Early Judaism and the Beginnings of Christianity

Common Roots and the Parting of the Ways

translated by Jason Valdez

Book cover: Early Judaism and the Beginnings of Christianity

Extent: 450 pages

Publisher: Kohlhammer Verlag

Subjects: Jewish Studies, Religious Studies

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(December 2025)

ISBN: 9783170449282

Price: $49.00

In stock

Jesus and his first followers were Jews who never intended to form a new religion apart from Judaism. The so called “parting of the ways” between Jews and Christians was long and by no means monolinear. Rather, it was a complex process that stretched over five hundred years, occurring in different places at disparate velocities and under a variety of circumstances. Highlighting the pluriformity of early Judaism (300 BCE – 200 CE) in its political, sociological, economic, and religious implications, this book shows that what we today call the “beginnings of Christianity” was in fact an integral part of multifaceted Judaism.


Jesus and his first followers were Jews who never intended to form a new religion apart from Judaism. The so called “parting of the ways” between Jews and Christians was long and by no means monolinear. Rather, it was a complex process that stretched over five hundred years, occurring in different places at disparate velocities and under a variety of circumstances. Highlighting the pluriformity of early Judaism (300 BCE – 200 CE) in its political, sociological, economic, and religious implications, this book shows that what we today call the “beginnings of Christianity” was in fact an integral part of multifaceted Judaism.

  • Translated by Jason Valdez