Stories portraying heretics ('minim') in rabbinic literature are a central site of rabbinic engagement with the 'other'. These stories typically involve a conflict over the interpretation of a biblical verse in which the rabbinic figure emerges victorious in the face of a challenge presented by the heretic. In this book, Michal Bar-Asher Siegal focuses on heretic narratives of the Babylonian Talmud that share a common literary structure, strong polemical language and the formula, 'Fool, look to the end of the verse'. She marshals previously untapped Christian materials to arrive at new interpretations of familiar texts and illuminate the complex relationship between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity. Bar-Asher Siegal argues that these Talmudic literary creations must be seen as part of a boundary-creating discourse that clearly distinguishes the rabbinic position from that of contemporaneous Christians and adds to a growing understanding of the rabbinic authors' familiarity with Ch
In ‘Slay them not”, Linda Stone focusses on the existence and use of anti-Jewish polemic, and its roots, present in the three closely-linked twelfth-century glosses on the Psalms, written by Anselm of
If Jesus is a Jew, why is there a wedge between Christianity and Judaism? If Jews and Christians both believe in the same God, why is there such division? Why is history littered with deathly accounts
In this soul-stirring memoir, Lawrence E. Carter Sr. shares his remarkable quest to experience King’s “beloved community” and his surprising discovery that King’s dream was bei
Christian dialogic writings flourished in the Catholic missions in late Ming China. This study focuses on the mission work of the Italian Jesuit Giulio Aleni (Ai Rulüe ???, 1582–1649) in Fujian and th
In the online world, people argue about anything and everything - religion is no exception. Stephen Pihlaja investigates how several prominent social media figures present views about religion in an environment where their positions are challenged. The analysis shows how conflict creates a space for users to share, explain, and develop their opinions and beliefs, by making appeals to both a core audience of like-minded viewers and a broader audience of viewers who are potentially interested in the claims, ambivalent, or openly hostile. The book argues that in the back-and-forth of these arguments, the positions that users take in response to the arguments of others have consequences for how religious talk develops, and potentially for how people understand and practice their beliefs in the twenty-first century. Based on original empirical research, it addresses long-debated questions in sociolinguistics and discourse analysis regarding the role of language in building solidarity, defin
Arab Christians and the Qur?an from the Origins of Islam to the Medieval Period is a collection of essays edited by Mark Beaumont on the use and interpretation of the Qur’an by Christians writing in A
The United States is Israel's closest ally in the world. The fact is undeniable, and undeniably controversial, not least because it so often inspires conspiracy theorizing among those who refuse to be
Franklin H. Littell spent nearly 10 years in post-war Germany as Chief Protestant Religious Adviser in the High Command working on deNazification. His encounter with the aftermath of the Nazis' system
In just a few decades, the United States has changed from a largely Christian nation to the most religiously diverse country in the world. In this new book, retired professor and pastor Dick Olson ref
Does Islam have anything to offer Christians? What is Islamophobia, and what should we do about it? Why should Christians engage in interfaith dialogue with Muslims?These are just some of the question
