Jewish Apocalypticism in Late First Century Israel

Jewish Apocalypticism in Late First Century Israel PDF Author: Matthias Henze
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161508592
Category : Apocalyptic literature
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch or Second Baruch is a Jewish work of the late first century C.E., written in Israel in the aftermath of the Jewish War against Rome. It is part of a larger body of post-70 C.E. Jewish literature. The authors of these works had a difficult charge. They needed to re/imagine Judaism and its central symbols, take count of a thriving Diaspora, and articulate how Jewish life was to be lived from then on, without the benefit of a temple. Written at a time of religious reconstruction and mental reorientation, Second Baruch occupies a unique place in the history of early Jewish thought. In this highly original work, the author of Second Baruch developed an apocalyptic program that was intended for post-70 C.E. Judaism at large and not for a small dissident community only. The program incorporates various theological strands, chief among them the Deuteronomic promise of a prosperous and long life for those keeping the Torah and the apocalyptic promise of a new heaven and a new earth.In this book, Matthias Henze offers a close reading of some of the central passages in Second Baruch, exposes its main themes, explains the apocalyptic program it advocates, draws some parallels with other texts, Jewish and Christian, and locates Second Baruch 's intellectual place in the rugged terrain of post-70 C.E. Jewish literature and thought. For modern readers interested in Judaism of the late Second Temple period, in the Jewish world from which early Christianity emerged, and in the origins of rabbinic Judaism, Second Baruch is an invaluable source.

Jewish Apocalypticism in Late First Century Israel

Jewish Apocalypticism in Late First Century Israel PDF Author: Matthias Henze
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161508592
Category : Apocalyptic literature
Languages : en
Pages : 466

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch or Second Baruch is a Jewish work of the late first century C.E., written in Israel in the aftermath of the Jewish War against Rome. It is part of a larger body of post-70 C.E. Jewish literature. The authors of these works had a difficult charge. They needed to re/imagine Judaism and its central symbols, take count of a thriving Diaspora, and articulate how Jewish life was to be lived from then on, without the benefit of a temple. Written at a time of religious reconstruction and mental reorientation, Second Baruch occupies a unique place in the history of early Jewish thought. In this highly original work, the author of Second Baruch developed an apocalyptic program that was intended for post-70 C.E. Judaism at large and not for a small dissident community only. The program incorporates various theological strands, chief among them the Deuteronomic promise of a prosperous and long life for those keeping the Torah and the apocalyptic promise of a new heaven and a new earth.In this book, Matthias Henze offers a close reading of some of the central passages in Second Baruch, exposes its main themes, explains the apocalyptic program it advocates, draws some parallels with other texts, Jewish and Christian, and locates Second Baruch 's intellectual place in the rugged terrain of post-70 C.E. Jewish literature and thought. For modern readers interested in Judaism of the late Second Temple period, in the Jewish world from which early Christianity emerged, and in the origins of rabbinic Judaism, Second Baruch is an invaluable source.

The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature

The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature PDF Author: John Joseph Collins
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks
ISBN: 0199856494
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 565

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Book Description
Apocalypticism arose in ancient Judaism in the last centuries BCE and played a crucial role in the rise of Christianity. It is not only of historical interest: there has been a growing awareness, especially since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, of the prevalence of apocalyptic beliefs in the contemporary world. To understand these beliefs, it is necessary to appreciate their complex roots in the ancient world, and the multi-faceted character of the phenomenon of apocalypticism. The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature is a thematic and phenomenological exploration of apocalypticism in the Judaic and Christian traditions. Most of the volume is devoted to the apocalyptic literature of antiquity. Essays explore the relationship between apocalypticism and prophecy, wisdom and mysticism; the social function of apocalypticism and its role as resistance literature; apocalyptic rhetoric from both historical and postmodern perspectives; and apocalyptic theology, focusing on phenomena of determinism and dualism and exploring apocalyptic theology's role in ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and Gnosticism. The final chapters of the volume are devoted to the appropriation of apocalypticism in the modern world, reviewing the role of apocalypticism in contemporary Judaism and Christianity, and more broadly in popular culture, addressing the increasingly studied relation between apocalypticism and violence, and discussing the relationship between apocalypticism and trauma, which speaks to the underlying causes of the popularity of apocalyptic beliefs. This volume will further the understanding of a vital religious phenomenon too often dismissed as alien and irrational by secular western society.

The Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition and the Shaping of New Testament Thought

The Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition and the Shaping of New Testament Thought PDF Author: Benjamin E. Reynolds
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506423426
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
The contemporary study of Jewish apocalypticism today recognizes the wealth and diversity of ancient traditions concerned with the “unveiling” of heavenly matters‒‒understood to involve revealed wisdom, the revealed resolution of time, and revealed cosmology‒‒in marked contrast to an earlier focus on eschatology as such. The shift in focus has had a more direct impact on the study of ancient “pseudepigraphic” literature, however, than in New Testament studies, where the narrower focus on eschatological expectation remains dominant. In this Companion, an international team of scholars draws out the implications of the newest scholarship for the variety of New Testament writings. Each entry presses the boundaries of current discussion regarding the nature of apocalypticism in application to a particular New Testament author. The cumulative effect is to reveal, as never before, early Christianity, its Christology, cosmology, and eschatology, as expressions of tendencies in Second Temple Judaism.

