Born in 1858, Montefiore was a member of the Anglo-Jewish aristocracy. In his writings he was influential in the founding of Liberal Judaism and was dedicated to promoting understanding between Christians and Jews. This volume collects 19 of his writings in four sections, each of which is preceded by a contextual introduction. In his writings on the Hebrew Bible, he undermined the notion of the perfect divinity of the scripture, but upheld its value as purveyor of high truths. His analysis of the Christian Bible led him to conclude the Jews needed to abandon their denigrating stance toward Christianity. Other major concerns were the historical development of rabbinical Judaism and the promotion of the Progressive Jewish movement as an alternative to both Zionism or a loss of Judaic identity. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
