Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine: History, Messiah, Israel, and the Initial Confrontation
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
With the conversion of Constantine in 312, Christianity began a period of political and cultural dominance that it would enjoy until the twentieth century. Jacob Neusner contradicts the prevailing view that following Christianity’s ascendancy, Judaism continued to evolve in isolation. He argues that because of the political need to defend its claims to religious authenticity, Judaism was forced to review itself in the context of a triumphant Christianity. The definition of issues long discussed in Judaism—the meaning of history, the coming of the Messiah, and the political identity of Israel—became of immediate and urgent concern to both parties. What emerged was a polemical dialogue between Christian and Jewish teachers that was unprecedented.
In a close analysis of texts by the Christian theologians Eusebius, Aphrahat, and Chrysostom on one hand, and of the central Jewish works the Talmud of the Land of Israel, the Genesis Rabbah, and the Leviticus Rabbah on the other, Neusner finds that both religious groups turned to the same corpus of Hebrew scripture to examine the same fundamental issues. Eusebius and Genesis Rabbah both address the issue of history, Chrysostom and the Talmud the issue of the Messiah, and Aphrahat and Leviticus Rabbah the issue of Israel. As Neusner demonstrates, the conclusions drawn shaped the dialogue between the two religions for the rest of their shared history in the West.
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- Argues that because of the political need to defend its claims to religious authenticity, Judaism was forced to review itself in the context of a triumphant Christianity
- Examines texts by Christian theologians Eusebius, Aphrahat, and Chrysostom
- Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine
- Genesis Rabbah and Israel’s History: Christian and Judaic Theories of History
- The Talmud of the Land of Israel and the Messiah: Christian Triumph, Judaic
- Leviticus Rabbah, Genesis Rabbah, and the Identification of Israel
- Politics and Proof-Texts: Exegesis and Canon
- Title: Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine: History, Messiah, Israel, and the Initial Confrontation
- Author: Jacob Neusner
- Series: Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press
- Print Publication Date: 2007
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Pages: 246
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Judaism › relations--Christianity; Christianity and other religions › Judaism; Judaism › History--Talmudic period, 10-425; Christianity › Early church, ca. 30-600; Midrash › History and criticism
- ISBNs: 9780226576527, 9780226576534, 0226576523, 0226576531
- Resource ID: LLS:JDSMCHRSTNTY
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-10-10T16:24:44Z
Jacob Neusner (1932–2016) was a preeminent scholar of ancient Judaism and one of the most published authors ever, with more than 900 original volumes to his name. He was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the University of Oxford, and Yale University. He was research professor of theology and senior fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College. Neusner’s work has been highly influential, if sometimes controversial. He pioneered applying “form criticism” to Rabbinic texts, and aimed at a humanistic and academic reading of ancient Jewish literature.
Neusner’s works include the Jacob Neusner Jewish Studies Bundle (99 vols.).