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
Paul’s Anthropology in Context
The Image of God, Assimilation to God, and Tripartite Man in Ancient Judaism, Ancient Philosophy and Early Christianity
Die Septuaginta – Texte, Theologien, Einflüsse
2. Internationale Fachtagung veranstaltet von Septuaginta Deutsch (LXX.D), Wuppertal 23.-27. Juli 2008
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3. Internationale Fachtagung veranstaltet von Septuaginta Deutsch (LXX.D), Wuppertal 22.-25. Juli 2010
The Future of New Testament Textual Scholarship
From H. C. Hoskier to the Editio Critica Maior and Beyond
Volume 417
Die Christen als Fremde
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Volume 64
Memory in the Bible and Antiquity
The Fifth Durham-Tubingen Research Symposium (Durham, September 2004)
Volume 212
Die Evangelien und die Apostelgeschichte
Studien zu ihrer Theologie und zu ihrer Geschichte
Volume 241
Good Works in 1 Peter
Negotiating Social Conflict and Christian Identity in the Greco-Roman World
Volume 337
Vermittelte Gegenwart
Konzeptionen der Gottesprasenz von der Zeit des Zweiten Tempels bis Anfang des 2. Jahrhunderts n. Chr.
Volume 367
Der Nous bei Paulus und in seiner Umwelt
Griechisch-römische, frühjüdische und frühchristliche Perspektiven
Heil und Geschichte
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Hermeneutik der Gleichnisse Jesu
Methodische Neuansatze zum Verstehen urchristlicher Parabeltexte
Volume 231
Die Inkulturation des Christentums
Aufsatze und Studien zum Neuen Testament und seiner Umwelt
Volume 255
Die vier Evangelien und das eine Evangelium von Jesus Christus
Studien zu ihrer Sammlung und Entstehung
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