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In this pioneering study of Scripture and reception history, Tucker S. Ferda shows that the hope for Jesus's second coming originated in his own message about the coming of the kingdom after a time of distress. Most historical Jesus scholars take for granted that Jesus's second coming was invented by his zealous early followers. In Jesus and His Promised Second Coming, Tucker S. Ferda challenges this critical consensus. Using innovative methodology, Ferda works backward through reception history to Paul and the Gospels to argue that the hope for the second coming originated in Jesus's own grappling with the prospect of death and his conviction that the kingdom was near; he expected a return that would coincide with the final judgment and the end of the age within the space of a generation. Ferda also makes a major contribution to the reception history of the Bible, shedding light on how Christians distinguished their faith from Judaism by deriding “Jewish messianism” as earthly minded and militaristic. In the early modern period, critics found an expedient way to distance Jesus from this caricature of “Jewish messianism”: they pinned the expectation for the second coming on Jesus's early followers. A new appreciation for the diversity of Judaism and messianism in the Second Temple period makes possible a fresh reconstruction of Jesus. Bold and historically astute, Jesus and His Promised Second Coming breathes new life into a long-stagnant conversation. It also offers readers fresh insight into the history of Jewish-Christian relations. Students and scholars of the New Testament will need to read and engage with Ferda's provocative argument.

Between the sixth and eighth centuries CE, the image emerged as a rhetorical category in religious literature produced in the Mediterranean basin. The development was not a uniquely Christian phenomenon. Rather, it emerged in the context of broader debates about symbolic forms that took place across a wide range of ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups who inhabited the late Roman and early Byzantine world. In this book, Alexei Sivertsev demonstrates how Jewish texts serve as an important, and until recently overlooked, witness to the formation of image discourse and associated practices of image veneration in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Addressing the role of the image as a rhetorical device in Jewish liturgical poetry, Sivertsev also considers the theme of the engraved image of Jacob in its early Byzantine context and the aesthetics of spaces that bridge the gap between the material and the immaterial in early Byzantine imagination.

Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies is a multivolume series that seeks to introduce key ancient texts that form the cultural, historical, and literary context for the study of the New Testament.Each volume will feature introductory essays to the corpus, followed by articles on the relevant texts. Each article will address introductory matters, provenance, summary of content, interpretive issues, key passages for New Testament studies and their significance.Neither too technical to be used by students nor too thin on interpretive information to be useful for serious study of the New Testament, this series provides a much-needed resource for understanding the New Testament in its first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman context. Produced by an international team of leading experts in each corpus, Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies stands to become the standard resource for both scholars and students.Volumes include:Apocrypha and the SeptuagintOld Testament PseudepigraphaThe Dead Sea ScrollsThe Apostolic FathersPhilo and JosephusGreco-Roman LiteratureTargums and Early Rabbinic LiteratureGnostic LiteratureNew Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

Re-imagining at the Sources offers the fruits of a lifetime's reflection on the Bible and its role within the Christian faith, from a respected scholar and priest. Atwell lays out the history of Israel, and the biblical roots of Christian faith from the origins of Israel's religious traditions to Jesus of Nazareth.This book explores the sources of faith and analyses the complex faith-journey that has taken place as Israel's religious traditions have developed. The book provides a single coherent account which joins up the period covered by Israel's early religious traditions with that of Second Temple Judaism, and the world of Jesus of Nazareth. A distinctive feature of the volume is its focus on apocalyptic literature.

Martin Goodman's forty years of scholarship in Roman history and ancient Judaism demonstrates how each discipline illuminates the other: Jewish history makes best sense in a broader Greco-Roman context; Roman history has much to learn from Jewish sources and evidence. In this volume, Martin's colleagues and students follow his example by examining Jews and non-Jews in mutual contemplation. Part 1 explores Jews'views of inter-communal stasis, the causes of the Bar Kochba revolt, tales of Herodian intrigue, and the meaning of “Israel.” Part 2 investigates Jews depiction of outsiders: Moabites, Greeks, Arabs, and Roman authorities. Part 3 explores early Christians'(Luke, Jerome, Rufinus, Syriac poetry, Pionius, ordinary individuals) views of Jews and use of Jewish sources, and Josephus's relevance for girls in 19th century Britain.

On March 27, 1933, representatives from across the American religious spectrum came to Madison Square Garden, united in a shared purpose to speak out against the rise of fascism in Germany and Adolph Hitler's seizure of power. This rally—the first of several held at the Garden before, during, and after World War II—represents an unexplored moment of Jewish and Christian relations, challenging assumptions about Christian leaders'indifference to the Jewish plight and their guilt as the realities of the Holocaust came to light. In Uncommon Allies, Alan Shore uses an impressive range of primary and secondary sources, including English and Yiddish newspapers of the time and neglected histories of various religious organizations, to shine a light on these pivotal rallies. From the groundbreaking 1933 rally to a series of events in 1943 as the reality of Hitler's'Final Solution'came to light, and ending in a postwar rally in 1945, as religious groups struggled with finding a way to help displaced and struggling Jews, Shore unearths the united religious front in the face of the horror of Nazism. Each rally is vividly presented and analyzed in terms of its background, planning, execution, content, and press coverage. Tracing the impact of these rallies through the years, Shore draws a clear line to the partnership between Christian and Jewish Zionists and the rhetorical use of'Judeo-Christian values.'

