Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Political, social, and economic life in the Land of Israel, 66–c. 235
- 2 The Diaspora from 66 to c. 235 ce
- 3 The uprisings in the Jewish Diaspora, 116–117
- 4 The Bar Kochba Revolt, 132–135
- 5 The legal status of the Jews in the Roman Empire
- 6 Jewish art and architecture in the Land of Israel, 70–C. 235
- 7 The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple: its meaning and its consequences
- 8 The origins and development of the rabbinic movement in the Land of Israel
- 9 The canonical process
- 10 The beginnings of Christian anti-Judaism, 70–C. 235
- 11 The rabbinic response to Christianity
- 12 The Mishnah
- 13 The Tosefta
- 14 Midrash Halachah
- 15 Mishnaic Hebrew: an introductory survey
- 16 The political and social history of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 17 The material realities of Jewish life in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 18 Aramaic in late antiquity
- 19 The Diaspora, C. 235–638
- 20 Jewish archaeology in late antiquity: art, architecture, and inscriptions
- 21 Jewish festivals in late antiquity
- 22 Rabbinic prayer in late antiquity
- 23 Rabbinic views on marriage, sexuality, and the family
- 24 Women in Jewish life and law
- 25 Gentiles in rabbinic thought
- 26 The formation and character of the Jerusalem Talmud
- 27 The late midrashic, paytanic, and targumic literature
- 28 Jewish magic in late antiquity
- 29 Jewish folk literature in late antiquity
- 30 Early forms of Jewish mysticism
- 31 The Political, Social, and Economic History of Babylonian Jewry, 224–638 CE
- 32 The history of the Babylonian academies
- 33 The formation and character of the Babylonian Talmud
- 34 Talmudic law: a jurisprudential perspective
- 35 Torah in rabbinic thought: the theology of learning
- 36 Man, sin, and redemption in Rabbinic Judaism
- 37 The rabbinic theology of the physical: blessings, body and soul, resurrection, and covenant and election
- 38 Christian anti-Judaism: polemics and policies
- 39 Jews in Byzantium
- 40 Messianism and apocalypticism in rabbinic texts
- Appendix Justinian and the revision of Jewish legal status
- Index
- Map A The Roman world in the time of Marcus Aurelius
- References
11 - The rabbinic response to Christianity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
By
Edited by
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Political, social, and economic life in the Land of Israel, 66–c. 235
- 2 The Diaspora from 66 to c. 235 ce
- 3 The uprisings in the Jewish Diaspora, 116–117
- 4 The Bar Kochba Revolt, 132–135
- 5 The legal status of the Jews in the Roman Empire
- 6 Jewish art and architecture in the Land of Israel, 70–C. 235
- 7 The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple: its meaning and its consequences
- 8 The origins and development of the rabbinic movement in the Land of Israel
- 9 The canonical process
- 10 The beginnings of Christian anti-Judaism, 70–C. 235
- 11 The rabbinic response to Christianity
- 12 The Mishnah
- 13 The Tosefta
- 14 Midrash Halachah
- 15 Mishnaic Hebrew: an introductory survey
- 16 The political and social history of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 17 The material realities of Jewish life in the Land of Israel, C. 235–638
- 18 Aramaic in late antiquity
- 19 The Diaspora, C. 235–638
- 20 Jewish archaeology in late antiquity: art, architecture, and inscriptions
- 21 Jewish festivals in late antiquity
- 22 Rabbinic prayer in late antiquity
- 23 Rabbinic views on marriage, sexuality, and the family
- 24 Women in Jewish life and law
- 25 Gentiles in rabbinic thought
- 26 The formation and character of the Jerusalem Talmud
- 27 The late midrashic, paytanic, and targumic literature
- 28 Jewish magic in late antiquity
- 29 Jewish folk literature in late antiquity
- 30 Early forms of Jewish mysticism
- 31 The Political, Social, and Economic History of Babylonian Jewry, 224–638 CE
- 32 The history of the Babylonian academies
- 33 The formation and character of the Babylonian Talmud
- 34 Talmudic law: a jurisprudential perspective
- 35 Torah in rabbinic thought: the theology of learning
- 36 Man, sin, and redemption in Rabbinic Judaism
- 37 The rabbinic theology of the physical: blessings, body and soul, resurrection, and covenant and election
- 38 Christian anti-Judaism: polemics and policies
- 39 Jews in Byzantium
- 40 Messianism and apocalypticism in rabbinic texts
- Appendix Justinian and the revision of Jewish legal status
- Index
- Map A The Roman world in the time of Marcus Aurelius
- References
Summary
INTRODUCTION
No full accounting of the separation of Christianity from Judaism can be provided because of the paucity and ambiguity of the existing evidence. The rabbinic sources of the mishnaic era provide very little information on the subject and what information is supplied is almost always subject to dispute as to its exact meaning and historical value, while the Christian evidence is often suspect because of its polemical theological agenda.
Given what we do know, it is fair to assume that the situation was complex and that the separation took place over a number of decades and was due to a variety of factors, social, theological, and political.
BEGINNINGS
Despite its tendentiousness, the narrative of the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 6.8—8.3) appears to be accurate in reporting that the earliest Christian preaching almost immediately provoked Jewish antagonism. No consensus, however, has been reached by modern scholars concerning which features of the Christian message were most responsible for the hostility. It is sometimes supposed that halachic nonconformity on the part of Christians was the primary cause of friction. In view of the wide diversity of halachic practice in the period of the Second Temple, however, this is hardly an adequate explanation in itself, especially for the very earliest antipathy that predates the conversion and teaching of Paul, although, as we shall see, it was probably a contributory factor. It is more likely that Christology was at the center of the conflict. The exact nature of the early christological formulation(s) is the subject of intense scholarly dispute, but it would appear that the christological construals represented a dramatic, to some considerable degree innovative, remythologization of Judaism. Claims for the person of Jesus in the cosmic drama – which later would lead to trinitarian formulations and assertions that Jesus was the “Son of God,” and the like – along with claims regarding the resurrection, already found repeatedly in early Christian documents (e.g., 1 Cor. 15.3–8), would contest existing theological understandings and make claims for the centrality of Jesus that challenged, if they did not altogether transcend, the boundaries of first-century Palestinian Judaism, even with all its acknowledged diversity.
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- The Cambridge History of Judaism , pp. 259 - 298Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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