The Jewish Jesus
How Judaism and Christianity Shaped Each Other
1st Edition
Published on 26. February 2012
368 pages
978-1-4008-4228-5 (ISBN)
Description
How the rise of Christianity profoundly influenced the development of Judaism in late antiquity
In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a profound influence on rabbinic Judaism, which was itself just emerging and, like Christianity, trying to shape its own identity. In The Jewish Jesus, Peter Schäfer reveals the crucial ways in which various Jewish heresies, including Christianity, affected the development of rabbinic Judaism. He even shows that some of the ideas that the rabbis appropriated from Christianity were actually reappropriated Jewish ideas. The result is a demonstration of the deep mutual influence between the sister religions, one that calls into question hard and fast distinctions between orthodoxy and heresy, and even Judaism and Christianity, during the first centuries CE.
In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a profound influence on rabbinic Judaism, which was itself just emerging and, like Christianity, trying to shape its own identity. In The Jewish Jesus, Peter Schäfer reveals the crucial ways in which various Jewish heresies, including Christianity, affected the development of rabbinic Judaism. He even shows that some of the ideas that the rabbis appropriated from Christianity were actually reappropriated Jewish ideas. The result is a demonstration of the deep mutual influence between the sister religions, one that calls into question hard and fast distinctions between orthodoxy and heresy, and even Judaism and Christianity, during the first centuries CE.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
02/2014
Princeton University Press
€28.30
Shipment within 10-20 days
Book
02/2012
Princeton University Press
€64.38
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Peter Schäfer is the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Jewish Studies and professor of religion at Princeton University, where he directs the Program in Judaic Studies. His books include The Origins of Jewish Mysticism and Jesus in the Talmud (both Princeton). He received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2007.
Content
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Different Names of God 21
Offerings 22
Creation 24
R. Simlai's Collection of Dangerous Bible Verses 27
The Bavli Collection 37
R. Simlai and Christianity 42
Chapter 2. The Young and the Old God 55
Chapter 3. God and David 68
Aqiva in the Bavli 70
The David Apocalypse 85
David in Dura Europos 94
Chapter 4. God and Metatron 103
Rav Idith and the Heretics 104
Metatron the Great Scribe 115
The Celestial High Priest 116
The Prince of the World 123
The Instructor of Schoolchildren in Heaven 125
Two Powers in Heaven 127
Akatriel 131
Metatron in Babylonia 138
Metatron and Christianity 141
Chapter 5. Has God a Father, a Son, or a Brother? 150
Chapter 6. The Angels 160
When Were the Angels Created? 160
God's Consultation with the Angels 165
Angels and Revelation 179
Veneration of Angels 188
Chapter 7. Adam 197
Chapter 8. The Birth of the Messiah, or Why Did Baby
Messiah Disappear? 214
The Arab 220
Elijah 222
The Messiah 223
The Mother of the Messiah 227
Christianity 228
Chapter 9. The Suffering Messiah Ephraim 236
Pisqa 34 238
Pisqa 36 242
Pisqa 37 261
Christianity 264
Notes 273
Bibliography 329
Index 343
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Different Names of God 21
Offerings 22
Creation 24
R. Simlai's Collection of Dangerous Bible Verses 27
The Bavli Collection 37
R. Simlai and Christianity 42
Chapter 2. The Young and the Old God 55
Chapter 3. God and David 68
Aqiva in the Bavli 70
The David Apocalypse 85
David in Dura Europos 94
Chapter 4. God and Metatron 103
Rav Idith and the Heretics 104
Metatron the Great Scribe 115
The Celestial High Priest 116
The Prince of the World 123
The Instructor of Schoolchildren in Heaven 125
Two Powers in Heaven 127
Akatriel 131
Metatron in Babylonia 138
Metatron and Christianity 141
Chapter 5. Has God a Father, a Son, or a Brother? 150
Chapter 6. The Angels 160
When Were the Angels Created? 160
God's Consultation with the Angels 165
Angels and Revelation 179
Veneration of Angels 188
Chapter 7. Adam 197
Chapter 8. The Birth of the Messiah, or Why Did Baby
Messiah Disappear? 214
The Arab 220
Elijah 222
The Messiah 223
The Mother of the Messiah 227
Christianity 228
Chapter 9. The Suffering Messiah Ephraim 236
Pisqa 34 238
Pisqa 36 242
Pisqa 37 261
Christianity 264
Notes 273
Bibliography 329
Index 343
