Synopses & Reviews
A scholarly assessment of what can be known about the first-century Pharisees. LC Classification: Dead Sea Scrolls Criticism Interpretation, etc.
Review
Whether as parents, foils, or both, the Pharisees have always been a focus of interest for anyone interested in the genesis of Christianity or of rabbinic Judaism. This volume allows serious readers an opportunity to learn the sources, to follow the debates, and so to understand and assess a revolution in historical and theological scholarship.
—Daniel R. Schwartz, Professor of Ancient Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Review
This is an important book in so many ways. It demonstrates eloquently that "what we can't show, we don't know"-that much of what we assert about Pharisees is simply not supported by the evidence. But it also reminds us that "objective" description is not a matter of either choosing or amalgamating sources, but of realizing that how the Pharisees were perceived and presented is indeed also some part of who they were. We also see how interpretation reveals the interpreter as well as the text: in these assured and well-informed analyses, we also discern the moral and intellectual character of the scholar. Not least, we are confronted with those other Pharisees-of Jewish and Christian mythology and contemporary critical controversy, who long outlived their historical counterparts but who still haunt and fascinate us.
—Philip Davies, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield
Synopsis
This work sketches the many portraits of the Pharisees that emerge from ancient sources. Based upon the Gospels, the writings of Paul, Josephus, the Mishnah, the Tosefta, and archeology, the volume profiles the Pharisees and explores the relationship between the Pharisees and the Judaic religious system foreshadowed by the library of Qumran. A great virtue of this study is that no attempt is made to homogenize the distinct pictures or reconstruct a singular account of the Pharisees; instead, by carefully considering the sources, the chapters allow different pictures of the Pharisees to stand side by side.
About the Author
Jacob Neusner is a Research Professor of Theology and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College.
Bruce D. Chilton is Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion, Rector of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, and Executive Director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College.
Table of Contents
Preface
PART ONE: FIRST-CENTURY ACCOUNTS
1 Josephus's Pharisees: The Narratives, Steve Mason
2 Josephus's Pharisees: The Philosophy, Steve Mason
3 Matthew's and Mark's Pharisees, Martin Pickup
4 Luke's Pharisees, Amy-Jill Levine
5 John's Pharisees, Raimo Hakola and Adele Reinhartz
6 Paul and the Pharisees, Bruce Chilton
7 Paul and Gamaliel, Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner
8 The Pharisees and the Dead Sea Scrolls, James C. VanderKam
Archaeology and the Pharisees, James F. Strange
PART TWO: THE PHARISEES IN RABBINIC JUDAISM
10 The Pharisees and the Sadducees in the Earliest Rabbinic Documents, Jack N. Lightstone
11 The Rabbinic Traditions about the Pharisees before 70 CE: An Overview, Jacob Neusner
12 The Pharisaic Agenda: Laws Attributed in the Mishnah and the Tosefta to Pre-70 Pharisees, Jacob Neusner
13 The Pre-70 Pharisees after 70 and after 140, Jacob Neusner
PART THREE: THE PHARISEES IN MODERN THEOLOGY
14 The German Theological Tradition, Susannah Heschel
15 The Anglo-American Theological Tradition to 1970, Jacob Neusner
16 The Debate with E. P. Saunders since 1970, Jacob Neusner
PART FOUR: CONCLUSION
17 What Do We Really Know about the Pharisees, and How Do We Know It?, William Scott Green
Journal and Series Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
About the Contributors