Ancient Judaism

Ancient Judaism PDF Author: Michael E. Stone
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802866360
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
"In Ancient Judaism: New Visions and Views Michael Stone examines a broad range of basic issues in the study of Second Temple Judaism and calls for a radical rethinking of approaches to Jewish history. Stone challenges scholars and students to question theologically conditioned histories of ancient Judaism devised by later orthodoxies, whether Jewish or Christian, and to acknowledge religious experience as a major factor in the composition and transmission of ancient religious documents. He urges readers to look above and beyond the spectacles of tradition and cultural memory that too often distort their understanding of the ancient past. Addressing an assortment of topics regarding the authorship, transmission, and interpretation of the canonical Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, apocryphal and pseudepigraphic literature, and more, Stone's Ancient Judaism underscores the stunning complexity of both the raw data and the resulting picture of Judaism in antiquity."--Publisher description.

The Epistle of Second Baruch

The Epistle of Second Baruch PDF Author: Mark Whitters
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567567788
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
2 Baruch is one of the more important apocalyptic writings among the Jewish Pseudepigrapha (written at the end of the 1st century AD and so contemporary with the New Testament). The "Epistle" is a message to the Jews of the Dispersion. Whitters is arguing that the document was once an authoritative text for a specific community, and gives us clues about the important era between the two Jewish wars of 70 and 132 AD, when Judaism was assuming radical new forms. This Epistle tells Diapora Jews how to live in a world without the Jerusalem Temple.

Dreams, Visions, Imaginations

Dreams, Visions, Imaginations PDF Author: Jens Schröter
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110714779
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 647

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Book Description
The contributions in this volume are focused on the historical origins, religious provenance, and social function of ancient Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature, including so-called ‘Gnostic’ writings. Although it is disputed whether there was a genre of ‘apocalyptic literature,’ it is obvious that numerous texts from ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and other religious milieus share a specific view of history and the world to come. Many of these writings are presented in form of a heavenly (divine) revelation, mediated through an otherworldly figure (like an angel) to an elected human being who discloses this revelation to his recipients in written form. In different strands of early Judaism, ancient Christianity as well as in Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and Islam, apocalyptic writings played an important role from early on and were produced also in later centuries. One of the most characteristic features of these texts is their specific interpretation of history, based on the knowledge about the upper, divine realm and the world to come. Against this background the volume deals with a wide range of apocalyptic texts from different periods and various religious backgrounds.

With Letters of Light

With Letters of Light PDF Author: Daphna V. Arbel
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110222027
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
This collection of essays is a tribute to Rachel Elior’s decades of teaching, scholarship and mentoring. If a Festschrift reflects the individuality of the honoree, then this volume offers insights into the scope of Rachel Elior’s interests and scholarly achievements in the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish apocalypticism, magic, and mysticism from the Second Temple period to the later rabbinic and Hekhalot developments. The majority of articles included in the volume deal with Jewish and Christian apocalyptic and mystical texts constituting the core of experiential dimension of these religious traditions.

Apocalypticism and Mysticism in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity

Apocalypticism and Mysticism in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity PDF Author: John J. Collins
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110597268
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
The nature and origin of Jewish mysticism is a controversial subject. This volume explores the subject by examining both the Hebrew and Aramaic tradition (Dead Sea Scrolls, 1 Enoch) and the Greek philosophical tradition (Philo) and also examines the Christian transformation of Jewish mysticism in Paul and Revelation. It provides for a nuanced treatment that differentiates different strands of thought that may be considered mystical. The Hebrew tradition is mythical in nature and concerned with various ways of being in the presence of God. The Greek tradition allows for a greater degree of unification and participation in the divine. The New Testament texts are generally closer to the Greek tradition, although Greek philosophy would have a huge effect on later Christian mysticism. The book is intended for scholars and advanced students of ancient Judaism and early Christianity.

When Christians Were Jews

When Christians Were Jews PDF Author: Paula Fredriksen
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300240740
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
A compelling account of Christianity’s Jewish beginnings, from one of the world’s leading scholars of ancient religion How did a group of charismatic, apocalyptic Jewish missionaries, working to prepare their world for the impending realization of God's promises to Israel, end up inaugurating a movement that would grow into the gentile church? Committed to Jesus’s prophecy—“The Kingdom of God is at hand!”—they were, in their own eyes, history's last generation. But in history's eyes, they became the first Christians. In this electrifying social and intellectual history, Paula Fredriksen answers this question by reconstructing the life of the earliest Jerusalem community. As her account arcs from this group’s hopeful celebration of Passover with Jesus, through their bitter controversies that fragmented the movement’s midcentury missions, to the city’s fiery end in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, she brings this vibrant apostolic community to life. Fredriksen offers a vivid portrait both of this temple-centered messianic movement and of the bedrock convictions that animated and sustained it.

The Dawn of Apocalyptic

The Dawn of Apocalyptic PDF Author: Paul D. Hanson
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 9780800618094
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
In challenging both traditional and contemporary notions of the nature and history of the Biblical apocalyptic literature, Professor Hanson begins by saying that the origins of apocalyptic cannot be explained by a method which juxtaposes seventh and second century compositions and then proceeds to account for the features of the latter by reference to its immediate environment. "The apocalyptic literature of the second century and after is the result of a long development reaching back to pre-exilic times and beyond, and not the new baby of second century foreign parents. Not only the sources of origin, but the intrinsic nature of late apocalyptic compositions can be understood only by tracing the centuries-long development through which the apocalptic eschatology developed from prophetic and other even more archaic native roots."In this ground breaking study, Professor Hanson focuses on one strand which can be seen running through the heart of many of the so-called apocalyptic works, the strand of apocalyptic eschatology. He seeks to demonstrate that the rise of apocalyptic eschatology is neither sudden nor anomalous, but follows the pattern of an unbroken development from preexilic and exilic prophecy.