Severus of Minorca: Letter on the Conversion of the Jews

Reviews / Votes

Bradbury's English version of the Latin text is accurate and lucid, and he achieves a commendable brevity in his endnotes. * Mark J. Edwards, Christ Church, Oxford, Journal of Jewish Studies, Vol. XLVIII, No. 1, Spring 1997 * the problems of this episode and the wider context of the story are explored, patiently but economically, in an excellent seventy-seven-page introduction, which is followed by a new text and facing translation ... Few monographs of this size make so clear a contribution to an important subject. * Fergus Millar, Brasenose College, Journal of Ecclesiastical History * Bradbury here offers a critical Latin text with full apparatus, a clear, accurate, readable translation (the first in English), a judicious set of notes, and an extensive introduction of 77 pages which might serve as a model of the genre. His argument for date and authenticity ... is both clear and absolutely compelling. Would that the publisher can find a way to offer an inexpensive paperbound edition of this important Letter and Bradbury's unassuming but invaluable scholarship! * David P. Efroymson, La Salle University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Journal of Early Christian Studies 12/97 * '...Bradbury's book is a piece of sound scholarship and will no doubt serve as the standard edition of Severus' Letter for a long time to come.' * Jnl Theological Studies * This slim volume brings to light an important and absorbing text that will surprise and delight scholars of Jewish-Christian relations ... the editor of this edition establishes the letter's authenticity; and the edition itself provides a clean text. I am confident that this publication will stimulate much new scholarship ... The Latin text is presented in a critical edition that appears to have been prepared with great care. It is clear, well punctuated, normalized, and easy to read. The text is accompanied (on the facing page) by a fluent English translation that is a model of the genre. * Willis Johnson, University of Chicago Divinity School, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 15/12/98 *