Brothers Estranged Heresy, Christianity and Jewish Identity in Late Antiquity [Hardcover]

Adiel Schremer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 20, 2010

The emergence of formative Judaism has traditionally been examined in light of a theological preoccupation with the two competing religious movements, 'Christianity' and 'Judaism' in the first centuries of the Common Era. In this book Ariel Schremer attempts to shift the scholarly consensus away from this paradigm, instead privileging the rabbinic attitude toward Rome, the destroyer of the temple in 70 C.E., over their concern with the nascent Christian movement. The palpable rabbinic political enmity toward Rome, says Schremer, was determinative in the emerging construction of Jewish self-identity. He asserts that the category of heresy took on a new urgency in the wake of the trauma of the Temple's destruction, which demanded the construction of a new self-identity. Relying on the late 20th-century scholarly depiction of the slow and measured growth of Christianity in the empire up until and even after Constantine's conversion, Schremer minimizes the extent to which the rabbis paid attention to the Christian presence. He goes on, however, to pinpoint the parting of the ways between the rabbis and the Christians in the first third of the second century, when Christians were finally assigned to the category of heretics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019538377X
• ISBN-13: 978-0195383775
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,059,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History, December 14, 2010

By 

Margaret F. Ogram (Hayden Lake, Id) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brothers Estranged Heresy, Christianity and Jewish Identity in Late Antiquity (Hardcover)

This is not a fast read, but a very scholoraly presentation of history and religion at the time that Christianity was emerging.