Two Powers in Heaven: Early Rabbinic Reports About Christianity and Gnosticism [Paperback]

Alan F. Segal (Author), A. F. Segal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

In this study of the rabbinic heretics who believed in "Two powers in heaven", Alan Segal explores some relationships between rabbinic Judaism, Merkabah mysticism, and early Christianity. "Two powers in heaven" was a very early category of heresy. It was one of the basic categories by which the rabbis perceived the new phenomenon of Christianity and one of the central issues over which Judaism and Christianity separated. Segal reconstructs the development of the heresy through dating of the stages of the rabbinic traditions. The basic heresy involved interpreting scripture to say that a principal angelic or hypostatic manifestation in heaven was equivalent to God. The earliest heretics believed in two complementary powers in heaven, while later heretics believed in two opposing powers in heaven. Segal stresses the importance of perceiving the relevance of rabbinic material for solving traditional problems of New Testament and gnostic scholarship, and at the same time maintains the necessity of reading those literatures for dating rabbinic material.

Product Details

• Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039104172X
• ISBN-13: 978-0391041721
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,173,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Two Powers in Heaven, October 15, 2003

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This review is from: Two Powers in Heaven: Early Rabbinic Reports About Christianity and Gnosticism (Paperback)

Segal's study is wide-ranging and stimulating. His suggestions that Gnosticism arose in Judaism as a result of the polarization in the Jewish community over the issue of the status of God's primary angel and that the radicalization of Gnosticism developed out of the battle with the rabbis deserve study. One wonders, however, whether the influence of the rabbis was sufficiently strong as early as the origins of Gnosticism, and whether wider philosophical and religious developments in the period contributed more to the origins of Gnosticism than opposition to the rabbis. Recommended.