Jewish-Christian Polemics in Fourth-Century Persian Mesopotamia: A Reconstructed ConversationSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/NNKFZ446/tei
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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.NaomiKoltunJewish-Christian Polemics in Fourth-Century Persian Mesopotamia: A Reconstructed Conversationhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/NNKFZ446https://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/NNKFZ446https://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/NNKFZ4461994In this dissertation I studied a problem in talmudic history from a new angle. I asked the question: Was there an active Jewish-Christian polemic in fourth-century Persia, and if so, what were the issues debated? Furthermore, was there evidence of this polemic in the rabbinic literature? Aphrahat's Demonstrations, a fourth- century Syriac adversus Judaeos text, indicated that fourth-century Persian Christians were still interested in the debate. Despite the lack of a comparable rabbinic adversus Christianos treatise, there was evidence, particularly from Aphrahat, that this polemic was not one sided. Passover, Sabbath and circumcision, as well as future redemption, the messiah and virginity are addressed in Aphrahat's mid-fourth century essays. In his writings Aphrahat instructs his congregants how to be Christian, as opposed to Jewish. In addition, he presents arguments for his readers to use in their debates against the Jews--suggesting that Jews and Christians often found themselves in polemical discussions with one another in fourth-century Persia. The need to defend against the Jews was imperative to Aphrahat, for it appears that some fourth-century Syriac-speaking Christians were converting or 'backsliding' into Judaism. This phenomenon was caused, or at least aggravated by the Persian anti- Christian persecutions of the mid-fourth century. Aphrahat indicates that he writes in response to Jewish claims against Christianity; in fact, in several instances, Aphrahat records his opponent's arguments. Through studying Aphrahat and the rabbinic literature, I reconstructed a fourth-century rabbinic polemic against Christianity--an indirect response to Christian criticisms, like Aphrahat's, against Jews and Judaism. I limited my study to fourth-century Mesopotamia since in that region and in those years Aphrahat's community flourished among the Babylonian Jews. Taking my lead from Aphrahat I chose three of the topics to research: the election of Israel, marriage and celibacy, and ritual practice. In each case I discovered rabbinic passages that implied a 'conversation' with Aphrahat's arguments, or at least knowledge that such claims against Judaism existed among the Christians. Reconstructing the contents of this polemic not only substantiated the ongoing conflicts between Jews and Christians, but also determined how external political circumstances influenced these issues.
Koltun, Naomi. “Jewish-Christian Polemics in Fourth-Century Persian Mesopotamia: A Reconstructed Conversation.” Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1994.
Naomi Koltun, Jewish-Christian Polemics in Fourth-Century Persian Mesopotamia: A Reconstructed Conversation (Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1994).AphrahatEasterIV CEJewish-Christian relationsPassovercelibacycircumcisionmarriagepolemic