Jewish Law in Gentile Churches: Halakhah and the Beginning of Christian Public Ethics

Description

Why did the Gentile church keep Old Testament commandments about sex and idolatry, but disregard many others, like those about food or ritual purity? If there were any binding norms, what made them so, and on what basis were they articulated?In this important study, Markus Bockmuehl approaches such questions by examining the halakhic (Jewish legal) rationale behind the ethics of Jesus, Paul and the early Christians. He offers fresh and often unexpected answers based on careful biblical and historical study. His arguments have far-reaching implications not only for the study of the New Testament, but more broadly for the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.

Markus Bockmuehl teaches biblical and early Christian studies in the University of Oxford, UK, where he is Dean Ireland's Professor and a Fellow of Keble College. His approach stresses the symbioses of history with theology, of Christianity alongside Judaism, and of exegesis in and as reception especially of the first three Christian centuries. Among his authored books are Seeing the Word: Refocusing New Testament Study (2006), Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory (2012), and Ancient Apocryphal Gospels (2017). Recent publications also include Creation ex Nihilo (2018, ed. with Gary A. Anderson), Austin Farrer (2020, ed. with Stephen Platten), and the English translation of Wolfram Kinzig's Christian Persecution in Antiquity (2021).

'Markus Bockmuehl has written a very important book. He shows with great learning in Christian and Jewish primary sources and the vast secondary literature how much the issue of law lies at the heart of Early Christian thought. He persuasively argues that Early Christianity remained much closer to ancient Jewish nomianism than many have believed. A contemporary benefit of this book is that it can be an excellent resource in making the issue of law itself the commonality needed for a new and positive Jewish-Christian relationship in the present.' Professor David Novak, University of Toronto 'Here is a bold argument: that Christianity staked its claim within Graeco-Roman culture on the basis of the Torah's address of Gentiles as Gentiles. In order to make his case, Dr Bockmuehl deftly draws on his expertise in both Judaic and Christian literature. By moving beyond the tight circle of the canonical New Testament alone, he invites us into the genuine world of early Christianity, where ethics and purity were not abstract concerns, but daily issues.' Professor Bruce Chilton, Bard College 'This is an outstanding study of a neglected topic. Dr Bockmuehl encourages his readers to consider from new perspectives major ethical issues and familiar New Testament passages. This lively book will spark off keen discussion among a wide readership. I shall continue to learn a great deal from it.' Professor Graham Stanton, University of Cambridge Reviewed in: Church Times, 23 March 2001 Highlights: "This is a densely packed and erudite book with many themes, by a scholar for scholars. It needs to be read slowly, with a Bible at hand and a some knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and even Latin and German...The book breaks fresh ground by providing, through the use of Jewish texts, a Jewish background of NT ethics. The author writes modestly, admitting that many of his themes need more investigation...It will become required reading for those taking an honours degree in NT theology." "This is an immensely learned and comprehensive study, with extensive use of rabbinic material...What I find particularly appealing is the way his approach to Christian ethics sets the ethical teaching within the social and cultural context of the early church and thus makes sense of the ethics in a way that a simple contrast between 'law' and 'grace' fails to do. It also takes full account of the Jewishness of Jesus and the first Christians and attempts to bring into the open what they took for granted."--Expository Times, April 2001 "In this significant and learned book, Markus Bockmuehl presents a series of essays which focus on the content and development of early Christian ethics from Jesus to the early apologists of the second century...it is a contribution which should be widely and carefully considered, with far-reaching implications not only for the historical understanding of the development of Christian ethics but also for the contemporary tasks of promoting understanding between Jews and Christians and of articulating Christian ethics in the public sphere." - Theology, July/August 2001 "The combination of these excellent articles in a coherent book adds to their importance and persuasiveness." --Theological Book Review Feed the Minds "The task which Bockmuehl sets in this book is undoubtedly one of worthy scholarly attention." --The Heythrop Journal July 2002