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"This is the third edition of Shaye J. D. Cohen's important and seminal work on the history and development of Judaism between 164 BCE to 300 CE. Cohen's synthesis of religion, literature, and history offers deep insight into the nature of Judaism at this key period, including the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, the function of Jewish religion in the larger community, and the development of normative Judaism and other Jewish sects. Cohen offers students more than just history, but an understanding of the social and cultural context of Judaism as it developed into the formative period of rabbinic Judaism. This new edition includes a brand-new chapter on the parting of ways between Jews and Christians in the second century CE. From the Maccabees to the Mishnah remains the clearest introduction to the era that shaped Judaism and provided the context for early Christianity."-from Amazon.com… (more)
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The author begins by establishing definitions and a basic description of the history of the times. He explores the relationship between Jews and Gentiles and their
Throughout the author is in conversation with fellow scholars. I appreciated his insistence that Second Temple Judaism (and Gentile paganism, for that matter) were not creedal, based on belief, as Christianity and Islam would be, but orthopraxic in nature. He challenges assessments of the reasons for the separation of Judaism and Christianity and is far more sanguine about the "dominance" of the rabbis in Judaism during the Roman and early Byzantine periods.
It seems at times that the author is a little too overbearing with the reassessments (dare I say deconstruction?) of some previously commonly held views, especially about the relationship between "Judaism" and "Christianity"; it assuredly was a bit more fluid than a stark dichotomy but in the reassessment Jewish people conveniently seem much less specifically anti-Christian. Perhaps meager evidence is evidence in and of itself; perhaps it is only an indication of how much has been lost.
Nevertheless, overall, an important work for understanding the developments within Judaism through the Second Temple Period into the Rabbinic era.
**--galley received as part of early review program