Alan F. Segal

Explores concepts of the afterlife as understood in the three main Western religions, examining the views found in sacred and historical writings from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

A History of the Afterlife in the Religions of the West

Life After Death

In this revisionist work, Segal maintains that Paul's life can be better understood by taking his Jewishness seriously, and that Jewish history can be greatly illuminated by examining Paul's writings". . . . a blockbuster of a book about Paul that blazes a new trail".--New Theology Review.

The Apostolate and Apostasy of Saul the Pharisee

Paul the Convert

Segal reconstructs the development of the "two powers in heaven" heresy through prudent dating of the stages of the rabbinic traditions. Segal stresses the importance of perceiving the relevance of rabbinic material for solving traditional problems of New Testament and gnostic scholarship, and at the same time maintains the necessity of reading those literatures for dating rabbinic material.

Early Rabbinic Reports About Christianity and Gnosticism

Two Powers in Heaven

Renowned scholar Alan F. Segal offers startlingly new insights into the origins of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. These twin descendants of Hebrew heritage shared the same social, cultural, and ideological context, as well as the same minority status, in the first century of the common era. Through skillful application of social science theories to ancient Western thought, including Judaism, Hellenism, early Christianity, and a host of other sectarian beliefs, Segal reinterprets some of the most important events of Jewish and Christian life in the Roman world. For example, he finds: That the concept of myth, as it related to covenant, was a central force of Jewish life. The Torah was the embodiment of covenant both for Jews living in exile and for the Jewish community in Israel. That the Torah legitimated all native institutions at the time of Jesus, even though the Temple, Sanhedrin, and Synagogue, as well as the concepts of messiah and resurrection, were profoundly affected by Hellenism. Both rabbinic Judaism and Christianity necessarily relied on the Torah to authenticate their claim on Jewish life. That the unique cohesion of early Christianity, assuring its phenomenal success in the Hellenistic world, was assisted by the Jewish practices of apocalypticism, conversion, and rejection of civic ritual. That the concept of acculturation clarifies the Maccabean revolt, the rise of Christianity, and the emergence of rabbinic Judaism. That contemporary models of revolution point to the place of Jesus as a radical. That early rabbinism grew out of the attempts of middle-class Pharisees to reach a higher sacred status in Judea while at the same time maintaining their cohesion through ritual purity. That the dispute between Judaism and Christianity reflects a class conflict over the meaning of covenant. The rising turmoil between Jews and Christians affected the development of both rabbinic Judaism and Christianity, as each tried to preserve the partly destroyed culture of Judea by becoming a religion. Both attempted to take the best of Judean and Hellenistic society without giving up the essential aspects of Israelite life. Both spiritualized old national symbols of the covenant and practices that consolidated power after the disastrous wars with Rome. The separation between Judaism and Christianity, sealed in magic, monotheism, law, and universalism, fractured what remained of the shared symbolic life of Judea, leaving Judaism and Christianity to fulfill the biblical demands of their god in entirely different ways.

Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World

Rebecca’s Children

Segal offers new insights into the origins of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. These twin descendants of Hebrew heritage shared the same social, cultural, and ideological context--and the same minority status--in the first century CE. The separation between them fractured what remained of the shared symbolic life of Judea.

Alan F. Segal

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