Une certaine interprétation de la Bible a été à l'origine des mécompréhensions sur le statut, le rôle et le destin du peuple juif. D'Origène à Augustin en passant par Jean-Chrysostome et Jérôme, des commentaires bibliques ont contribué à entretenir un antijudaïsme chrétien qui a emaillé de méfiance les rapports entre Juifs et Chrétiens pendant plusieurs siècles. Des études modernes du Nouveau Testament soutiennent encore que les évangiles sont des textes de tendance antijuive pour avoir disculpé Pilate et chargé les Juifs de la mort de Jésus. Ceux qui, par ailleurs, ont commenté Mathieu 27, 25 y ont trouvé une explication étiologique aux tragédies connues par le peuple juif comme résultantes de sa propre auto-malédiction pour avoir rejeté le Messie. Mais cette théologie rétributive est difficilement conciliable avec le reste du Nouveau Testament. Cet ouvrage tente d'apporter un éclairage sur le procès de Jésus en étudiant de plus près, au moyen des techniques d'interprétation juive de l'Écriture, la portée sémantique de cette terrible phrase « Son sang sur nous et sur nos enfants », prononcée par « tout le peuple » en Mathieu 27, 25.

Luke and the Jewish Other takes up the debated question of the orientation of Luke toward the Jewish people. Building on recent studies in the social history of early Jewish-Christian relations, it offers an analysis of Luke's portrayal of Jewish and Christian identities that challenges the common assumption that the construction of religious identity in antiquity necessarily depended upon antagonistic relations with others. Taking account of the deep and often divisive difference that belief in Jesus made in Luke's community, the author argues that Luke hoped to bring about both a rapprochement with and the conversion of contemporary Jews. Through this account of identity and alterity in the Gospel of Luke, the book cuts across boundaries of biblical studies, history, theology, and social theory, proposing a way forward for the study of Luke's relation to Judaism and of the'parting of the ways'between Jews and Christians in the early Common Era.

Since the groundbreaking publication of Postmissionary Messianic Judaism (2005), Mark Kinzer has challenged theologians and religious leaders to consider the essential ecumenical vocation of Jewish disciples of Jesus. Proposing a bilateral ecclesiology in solidarity with Israel, he argued that the overcoming of Christian supersessionism required a robust affirmation of the distinctive calling of Jews within the community of Jesus the Messiah. In this way, Kinzer's work put the issue of Jewish followers of Jesus on the theological agenda for those seeking a reparative reconfiguration of the relationship between the church and the Jewish people. In recent years, Kinzer has attended to the theological implications of this perspective and has widened his focus to include not only the Messianic Jewish movement but also Jews within Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches. The present collection of essays reflects this wider concern. According to Kinzer, the theological stones of contention are Christology conceived of as Messianology, ecclesiology understood as Israelology, and eschatology imagined as Zionology. Moreover, it is the presence of Jewish disciples of Jesus that concretizes these theological abstractions in the form of Jewish flesh and blood, summoning Jews and Christians to rethink their relationship to one another in ways that express their essential mutual dependence.

In the spring of 2022 a group of Muslim, Christian and Jewish practitioners, leaders and scholars met in Toledo, Spain to discuss ways to respond to our present world-crisis of mistrust and misapprehension. This book is the result of that historic encounter. Inspired by the new approach to interreligious dialogue that has arisen from the work of Catholic popes, theologians and lay activists over the past half a century,'Dialogues, Disputes and Dreams among Jews, Christians and Muslims'seeks to lay the foundations of a new approach to dialogue between the three Abrahamic faiths. After setting out the principles of dialogue in its opening chapters, it explores the implications of that dialogue for a wide range of social and cultural spheres of influence including politics, spirituality, art and music. Containing chapters from leading scholars and practitioners, the book will be of interest to all who value the precious gift of faith in a time of social stress and challenge.

In this volume, A. Boyd Luter initially makes the case that the Letter of James was the first New Testament document and that it was written for a primarily Messianic Jewish audience in the Diaspora. Its early origin places James as the foundational Messianic Jewish Scripture of the new covenant era. That, however, is a drastically different take on the letter's dating, audience, and purpose from the long-held supersessionist view in which Israel is replaced by the church. In the supersessionist understanding, James is one of the later New Testament books, originating supposedly at a time when it was already expected for the church to be symbolically'the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.'And, since a common first impression of the letter is that its style is reflective of Old Testament wisdom literature, it was taken as dealing with practical issues of the Christian life through a staccato format much like Proverbs. Instead, through the elegant literary vehicle of an overarching inverted parallel structure, the Letter of James communicates its author's approach to issues among his Messianic Jewish audience related to spiritual growth and purity, as well as putting away class-based favoritism and the relationship between faith and works.

A highly respected New Testament scholar offers an accessible introduction to Paul that situates him clearly within first-century Judaism.

Covenant and the People of God gathers twenty-four essays from friends and colleagues of Messianic Jewish theologian and New Testament scholar Mark S. Kinzer, in honor of his seventieth birthday. The essays are organized around two central themes that have animated Kinzer's work: the nature of the covenant and what it means to be the people of God. The volume includes fascinating discussions of some of the most sensitive areas related to Jewish-Christian dialogue, post-supersessionist interpretation of Scripture, and the theological shape of Messianic Judaism. Among the contributors are scholars working in North America, Europe, and Israel. They include: Gabriele Boccaccini, Douglas A. Campbell, Holly Taylor Coolman, Gavin D'Costa, Jean-Miguel Garrigues, Douglas Harink, Richard Harvey, Vered Hillel, Jonathan Kaplan, Daniel Keating, Amy-Jill Levine, Antoine Levy, Gerald McDermott, Michael C. Mulder, David M. Neuhaus, Isaac W. Oliver, Ephraim Radner, Jennifer M. Rosner, David J. Rudolph, Thomas Schumacher, Faydra L. Shapiro, R. Kendall Soulen, Lee B. Spitzer, and Etienne Veto.

