Who Made Early Christianity?

The Jewish Lives of the Apostle Paul

John G. Gager

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Hardback

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English

Columbia University Press
16 June 2015

History of religion; The Early Church; Judaism

Series: American Lectures on the History of Religions

In this historical and theological study, John G. Gager undermines the myth of the Apostle Paul's rejection of Judaism, conversion to Christianity, and founding of Christian anti-Judaism. He finds that the rise of Christianity occurred well after Paul's death and attributes the distortion of the Apostle's views to early and later Christians.

Though Christian clerical elites ascribed a rejection-replacement theology to Paul's legend, Gager shows that the Apostle was considered a loyal Jew by many of his Jesus-believing contemporaries and that later Jewish and Muslim thinkers held the same view. He holds that one of the earliest misinterpretations of Paul was to name him the founder of Christianity, and in recent times numerous Jewish and Christian readers of Paul have moved beyond this understanding.

Gager also finds that Judaism did not fade away after Paul's death but continued to appeal to both Christians and pagans for centuries. Jewish synagogues remained important religious and social institutions throughout the Mediterranean world. Making use of all possible literary and archaeological sources, including Muslim texts, Gager helps recover the long pre-history of a Jewish Paul, obscured by recent, negative portrayals of the Apostle, and recognizes the enduring bond between Jews and Christians that has influenced all aspects of Christianity.

By: John G. Gager
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: 1
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 411g
ISBN: 9780231174046
ISBN 10: 0231174047
Series: American Lectures on the History of Religions
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 16 June 2015
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

John G. Gager is the William H. Danforth Professor of Religion (Emeritus) at Princeton University. His books include Moses in Greco-Roman Paganism; Kingdom and Community: The Social World of Early Christianity; The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes Toward Judaism in Pagan and Christian Antiquity; Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World; and Reinventing Paul.

Reviews for Who Made Early Christianity?: The Jewish Lives of the Apostle Paul

In this delightfully engaging and erudite book, John Gager guides the reader through the interconnected histories of Judaism and Christianity, ranging from the Jewish origins of Christianity to the debates about the apostle Paul in modern Jewish thought. In the process, he succeeds in redefining--yet again--the cutting-edge of research on Jewish/Christian relations. -- Annette Yoshiko Reed, University of Pennsylvania