“Typically, Jewish history and Christian history are taught by different teachers; they are even considered different disciplines. As Oxford don Geza Vermes points out in his introduction, this book is unique; it is a parallel history of early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism, an attempt to trace their stories side by side.”
– Hershel Shanks, in his Foreword to “Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: A Parallel History of Their Origins and Early Development,” page xv
What is “Rabbinic Judaism,” and when (and where) does it come from?
Judaism was the first of the major Abrahamic religions, and the only one until the advent of Christianity in the first century. Since it is still around today, Judaism is by far the oldest of these religions. You might already know that it is today split into many different camps. But the vast majority of these camps could be classified (in one form or another) as “Rabbinic Judaism.” What is “Rabbinic Judaism,” you might be wondering? It is simply Judaism where a “rabbi” is important, because “rabbi” is the biggest root word of the word “Rabbinic.” “Rabbinic Judaism” was born shortly before the advent of Christianity, although it seems not to have been known by that name at that time.
An artist’s rendition of the Temple of Solomon, sometimes known as the “First Temple”
It comes from an earlier stage of Judaism called “Second Temple Judaism”
At that time, the dominant form of Judaism was what we today call “Second Temple Judaism.” This is because it was centered around the Second Temple in Jerusalem, the successor to the Temple of Solomon – or, as it is sometimes called, the “First Temple.” The Second Temple would eventually be destroyed by the Romans in the later first century. Thus, it would no longer be the center of Jewish religious life as it had been before. This was when the focus most noticeably shifted to the “rabbis” of Rabbinic Judaism. If the religion was no longer tied to a particular place (like the Temple), then the importance of rabbis – especially those outside Jerusalem – would become much more important. This would become even more important when the Jews were scattered abroad in the Jewish Diaspora. Thus, Rabbinic Judaism would become the direct spiritual ancestor of nearly every modern form of Judaism.
Reconstruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem
This book gives the parallel histories of early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism
The term “rabbi” also has some importance in Christianity, since the contemporary followers of Jesus Christ addressed him by this title in the New Testament – and by its variant “rabboni.” But when Christianity became a separate religion in its own right, the word “rabbi” became somewhat less important to the Christians. It became associated with an earlier stage of their religion, and became associated even moreso with the religion’s Jewish roots. The genius of this particular book is that it shows the development of these two great religions side-by-side. The Rabbinic form of Judaism was born around the same time as Christianity, and the first six centuries of these two religions became particularly vital for their future development. This book begins around the time that Rabbinic Judaism first arose, and then follows this discussion by examining the rise of Christianity in the first century. The book ends only when it hits the Arab conquests of the seventh century, associated with the rise of Islam – the other great Abrahamic religion of modern times. Islam would eventually dominate the Middle East – and still does so today, as you may know. But Christianity would remain a dominant force in many other lands. Judaism, by contrast, was sadly destined to stay in the minority wherever it went – constantly trampled upon by its more powerful neighbors, as it had been in the days before Constantine. (More about Constantine later.)
This book is a sequel to a previous book about Ancient Israel (as I describe here)
But this book is a sequel to a previous book. This is “Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple.” Both books were written by multiple authors, with minimal overlap between the two different groups of authors. Also, both books were edited by Hershel Shanks, and both books were published by the Biblical Archeology Society. This may be why the focus of each is on Biblical archeology, and on what this archeology has to reveal about the period. There is a strong similarity between these two books, but the periods that they cover are somewhat different. That is to say, the first volume is focused primarily on the Hebrew Bible, the volume of scripture that is actually shared by both religions. Christians may know the “Hebrew Bible” by the title of the “Old Testament.” In the second volume, they focus on how each of these religions recorded some special scriptures of its own. For the Christians, there is the famous “New Testament,” which is not shared by the Jews. For the Jews, there are lesser-known scriptures like the Talmuds, which include the Mishnah and the Gemara. These scriptures are not shared by the Christians. Each of these religions developed its own corpus, and built upon the earlier legacy of the Hebrew Bible – the part that both religions actually did share.
What are some of the topics in Christian history that this book covers?
Some chapters of this book are focused on Christianity, while others are focused on Rabbinic Judaism. The Judaism chapters were written by Jewish scholars, while the Christianity chapters were written by Christian scholars. The most interesting of the Christian chapters – for me, at least – was the one entitled “The Life of Jesus.” It discusses how there are relatively few first-century references to Jesus, besides the New Testament itself. One of the earliest non-Christian references to Christianity was from the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, known for his works “The Jewish War” and “Antiquities of the Jews” (both quoted in this book). Another such reference was by the Roman historian Tacitus in the early second century, in his book entitled “Annals.” This archeology book also argues that at least some books of the New Testament were themselves written in the early second century – rather than in the first century, as is commonly believed. They also mention how the books of our modern New Testament were not thrown together into a common Bible until the great councils of later centuries. Much of this was done long after the fact. They mention how Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine (the person that I cryptically mentioned earlier), and mention how the Nicene Creed was formed during this critical period. They briefly mention St. Augustine as well, and his influence upon the future course of Christianity.
Emperor Constantine, who converted the Roman Empire to Christianity
What are some of the topics in (Rabbinic) Jewish history that this book covers?
On the Jewish side, they mention a number of important developments, such as the great Jewish Revolt of the later first century. This is the one in which the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, as I alluded to earlier. They also mention the Kitos War (which some would classify as another Jewish revolt against Rome), and the Bar Kokhba Revolt – the last of the major Jewish revolts against Roman rule. They also mention the aforementioned writing of the Talmuds, such as the Mishnah and the Gemara. It helped that these chapters were written by Jews who were experts on their own religion. Indeed, they are much more familiar with this era’s Jewish history than I am ever likely to be. They even talked of how Jewish religions were suppressed by post-Constantinian Christianity, just as they had been by the Roman pagans that had ruled the empire since long before Constantine. Although I am a believer in Christianity, I should acknowledge that Christians have often been guilty of persecuting the Jewish faith, and that the general history of Christianity has been far from perfect.
Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, on the Knesset Menorah
Conclusion: Treating these two religions’ histories in parallel has definite advantages
But again, the real genius of this book is that it shows these two religions side-by-side. They switch back and forth between the two religions – with one chapter about Christianity, and another about Rabbinic Judaism; and so on, and so forth. Indeed, the book’s title is “Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: A Parallel History of Their Origins and Early Development.” Of course, the histories are not completely parallel, since they intersect with each other on multiple occasions. But treating them in a parallel fashion has definite advantages, and allows you to better appreciate the times when they do intersect. This is a great introduction to the subject, and is much recommended to anyone interested in either Biblical archeology, or the role of these two religions in the broader classical period – that is, the period of the Ancient Greeks and the broader Roman Empire.
“… a civilized and peaceful dialogue [between Christians and Jews] is a post-Holocaust phenomenon. A collaborative venture such as this parallel history would have been inconceivable even half a century ago. It is a remarkable achievement.”
– Geza Vermes, in the Introduction (not to be confused with the Foreword) to “Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: A Parallel History of Their Origins and Early Development,” page xxii
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Very interesting review, Jeff. I will buy the book. I grew up Jewish. Judy Russell, tutot
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Sounds like you’ll enjoy it.
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