In the attempts to unify divided peoples on the basis of a shared past, both historical and mythical, this book illumines aspects of cultural nationalism common since the Middle Ages.As an edited work, the Bible includes texts mostly depicting long-gone historical eras extending over several centuries. Following on from Aberbach's previous work National Poetry, Empires, and War, this book argues that works of this nature – notably the Mujo-Halil songs in Albania, the Irish stories of Cuchulain, the songs of the Nibelungen in Germany, or the Finnish legends collected in The Kalevala – have an ancient precedent in the Hebrew Bible (to which national literatures often allude and refer), a subject largely neglected in biblical studies. The self-critical element in the Hebrew Bible, common in later national literature, is examined as the basis of later anti-Semitism, as the Bible was not confined to Jews but was adopted in translation by many other national groups. With several dozen original translations from the Hebrew, this book highlights how the Bible influenced and was distorted by later national cultures.Written without jargon, this book is intended for the general reader, but is also an important contribution to the study of the Bible, nationalism, and Jewish history.

Receptions of Paul during the First Two Centuries: Exploration of the Jewish Matrix of Early Christianity examines the historical context of Paul and the way Paul's Jewish heritage was received. Contributors take into consideration the aftermath of the Jewish War and its impact on the development of the Jesus movement and early Christian-Jewish relations in the following period. The chapters come to the conclusion that after the Jewish War, the reception of the authentic Paul was transformed more and more into the tradition about Paul, based and established by the second and third generations of Jesus-believing Gentiles, which perceived Paul as a convert from what is labeled “Judaism” (Ἰουδαϊσμός) to the complete opposite of it, “Christianity” (Χριστιανισμός).

This volume is the most extensive of its kind as a major set of collected essays from a wide range of scholars on the question of the promises of God to Israel. These essays put forward the position that unconditional promises were given to Israel, which have not been fulfilled in the church or any other entity. At the consummation, there will be a continuing role for the Jews, realized through their national and territorial hope of a restored-redeemed Israel. This volume contains an eclectic group of contributors who have reached this position from various approaches to interpretation. The essays exhibit both positive argumentation and engagement with supersessionist literature.

C.S. Lewis's enlightened, foundational respect for the Jews as God's chosen people is a feature in much of his apologetic and theological writing. Although as a boy and young man Lewis reflected much of the implicit anti-Semitism inherent in the public-school-educated Edwardian establishment, this was replaced by deep respect when he became a Christian. Later on, Lewis's understanding was much enhanced by his wife, Joy Davidman (m. 1956); born to American Jewish parents, she was an adult convert to Yeshua Ha Mashiach - Jesus Christ - and Lewis referred to her as a Jewish Christian. A Hebraic Inkling examines in depth this Jewish-Hebrew influence in Lewis'life and works. Analysing some of his key writings in theology, philosophy, literature and apologetics, his rigorous stand against anti-Semitism and affinity for Jewish literature and culture is outlined, as well as his vision of how Christians are enfolded into the chosen people. This respect and affinity extended to Lewis'own family; when one of Joy's children sought to return to his mother's birth-faith, Lewis moved all to accommodate his wishes and raise him as a Jew, after Joy's untimely death.

Study Hebrews in its Second Temple ContextFollowing the proven model established in Reading Romans in Context, Reading Mark in Context, and Reading Revelation in Context, this book brings together a series of accessible essays that compare and contrast the theology and hermeneutical practices of the book of Hebrews with various early Jewish literature.Going beyond an introduction that merely surveys historical events and theological themes, this textbook examines individual passages in Second Temple Jewish literature in order to illuminate the ideas and emphases of Hebrews'varied discourses. Following the rhetorical progression of Hebrews, each chapter in this textbook:pairs a major unit of Hebrews with one or more sections of a thematically related Jewish textintroduces and explores the historical and theological nuances of the comparative textshows how the ideas in the comparative text illuminate those expressed in HebrewsIn addition to the focused comparison provided in the essays, Reading Hebrews in Context offers other student-friendly features that help them engage broader discussions, including an introductory chapter that familiarizes students with the world and texts of Second Temple Judaism and a glossary of important terms. The end of each chapter contains a list of other thematically-relevant Second Temple Jewish texts recommended for further study and a focused bibliography pointing students to critical editions and higher-level discussions in scholarly literature they might use to undertake their own comparative studies.

Dating from the first century, the Didache offers a unique window into early Jewish Christianity. Its Jewish-Christian author seeks to mediate the Torah for the text's gentile recipients, steering diplomatically between the Scylla and Charybdis of the Law-observing church in Jerusalem and Paul's more open teaching. The Didache is thus very clear that gentile believers do not need to convert to Judaism, but at the same time its author argues that the Torah - particularly the second table of the Decalogue - is universal. The Deuteronomic paradigm of the'Way of Life'against the'Way of Death'applies to all. In Torah for Gentiles? Daniel Nessim explores this juxtaposition in depth. How is Jesus''easy yoke'to be held alongside the strenuous commands of Mosaic Law? What does it mean to attain perfection? The path the Didache offers is not as straightforward as one might suppose, yet both Jews and Christians would recognize its moral basis as largely the same as that which underpins Judaeo-Christian values today. Moreover, the Christian community it describes, from a time when that community still looked very much to its Jewish forebears, makes it a fascinating example of the origins of Christian life and worship.

