Two Types of Faith

In this book Professor Buber compares the fundamental meanings of faith in Judaism and Christianity. The course of the investigation leads to a discussion of the religion of the Pharisees as expressed in the Talmud and the Midrashim, and of the relationship of Jesus to essential Pharisaism. It raises afresh the question of the position which Paul occupied in the transition from Judaism to Christianity, and there is a critique of the Pauline tendencies in present-day Christian theology, as well as of modern "non-Christian Paulinism”.
The author writes from the standpoint of one who has been a student of the New Testament for nearly fifty years, and although deeply appreciative of the work of authoritative Christian theologians he corrects at certain fundamental points erroneous representations of the Jewish history of faith which appear in their writings. There are discussions of such basic questions as the meaning of Torah, the Sermon on the Mount, the Messianic office, and the relationship of man to God.
Although the book raises questions for the Christian theologian, its main purpose is to contribute towards a deeper understanding between Christianity and the faith from which it arose. It leads to an analysis of the crisis of our time, in which Israel and Christendom can give to each other, by mutual understanding and appreciation, such help as is hardly to be conceived at the present moment.