Every culture makes the distinction between "true religion" and magic, regarding one action and its result as "miraculous," while rejecting another as the work of the devil. Surveying such topics as Babylonian witchcraft, Jesus the magician, magic in Hasidism and Kabbalah, and magic in Anglo-Saxon England, these ten essays provide a rigorous examination of the history of this distinction in Christianity and Judaism. Written by such distinguished scholars as Jacob Neusner, Hans Penner, Howard Kee, Tzvi Abusch, Susan R. Garrett, and Moshe Idel, the essays explore a broad range of topics,...
Every culture makes the distinction between "true religion" and magic, regarding one action and its result as "miraculous," while rejecting another as...
In this close analysis of The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, a sixth-century commentary on the Mishnah-tractate The Fathers (Avot), Jacob Neusner considers the way in which the story, as a distinctive type of narrative, entered the canonical writings of Judaism. The final installment in Neusner's cycle of analyses of the major texts of the Judaic canon, Judaism and Story shows that stories about sages exist in far greater proportion in The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan than in any of the other principal writings in the canon of Judaism of late antiquity. Neusner's detailed...
In this close analysis of The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, a sixth-century commentary on the Mishnah-tractate The Fathers (Avot), Jacob Neusner ...
With the conversion of Constantine in 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...
With the conversion of Constantine in 312, Christianity began a period of political and cultural dominance that it would enjoy until the twentieth cen...
The eminent Judaica scholar Jacob Neusner provides here the first form-analytical translation of the Mishnah. This path-breaking edition provides as close to a literal translation as possible, following the syntax of Mishnaic Hebrew in its highly formalized and syntactically patterned language. Demonstrating that the Mishnah is a work of careful and formal poetry and prose, Neusner not only analyzes the repeated construction but also divides the thoughts on the printed page so that the patterned language and the poetry comprised in those patterns emerge visually. "With meticulous...
The eminent Judaica scholar Jacob Neusner provides here the first form-analytical translation of the Mishnah. This path-breaking edition provides as c...
For Aristotle, politics, economics, and philosophy define the social construction of any society. For Judaism, the Mishnah--along with Scripture--sets forth the systematic statement for understanding the social construction and world view of Judaism around 200 C.E. The Mishnah functioned as the basic law in the holy land and was adopted also by Jews in the Diaspora, from Babylonia to the western satrapies of the Iranian empire of the Sasanians. Professor Jacob Neusner takes seriously the three principal tasks of theoretical thought enjoined by Aristotle and asks us to look at the Mishnah not...
For Aristotle, politics, economics, and philosophy define the social construction of any society. For Judaism, the Mishnah--along with Scripture--sets...
Understanding the religious perspectives of the Mishnah starts with asking three questions. First, what is the relationship of the Mishnah to Scripture, or "oral torah" to "written torah," for understanding the religion of Judaism? Second, what is the relationship between religious ideas and the world in which those ideas emerged? Third, what is the formal religious significance of the language of the Mishnah? These questions are posed with regard to a Judaism that existed from just prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. until around 200 C.E. and assumes as well the groundwork of...
Understanding the religious perspectives of the Mishnah starts with asking three questions. First, what is the relationship of the Mishnah to Scriptur...
Judaism in the New Testament explains how the writings of the early church emerged from communities which defined themselves in Judaic terms even as they professed faith in Christ. These two extremely distinguished scholars introduce readers to the plurality of Judaisms of the period. They show, by examining a variety of texts, how the major figures of the New Testament reflect distinctly Judaic practices and beliefs. This important study shows how the early movement centred on Jesus is best seen as Christian Judaism'. Only with the Epistle to the Hebrews did the profile of a new...
Judaism in the New Testament explains how the writings of the early church emerged from communities which defined themselves in Judaic terms ...
The Intellectual Foundations of Christian and Jewish Discourse argues that the Judaic and Christian heirs of Scripture adopted, and adapted to their own purposes and tasks, Greek philosophical modes of thought and argument. The authors explore how the earliest intellectuals of Christianity and Judaism shaped a tradition of articulated conflict and reasoned argument in the search for religious truth that was to be shared through continuing that argument with others. Neusner and Chilton examine, using the formative sources of Judaism and Christianity, the literary media of...
The Intellectual Foundations of Christian and Jewish Discourse argues that the Judaic and Christian heirs of Scripture adopted, and adapted t...
The Intellectual Foundations of Christian and Jewish Discourse argues that the Judaic and Christian heirs of Scripture adopted, and adapted to their own purposes and tasks, Greek philosophical modes of thought and argument. The authors explore how the earliest intellectuals of Christianity and Judaism shaped a tradition of articulated conflict and reasoned argument in the search for religious truth that was to be shared through continuing that argument with others. Neusner and Chilton examine, using the formative sources of Judaism and Christianity, the literary media of...
The Intellectual Foundations of Christian and Jewish Discourse argues that the Judaic and Christian heirs of Scripture adopted, and adapted t...
Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner study the points of comparisons and contrast between formative Christianity and Judaism. By identifying three categories of authority in each of the two religious worlds, they show how they have both worked in compelling or failing to get someone to do a given action. The arguments are introduced by a general discussion of the founding figures of the two religions, Moses and Jesus, and how their inherent authority distilled itself through the structure of their religious institutions and intellectual thoughts.
Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner study the points of comparisons and contrast between formative Christianity and Judaism. By identifying three categori...