Neither Jew nor Greek? : constructing early Christianity / Judith Lieu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lieu, Judith.

Contributor:

Class of 1924 Book Fund.

Series:

Studies of the New Testament and its world

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Church history--Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600.

Church history.

Church history--Primitive and early church.

Physical Description:

xiii, 263 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : T & T Clark, 2002.

Summary:

In this ground-breaking study, Judith Lieu explores the formation and shaping of early Christian identity within Judaism and within the wider Graeco-Roman world in the period before 200 C.E. Bringing to bear the latest analytical methods on her subject, she pays close attention to the way that literary texts presented early Christianity, combining this with interdisciplinary historical investigation and interaction with the most recent work on Judaism in late antiquity and the Graeco-Roman world. The book addresses key questions in current New Testament scholarship, including the formation of early Christian identity, how best to describe and understand the processes by which the Christian movement became separate from its Jewish origins, the role of women in Judaism and early Christianity, and the part which martyrdom played in the construction of Christian identity.

Contents:

1 Introduction: Neither Jew nor Greek? Constructing Early Christianity 1

Part I Disappearing Boundaries

2 'The Parting of the Ways': Theological Construct or Historical Reality? 11

3 Do God-fearers make Good Christians? 31

4 The Race of the God-fearers 49

5 Ignoring the Competition 69

Part II Women and Conversion in Judaism and Christianity

6 The 'Attraction of Women' in/to Early Judaism and Christianity: Gender and the Politics of Conversion 83

7 Circumcision, Women and Salvation 101

Part III Theology and Scripture in Early Christian Views of Judaism

8 History and Theology in Christian Views of Judaism 117

9 Accusations of Jewish Persecution in Early Christian Sources 135

10 Reading in Canon and Community: Deut. 21.22-23, A Test Case for Dialogue 151

Part IV The Shaping of Early 'Christian' Identity

11 The Forging of Christian Identity and the Letter to Diognetus 171

12 The New Testament and Early Christian Identity 191

13 'I am a Christian': Martyrdom and the Beginning of 'Christian' Identity 211.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-255) and indexes.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1924 Book Fund.

ISBN:

0567089096

OCLC:

51194672