Scandal of a Divine Messiah: A Response to Maimonidean and Kabbalistic Challenges to the Incarnation

In this groundbreaking book, Brian J. Crawford navigates the complex intellectual landscape that has traditionally separated Jews and Christians. His focus is on a scandalous claim: God became a man as Jesus of Nazareth. Since the Middle Ages, Jewish philosophers have said such an idea is impossible and absurd, and Jewish mystics have said the idea is redundant, for all things are inhabited by divine sparks. By critically examining the philosophical underpinnings of the Maimonidean and Kabbalistic thought that has shaped Jewish theology, Crawford constructs a compelling case for the incarnation that is grounded in the Hebrew Scriptures, consistent with history, informed by science, and illuminated by philosophical inquiry. Included within is a deep interaction with Maimonides's Guide to the Perplexed, the Jewish mystical tradition, historical Christian orthodoxy, and Messianic Jewish theology. This landmark study promises to reinvigorate Jewish-Christian discourse on the nature of God, the Jewishness of the Trinity and the incarnation, and the role of philosophy in Judaism and Christianity.