Papers collected in this volume try to illuminate various aspects of philosophical theology dealt with by different Jewish and early Christian authors and texts (e.g. the Acts of the Apostles, Philo, Origen, Gregory of Nazianzus), rooted in and influenced by the Hellenistic religious, cultural, and philosophical context, and they also focus on the literary and cultural traditions of Hellenized Judaism and its reception (e.g. Sibylline Oracles, Prayer of Manasseh), including material culture ('Elephant Mosaic Panel'from Huqoq synagogue). By studying the Hellenistic influences on early Christianity, both in response to and in reaction against early Hellenized Judaism, the volume intends not only to better understand Christianity, as a religious and historical phenomenon with a profound impact on the development of European civilization, but also to better comprehend Hellenism and its consequences which have often been relegated to the realm of political history.

The research of Martha Himmelfarb has pushed scholars to re-examine what we thought we knew about the formative histories of Judaism and Christianity. In studies on such topics as apocalypses, pseudepigrapha, and messianism, Himmelfarb opened up new perspectives on Second Temple Judaism and its legacy within its late antique and medieval successor communities. Inspired by the sweeping breadth of her learning and scholarship, this volume explores the transmission and transformation of Jewish and Christian texts and traditions within and across the boundaries of language, culture, and religion. The volume's contributors range widely across sources, genres, and contexts, from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Hellenistic Judaism to Nag Hammadi literature and Jewish and Christian magic, and from classical rabbinic literature and patristic writings, to Hekhalot literature and medieval midrashim. Contributors not only revisit the histories of apocalypticism, sectarianism, and messianism but also take up questions regarding the materiality of manuscripts, the boundaries of religious communities and identities, the ritual uses of heavenly visions, and the history of Jewish priests and priesthood before and after the destruction of Jerusalem Temple. In dialogue with Himmelfarb's work, the volume exemplifies the value of studying Jewish and Christian traditions in concert as well as bridging the disciplinary divides that too often fragment the fields of Biblical Studies, Second Temple Judaism, New Testament Studies, Rabbinics, Patristics, Late Antiquity, and Medieval Studies.

The book of Esther is one of the most challenging books in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, not only because of the difficulty of understanding the book itself in its time, place, and literary contexts, but also for the long and tortuous history of interpretation it has generated in both Jewish and Christian traditions. In this volume, Isaac Kalimi addresses both issues. He situates'traditional'literary, textual, theological, and historical-critical discussion of Esther alongside comparative Jewish and Christian interpretive histories, showing how the former serves the latter. Kalimi also demonstrates how the various interpretations of the Book of Esther have had an impact on its reception history, as well as on Jewish-Christian relations. Based on meticulous and comprehensive analysis of all available sources, Kalimi's volume fills a gap in biblical, Jewish, and Christian studies and also shows how and why the Book of Esther became one of the central books of Judaism and one of the most neglected books in Christianity.

In Collected Studies (Volume 2): Christian Majority—Jewish Minority, Joseph Shatzmiller, the preeminent scholar of the Jews in Provence, examines the complex relationship between Christians and Jews during the Middle Ages. Through a careful analysis of historical documents and primary sources, Shatzmiller sheds light on the diverse experiences of the Jewish minority in Provence, from their legal status in Christian courts to the persecution and violence they faced during times of crisis. This book provides a nuanced understanding of the relationship between Christians and Jews in medieval Western Europe, and the role of the Jewish community in shaping the social and political landscape of the region.“The collection of studies that these four volumes offer is the result of more than sixty years of commitment to scholarship. Like many colleagues, I relied in the beginning on printed material in books that dealt with law, religion, and secular literature. Then, as a disciple of George Duby, I discovered the world of archives and hand-written Latin manuscripts. The present collection relies, to a great extent, on previously unknown information discovered during years of search in the archives of Southern France, mostly on those of the county of Provence. They are situated in the cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence as well as the town of Digne. The legal registers of the High Middle Ages (1250-1350) as well as those produced by the counties'administration introduce us to the ordinary people of the region, to their daily life and to their preoccupations; their names are spelled out, the dates are recorded and the localities in which they were active are designated. At times these documents encourage us to endorse information found in contemporary literary sources and to overcome our hesitation and excessive caution concerning their value as historical evidence.”— Joseph Shatzmiller

This book closely examines our commonly held beliefs about human suffering, and offers unique insights into God's role in why we suffer. Dr. Perri critically examines what it means to be human from a Judeo-Christian perspective, and extrapolate

La Declaracion del Concilio Vaticano II sobre las relaciones de la Iglesia con las religiones no cristianas (Nostra aetate) transformo la vision catolica del pueblo judio y la tradicion religiosa judia. Afirmando que «al investigar su propio misterio» la Iglesia descubre su vinculo con la «estirpe de Abraham», este documento daba a entender que el misterio de Israel es inseparable del misterio de la Iglesia. Como misterios entrelazados, cada comunidad necesita de la otra para comprenderse a si misma. En Al investigar el misterio de la Iglesia, el destacado teologo judio mesianico Mark S. Kinzer sostiene que la Iglesia todavia tiene que explorar adecuadamente las implicaciones de Nostra aetate para mejor comprenderse a si misma. La nueva ensenanza catolica acerca de Israel debe dar lugar a nuevas perspectivas en diversos campos de la teologia cristiana, como la cristologia, la eclesiologia y la teologia de los sacramentos. Con este proposito, Kinzer propone una eclesiologia de Israel arraigada en la cristologia de Israel, en la que una restaurada ecclesia ex circumcisione (la iglesia procedente de la circuncision) asuma un papel crucial como signo sacramental del vinculo de la Iglesia con el pueblo judio y de la eleccion irrevocable del Israel genealogico.

Israel and the Nations: The Bible, The Rabbis, and Jewish-Gentile Relations explores the Jewish theology and law (Halakhah) relating to non-Jews. It analyzes biblical, talmudic, medieval, and contemporary Jewish writings about gentiles and their religions. The Bible challenges the Jewish people to be “a blessing for all the families of the earth.” Yet throughout history, Jewish experience with gentiles was complex. In the biblical and talmudic eras most gentiles were assumed to be idolators. In the Middle Ages most rabbis considered their Christian neighbors idolators, and Christian enmity sharpened the otherness Jews felt toward their Christian hosts. Muslims were monotheists, but Jewish-Muslim relations were sometimes positive and at other times difficult. With the advent secular tolerance in modernity, Jews found themselves in a new relationship with their gentile neighbors. How should Jews relate to gentiles today, and what are the bounds of Jewish tolerance and religious pluralism? The book will interest both Jewish laypersons familiar with Jewish tradition as well as scholars of theology and interfaith relations

Eusebius of Caesarea lived at a crucial turning point in the history of the Christian church. He was an important witness to the polemical and apologetic attitudes that characterized much early Christian literature. The most voluminous writer of the early fourth century, he was also the first comprehensive historian of his community seeking a philosophy to explain the whole course of history from the beginning to his own time.This volume places Eusebius'work in proper perspective. The contributors, all recognized specialists in early Christianity, shed light on the person and circumstances of Eusebius himself. This collection of essays focuses on elements of the story that Eusebius tells — the story of the early church, its relationship to Judaism, or its confrontation with the Roman Empire — and explores gaps left by Eusebius. The writers offer a cross-section of current scholarly methods in the study of early Christianity and Judaism.

What is between us and the Christians is a deep dark affair which will go for another hundred generations...” (Amos Oz, Judas)Among the great social shifts of the post–World War II era is the unlikely sea-change in Jewish Christian relations. We read each other's scriptures and openly discuss differences as well as similarities. Yet many such encounters have become rote and predictable. Powerful emotions stirred up by these conversations are often dismissed or ignored. Demonstrating how such emotions as shame, envy, and desire can inform these encounters, Holy Envy: Writing in the Jewish Christian Borderzone charts a new way of thinking about interreligious relations. Moreover, by focusing on modern and contemporary writers (novelists and poets) who traffic in the volatile space between Judaism and Christianity, the book calls attention to the creative implications of these intense encounters.While recognizing a long-overdue need to address a fundamentally Christian narrative underwriting twentieth century American verse, Holy Envy does more than represent Christianity as an aesthetically coercive force, or as an adversarial other. For the book also suggests how literature can excavate an alternative interreligious space, at once risky and generative. In bringing together recent accounts of Jewish Christian relations, affect theory, and poetics, Holy Envy offers new ways into difficult and urgent, conversations about interreligious encounters.Holy Envy is sure to engage readers who are interested in literature, religion, and, above all, interfaith dialogue.

Das 11. und 12. Jahrhundert ist eine Zeit christlich-jüdischer Begegnungen. Literarisch haben christliche Theologen diesen Austausch in sogenannten Kontroversdialogen verarbeitet. Diese Gattung gibt darüber Auskunft, wie ihre Autoren ihr christliches Selbstverständnis im Angesicht des Anderen verstanden und verstanden haben wollten. Die Monographie legt dar, wie Gilbert Crispin und Petrus Alfonsi als zwei prominente Vertreter in ihren Kontroversdialogen den persönlichen Kontakt mit Menschen jüdischen Glaubens sowie jenem der sogenannten Sarazener:innen, die Aufnahme der ratio in die Theologie im Rahmen der frühscholastischen Entwicklungen, die Frage nach der Konversion zum christlichen Glauben und die Bedeutung des nicht-christlichen Anderen für das eigene christliche Selbstverständnis präsentieren.

Der Midrasch Genesis Rabba wird hier erstmals zusammenhängend ausgelegt und als Niederschlag des jüdisch-christlichen Gesprächs in der Spätantike interpretiert. Dieser Midrasch, eine Komposition jüdischer Bibelauslegungen, entstand an der Wende vom vierten zum fünften Jahrhundert im römisch beherrschten Palästina. Mit ihm schufen die Rabbinen eine neue literarische Gattung: Formal ein Kommentar, ist er inhaltlich eine freie theologisch-„dichterische“ Auseinandersetzung mit dem ersten Buch der Bibel. Die Neuübersetzung und Kommentierung zentraler Textabschnitte zeigen, dass der Midrasch Dokument eines kritischen, aber konstruktiven Diskurses jüdischer Gelehrter mit dem zeitgenössischen Christentum ist. Ihr Ziel: Das Judentum im konstantinischen Zeitalter neu begründen und die jüdische Bibel gegen christliche Deutungsansprüche absichern.

To date, scholarly study of the allegory of Hagar and Sarah in Galatians 4:21-31 has not paid adequate attention to the way Paul's use of the story - chiefly in relation to the figure of Hagar - can be located within streams of ancient Jewish tradition. In this study, Ryan Heinsch fills this scholarly gap by considering Paul's allegorical portrayal of the figure of Hagar in Galatians 4:21-31 within the context of ancient Judaism. The author argues that Paul stands in continuity with - rather than against - ancient Judaism in that he, like other Jews in antiquity, portrays Hagar and her descendants as non-Jews. As a result, the author demonstrates further that Galatians 4:21-31 is not to be read as a polemic against Jews, Jewish Christ-followers, or the continuing validity of the Jewish law (as is common among interpreters), but rather, that Galatians 4:21-31 is an allegory Paul develops about the experience of gentiles in general and the once pagan Galatian gentiles in particular.

Die Studie beschäftigt sich mit Konzeptionen des rituellen Schreibens der STaM (Sifrei Torah, Tefillin, Mezuzot) im pluralistischen Kontext der europäischen Kultur Frankreichs und Deutschlands vom 11. bis 14. Jahrhundert. Dabei stehen nicht die Artefakte selbst, sondern erstmals halachische, ethische und mystische Textzeugnisse, die sich aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven mit der Schriftrollenherstellung befassen, im Zentrum der Untersuchung. Die facettenreiche Schreiberliteratur, die bislang nur marginal Gegenstand der Forschung war, reflektiert nicht nur die politischen, sozialen und ökonomischen Verhältnisse ihrer Entstehungszeit, sondern auch vielfältige Interaktionen zwischen der jüdischen und nichtjüdischen Gesellschaft. Die Autorin diskutiert dementsprechend Modifikationen und Neuerungen der Schreibvorschriften vor dem Hintergrund der christlichen Umweltkultur, die als ein wichtiger Auslöser für die vielfältigen Veränderungen innerhalb der jüdischen Schreibtradition betrachtet werden kann. Die heiligen Rollen wurden als Abgrenzungsinstrumente zu einer erstarkenden christlichen Gemeinschaft inszeniert, in der das heilige Buch als Identitätsträger eine enorme Bedeutung gewann.

Jesus was Jewish, and his Jewish identity informed every aspect of his work, words, and witness. He came as the Messiah of Israel, God's covenant people, and he spoke the language of God's faithfulness to this people. So why does it seem that Judaism has little to do with our Christian discipleship today?Jennifer Rosner, a scholar of Jewish-Christian relations, takes us on a personal and corporate journey into the Jewish roots of Christian faith and practice. Understanding Judaism—and the way in which Judaism and Christianity became separate religions—is essential for a rich and holistic Christian identity. As a follower of Jesus who was raised in a Jewish home and who continues to live a Jewish life, Rosner has seen firsthand how a Christian faith can become impoverished when divorced from its Jewish roots. Finding Messiah follows Rosner's own journey in rediscovering the role of Judaism and God's covenant with Israel in Christian life and practice. When we begin to understand Christianity's indelible relationship to Judaism, key aspects of the Christian faith come alive and the wonder of the gospel becomes clear in new and powerful ways.Jesus'Judaism provides the foundation for the church that is built upon his name. Rediscover the Jewish Jesus, and in so doing, experience a deeper and richer faith than ever before.

This book concerns the history of the Bible, Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and theological-political thought in the West. Its operation is threefold. First, it shows that the biblical text can be read as a theological-political narrative about a god who strives to be recognized as such by a group of people. Second, it reconstructs the history of the conversation that took place around this narrative from the fourth century BCE to the beginning of the Middle Ages, showing how it was dependent on social and political circumstances, rather than on theological notions. Lastly, it distinguishes between two strands of the conversation—the Christian and the Rabbinic—that carried the narrative through the Middle Ages and explains why the latter offered a more advanced interface with the political reality than the former. This book introduces a reading of the biblical narrative that takes seriously the difference between the two creation stories that begin the Book of Genesis and considers them as referring to two distinct divinities. This reading reveals in the Bible an overarching narrative about the god Yhwh, who tries to impose himself as the sovereign of Israel by claiming that he is the same god as Elohim—the benevolent creator of the perfect world.

In contrast to scholarly belief that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews envisions the transcendent, heavenly world as the eschatological inheritance of God's people, Jihye Lee argues that a version of an Urzeit-Endzeit eschatological framework - as observed in some Jewish apocalyptic texts - provides a plausible background against which the arguments of Hebrews are most comprehensively explained. Instead of transcendence to the heavenly world that will come after the destruction of the shakable creation, Lee suggests the possibility of a more dualistic new world.By first defining Urzeit-Endzeit eschatology, Lee is then able to explore its place in both pre and post 70 CE Second Temple Judaism. In examining Enoch, the Qumran Texts, Jubilees, the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum, 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch and finally the Book of Revelation, Lee compares a multitude of eschatological visions and the different depictions of the transformation of the world, judgement and the new world to come. Bringing these texts together to analyse the issue of God's Rest in Hebrews, and the nature of the Unshakable Kingdom, Lee concludes that Hebrews envisions the kingdom as consisting of both the revealed heavenly world and the renewed creation as the eschatological venue of God's dwelling place with his people.

