra (Ak-rah). Called the “Citadel” in most translations, Akra is short for acropolis and refers to a fortress built on a steep hill which is difficult or impossible to conquer. Glossary and Pronunciation Guide of Names and Terms Found in the Apocrypha