The People, Not the Peoples: The Talmud Bavli’s “Charitable” Contribution to the Jewish-Christian Conversation in Mesopotamia
Bavli Baba Batra 10b–11a substantiates the existence of a “Jewish-Christian conversation” that took place in fourth-century Mesopotamia. This essay demonstrates that this sugya presents rabbinic responses to several Christian claims: (1) contra Aphrahat, God and Israel have a continuing and uniquely...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2017
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| In: |
The review of rabbinic Judaism
Year: 2017, Volume: 20, Issue: 2, Pages: 137-167 |
| Further subjects: | B
Aphrahat
Shapur
Early Iranian Christianity
Talmudic polemics
charity
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Bavli Baba Batra 10b–11a substantiates the existence of a “Jewish-Christian conversation” that took place in fourth-century Mesopotamia. This essay demonstrates that this sugya presents rabbinic responses to several Christian claims: (1) contra Aphrahat, God and Israel have a continuing and uniquely close relationship; (2) contra Aphrahat, Gentile charity is motivated by the desire for self-aggrandizement, the continuation of Gentile rule, and arrogance, and is thus sinful; (3) contra Aphrahat, Gentile charity is sinful because they only engage in it to revile Israel; moreover, Gentile charity does not atone for their sins; and (4) contra Aphrahat (who quotes Ezek. 15:4 and Isa. 58:11), it is not the Jews who will be dried out and burned up with fire; once Gentile charity ceases, it is the Gentile empires who will burn. |
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| Physical Description: | Online-Ressource |
| ISSN: | 1570-0704 |
| Contains: | In: The review of rabbinic Judaism
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700704-12341325 |