Jewish Responses to Early Christians
History and Polemics, 30-150 C.E.
- World Religions
- Publisher: Fortress Press (Augsburg Fortress)
- Published: 1994
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
What were Jews saying and doing about the followers of Jesus in the first two centuries? In this provocative and comprehensive study, Claudia Setzer argues persuasively that Jews saw the early followers of Jesus as Jews for some time after the Christians viewed themselves as separate from the larger Jewish communities. This book provides historical context and nuanced exegesis of texts that continue to be "trouble spots" in Jewish-Christian relations. It illuminates the diverse strands of early anti-Judaism while providing the reader with some surprises.
Endorsements (2)
“This is a significant contribution to the study of early Judaism and Christianity. Focusing on literature from the period 30-150 C.E., Claudia Setzer demonstrates that there existed a wide range of Jewish attitudes toward Christians, from acceptance to physical violence. Her analysis of the literature, most of it by Christians, is insightful and through-provoking.”
“The aim of this book is to shed historical light on the developing relationship between Christians and Jews in the time between Jesus and the Apologist Justin Martyr. It finds that a trend is discernible whereby the wide spectrum of physical and verbal abuse to which Jews subjected Jewish Christians in the earlier years gradually narrowed until after 100 C.E. attacks became largely polemical in nature. The area in which such polemics took place was the interpretation of scripture, and the principal object of dispute became the figure of Jesus Christ. At stake in these polemics was nothing less than the self-definition of both Jews and Christians. Well researched and extensive in scope, this book is for the scholar and expert.”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem