Without compromising Jewish identity or encouraging any traditional Jewish stereotypes of the New Testament, offers an enlightened view of Christian beliefs and encourages readers to acknowledge their common humanity with people of all religions.

"Now when it is needed more than ever, at last the definitive classic is back. Samuel Sandmel-beloved teacher of Bible to generations of Reform rabbis-guides Jews through the beauty, subtlety, and difficulty of Christian scripture. Don't open the desk drawer in a motel room without Sandmel in your other hand."
-Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, author of Filling Words with Light: Hasidic and Mystical Reflections on Jewish Prayer

"This is a classic in every sense of the term. Sandmel guides us patiently through the early writings of the Christian Church-Paul and the Epistles, the Gospels and the other writings-with scholarly acumen, sound historical judgement and sympathy. Particularly striking is his treatment of both the genuine controversies within and between the individual books and the overarching unity of the whole."
-Rabbi Neil Gillman, professor of Jewish philosophy at The Jewish Theological Seminary; author of The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought and The Jewish Approach to God: A Brief Introduction for Christians