Anti-Judaism in Early Christianity: Volume 2: Separation and Polemic

Index locorum

174 Separation and Polemic John In terms of its later effects on the church, John contains some of the most viciouslanguage about Jews in the New Testament. Nevertheless, if one takes seriously the growing consensus about the Christian Jewish environment of the Fourth Gospel it cannot be called anti­Jewish.It is sectarian, perhaps, even paranoiac, but it does not deny the central self­affirmation of Judaism. The law as such does not seem to be an issue at all but only a setting for christological proclamation. We may find a narrowing of the concept of covenant and election but not its rejection. The central point of contention between John and Judaism lies in the assertion of the Johannine Jesus that "I and the father are one" and in the accusation that "He makes himself equal to God." Alan Segal was able to find some echoes of this in rabbinic polemic against Johannine Christians or their Gnostic successors. As an aside, we may note that this is the only place where christol­ ogyenters into our consideration, and even here not directly. That is,it may be false, but it isnever anti­Jewishto claim to be the Messiahor Son of God or the like. It is anti­Jewish to deny the oneness of God. Whether the developing doctrine of the Trinity falls under this stric­ ture comes under another discussion. Rest of the New Testament In much of the rest of the New Testament the relation of the church and Judaism seems not to be of immediate concern. (I avoid in this summary any discussion of Hebrews, because I do not understand it.) It might have been fruitful to devote some time to the book ofRevela­ tion. My major regret has to do not with our topic of anti­Judaism but its opposite. We uncovered at least the possibility in Paul of a theology which was able to affirm Gentile Christianity without denying the legitimacy of continuing Judaism. If this is true, and there was no consensus that it is, then it might have been very interesting to follow up this approach by a thorough study of Ephesians. That remains a strong hope for the future. While this retrospect isnot intended to be a review, I would like to express considerable satisfaction at the results of the seminar. Hera­ clitus said that no one can step into the same river twice, to which a pedant replied that one cannot step into the same river once. Any further work any of us does will be different because of what we have done together. It has been a good journey. I believe we have demon­ strated once more that an ongoing seminar on a specific topic,even if it is held only annually,is a good way to study. I further believe that our topic was an important one, of great historical interest and consider­ able contemporary relevance. Index nominorum Aland, B. 46n,47n,48n, 49n Aland, K. 77n Anderson, C.P. 6n Andresen, C. 67n,79 Arndt, W.F. 70n Avisar, O. 122n Avi­Yonah, M. 122n Bacher, W. 30n Baker, J.A. 63n, 66n Balas, D.L. 46n Bardy, G. 39n Barnard, L.W. 18n,36n, 59n, 66n, 74n Baron, S. 34n Barrett, C.K. 36n Bauer, W. 34n, 35n, 36n, 37n, 43­44, 45n, 70n Behr, C.A. 69n Benko, S. 60n Benoit, P. 2 Berger, Peter L. 65n Bertram, G.W. 2 Billerbeck, P. 106 Blackman, E.G. 46n,47n,48n, 49n, 54 Blank, J. 82, 83n, 85n, 98, lOOn, 102 Bloch, J. 104n Blumenthal, D. 13In Bonner, C. 84n, 96n, 99n Braslavi, Joseph 122n Braun, F.M. 24n Brown, P. 124n, 126n Brown, Roger 65n Buber, M. 125n Biichler, A. 133n, 143n Bullard, R.A. 149n Burch, V. 4 Burroughs, M. 19n Campenhausen, H. von 33n, 44n, 50n Chadwick, H. 60n, 64­65n, 65, 66n, 72n Cohen, J. 77­78 Collins, JJ. 34n Colson, H. 114n Conybeare, F.C. 75n,76n, 77n Conzelmann, H. 30n, 43n, 70n Corwin, V. 36n, 37 Cross, F.L. 155n Cumont, F. 124n, 126n Dahl, N.A. 136n,139n, 151n Danielou, J. 35, 40, 63n, 66,n, 85 Davies, A.T. I7n, 33n, 46n, 99n, 164n Davies, S.L. 40n Davies, W.D. 19n,106, 125n De Lange, N.R.M. 18n De Vuyst, J. 15n Dibelius, M. 43n Dodd, C.H. 146 Etroymson, D.P. 99n, 164 Eliade, M. 70n Ellis, E.E. 19n Epstein, J. 31n Evans, E. 53n 33n, 46...