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Judaisms and their Messiahs at the Turn of the Christian Era (1987) is a volume edited by Jacob Neusner, William Scott Green, and Ernest Frerichs.

Abstract

"While Jews in ancient Israel had much in common, in fact there existed no such thing as an orthodox Judaism. Diverse Judaisms, each with its own way of life, world view, and definition of the social entity (or Israel) to whom it spoke, flourished. Since there was no single Judaism, there was no single Messiah-idea or Messianic doctrine. Various readings of the Messiah theme reached definition in the various unrelated religious systems or Judaisms produced by those Jews--hence "Judaisms" and "their Messiahs." In this book, distinguished specialists in late antiquity Judaisms, including Christian scholars, take up the differing place and role of the Messiah-idea. Dealing with the best-documented Judaic systems--the Essene community at Qumran, Christian Judaisms represented by Matthew and Mark, the nascent rabbinic Judaism portrayed in the Mishnah, the Judaic system implicit in the writings of Philo--each author works out how a given system treats the Messiah theme."--Publisher description.

Editions

Published in New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

Contents

• Preface
• 1. Introduction: Messiah in Judaism: rethinking the question / William S. Green
• 2. Wisdom makes a difference: alternatives to 'Messianic' configurations / Burton L. Mack
• 3. Salvation without and with a Messiah: developing beliefs in writings ascribed to Enoch / George W.E. Nickelsburg
• 4. How the authors of 1 and 2 Maccabees treated to 'Messianic' promises / Jonathan A. Goldstein
• 5. Messianism in the Maccabean period / John J. Collins
• 6. Waiting for the Messiah: the spiritual universe of the Qumran convenanters / Shemaryahu Talmon
• 7. Philo and Messiah / Richard D. Hecht
• 8. Messiah and Gospel / George Macrae
• 9. Christology in Mark's Gospel / Howard C. Kee
• 10. The question of the Messiah in 4 Ezra / Michael E. Stone
• 11. From Jewish Messianology to Christian christology: some caveats and perspectives / James H. Charlesworth
• 12. Mishnah and Messiah / Jacob Neusner

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