The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity

This wonderful book explains the Jewish roots of the Catholic Christian religion. It does so with great readability and with great scholarship. It links the OT with the NT and shows in many ways how not only the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament, but also how the Catholic Church fulfills temple Judaism. This book goes through The Church, Baptism, Passover and Mass, Priests, Vestments, The Temple, Monastics, Marriage, Holy Days, Saints, and The Afterlife and shows how Jewish truths transformed into Catholic Doctrines, and how all of Catholic Belief has roots in Judaism.The Church itself is Jewish insofar as its roots are, built off a Jewish covenant and a Jewish book, with a Jewish Lord, and Jewish apostles.Also contained in this book are all the prophecies of the Jewish messiah, and how Christ fulfilled them all. In fact, it details how some Jewish Scholars studying Zechariah determined there would be two Messiahs, a suffering servant and then later a conquering king. Of course, Catholic's rather believe it is one Messiah that comes twice!Many examples could be given of the wonderful exposition contained in this book, but I will suffice with two:1. In Chapter two of this book, the author talks about the Davidic Kingdom. In the Davidic Kingdom the two most important people in the kingdom other than the King himself, were the Queen Mother and The Royal Steward, or Prime Minister. The Queen Mother symbolized the King's rightful right to rule, and would literally sit on a throne to his right and rule with him. The royal steward or prime minister was the one who ruled in the King's Place, as a prime minister (Much like how Joseph was to Pharoah in Egypt), he had the keys to the kingdom and was like a father to the people of the nation. Christ is the heir of the Davidic Kingdom. He is the rightful heir of King David, he sits on the throne of David as Christ the King. Likewise, the two most important people in his kingdom are his Queen Mother, who rules with him at the right hand, and his Prime Minister who has the Keys to the kingdom, the Pope.2. In the Chapter on the Passover and the Mass, the author shows how they relate, and how the Eucharist Completes the Mass. In the Passover the Lamb provided the escape from Sin by it's death, but the participants actually made themselves one with the sacrifice by consuming it. Likewise, Christ instituted the Eucharist(During a Passover meal), and offered himself on the cross as our Passover lamb, which he then perpetuates through the Eucharist. We then become one with this sacrifice by consuming him in the Eucharist.Likewise, the Manna in the wilderness was a type of the Eucharist, it even looked just like the host, it provided nourishment for the Israelites for the journey through the wilderness, likewise for our journey in the wilderness. The Manna, and Priestly Rod of Aaron, and Copy of the word of the Law, all types of Christ, were placed in the Ark of the Covenant, a type of Mary who is the ark of the new covenant.This book is an absolutely fantastic book on Catholic Christianity, showing it's Jewish roots and relation. Absolute essential for those wanting to understand Catholic roots and it's Jewish connection.

In a very short and simply written way, this book places Jewish beliefs and practices along side Catholic ones to show the connections.I think this would be fascinating for Catholics (like me) as well as probably just anyone interested in the evolution of religion.I do wish that the author had taken more time to explain and analyze how Jesus specifically fulfilled Jewish prophesy. There is some discussion of this throughout the book. And there is an appendix for this (but only very short explanations of each prophesy). But as a Catholic that was the most interesting thing about this book to me and I felt like it was not as prominent as it could have been.But I would still recommend this book because it is full of very interesting Jewish connections to Catholicism that really opened my mind.

The Holy Spirit had been working on my heart and leading me toward Catholicism for a while when I came across The Crucified Rabbi. I was raised in the Episcopal church. When I saw that this book was written by a former Episcopal priest, I knew I had to read it. I figured he understood where I was coming from and what my questions were and maybe he could answer them. I had only read the book's Introduction when I knew I would become Catholic. As I read the book I became more and more excited about what was being revealed to me. I have had a relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior since I was 4 years old. I grew up in a family that talked about God and prayed together constantly. My parents engaged in deep theological discussions with me from when I was small. I never understood what Catholics meant by "the fullness of the faith" until I read this book. After reading The Crucified Rabbi, I read the entire Catechism. I fell in love with the church and her teachings. I realized that the Catholic faith is the same faith I've known since I was a child. I came into full communion with the Catholic Church this Easter. Thank you Dr. Marshall for being obedient to God's call to write this book.

If you are a Christian who sees a big disconnect between the Old Testament and the New, then this book is for you! I was an Episcopalian for most of my adult life until I converted to the Catholic faith eight years ago. Suddenly the Bible began to make sense to me, primarily because of the exciting renaissance of Catholic biblical theology we are experiencing today through the writings of Catholic converts such as Dr. Taylor Marshall. We've been so blessed and enlightened by the books of Scott Hahn, and now along comes Taylor Marshall to take our understanding to an even deeper level. There are three things I especially appreciated about this book: 1) it is chock full of significant, fascinating information, yet it is understandable by even a lay person like myself; 2) the layout and font size are clear and easy on the eyes-- and on the brain as well! and 3) I learned so much how our Christian beliefs and practices have built on what went before in the Jewish tradition, rather than Christianity being a significant break with the past, as I had thought before. I enjoyed this book so much that I bought the other two in his trilogy when they became available, and I'm looking forward to more from Dr. Taylor Marshall.

In my Father's house are many mansions (John 14:2). With the reformation and its justified renewed interest in the original Hebrew Scriptures, a lot of the Roman Catholic religious concepts have been put aside. This well documented book shows to the interested reader that many of these traditional concepts are actually rooted in Judaism, albeit these concepts do not represent mainstream Rabbinical Judaism. As a member of a Netherlandish-German Roman Catholic clan of families of nearly forgotten royal Jewish descent I just love this book!

A must read to understand the "Jewish" elements which have carried over into Catholicism. There are several others besides the ones included in the book, but the major themes are discussed thoroughly and convincingly.

The Crucified Rabbi is a great resource for those who are wondering and perhaps concerned whether any continuity has been preserved between the Judaism of the time of our Lord and the Catholic Church. The author, Taylor Marshall, capably compares aspects of Judaism that have some parallel in the Catholic Church and how Christ and the Church of the New Testament are the fulfilment of the Old Testament. The reference list at the back which shows how Christ fulfilled the Old Testament is particularly excellent.

I love this book. Great read with lots of interesting facts. You will learn something when you read this book.

Good book to read