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George M. Smiga, Pain and Polemic: Anti-Judaism in the Gospel (New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1992).

Abstract

"Examines the polemic of the Gospels as it applies to Christian evaluations of Jews and Judaism, as well as recent scholarly interpretations of this issue. Revising Douglas Hare's classification of the anti-Judaic canonical texts, proposes three types of polemic: "prophetic polemic, " "subordinating polemic, " and "abrogating anti-Judaism." Considers the first two categories as debates within the Jewish community of the time. Only the third (especially located in Luke-Acts and the Gospel of John) is considered anti-Judaic because it implies the rejection of Israel by God for not accepting Jesus. Pleads for finding ways to repudiate those parts of the Scriptures which demean or insult the Jews."--Publisher description.

Contents

The Relationship of Early Christian Groups to Judaism -- Jewish-Christian Relations after the New Testament -- The Effect upon Present Scholarship -- The Purpose and Scope of This Book -- 1. The Gospel of Mark: Subordinating Polemic and Silence. Historical Accuracy in Mark's Presentation of Jews and Judaism. Evaluative Claims Regarding Jews and Judaism in the Gospel of Mark -- 2. The Gospel of Matthew: An Abrogating Polemic With Violence. Jewish Features of Matthew's Gospel. Features Negative to Jews and Judaism in Matthew. Evaluative Claims Regarding Jews and Judaism in the Gospel of Matthew -- 3. Luke-Acts: Abrogating Anti-Judaism With Sophistication. Distinctive Characteristics of Luke-Acts Pertaining to Jews and Judaism. The Evaluative Claims of Luke-Acts Regarding Jews and Judaism -- 4. The Gospel of John: Abrogating Anti-Judaism That Cuts Both Ways. Common Presuppositions in Understanding the Gospel of John. A Comparison between John and the Synoptics in the Presentation of Jews and Judaism. The Evaluative Claims of John Regarding Jews and Judaism -- Conclusion: Past Polemic and Present Gospel -- The Tension between Past Polemic and Present Gospel -- A Call for the Repudiation of Polemic -- The Means of Repudiation -- Encouragement for the Task Ahead.

External links

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