1st Edition
Types of Authority in Formative Christianity and Judaism
Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner study the points of comparisons and contrast between formative Christianity and Judaism. By identifying three categories of authority in each of the two religious worlds, they show how they have both worked in compelling or failing to get someone to do a given action.
The arguments are introduced by a general discussion of the founding figures of the two religions, Moses and Jesus, and how their inherent authority distilled itself through the structure of their religious institutions and intellectual thoughts.
Biography
Jacob Neusner is Distinguished Research Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida and Professor of Religion at Bard College, New York. Bruce Chiltern is Bernard Idding Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College, New York.
'The book is full of detail and stimulating judgement (and very clearly written). It not only juxtaposes ... two modes of thought, but also highlights the tensions within each community that accompanied their definitions of authority. It does so in an additionally useful way, by reversing some customary perspectives, placing in the foregorund ... what too often lurks in the shadow of historical study.' - Philip Rousseau, Heythrop Journal
