Providential Accidents
Geza Vermes is known world-wide as an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls and for his pioneering work, Jesus the Jew. But in addition to that he is the living embodiment of Jewish-Christian relations in the context of an honest quest for the truth. Few scholars have had such a colorful and eventful life, the course of which he describes here. Born into a Hungarian Jewish family which later converted to Christianity, he received a Catholic education and was later ordained priest after the turmoil...
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Geza Vermes is known world-wide as an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls and for his pioneering work, "Jesus the Jew". But in addition to that he is the living embodiment of Jewish-Christian relations in the context of an honest quest for the truth. Few scholars have had such a colorful and eventful life, the course of which he describes here. Born into a Hungarian Jewish family which later converted to Christianity, he received a Catholic education and was later ordained priest after the turmoil of the War. The quest for membership in a religious order led him to the Sion Fathers, in Louvain and then in Paris, where among other things he was introduced to biblical studies and became fascinated with the newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls. Subsequent emotional turmoil from conflicting pressures made him ill , but a series of "Providential Accidents" which gave this book its title brought him to England, marriage, and a new fulfilled life, first in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and then in Oxford, and to a public reassertian of his Jewishness. As well as telling a fascinating personal story, this book provides a vivid insider's account of developments in Scrolls research and of the lengthy battle with procrastinating editors over the "academic scandal of the century." These memoirs shed much light on the deep personal friendships and antagonisms and the complex, non-scholarly factors which accompany even committed study of the Bible, Qumran, and the Gospels.Author Biography: Geza Vermes is a fellow of the British Academy and professor emeritus of Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford. Booknews The autobiography of Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Vermes (b. 1924). The narrative follows him from his youth as a Jew in Hungary, through his conversion to Catholicism and his eventual reconciliation with Judaism. Throughout, the vicissitudes of his scholarly career are prominent. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
List of IllustrationsPrologue: 10 June 1993Pt. 1From Mako to Budapest (1924-1946)1Roots32Childhood Memories (1926-1937)103Unread Signs of Doom (1938-1942)184From Boredom to Nightmare (1942-1944)275From Darkness to Light (1945-1946)40Pt. 2At Notre-Dame de Sion (Louvain-Paris 1946-1957)6The Fathers of Notre-Dame de Sion: Prelude (1946-1948)537Discovery of the Bible (1948-1950)628Meeting the Dead Sea Scrolls (1950-1952)719Jerusalem and Qumran (September-December 1952)8610Paris and the Cahiers (1953-1955)9811The Turmoil of Transition (1955-1957)111Pt. 3Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1957-1965)12Finding my Feet in Newcastle (1957-1958)12313Laying the Foundations (1958-1965)134Pt. 4The Golden Years of Oxford (1965-1993)14The Wonderland of Oxford15515The Journal and the New English Schurer17116The Battle over the Scrolls: A Personal Account18817Jesus the Jew and his Religion21018Harvest Time225Epilogue: Late Afternoon Sunshine (1993- )231Notes233Index249
\ The New RepublicVermes provides a more intimate view of the twists and turns by which he entered the church, survived fascist Hungary and the Nazis, studied in Louvain and Paris, entered British academic life and a life outside the church, came to Oxford, fought for almost forty years for free access to the treasures of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and came to search for the historical Jesus. It is a truly gripping narrative….His memoir is also a love story…[and] and international thriller, especially with the high-level goings-on around the Scrolls.\ \ \ \ \ Times Literary SupplementIt is a remarkable story.\ \ \ BooknewsThe autobiography of Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Vermes (b. 1924). The narrative follows him from his youth as a Jew in Hungary, through his conversion to Catholicism and his eventual reconciliation with Judaism. Throughout, the vicissitudes of his scholarly career are prominent. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \
