Judith Lieu examines the rhetorical function of Jews in the early texts of the second century and seeks to acknowledge the complex nature of an issue which is too easily proclaimed “Christian anti-Semitism.”
This resource is also available as part of the Church Origins Collection (10 vols.).
This is an outstanding study of attitude of early Christians to their Jewish neighbors. Professor Judith Lieu’s book is a landmark in studies of second-century Christianity. She wears her immense learning lightly: her book will be treasured by scholars and students alike.
—Graham Stanton, University of Chicago
…an outstanding book on a relatively neglected subject… The book is wide-ranging, rich in detail, acute in its perceptions, and subtle in its argumentation – essential reading for those who wish to probe beneath superficial accounts of Jewish-Christian relations in the early period.
—Stephen G. Wilson, Carleton University
This is an impressive work: subtle, learned and possessing an admirable clarity throughout. It should be welcomed by all who study Jewish-Christian relations, as well as those scholars and students specializing in the second century. It should prove an excellent and indispensable model for those intending to examine this subject in the future.
—Justin Meggitt, University of Cambridge
Lieu’s evocative study is both a rich treatment of the role of the Jewish other in the development of early Christian self-definition, and a bold attempt to define an aspect of the rhetoric which was to provide the basis for centuries of Christian discourse.
—David Satran, Hebrew University of Jerusalem