The Jewish Gospels and Beyond Course Description: We will cover a variety of subjects under the broad umbrella of the encounter between Jewish and Christian Studies. The course will consider relevant historical, theological, literary and archeological data, enabling the students to read the New Testament in its original context. The course adopts a variety of critical, literary but sympathetic, approaches to the NT collection and the ancient literature that will be referred to during the course. The course will challenge the students to appreciate the significance of ancient Judaism/s.

General Outline: Lecture 1: The Jewishness of all four Gospels Lecture 2: Hebraisms in the New Testament Lecture 3: The Book of Revelation in its Jewish Context Lecture 4: Two ways to convert to Israel’s God in the Hebrew Bible Lecture 5: Judaism made clear: Who is who and what is what? Lecture 6: Jesus’ use of Rabbinical interpretive methods Lecture 7: Disputes between Hillel/Shamai and the teaching of Jesus Lecture 8: Jewish Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha Lecture 9: The Gospel of Israel in Pauline theology Lecture 10: Feasts of Israel and the person Jesus

Teaching Objectives: By the end of this course, students will: 1) Have a firm grasp of the main historical and theological issues that connect the New Testament and Jewish Studies.

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2) Know what particular Jewish background literature is of greatest relevancy for New Testament interpretation. 3) Become familiar with the tools that are available for further study of the New Testament in the Jewish context. 4) Achieve a greater personal appreciation of Jewish thought, culture and history and be able to clearly articulate the main ways in which they can and must be used in New Testament interpretation. Additional teaching objectives for graduate students 5) Develop research and analytical skills to interpret New Testament texts as literature. 6) Gain ability to engage in academic dialogue in the fields of Jewish and Christian studies and relations.

Jewish Studies for Christians Site (a major resource for the study) http://JewishStudies.eteacherbiblical.com

Selected Bibliography Alexander, Philip, “The Parting of the Ways’ From the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in: Dunn, J.D.G. (ed.) Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135 (Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 1999) 1-25. Boyarin, Daniel, “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/’Christianity,’” in: Becker, Adam, and Annette Reed (eds.), The Ways that Never Parted: Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003) 65-85. Crawford, John, “Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in Late-Antique Sardis,” in: Fine, Steven (ed.), Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue: Cultural Interaction During the Graeco-Roman Period (London: Routledge, 1999) 190-200. Fine, Steven, “Non-Jews in the Synagogues of Late-Antique Palestine,” in: Fine, Steven (ed.), Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue: Cultural Interaction During the Graeco-Roman Period (London: Routledge, 1999) 224-242. Finn, Thomas M., “Mission and Expansion,” in: Esler, Philip, (ed.), The Early Christian World, vol. I (London: Routledge, 2000) 295-315. Fredriksen, Paula, “What ‘Parting of the Ways’? Jews, Gentiles, and the Ancient Mediterranean City,” in: Becker, Adam, and Annette Reed (eds.), The Ways that Never 2

Parted: Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003) 35-63. Gager, John, The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes Toward Judaism in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985). Goodman, Martin, “Modeling the ‘Parting of the Ways,’” in: Becker, Adam, and Annette Reed (eds.), The Ways that Never Parted: Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003) 119-129. Harland, Philip, Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003). Hegedus, Tim, “Naming Christians in Antiquity,” Studies in Religion 33:2 (2004) 173190. Hidal, Sten, “The Jews as the Roman Authors Saw Them” pp. 141-144 in: Birger Olsson et al., (eds.), The Synagogue of Ancient Ostia and the Jews of Rome: Interdisciplinary Studies, (Stockholm: ActaRom-4o, 57, 2001) 141-144. Horbury, William, “Jewish-Christian Relations in Barnabas and Justin Martyr,” in: Dunn, J.D.G. (ed.) Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135 (Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 1999) 316-345. Horst, Pieter van der, “Jews and Christians in Antioch at the End of the Fourth Century,” in: Porter, Stanley and Brooke W.R. Pearson (eds.) Christian-Jewish Relations Through the Centuries (London: T&T Clark, 2004) 228-238. Irshai, Oded, “Confronting a Christian Empire: Jewish Culture in the World of Byzantium,” in: Biale, David (ed.), Cultures of the Jews: A New History (New York: Schocken Books, 2002) 181-221. Klauck, Hans-Josef, The Religious Context of Early Christianity: A Guide to GraecoRoman Religions (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003). Leadbetter, Bill, “From Constantine to Theodosius (and Beyond),” in: Esler, Philip, (ed.), The Early Christian World, vol. I (London: Routledge, 2000) 258-292. Lieu, Judith, Neither Jew Nor Greek? Constructing Early Christianity (London: T&T Clark, 2002). Linder, Amnon, The Jews in Roman Imperial Legislation (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987). Murray, Michele, Playing a Jewish Game: Gentile Christian Judaizing in the First and Second Centuries CE (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2004). 3

