This book investigates the mappings of ideas about sexual and ethnic difference in Galilee during the centuries following the last Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire--centuries that saw major socioeconomic changes in the region, as well as the development of that small community of Jewish authors/authorities known as the rabbis. It examines aspects of Jewish identity as these were constructed both in the earliest rabbinic texts and "on the ground," through practices that created (or contested) topographies of self vs. other, male vs. female, and insider vs. outsider. Three sociospatial...

Remains of the Jews studies the rise of Christian Empire in late antiquity (300-550 C.E.) through the dense and complex manner in which Christian authors wrote about Jews in the charged space of the -holy land.- The book employs contemporary cultural studies, particularly postcolonial criticism, to read Christian writings about holy land Jews as colonial writings. These writings created a cultural context in which Christians viewed themselves as powerful-and in which, perhaps, Jews were able to construct a posture of resistance to this new Christian Empire. Remains of the Jews...

"This is an imaginative--in the most positive sense--and creative reading of the emergence of Christianity and Judaism."--Judith Lieu, author of The Theology of the Johannine Epistles "A complex and erudite rereading of the relationship between early Christianity, rabbinic Judaism, and their respective heretics. . . . A truly remarkable achievement."--Stimulus "Encourages us to see historic Christianity as but one expression of a universalistic potential in Jewish monotheism. . . . In a fruitful career not yet nearly over, Border Lines, the culmination of many years of...

Scripture as Logos Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash Azzan Yadin "This is perhaps the most significant and innovative scholarly work on the halakhic midrashim in the past thirty years. The claims are extremely convincing, the scholarship is rigorous, and the writing is engaging. The conclusions repeatedly break new ground and dispel mistaken ideas that have been accepted among scholars. Most impressive, Yadin consistently displays a command of both textual expertise and theory."--Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, New York University The study of midrash--the biblical exegesis, parables, and...

Spectacles of Empire Monsters, Martyrs, and the Book of Revelation Christopher A. Frilingos "An insightful, suggestive book that will reward students of Revelation as well as readers interested more generally in the literature and culture of imperial Rome."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review The book of Revelation presents a daunting picture of the destruction of the world, complete with clashing gods, a multiheaded beast, armies of heaven, and the final judgment of mankind. The bizarre conclusion to the New Testament is routinely cited as an example of the early Christian renunciation of the...

Focusing on the practice of Byzantine Orthodoxy in Constantinople from the sixth to eleventh centuries, Liturgical Subjects examines how hymns, sermons, prayers, and art offered models for Christian self-recognition and scripts for repentance.