Early Jewish and Christian Monotheism

Description

Early Christology must focus not simply on "historical" but also on theological ideas found in contemporary Jewish thought and practice. In this book, a range of distinguished contributors considers the context and formation of early Jewish and Christian devotion to God alone-the emergence of "monotheism". The idea of monotheism is critically examined from various perspectives, including the history of ideas, Graeco-Roman religions, early Jewish mediator figures, scripture exegesis, and the history of its use as a theological category. The studies explore different ways of conceiving of early Christian monotheism today, asking whether monotheism is a conceptually useful category, whether it may be applied cautiously and with qualifications, or whether it is to be questioned in favor of different approaches to understanding the origins of Jewish and Christian beliefs and worship. This is volume 1 in the Early Christianity in Context series and volume 263 in the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series

Loren T. Stuckenbruck is Professor of New Testament at Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany. Dr. Wendy North, formerly of Hull University, is a New Testament scholar.

Review ~ International Review of Biblical Studies, vol 51, 2004/05 Overall, Early Jewish and Christian Monotheism is a welcome contribution to the field, and a welcome addition to the student/scholar's library. Anyone who has read widely in early Christology or Second Temple monotheism will have noticed just how often the essays in this volume are cited in recent literature, and with good reason, they all merit engagement in one way or another. Those readers looking to examine a variety of explanations for the early devotion given to Jesus will profit greatly by consulting this volume.' -Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth "Of interest to scholars, this series of essays by a variety of noted authors concentrates on the issue of how the high Christology of the New Testament writings that affirm in some way the divinity of Jesus relates to traditional Jewish convictions of monotheism. The leading section situates Jewish monotheism within the wider Mediterranean world, and subsequent groupings deal directly with the New Testament materials and with the wider implications of this issue." - The Bible Today, Nov/Dec 2005 * Bible Today, The * '...this rich collection of essays is not just important for New Testament exegesis and theoology but also offers a lot of impulses for systematic theology.' Volume 116, Number 3 -- Tobias Nicklas * Expository Times *