MembersDavid Flusser and Modern Jewish Yeshua-Believers

David Flusser (1917-2000), Professor of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was born a century ago.

By Gershon Nerel |
Photo: David Fusser

His numerous writings on early Christianity were published in many languages. While focusing on the Second Temple Period, he expressed his views about the theological development of the primitive movement of Jewish believers in Yeshua (JBY), followed by the young churches among the nations.

I attended his seminar on Latin Church Fathers. Only three students registered, and more than once just he and I were present at class. We read together Patristic texts of St. Augustine and St. Jerome, and repeatedly he became hot-tempered when we discussed delicate topics. Like his tutor at the Hebrew University, Prof. Joseph Klausner, Flusser seldom employed the biblical name Yeshua, which holds the deep Hebraic meaning of divine salvation. Instead, he spoke and wrote about Yeshu. He well knew that in Yeshu the original spiritual message was absent. Within Jewish tradition, when Yeshu appears as an acronym, it is a derogatory Hebrew nickname, meaning “may his name and memory be obliterated”.

Flusser always wanted to be regarded...

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