Jews or Christians?
The Followers of Jesus in Search of their own Identity
by Giorgio Jossa, translated by Molly Rogers
When was Christianity born? When was it that Christianity, born as a particular current within Judaism, constituted itself as a religion different and separate from the Jewish religion? The question has been asked, and the problem has therefore been considered, since the historical-critical investigation of Christian origins began. However the problem has become acute only in the last few decades, because of the occurrence of a whole series of circumstances and of reflections that have deeply changed the historiographic understanding regarding Judaism in the first century, and thus the origins of Christianity as well. Traditional opinion considered the founders of Christianity to be Jesus of Nazareth and Paul of Tarsus. Recent studies however affirm that a Christian religion as distinct from the Jewish religion can be spoken of only much later, and that for the entire first century, and for at least a part of the second century, Christianity was nothing more than a sect within Judaism. Dealing with the problem from an historical point of view, and thus considering not only Christianity of Jewish origin but also that of gentile origin, Giorgio Jossa demonstrates that the birth of a Christian identity as distinct from Jewish identity must actually be dated back to the first period of life of the community of Jesus.
- By (author) Giorgio Jossa
- Translated by Molly Rogers
Other Titles in this Series
Reading the First Century
On Reading Josephus and Studying Jewish History of the First Century
Volume 300
Divine Kingdom and Kingdoms of Men / Gottesreich und Reiche der Menschen
Studies on the Theology of the Septuagint Volume II / Studien zur Theologie der Septuaginta Band II
Volume 432
Leiblich vermitteltes Leben
Vorstellungen vom Uberwinden des Todes und vom Auferstehen im fruhen Christentum
Volume 501
Der Ratschluss Gottes
Erzählanalytische Untersuchungen zu einem theologischen Zentralmotiv des lukanischen Doppelwerks
Volume 527
Pseudepigraphie und Verfasserfiktion in frühchristlichen Briefen
Pseudepigraphy and Author Fiction in Early Christian Letters
Die vier Evangelien und das eine Evangelium von Jesus Christus
Studien zu ihrer Sammlung und Entstehung
Volume 224
Paulus und die kaiserzeitliche Epistolographie
Kontextualisierung und Analyse der Briefe an Philemon und an die Galater
Volume 276
Ethische Normen des frühen Christentums
Gut - Leben - Leib - Tugend. Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik / Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics. Band IV
Volume 313
The Eucharist – Its Origins and Contexts
Sacred Meal, Communal Meal, Table Fellowship in Late Antiquity, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity. Volume I-III
Volume 376
Der eine Gott, der durch alle ist
Epheser 4,6 im Kontext antiker Diskurse uber Gott und die Welt
Volume 445
Paulus im Kontext des Diasporajudentums
Judenchristliche Lebensweise nach den paulinischen Briefen und die Debatten um 'Paul within Judaism'
Volume 511
Paul’s Anthropology in Context
The Image of God, Assimilation to God, and Tripartite Man in Ancient Judaism, Ancient Philosophy and Early Christianity
Volume 232
Die Septuaginta – Texte, Theologien, Einflüsse
2. Internationale Fachtagung veranstaltet von Septuaginta Deutsch (LXX.D), Wuppertal 23.-27. Juli 2008
Die Septuaginta – Entstehung, Sprache, Geschichte
3. Internationale Fachtagung veranstaltet von Septuaginta Deutsch (LXX.D), Wuppertal 22.-25. Juli 2010
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