Image and Reality

by Judith M. Lieu

Publisher:

T&T Clark

, 1996

Overview

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.).

Praise for the Print Edition

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

Product Details

• Title: Image and Reality: The Jews in the World of the Christians in the Second Century
• Editor: Judith Lieu
• Publication Date: 2003
• Pages: 362

About Judith M. Lieu

Judith M. Lieu studied at Durham and Birmingham Universities and has taught at The Queen's College, Birmingham, King's College London (where she was Professor of New Testament Studies, 1999-2006), and Macquarie University, Sydney. She is on the editorial board of a number of journals and series and was previously Editor of New Testament Studies and was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2014. Professor Lieu's current research is on letters in Early Christianity, exploring their changing function through their reception and embedding in new contexts, as well as the production of letter-like writings.