Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine: History, Messiah, Israel, and the Initial Confrontation
Jacob Neusner
University of Chicago Press, 2008-04-15 -
262 pages

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 Judaism—the meaning of history, the coming of the Messiah,
and the political identity of Israel—became 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.
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