The Reluctant Parting: How the New Testament's Jewish Writers Created a Christian Book [Hardcover]

Julie Galambush (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2005

Discover the New Testament’s Forgotten Jewish Origins

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Christianity did not exist as a self-defined religious movement until well into the second century, when it began to distinguish itself from its Judaic roots. How and why did such an evolution occur? In a study that is by turns fascinating and unoriginal, Galambush, a religion professor at William and Mary, performs a close reading of the texts of the New Testament. From Matthew to Revelation, she shows how their authors—Jews themselves—addressed the conflict between their audience's Judaism and this new movement within Judaism. Thus, for example, Matthew, which was written to Jewish Christians, is the most anti-Jewish of the Synoptic Gospels. At the center of the conflicts in the New Testament is the question about whether and how to allow Gentiles to hear the message of this movement. One of Paul's letters, 1 Thessalonians, has long been interpreted to support the Jews' responsibility for the death of Jesus. Galambush observes, however, that Paul is angry at his fellow Jews for hindering him from speaking to the Gentiles. Galambush demonstrates that the development of the religion that became Christianity was a slow and torturous journey, but her tedious summaries of each of the New Testament writings and her often uninventive readings diminish the promise of this otherwise important book. (Nov.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Galambush holds religious-studies degrees from William and Mary, Emory, and Yale Divinity School. Formerly an ordained Baptist minister, she is a convert to Judaism--all of which makes her an ideal person to lead readers through the books of the New Testament as seen, one book at a time, in their original context, as Jewish works. Unlike the many recent books that have explored the Jewish origins of the Jesus movement, this one keeps speculation to a minimum, concentrating on the literature itself as it posits answers to major questions--e.g., How is it that books so centered in Jewish spirit and knowledge have been responsible for such agony for the Jewish people? Writing in fluid, easily understandable language, Galambush begins with a historical overview of life during the time of Jesus, showing clearly how various different religious strains were tugging at Judaism during this period. She goes on to explain how the Jesus sect moved from finding its members among Jews to finding them among Gentiles. One of the book's most fascinating elements is the author's analysis of how the different Gospels and letters interface with one another and what they say about those who wrote them and those for whom they were written. An important book in the growing canon devoted to the Jewishness of Jesus and his followers. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; First edition. edition (November 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060596368
• ISBN-13: 978-0060596361
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,601,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading, November 16, 2005

By 

Paul E. Stroble (Akron, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Reluctant Parting: How the New Testament's Jewish Writers Created a Christian Book (Hardcover)

The Reluctant Parting explains why the New Testament-written by Jews, about a Jew (i.e., Jesus) and the Hebrew traditions-is nevertheless hostile and critical toward Jews.

Dr. Galambush does an expert job of sorting through the paradoxes of the anti-Judaism of the New Testament. It would be difficult to imagine anyone with a better background to appreciate the nuances and traditions of both religions. Galambush clarifies the Jewish identity of the New Testament writers, showing how early Christians understood themselves AS Jews writing about other Jews.

Christians no longer perceive the NT authors to be Jews writing critically, and even lovingly, toward other Jews (and other Jewish Christians). Instead, gentile Christians read the anti-Jewish statements of the NT as sacred texts. Consequently, many Christians make uncritical, erroneous assumptions about Judaism: that the New Testament portrays the entirety of first century Judaism; that first century Judaism is exactly the same thing as modern Judaism; that all Jews, then and now, believe that God requires complete and perfect observance of the Torah; and so on.

But when the Jewishness of the New Testament is explained, we come a long way toward understanding why the gospel authors, Paul, and the other writers portrayed Jews negatively. Paul, for instance, portrayed himself as an ideal Jew prior to his conversion-but actually he represents only one, very assiduous kind of first-century Judaism. The often cryptic and exclusive statements of the Johannine writings have probable roots in the Apostle John's community. Understanding more clearly the Jewish background of the NT authors also brings us closer to their basic message.

Galambush discusses each of the New Testament writings, which is a very helpful feature of the book. Two other helpful aspects of the book are Galambush's clear and readable style, and the historical and linguistic sidebars. This is a book I'll recommend for many years!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb presentation of the New Testament, March 8, 2007

By 

wizard_chef (Birmingham, Alabama) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Reluctant Parting: How the New Testament's Jewish Writers Created a Christian Book (Hardcover)

Julie Galambush is a Jewish convert from Protestantism, and is a religious scholar to boot. Thus, she is imminently qualified to present Christianity from a Jewish perspective. Her approach is similar to that of Amy Jill Levine, another Jewish New Testament scholar who patiently explains to Christians that Jesus was a first century Jew who was not out to establish a new religion, but rather was out to get rid of the Roman oppressors and reestablish Jewish law and tradition in his country. Galambush's greatest gift in this book, in my opinion, is to present the books of the New Testament in chronological order, giving a concise explanation of each of them from a first century Jewish perspective. Every Christian should read this book, if for no other reason than to get a quick review of the New Testament in a very digestable form.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting review of the New Testament by a Jewish author, June 26, 2006

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Hope Powers - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Reluctant Parting: How the New Testament's Jewish Writers Created a Christian Book (Hardcover)

First, let me state that I have had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Galambush and I find her to be delightful with an intelligent yet approachable personality. This comes through clearly in her writing. Her scolarship is outstanding, but she is not pedantic.

This book was clearly written for me, a Jewish woman who has had little experience with the New Testament. I was so ignorant that I did not realize the Pharisees were Jews, when I read the Gospels in high school.

I found her explanations of the different books of the NT to be interesting. I appreciated that she explained the thoughts of authors of the different texts and how those differed depending on the author. Because the books of the NT were written at different periods of history and in different locations, some by authors who did not know Jesus directly, the history of the first century can be gleaned. The further one moves from the time of Jesus, the more "fantastic" his life became, the more amazing his miracles. Most interesting to me was the apocalyptic book, Revelations, about which I had heard a great deal, but knew nothing.

I enjoyed this book to such an extent, that I purchased an additional two copies to give as gifts and I have lent my copy to friends.