1st Edition

A Social History of Christian Origins The Rejected Jesus

By Simon J. Joseph Copyright 2023
    248 Pages
    by Routledge

    248 Pages
    by Routledge

    A Social History of Christian Origins explores how the theme of the Jewish rejection of Jesus – embedded in Paul’s letters and the New Testament Gospels – represents the ethnic, social, cultural, and theological conflicts that facilitated the construction of Christian identity.

    Readers of this book will gain a thorough understanding of how a central theme of early Christianity – the Jewish rejection of Jesus – facilitated the emergence of Christian anti-Judaism as well as the complex and multi-faceted representations of Jesus in the Gospels of the New Testament. This study systematically analyzes the theme of social rejection in the Jesus tradition by surveying its historical and chronological development. Employing the social-psychological study of social rejection, social identity theory, and social memory theory, Joseph sheds new light on the inter-relationships between myth, history, and memory in the study of Christian origins and the contemporary (re)construction of the historical Jesus.

    A Social History of Christian Origins is primarily intended for academic specialists and students in ancient history, biblical studies, New Testament studies, Religious Studies, Classics, as well as the general reader interested in the beginnings of Christianity.

    Introduction; PART I; 1. The Jewish Problem; 2. Jewish Jesus, Christian Christ; 3. Theorizing Rejection; 4. Criteria of Rejection; 5. "Do This in Memory of Me"; PART II; 6. "He was Despised and Rejected by Men"; 7. The Rejection of the Law; 8. The Rejection of Israel; 9. The Rejection of the Collection; 10. The Jewish Rejection of Jesus; Conclusion.

    Biography

    Simon J. Joseph is Lecturer in Early Christianity at the University of California, Los Angeles (CA). He holds a Ph.D. in Religion (New Testament) from Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of five books, including, most recently, Jesus, the Essenes, and Christian Origins.