The Salvation of Israel investigates Christianity's eschatological Jew: the role and characteristics of the Jews at the end of days in the Christian imagination. It explores the depth of Christian ambivalence regarding these Jews, from Paul's Epistle to the Romans, through late antiquity and the Middle Ages, to the Puritans of the seventeenth century. Jeremy Cohen contends that few aspects of a religion shed as much light on the character and the self-understanding of its adherents as its expectations for the end of time. Moreover, eschatological beliefs express and mold an outlook toward nonbelievers, situating them in an overall scheme of human history and conditioning interaction with them as that history unfolds.Cohen's close readings of biblical commentary, theological texts, and Christian iconography reveal the dual role of the Jews of the last days. For rejecting belief and salvation in Jesus Christ, they have been linked to the false messiah—the Antichrist, the agent of Satan and the exemplary embodiment of evil. Yet from its inception, Christianity has also hinged its hopes for the second coming on the enlightenment and repentance of the Jews; for then, as Paul prophesized,'all Israel will be saved.'In its vast historical scope, from the ancient Mediterranean world of early Christianity to seventeenth-century England and New England, The Salvation of Israel offers a nuanced and insightful assessment of Christian attitudes toward Jews, rife with inconsistency and complexity, thus contributing significantly to our understanding of Jewish-Christian relations.

This book offers a new and inclusive approach to Western exegesis up to 1100. For too long, modern scholars have examined Jewish and Christian exegesis apart from each other. This is not surprising, given how religious, social, and linguistic borders separated Jews and Christians. But they worked to a great extent on the same texts. Christians were keenly aware that they relied on translation. The contributions to this volume reveal how both sides worked on parallel tracks, posing similar questions and employing more or less the same techniques, and in some rare instances, interdependently.

Against the scholarly consensus that assumes early Christians were involved in a rivalry for converts with contemporary Jews, this book shows that the target of patristic writers was rather a symbolic Judaism, and their aim was to define theologically the young church's identity.In identifying and categorizing the hypotheses put forward by modern scholars to defend their view of a Jewish-Christian'conflict', this book demonstrates how current theories have generated faulty notions about the perceptions and motivations of ancient Christians and Jews.Beyond its relevance to students of the early church, this book addresses the broader question of Christian responsibility for modern anti-Semitism. It shows how the focus on a supposedly social rivalry, obscures the depth and disquieting nature of the connections between early anti-Judaism and Christian identity.

The contributors to this volume take as their theme the reception of Jewish traditions in early Christianity, and the ways in which the meaning of these traditions changed as they were put to work in new contexts and for new social ends. Special emphasis is placed on the internal variety and malleability of these traditions, which underwent continual processes of change within Judaism, and on reception as an active, strategic, and interested process. All the essays in this volume seek to bring out how acts of reception contribute to the social formation of early Christianity, in its social imagination (its speech and thought about itself) or in its social practices, or both. This volume challenges static notions of tradition and passive ideas of'reception', stressing creativity and the significance of'strong'readings of tradition. It thus complicates standard narratives of'the parting of the ways'between'Christianity'and'Judaism', showing how even claims to continuity were bound to make the same different.

Where does a relatively young movement turn for identity and direction when it straddles the fence between two competing major religions? Messianic Jews have done something that for centuries was considered untenable. Like Christians, they have embraced Jesus as the divine Messiah, but they have refused to surrender their place within the Jewish people. How compatible are these two sides of Messianic Jewish faith? Can Messianic Jews participate as full members in both the body of Messiah and the people of Israel? Can they be led by the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised while also following the rulings of the Jewish sages? Did Jesus affirm rabbinic authority, or does that authority now lie elsewhere within the new covenant? In this volume, Messianic Jewish rabbi Joshua Lessard and Messianic Jewish scholar Jennifer Rosner debate the path forward for Messianic Judaism as it grapples with being the child of divorced parents--the church and Israel. Both Lessard and Rosner are committed to the success of Messianic Judaism, though they put forth contrasting visions of what that means. The discussion herein is unique and provocative, not only for Messianic Jews, but for all who have wrestled at the crossroads of Torah, tradition, and Spirit.

This is the first work to examine Calvin's understanding of the relationship between Jews and Christians at such a fundamental level. After an overview of the status of Jews in Europe during the late Middle Ages and the interest at that time in the knowledge of Hebrew and Judaism, the author turns specifically to Calvin and his interpretation of the Bible. Several important questions are addressed: How did Calvin understand the relationship between Jews and Christians? Have Christians taken the place of the Jews, or do they belong to the Jews because they are included in the relationship between God and Israel? What does Calvin have to say about the future of the Jews? The author concludes that Calvin's view of the relationship between Jews and Christians is closely tied to his view of the unity of the Old and New Testaments.

The past and future of Jewish-Christian dialogue The history of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity is storied and tragic. However, recent decades show promise as both parties reflect on their self-definitions and mutual contingency and consider possible ways forward. In Healing the Schism, Jennifer M. Rosner maps the new Jewish-Christian encounter from its origins in the early twentieth-century pioneers to its current representatives. Rosner first traces the thought of Karl Barth and Frank Rosenzweig and brings them into conversation. Rosner then outlines the reassessments and developments of post-Holocaust theological architects that moved the dialogue forward and set the stage for today. She considers the recent work of Messianic Jewish theologian Mark S. Kinzer and concludes by envisioning future possibilities. With clarity and rigor, Rosner offers a robust perspective of Judaism and Christianity that is post-supersessionist and theologically orthodox. Healing the Schism is essential reading for understanding the perils and promise of Messianic Jewish identity and Jewish-Christian theological conversation.

