The Reception of Jewish Tradition in the Social Imagination of the Early Christians

John M.G. Barclay, Kylie Crabbe, John M.G. Barclay, Kylie Crabbe

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780567702722
• eBook ISBN: 9780567696021
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

The contributors to this volume take as their theme the reception of Jewish traditions in early Christianity, and the ways in which the meaning of these traditions changed as they were put to work in new contexts and for new social ends. Special emphasis is placed on the internal variety and malleability of these traditions, which underwent continual processes of change within Judaism, and on reception as an active, strategic, and interested process. All the essays in this volume seek to bring out how acts of reception contribute to the social formation of early Christianity, in its social imagination (its speech and thought about itself) or in its social practices, or both. This volume challenges static notions of tradition and passive ideas of 'reception', stressing creativity and the significance of 'strong' readings of tradition. It thus complicates standard narratives of 'the parting of the ways' between 'Christianity' and 'Judaism', showing how even claims to continuity were bound to make the same different.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Part 1 The reception of Jewish texts
• Part 2 The reception of Jewish themes, images and categories
• Part 3 The reception of Jewish practices
• Bibliography
• Index of Ancient Sources
• Index of Authors
• Index of Subjects
• Copyright Page