Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine

by Neusner, Jacob

• ISBN13: 9780226576534
• ISBN10: 0226576531
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-04-15
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

With the conversion of Constantine in AD 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 Judaismthe meaning of history, the coming of the Messiah, and the political identity of Israelbecame 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, and of central Jewish works such as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, the Genesis Rabbah, and the Leviticus Rabbah, 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.

Author Biography

Jacob Neusner is Distinguished Service Professor of the history and theology of Judaism and senior fellow of the Institute for Advanced Theology at Bard College. He is general editor for the series, Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism—The Talmud of the Land of Israel, published by the University of Chicago Press.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Religion and Political Change	p. 1
Judaism without Christianity	p. 4
The Judaic Sages' Canon in the Context of the Fourth Century	p. 7
Their Intent, Our Interpretation	p. 11
Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine	p. 13
Christianity and the Roman Empire in the Age of Constantine	p. 13
Jews in the Land of Israel in the Fourth Century	p. 18
Judaism in the Land of Israel	p. 23
Genesis Rabbah and Israel's History: Christian and Judaic Theories of History and Its Meaning	p. 29
The Issue of History: Events, Patterns, Proofs	p. 29
Eusebius and the Beginnings of Christian Historiography	p. 31
Genesis Rabbah and Israel's Historical Crisis	p. 36
The Talmud of the Land of Israel and the Messiah: Christian Triumph, Judaic Response	p. 59
The Messianic Crisis	p. 59
Chrysostom: Jewish Unbelief, Christian Wavering	p. 61
The Talmud of the Land of Israel and Israel's Messianic Crisis	p. 65
Leviticus Rabbah, Genesis Rabbah, and the Identification of Israel	p. 81
Who Is Israel?	p. 81
Aphrahat and the People Which Is No Peoples	p. 85
Leviticus Rabbah and Israel's National Crisis	p. 94
Genesis Rabbah: The Claim of the Siblings	p. 106
Genealogy and the Political Crisis	p. 111
Politics and Proof-Texts: Exegesis and Canon	p. 114
A Test of Falsification	p. 114
Same Topic, Different Program: No Encounter	p. 117
Jerome and the Christian Exegetical Tradition	p. 119
Sifre to Numbers and the Judaic Exegetical Tradition	p. 124
The Christian Canon in the Fourth Century: Old and New Testaments	p. 128
The Judaic Canon in the Fourth Century: The Written and Oral Torah	p. 133
The Absence of Confrontation	p. 141
Epilogue: The Shape of the Initial Encounter and the Enduring Confrontation	p. 146
Sages' Success in the Initial Encounter	p. 146
The Enduring Confrontation	p. 149
Appendixes
Genesis Rabbah on Israel's History	p. 153
Aphrahat on Israel	p. 191
Leviticus Rabbah on Israel	p. 203
Genesis Rabbah on Israel	p. 224
Bibliography	p. 231
Index	p. 237
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