Book review: Boyarin, The Jewish Gospels

DANIEL BOYARIN'S NEW BOOK is reviewed by Alan Brill at his blog, The Book of Doctrines and Opinions: Daniel Boyarin- new book The Jewish Gospel. (The book title actually reads "Gospels," plural.) Excerpt:

This is not at all like the ill-informed gibberish of Boteach who lacked any research skilled. Yet, I don’t know how this will play out among ordinary non-academic Jews. Boyarin does not accept Kosher Jesus and thinks that Rabbinic Judaism in its definition rejected it. This rejection of a “second power” by rabbinic Jews, begins a “heresiological” process in Christianity and Judaism. Polemics created the nascent borders, yet it was intellectual “smugglers who transported discourses [. . .] in both directions across the abstract frontier of the two groups.” In non-technical terms, Boyarin assumes that these positions were slowly rejected in the first centuries though self-definitions and polemics. They were no longer kosher by the end of the process.

In contrast, the academic field won’t accept all of Boyarin’s conclusions; however, they will embrace the book because he pushes the limit on questioning our essentialism and fixed boundaries of the first century.

The book by Boteach is noted here and links. More on Boyarin's book and his other work here and links.