Interaction Between Judaism and Christianity in History, Religion, Art and Literature - (Jewish and Christian Perspectives) (Hardcover)

About the Book

This volume contains essays dealing with complex relationships between Judaism and Christianity, taking a bold step, assuming that no historical period can be excluded from the interactive process between Judaism and Christianity, conscious or unconscious, as either rejection or appropriation

Book Synopsis

This volume contains a variety of essays that deal with the complex relationships between Judaism and Christianity. From the Jewish side, particularly in Orthodox circles, there is a position maintaining the independence of Judaism from outside influences including Christianity. Traditional Christian theology, on the other hand, held a supercessionist view in which Judaism was seen merely as a historical preparation for the later revelation of Christianity. Was there no real interaction? When and how did Judaism and Christianity become two distinct religions? When did the 'parting of ways" take place, if indeed there really was such a parting of ways?
The present volume takes a bold step forward by assuming that no historical period can be excluded from the interactive process between Judaism and Christianity, conscious or unconscious, as a polemical rejection or as tacit appropriation.

From the Back Cover

This volume contains a variety of essays that deal with the complex relationships between Judaism and Christianity. From the Jewish side, particularly in Orthodox circles, there is a position maintaining the independence of Judaism from outside influences including Christianity. Traditional Christian theology, on the other hand, held a supercessionist view in which Judaism was seen merely as a historical preparation for the later revelation of Christianity. Was there no real interaction? When and how did Judaism and Christianity become two distinct religions? When did the 'parting of ways" take place, if indeed there really was such a parting of ways? The present volume takes a bold step forward by assuming that no historical period can be excluded from the interactive process between Judaism and Christianity, conscious or unconscious, as a polemical rejection or as tacit appropriation.

Review Quotes

"Opening this book is like facing a banquet table of exotic foods. It is beautiful, overwhelming, and indigestible in one sitting. It covers not only the whole sweep of history, but also literature, art, architecture, and ritual. Fifty-six pages of stunning color plates complete the volume. Discerning the relations between Judaism and Christianity has yielded many metaphors, mother-daughter, siblings, ways that part or not, and parallel lines.n this volume is no different, presenting those whose methodological sobriety rejects any influence, to those who assert conscious borrowing." - Claudia Setzer, in: Journal for the Study of Judaism 41 (2010)

About the Author

Marcel J.H.M. Poorthuis, PhD (1992) in theology, Catholic Theological University of Utrecht, is lecturer in Rabbinics and Jewish Christian relations. He has published on the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, on Jewish history and on the interaction between Church Fathers and Rabbinics.

Joshua Schwartz, Ph.D (1981), Jewish History, Hebrew University, is Director of the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies and the Schulman Center for Basic Jewish Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He has published extensively on the historical geography of ancient Israel and Jerusalem.

Joseph Turner, Ph.D (1993) is Senior Lecturer in Jewish Thought and Philosophy at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. He has published on Franz Rosenzweig, Hermann Cohen, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Yehezkel Kaufmann among others. His current project is in the philosophy of Jewish existence, focusing on attitudes toward Zion and the Diaspora in 20th century Jewish thought.