Crucible of faith

No cover — Philip Jenkins: Crucible of faith (2017)

303 pages

English language

Published Jan. 1, 2017

ISBN:: 978-0-465-09640-4
OCLC Number:: 968771463

(1 review)

"In The Crucible of Faith, Philip Jenkins argues that much of the Judeo-Christian tradition we know today was born between 250-50 BCE, during a turbulent "Crucible Era." It was during these years that Judaism grappled with Hellenizing forces and produced new religious ideas that reflected and responded to their changing world. By the time of the fall of the Temple in 70 CE, concepts that might once have seemed bizarre became normalized-and thus passed on to Christianity and later Islam. Drawing widely on contemporary sources from outside the canonical Old and New Testaments, Jenkins reveals an era of political violence and social upheaval that ultimately gave birth to entirely new ideas about religion, the afterlife, Creation and the Fall, and the nature of God and Satan."--Amazon.

1 edition

Lynn reviewed Crucible of faith by Philip Jenkins

Review of 'Crucible of faith' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Absolutely fascinating. Jenkins explains that (despite the conviction of most Christians), Jesus and Paul of Tarsus are not reflective of the Hebrew religion of what they call the ‘Old Testament’. But, he adds, neither is rabbinic Judaism as known today. In fact, both of these modern religions, as well as Islam and numerous sects that have disappeared over time, grow out of the political and philosophical turmoil of what he calls the ‘Crucible’ years. Many of the Christian doctrines now seen as reasons for that faith’s breakaway from Judaism were doctrines held by most Jews at the start of the Common Era; rabbinic Judaism in the end rejected these doctrines specifically because of their embrace by Christians. Jenkins analyses a variety of both canonical and non-canonical writings to illustrate the preoccupations of people living in Greek and Roman Judaea during the final two and a half centuries BCE, and how …

Absolutely fascinating. Jenkins explains that (despite the conviction of most Christians), Jesus and Paul of Tarsus are not reflective of the Hebrew religion of what they call the ‘Old Testament’. But, he adds, neither is rabbinic Judaism as known today. In fact, both of these modern religions, as well as Islam and numerous sects that have disappeared over time, grow out of the political and philosophical turmoil of what he calls the ‘Crucible’ years. Many of the Christian doctrines now seen as reasons for that faith’s breakaway from Judaism were doctrines held by most Jews at the start of the Common Era; rabbinic Judaism in the end rejected these doctrines specifically because of their embrace by Christians. Jenkins analyses a variety of both canonical and non-canonical writings to illustrate the preoccupations of people living in Greek and Roman Judaea during the final two and a half centuries BCE, and how these preoccupations produced both rabbinic Judaism and Christianity.

Subjects

Origin
Christianity
Judaism
Ancient Cosmogony
History