Research Catalog

Title

Augustine and the Jews : a Christian defense of Jews and Judaism / Paula Fredriksen.

Author

Fredriksen, Paula.

Publication

New York : Doubleday, c2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xxiii, 488 p. : ill., maps; 24cm

Summary

"In Augustine and the Jews, Paula Fredriksen draws us into the life, times, and thought of Augustine of Hippo (396-430). Focusing on the period of astounding creativity that led to his new understanding of Paul and to his great classic The Confessions, Fredriksen shows how Augustine's struggle to read the Bible led him to a new theological vision, one that countered the anti-Judaism not only of his Manichaean opponents but also of his own church. The Christian empire, Augustine held, was right to ban paganism and to coerce heretics. But the source of ancient Jewish scripture and current Jewish practice, he argued, was the very same as that of the New Testament and of the church - namely, God himself. Accordingly, he urged, the Jews were to be left alone. Conceived as a vividly original way to defend Christian ideas about Jesus and about the Old Testament, Augustine's theological innovation survived the demise of the western Roman Empire, and it ultimately served to protect Jewish lives against the brutality of the medieval crusades." "Augustine and the Jews sheds new light on the origins of anti-Semitism and, through Augustine, opens a path toward better understanding between two of the world's great religions."--Jacket.

Subject

• Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430
• Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430 > Relations with Jews
• Christianity and other religions > Judaism
• Judaism > Christianity
• Judaism > History
• Church history
• Christianity and antisemitism > History

Genre/Form

History

Note

• Maps on endpapers.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [429]-459) and indexes.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The legacy of Alexander -- Gods and their humans -- Gods and the one God -- Paideia : pagan, Jewish, Christian -- Pagans, Jews, and Christians in the Mediterranean City -- The Prodigal Son -- The heretic -- The sojourner -- The convert -- The biblical theologian -- God and Israel -- The war of words -- The redemption of the flesh -- The mark of Cain -- "Slay them not ...".

ISBN

• 9780385502702 (alk. paper)
• 0385502702 (alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2008003023

OCLC

191898093

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library