Craig A. Evans

Bruce D. Chilton

The lack of serious and sustained investigation of the historical figure of James "the Just", brother of Jesus, is one of the curious oversights in modern critical study of Christian origins. James the Just and Christian Origins addresses this problem. The questions that surround this exceedingly important, yet largely ignored figure are several and complicated. Was he really the brother of Jesus? How influential was he in the early church? What was the nature of his relationship to the other apostles, especially to Paul? How did James understand Christianity’s relationship to Judaism and to the people of Israel? Out of this grows a very important question: In its generative moment, was Christianity in fact as well as in its self-awareness, a species of Judaism? Contributors from several countries are currently engaged in collaborative study in James and early Jewish Christianity. James the Just and Christian Origins is the first of several planned volumes to be published.

James the Just and Christian Origins

Jacob Neusner

Among the world's religions, Christianity and Judaism are the most symmetrical. But in our day of religious tolerance, a tendency to overlook the vital differences between the two religions in the name of good will can undermine constructive Jewish-Christian dialogue. In this book, Bruce D. Chilton describes early Christian thought and Jacob Neusner describes early Judaic thought on fundamental issues such as creation and human nature, Christ and Torah, sin and atonement, and eschatology. At the end of each chapter, each assesses the other's perspective, and a final chapter explains why the authors believe theological confrontation--not just comparison--defines the task of interfaith dialogue today.

Comparing Theologies

Classical Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism

Alan Jeffery Avery-Peck

Jacob Neusner (vols. 1, 2, and 3) and his colleagues Alan Avery-Peck (vol. 2) and Bruce Chilton (vol. 3) have assembled a stellar team of scholars in producing what has already become an essential reference work for the study of Judaism in Late Antiquity. Originally written in nine separate volumes, Judaism in Late Antiquity now appears, unabridged, in three. The entire work seeks to offer readers both a broad perspective on the shape of Judaism while also opening the way to understanding unique issues. Editors Neusner, Avery-Peck, and Chilton must be commended for this generous gift both to the scholarly guild and to the general reader looking for a thought-provoking overview of the central academic conversations. "Judaism in Late Antiquity, I, II, III" is also available in hardback

Judaism in Late Antiquity

Darrell L. Bock

Daniel M. Gurtner

This comparative handbook is intended to provide scholars of the New Testament with detailed, systematic and accurate resources concerning the Judaic context of the gospel of Mark. It aims to serve as a powerful tool to assist the reader - and commentator - in understanding and commenting on the gospel of Mark. Introductions are provided to help with issues of dating and the development of the literatures concerned. Possible interpretations are also presented, where suitable.

Comparisons with Pseudepigrapha, the Qumran Schrolls [i.e. Scrolls], and Rabbinic Literature

A Comparative Handbook to the Gospel of Mark

The Missions of James, Peter, and Paul comprises studies that investigate in what ways the missions of the three most important interpreters of Jesus agreed or differed in matters of ideology, theology, and practice. Of great importance is the question of how closely aligned these figures were to the Jewish matrix out of which their faith and theology emerged. These studies investigate every aspect of this difficult and complex question, including aspects of archaeology, literary sources, and social context.

Tensions in Early Christianity

The Missions of James, Peter, and Paul

The Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated. This ethical dictum is a part of most of the world's religions and has been considered by numerous religious figures and philosophers over the centuries. This new collection contains specially commissioned essays which take a fresh look at this guiding principle from a comparative perspective. Participants examine the formulation and significance of the Golden Rule in the world's major religions by applying four questions to the tradition they consider: What does it say? What does it mean? How does it work? How does it matter? Freshly examining the Golden Rule in broad comparative context provides a fascinating account of its uses and meaning, and allows us to assess if, how and why it matters in human cultures and societies.

The Ethics of Reciprocity in World Religions

The Golden Rule

Alan J. Avery-Peck

Darrell Bock

This Comparative Handbook surveys the Judaic environment of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Analogies are traced with the Pseudepigrapha (together with Philo and Josephus), discoveries related to Qumran, and Rabbinic Literature (inclusive of the Targumim).

Comparisons with Pseudepigrapha, the Qumran Scrolls, and Rabbinic Literature

A Comparative Handbook to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke

This volume reviews the criteria, assumptions, and methods involved in critical Jesus research to clarify the procedures necessary to distinguish tradition that stems from Jesus from tradition and interpretation that stem from later tradents and evangelists, and to inquire into the various forces and situations that led to the emergence of the tradition as we have it.

Authenticating the Words of Jesus

This volume reviews the criteria, assumptions, and methods involved in critical Jesus research. Its purpose is to clarify the procedures necessary to distinguish tradition that stems from Jesus from tradition and interpretation that stem from later tradents and evangelists. --from publisher description.

Authenticating the Activities of Jesus

Paul V.M. Flesher

This remarkable survey introduces critical knowledge and insights that have emerged over the past forty years, including targum manuscripts discovered this century and targums known in Aramaic but only recently translated into English. Prolific scholars Flesher and Chilton guide readers in understanding the development of the targums; their relationship to the Hebrew Bible; their dates, language, and place in the history of Christianity and Judaism; and their theologies and methods of interpretation.

Bruce D. Chilton

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