Although the roots of Christianity run deep into Hebrew soil, many Christians remain regrettably uninformed about the rich Jewish heritage of the church. Our Father Abraham delineates the vital link between Judaism and Christianity, exemplified by the common ancestry of the two faiths traceable back to Abraham. Marvin Wilson calls Christians to reexamine their Semitic heritage to regain a more authentically biblical understanding of what they believe and practice. Wilson, a trusted voice among both Jews and Christians, speaks to both past and present, first developing a historical perspective on the Jewish origins of the church and then discussing how the church can become more attuned to the Hebraic mindset of Scripture. Drawing from his own extensive experience, he also offers valuable practical guidance for salutary interaction between Christians and Jews. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter make this book especially suitable for use in groups—Christian, Jewish, or interfaith—as readers strive to make sense of their own faith in connection with the other. The second edition of Our Father Abraham features a new preface, an expanded bibliography of recent relevant works, and two new chapters: one that discusses Jewish-Christian relations after the Holocaust and another that reflects on Wilson's own fifty-plus-year career as an evangelical Christian deeply committed to interfaith dialogue. As Christians and Jews feel a growing need for mutual support in an increasingly secular Western world, Wilson's widely acclaimed book will offer encouragement and wise guidance toward this worthy end.

The son of a Jewish father and Baptist mother, Paul Wilbur grew up attending synagogue. In college he was transformed by a Baptist minister's teaching about a rabbi, Jesus, who fulfilled the promise of the Torah. As he grew in his relationship with Jesus, Wilbur was reintroduced to the God of the Old Testament and began exploring his Jewish heritage.Along the way, he discovered the power of Jewish worship traditions—the weekly Shabbat, with the power of Holy Communion and dedication to family, along with other high holy traditions and feast days. Observing those ancient rituals, now infused with the power of the Holy Spirit, Wilbur heard a sound that he describes as a “roar from Zion.” As evangelicals came to understand and incorporate ancient Jewish worship practices in their home and church lives, miracles broke out, fathers assumed their roles as the head of their families, prodigal children returned home, and marriages were restored. What began with one man is now becoming a movement, with tens of thousands taking part.

Over the course of his career, Dale Allison has enriched our understanding of Jewish and Christian hopes about the end of history, advanced nuanced readings of ancient texts in light of their scriptural and cultural conversation partners, and deepened our knowledge of the history of biblical interpretation throughout the ages. In all of these ways, he has sought, in the words of T.S. Eliot, “to recover what has been lost.” In “To Recover What Has Been Lost”: Essays on Eschatology, Intertextuality, and Reception History in Honor of Dale C. Allison Jr., leading biblical scholars and historians offer ground-breaking studies on Jewish and Christian eschatology, intertextuality, and reception history—three areas particularly evident in Allison's scholarship. These essays reconstruct the past, advance fresh readings, and reclaim overlooked exegetical insights. In so doing, they too recover what has been lost.

Josef Albo (around 1380-1444) is considered to be the last Jewish Philosopher of the Middle Ages. Following the basic ideas of Maimonides he writes his Sefer ha-iqqarim, his Book of Principles, in the interval between the Tortosa Disputation and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain with the intention to strengthen his correligionists against Christian attacks. In Early Modem Times the book becomes an important source for Christian Hebraists in theological discussions.Sina Rauschenbach's book is the first detailed monography on Josef Albo. Moreover, the Christian reception of the Sefer ha-iqqarim is analyzed here for the first time. Due to its interdisciplinary approaches the book is of particular value for both scholars of philosophy and Jewish Studies as well as theology and history.

This book gives a new account of the story of Jewish and Christian relations. It focuses on the little-known instances of goodwill and cooperation that occurred between Christians and Jews throughout history. Moments and eras marked by teamwork and trust have been overshadowed by narratives that concentrate on the tragic past. This has resulted in an inaccurate portrayal of both Christianity and Judaism. Jewish and Christian scholars have worked together since World War II, however, to bring new insights to biblical studies, to challenge old paradigms of difference, and to contribute to a deeper understanding of Jewish and Christian teachings. This book interprets their research for a non-specialist audience. It covers issues that have paradoxically brought adherents of the two faiths together, such as biblical studies and examinations of Jesus and the apostle Paul. An in-depth consideration of the Holocaust and subsequent efforts to reconcile and even revise Christian and Jewish theology reveals how radically things have changed, thanks to interreligious partnerships. Mutual efforts also led to the establishment of the nation of Israel. Readers will emerge with a new appreciation for the ties that exist between Jews and Christians, and a better understanding of where the two faiths converge and where they diverge.

Israel and the Nations: Paul's Gospel in the Context of Jewish Expectation provides various perspectives of leading contemporary scholars concerning Paul's message, particularly his expressed expectation of the end-time redemption of Israel and its relation to the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations, in the context of Jewish eschatological expectation. The contributors engage the increasingly contentious enigmas relating to Paul's Jewishness: had his perception of living in a new era in Christ and anticipating an imminent final consummation moved him beyond the bounds of what his contemporaries would have considered Judaism, or did Paul continue to think and act “within Judaism”?