Andrei Orlov

Gabriele Boccaccini

This book presents a collection of papers from the fifth conference of the Enoch Seminar. The conference re-examined 2 Enoch, an early Jewish apocalyptic text previously known to scholars only in its Slavonic translation, in light of recently identified Coptic fragments.

No Longer Slavonic Only

New Perspectives on 2 Enoch

Collins

This book provides an overview of the current debate about the early Enoch literature and its place in ancient Judaism, especially in relation to the Torah of Moses and to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Early Enoch Literature

Distinguished in the field of Enochic studies, Gabriele Boccaccini led the way in June 2005 at the Third Enoch Seminar, entirely devoted to the Book of Parables in light of Second Temple Judaism and Christian origins. The unusual and compelling collection of essays found here reflects the spirit of sharing and dialogue that has made these seminars so popular and intriguing to scholars throughout the world.This third collection of essays from these historic meetings contains the observations and contemplations of forty-four scholars, includes a helpful introduction by Boccaccini detailing the history of the movement, and ends with likely prospects for future research and an extensive bibliography compiled by associate editor Jason von Ehrenkrook for further study.Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man will be a significant contribution for the understanding and discussion of ancient Judaism.

Revisiting the Book of Parables

Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man

Matthias Henze

This volume covers a wide range of topics around 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, two Jewish apocalypses of the first century CE, including their place of origin and their similarities with the Qumran literature, with early Rabbinic and with Christian texts.

Reconstruction after the Fall

Fourth Ezra and Second Baruch

Benjamin Reynolds

The essays in Reading the Gospel of John’s Christology as Jewish Messianism: Royal, Prophetic, and Divine Messiahs seek to interpret John’s Jesus as part of Second Temple Jewish messianic expectations.

Royal, Prophetic, and Divine Messiahs

Reading the Gospel of John’s Christology as Jewish Messianism

"We no longer need to separate Paul from Judaism in order to claim his Christianness," writes Gabriele Boccaccini, adding, "nor do we need to separate him from the early Jesus movement in order to state his Jewishness." With this guiding principle Boccaccini unpacks the implications of Paul's "belonging" simultaneously to Judaism and Christianity to arrive at the surprising and provocative conclusion that there are in fact three means of salvation: For Jews, adherence to Torah. For gentiles, good works according to conscience and natural law. For all sinners, forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul's Three Paths to Salvation is an attempt to reconcile the many facets of Paul's complex identity while reclaiming him from accusations of intolerance, and Boccaccini's work in reestablishing the figure of Paul as a messenger of God's Mercy to the sinners is an important contribution to the ongoing conversation about Paul's place in the contemporary pluralistic world.

Paul's Three Paths to Salvation

Isaac W. Oliver

Paul's relationship to Christianity-as a Pharisaic Jew whose moment of revelation on the road to Damascus has made him the most famous early Christian-is still a topic of great interest to scholars of early Christianity and Judaism. This collection of essays from world-renowned scholars examines how Christians of the first two centuries perceived Paul's Jewishness, and how they seized upon Paul's views on Judaism in order to advance their own claims about Christianity. The contributors offer a comprehensive examination of various early Christian views on Paul, in texts contained both in and outside of the New Testament, demonstrating how the reception of Paul's thought affected the formation of Judaism and Christianity into separate entities. Divided into five sections, the arguments focus upon Paul's reception in Ephesians, the other Deutero-Pauline Epistles, the Acts of the Apostles, Marcion of Synope and the reaction of Paul's opponents. Featuring essays from scholars including Judith Lieu, James H. Charlesworth and Harry O. Meier, this volume forms a perfect resource for scholars to reassess Paul's Jewishness and relationship with Judaism.

Text, Narrative and Reception History

The Early Reception of Paul the Second Temple Jew

John John Joseph Collins

Jason Zurawski

Giovanni Ibba

Jason von Ehrenkrook

James Alan Waddell

When scholars from around the world gathered at the fourth Enoch Seminar to consider the differences between early Enoch literature and Jubilees, four tendencies emerged from the discussion. Some scholars claimed that Jubilees was a direct product of Enochic Judaism and Mosaic features were simply subordinated to Enoch ideology. Some suggested that Jubilees was a conscious synthesis of Enochic and Mosaic tradition, yet remaining autonomous from both. Some asserted that Jubilees was essentially a Mosaic text with some Enochic influence. And others questioned the very existence of a gulf between Enochic and Mosaic traditions as competing forms of Judaism at the time of Jubilees. Gabriele Boccaccini and Giovanni Ibba have carefully collected the countervailing views into this volume. / Contributors: Veronika Bachmann, Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Jonathan Ben-Dov, John Bergsma, Gabriele Boccaccini, Lutz Doering, John C. Endres, Esther Eshel, William K. Gilders, Lester L. Grabbe, Betsy Halpern-Amaru, Matthias Henze, Martha Himmelfarb, David Jackson, Helge S. Kvanvig, Erik Larson, Hindy Najman, Isaac W. Oliver, Andrei Orlov, Annette Yoshiko Reed, Michael Segal, Lawrence Schiffman, James Scott, Michael Segal, Aharon Shemesh, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, David Suter, James VanderKam, Jacques van Ruiten, Benjamin Wright.

The Evidence of Jubilees

Enoch and the Mosaic Torah

Jason M. Zurawski

Despite the impressive strides made in the past century in the understanding of Second Temple Jewish history and the strong scholarly interest in paideia within ancient Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, and late antique Christian cultures, the nature of Jewish paideia during the period has, until recently, received surprisingly little attention. The essays collected here were first offered for discussion at the Fifth Enoch Seminar Nangeroni Meeting, held in Naples, Italy, from June 30 – July 4, 2015, the purpose of which was to gain greater insight into the diversity of views of Jewish education during the period, both in Judea and Diaspora communities, by viewing them in light of their contemporary Greco-Roman backgrounds and Ancient Near Eastern influences. Together, they represent the broad array of approaches and specialties required to comprehend this complex and multi-faceted subject, and they demonstrate the fundamental importance of the topic for a fuller understanding of the period. The volume will be of particular interest to students and scholars of the history and culture of the Jewish people during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, ancient education, and Greek and Roman history.

Second Temple Jewish “Paideia” in Context

Convincingly argued, this work will surely spark fresh debate in the discussion on the Qumran community and the famous Dead Sea Scrolls.

Gabriele Boccaccini

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