07/27/2015
Gager, a professor of religion at Princeton, tackles the long-held belief that the apostle Paul was an anti-Jewish Christian in this scholarly and well-researched volume, part of a series of lectures under the direction of the American Academy of Religion. To support his claim that Paul was, in fact, a loyal Jew whose words have been misconstrued by an anti-Jewish Christian imagination, Gager paints a portrait of the social, religious, and historical milieu in which Paul lived. Beginning with Paul's writings, which until very recently have been viewed as Christianity's go-to text for anti-Jewish thought, Gager asserts that when Paul's letters are read in their appropriate context, a startlingly different image of Paul's agenda emerges. To accomplish this task, Gager presents a host of contemporary historians' opposing views and either validates or deconstructs them piece by piece, always with a strict adherence to facts and historical context. While some might argue with his interpretation of certain passages, Gager provides copious, informative footnotes to back up his points and provide outlets for further inquiry. His clear and thorough journey, taking scripture into account as well as other relevant texts and artifacts—including works by both Jewish and Christian historians—will engage and impress any student of Abrahamic history. (June)
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.
This book may help some readers understand some of the complexities between two similar, but different, religious traditions.
Gager’s interpretation of the Pauline letters remains influential and controversial, but his excavation here of Jewish perceptions of Paul in late antiquity and the Middle Ages is a genuinely novel contribution, one that must now figure in the lively discussion of the apostle’s place in the intertwining histories of Judaism and Christianity.
Gager’s study should . . . be commended for issuing the reminder that ancient Christian attitudes towards Jews and Judaism were not uniformly hostile, that there can be a recognition of difference without an accompanying demonization of the Other.
Among the most influential scholars advocating the reinvention of Paul as a first century Jew, John Gager broadens his perspective in Who Made Christianity? by incorporating a plethora of Jewish interpreters of Paul into the conversation. The result is a passionate, compelling, highly informative narrative that tells us both how the Christian anti-Jewish Paul came into being and exposes us to a shadow tradition that never succumbed to the anti-Jewish portrait of Paul, a tradition that only deepens Gager's own incisive critique of the apostle as traditionally portrayed. Perhaps what will most impress the reader of this book is that the story of Paul and his interpreters as Gager tells it enables an entirely new understanding of the historical relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Even those familiar with the current scholarship on early Christianity will see things differently after they read this book.
For two thousand years, the Church claimed that the Jews were blind, and because of their blindness they did not understand the Old Testament. Now comes John Gager, and argues that it was Christianity that was blind, and because of this blindness, Christians did not understand the New Testament. Paul did not abrogate the Law; he did not convert to Christianity; he was neither the founder of Christianity nor the father of Christian anti-Judaism. Paul was a fateful Jew who wanted to bring salvation to the Gentiles. A revolutionary and fascinating book!
After a lifetime of reflection on Paul and his Jewish connections, John Gager gives us, in this extraordinarily lucid and accessible book, a portrait of the Jewish Paul. Within the early Church there were Christians who saw Jews not as enemies but as friends, and Gager argues that this stance derives from Paul. A provocative book, which rescues Paul from the charge of anti-semitism.
Who Made Early Christianity? reframes the question in its title and offers a new, revisionist account of the origins of Christianity. John G. Gager reveals the profound Jewishness of early Christianity and reconsiders Paul's role in the formation of Christianity, anti-Judaism in the early Church, and the parting of ways between the two religious faiths. With stunning clarity, his book demonstrates how timely and relevant great scholarship can be to our contemporary world.
In five crisp chapters, John Gager draws here a revisionist picture of Paul the Jew. Doing so, he shows that the figure of Paul as a radical religious innovator, having rejected all aspects of his previous Jewish identity, is seriously flawed. The last generation of scholars has learned to speak of Jesus the Jew. As Gager convincingly argues, it is now time to recognize that Paul, too, remained a committed Jew.
A must-read for anyone interested in Christian stereotypes of Jews, who will learn here about the vibrancy and continued appeal of Judaism. This book is a rich source of literary and archeological evidence, as well as illuminating biographical anecdotes, which catch the existential dilemmas of the scholars involved in these burning issues.
After a lifetime of reflection on Paul and his Jewish connections, John Gager gives us, in this extraordinarily lucid and accessible book, a portrait of the Jewish Paul. Within the early Church there were Christians who saw Jews not as enemies but as friends, and Gager argues that this stance derives from Paul. A provocative book, which rescues Paul from the charge of anti-semitism.
05/15/2015
There is a particular understanding of the apostle Paul and the Early Church period that includes these elements: Paul turned away from Judaism, became a Christian, and both was the founder of Christianity and the originator of Christian anti-Judaism. Further, as Christians became more numerous in the early centuries, Judaism dwindled and became less relevant, such that Jews had little influence on and association with Christians. Gager's (emeritus religion, Princeton Univ.) book offers what was originally a series of lectures based on texts from early Judaism and insights from recent research on Paul to show that the above understanding is largely inaccurate. Gager notes that Paul understood himself to be a Messianic Jew to the end of his life, and that Christianity, as a religious movement separate from Judaism, only developed well after he died. Also, Judaism stayed active and thriving in the early centuries, and it continued to have significant influence on Christianity. VERDICT This well-written and well-researched book will be an excellent resource for readers with an interest in Paul and ancient Judaism.—John Jaeger, Dallas Baptist Univ. Lib.
