“The Origins of Anti-Semitism” was an interesting read and will be useful towards my paper, which focuses on the topic of the origins of anti-Semitism and blood libels. One of the first things I noticed is John Gager relies on many others’ observations rather than his own, however, that did not stop me from enjoying his book. Gager’s main thesis, evident throughout the whole book, is primarily on the legacy and the ideas behind both pagan and Christian ideals behind anti-Semitism. This includes the relationship between pagan and Christian attitudes toward Judaism in the Greco-Roman world, how Judaism was a “cultural force in Roman society” (pg. 13) during early Christian development, and the extent of pagan and Christian anti-Semitism in the ancient world. In the beginning, Gager supports his ideas by explaining that Christian anti-Semitism is hostility towards Jews in general, whereas anti-Jewish polemic is “legitimate” claims against Judaism sought by Christian ideology (pg.16). He then goes on to describe the modern debate currently going on about anti-Semitism from scholars such as Jules Isaac and Rosemary Ruether. Some principal claims come from Ruether as she explains that one of the reasons Christians and Jews did not get along was the argument on the “messiahship of Jesus” (pg. 20), and the fact that Jews questioned the validity of Christianity. Gager uses Ruethers knowledge to conclude that Christian anti-Judaism is not so much disbelief, but instead “intrinsic need of Christian self-affirmation” (pg. 23). The next section of the book goes through Judeo-Christian relations among Gentiles in both the early Roman empire and the later Roman empire. Gager explains that in early Rome Judaizing “emerged strongly” and was beneficial in the development of Christianity (pg. 42). I found this interesting because in later chapters he begins to discuss Gnosticism, and that refers to “knowledge” and the Nag Hammadi documents that supply different myths and poems about Jesus and what he said (pg. 167-168). Gager does not fail to mention that many of these documents carry Jewish influence. The final section discusses the case of Paul and Gager really loses his audience. It is an interesting section and Gager practically dissects the bible section by section to point out anti-Jewish statements, but sometimes felt like he was over-analyzing text to prove a point instead. However, Gager does note that due to the substantial amount of texts that Paul has, it was a difficult task to provide his argument (pg. 213). Gager’s book will be an excellent source, but one of the biggest
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It begins with the Jew asking the Christian how can Jews take claim about Christ seriously, and the Christian retorting that Jews are “rebellious and stiff-necked people” (pg. 3). To which the Greek joins in, and then the Roman takes a different view, then suddenly. . . a fifth man comes to light! And he is both Christian and Jewish and provides his two cents on the whole hypothetical matter. I feel if this was placed later in the book after understanding Gager’s argument better, the conversation would have been appropriate. Since the conversation was placed in the introduction, I did not take Gager seriously at first; it was just a mess. He executed the conversation well, though there were too many characters, but his placement and timing were not
It begins with the Jew asking the Christian how can Jews take claim about Christ seriously, and the Christian retorting that Jews are “rebellious and stiff-necked people” (pg. 3). To which the Greek joins in, and then the Roman takes a different view, then suddenly. . . a fifth man comes to light! And he is both Christian and Jewish and provides his two cents on the whole hypothetical matter. I feel if this was placed later in the book after understanding Gager’s argument better, the conversation would have been appropriate. Since the conversation was placed in the introduction, I did not take Gager seriously at first; it was just a mess. He executed the conversation well, though there were too many characters, but his placement and timing were not