The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes toward Judaism in Pagan and Christian Antiquity [Paperback]

John G. Gager (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 1985 | ISBN-10: 0195036077 | ISBN-13: 978-0195036077

This revisionist reading of early anti-Judaism offers a richer and more varied picture of the Jews and Christians of antiquity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A book of compelling and powerful historical argument. Coherent and well documented, his fresh approach treats a difficult problem in a remarkably interesting way. No one concerned with the troubled relationship between Judaism and Christianity, whether in ancient or modern times, can afford to ignore it."--The Journal of Religion

"This book brings the study of ancient Pagan and Christian anti-Semitism to a new plateau where one sees things more clearly and, I dare say, more correctly."--Krister Stendahl, Harvard Divinity School

"A stunning challenge to some widely accepted ideas on the genesis of anti-Semitism....Priority reading for church historians--and anyone else who wants to study the religious roots of the Holocaust."--Kirkus Reviews

"Solidly grounded in authentic evidence and reliable rcholarship."--Journal of Ecclesiastical History

"A major contribution to a better understanding of the roots of anti-Semitism in Western culture."--Judaica Books News

About the Author

John G. Gager is at Princeton University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 14, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195036077
• ISBN-13: 978-0195036077
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,274,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting at the start, dry at the end, April 25, 2009

By 

Michael Lewyn (Forest Hills, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes toward Judaism in Pagan and Christian Antiquity (Paperback)

This book is divided into three parts, each of which, in my opinion, can be read without reading the other two parts.

The first part discusses Roman pagan attitudes towards Judaism - not just the attitudes of kings and politicians, but the attitudes of intellectuals as well. Some pagan writers were anti-Semitic, but others revered Judaism as one of many venerable philosophies. Gager suggests that Jewish prosletyism "exercised a significant influence on Romans", and cites numerous statements by intellectuals implying that their readers knew something about Judaism. For example, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote: "whenever we see a man hesitating between two faiths, we are in the habit of saying, He is not a Jew, he is only acting the part." More interestingly, he writes that anti-Jewish Roman commentary is actually less common after the final crushing of Jerusalem's Jews during the Bar Kochba revolt in 135- perhaps because pagan nationalists felt more threatened by Christianity, since Judaism was no longer a political threat to the Empire.

The second part of this book focuses on Judeo-Christian relations. Gager suggests that Christian anti-Semitism is based on Christian fear of "Judaizing" - that is, adoption of Jewish practices by Christians. For example, in 386 John Chrysostom delivered a set of anti-Semitic sermons at the time of Jewish fall festivals such as Yom Kippur, apparently to discourage Christians from celebrating those festivals with Jews. Similarly, in 360 a Council of Laodicea prohibited Christians from resting on Saturdays, and in 341 a Council of Antioch prohibited Christians from celebrating Passover with Jews. Why the hositility? Wrote St Jerome, "if they are allowed to observe [Jewish rites] in the churches of Christ ... they will not become Christians, they will make us Jews."

The third, and least readable, part of book discusses the writings of Paul; Gager suggests that according to conventional scholarly wisdom, Paul believed that the Torah could not lead to salvation. But Gager rejects this view, arguing that Paul believed in a kind of "dual salvation" concept- that "Torah remains the path of righteousness for Israel; Christ has become the promised way of righteousness for Gentiles." Because Gager's discussion relies so heavily on New Testament citations, it is less interesting for a layperson than the first two parts.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More modern guilt, less history, July 3, 2011

By 

David Withun (FORT GORDON, GA, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes toward Judaism in Pagan and Christian Antiquity (Paperback)

Please allow me to offer a summary of this book for you, before you waste your time reading the entire thing as I did: First, everything that is said about Judaism in any ancient text, whether Christian, Jewish, or pagan, is actually supposed to be understood differently than the plainest meaning of the text and the way that everyone has always understood the text; this applies especially to the letters of Saint Paul as found in the New Testament. Second, because of our collective white guilt in the wake of the holocaust, we must find a way to completely distort what the New Testament actually says about Jews in order to make them feel better; essentially, because of something that happened in the 20th century, we must mutilate Christianity beyond recognition in order to make it seem nicer to Jews. In short, this book was a complete waste of time and is a better study in what modern white guilt does to a mind than in anything historical at all.