Was there an active Jewish-Christian polemic in fourth-century Persia? Aphrahat's Demonstrations, a fourth-century adversus Judaeos text, clearly indicates that fourth-century Persian Christians were interested in the debate. Is there evidence of this polemic in the rabbinic literature? Despite the lack of a comparable Jewish or rabbinic adversus Christianos literature, there is evidence, both from Aphrahat and the Rabbis that this polemic was not one sided.

Contenu

Table of Contents (page 5) Preface (page 7) Abbreviations (page 9) Introduction (page 11)

Overview of Prior Research (page 16)
Primary Sources 1: Aphrahad (page 43)
Primary Sources 2: Rabbinic Texts (page 48) Chapter 1: Jews, Christians and Persecutions in Fourth- Century Persia (page 55)
Jewish Settlement in Mesopotamia (page 61)
Christian Settlement in Mesopotamia (page 67)
Shabur II's persecutions and the question of Jewish involvement (page 73) Chapter 2. Chosenness: The Election of Israel (page 89)
Chosenness (page 89)
Rejection (page 97)
The Ingathering and Redemption (page 104) Chapter 3: Marriage and Celibacy in Jewish and Christian Tradition (page 115)
The example of Moses (page 116)
Celibacy and Asceticism: Christian (page 122)
Celibacy and Asceticism: Jewish (page 125)
Divine Blessing (page 129)
Procreation (page 134)
The Social Milieu (page 139) Chapter 4: Ritual: Passover and Circumcision (page 145)
Passover (page 151)
Circumcision (page 157)
Crossing Ritual Practive Boundaries (page 162) Conclusion (page 171) Appendix: Post Second Temple Passover Sacrifices? (page 177) Bibliography (page 181)