Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity

Title: Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity
Author: Keith Akers
ISBN: 9781930051263
Publisher: Lantern Publishing & Media
Published: 2000
Binding: Paperback
Language: English
Edition: 1
Number of Pages: 256
Section: Religion | Comparative Religion
Publisher Description: Jesus' preaching was first and foremost about simple living, pacifism, and vegetarianism; he never intended to create a new religion separate from Judaism. Moreover, Jesus' radical Jewish ethics, rather than a new theology, distinguished him and his followers from other Jews. It was the earliest followers of Jesus, the Jewish Christians, who understood Jesus better than any of the gentile Christian groups, which are the spiritual ancestors of modern Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox churches. In this detailed and accessible study, Keith Akers uncovers the history of Jewish Christianity from its origins in the Essenes and John the Baptist, through Jesus, until its disappearance into Islamic mysticism sometime in the seventh or eighth century. Akers argues that only by really understanding this mysterious and much misunderstood strand of early Christianity can we get to the heart of the radical message of Jesus of Nazareth.