Nanos, Mark, “The Inter- and Intra-Jewish Political Context of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians,” in: Nanos, Mark (ed.), The Galatians Debate: Contemporary Issues in Rhetorical and Historical Interpretation (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2002) 396-407 Paget, J.C., “Jewish Proselytism at the Time of Christian Origins,” JSNT 62 (1996) 65103. Paget, J.C., “Jewish Christianity,” in: Horbury, William et al (eds.) The Cambridge History of Judaism, vol. 3: The Early Roman Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999) 731-775. Rabello, Alfredo Mordechai, “Civil Justice in Palestine from 63 BCE to 70 CE,” in: The Jews in the Roman Empire: Legal Problems, From Herod to Justinian (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000) 293-306. Rabello, Alfredo Mordechai “The Ban on Circumsicion as a Cause of Bar Kochba’s Rebellion,” in: The Jews in the Roman Empire: Legal Problems, From Herod to Justinian (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000) 177-214. Remus, Harold, “The End of ‘Paganism’?” Studies in Religion 33:2 (2004) 191-208. Runesson, Anders, “Was there a Christian Mission Before the Fourth Century? Problematizing Common Ideas about Early Christianity and the Beginnings of Modern Mission.” Pages 205-247 in The Making of Christianity: Conflicts, Contacts, and Constructions. Edited by Magnus Zetterholm and Samuel Byrskog; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2012. Runesson, Anders. “Inventing Christian Identity: Paul, Ignatius, and Theodotius I.” Pages 59-92 in Exploring Early Christian Identity. Edited by Bengt Holmberg. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008. Runesson, Anders. “Architecture, Conflict, and Identity Formation: Jews and Christians in Capernaum From the 1st to the 6th Century.” Pages 231-257 in Religion, Ethnicity, and Identity in Ancient Galilee: A Region in Transition. Edited by Jürgen Zangenberg, Harold W. Attridge, and Dale Martin. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007. Runesson, Anders, Donald D. Binder, and Birger Olsson. The Ancient Synagogue: From its Origins to 200 CE, A Source Book. Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity Series 72. Leiden: Brill, 2008. Rutgers, Leonard V., “Archaeological Evidence for the Interaction of Jews and Non-Jews in Late Antiquity,” AJA 96 (1992) 101-118. Sauer, Eberhard, The Archaeology of Religious Hatred in the Roman and Early Medieval World (Charlestown: Tempus, 2003). 4

Schremer, Adiel, “The Christianization of the Roman Empire and Rabbinic Literature.” Pages 349-366 in Jewish Identities in Antiquity: Studies in Memory of Menahem Stern. Edited by Lee I. Levine and Daniel R. Schwartz. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009. Segal, Alan, Rebecca’s Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1986). Setzer, Claudia, Jewish Responses to Early Christians: History and Polemics, 30-150 C.E. (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994). Stegemann, Ekkehard W., and Wolfgang Stegemann, The Jesus Movement: A Social History of Its First Century (Minnepolis: Fortress, 1999). Tomson, Peter, “The Wars Against Rome, The Rise of Rabbinic Judaism and of Apostolic Gentile Christianity, and the Judaeo-Christians: Elements for a Synthesis,” in: The Image of the Judaeo-Christians in Ancient Jewish and Christian Literature (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003), 1-31. Weiss, Zeev, “Between Rome and Byzantium: Pagan Motifs in Synagogue Art and their Place in the Judaeo-Christian Controversy.” Pages 367-390 in Jewish Identities in Antiquity: Studies in Memory of Menahem Stern. Edited by Lee I. Levine and Daniel R. Schwartz. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009. Wilken, Robert, The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984). Wilson, Stephen, Related Strangers: Jews and Christians 70-170 CE (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996). Wilson, Stephen, Leaving the Fold: Apostates and Defectors in Antiquity (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004). Wilson, Stephen “’Jew’ and Related Terms in the Ancient World,” Studies in Religion 33:2 (2004) 157-171.

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