Rethinking the Making of a Difference: Jewish-Christian Boundary Drawing in Late Antiquity (2013- Madrid), conference
Rethinking the Making of a Difference: Jewish-Christian Boundary Drawing in Late Antiquity (2013–) is an annual international research seminar organised by the Camilo José Cela University in collaboration with the Xavier Zubiri Foundation in Madrid, Spain.
Overall purpose
The seminar aims at exploring afresh the parting of the ways between Christianity and Judaism, its determining factors, and time frame.
Academic committee
- Chair: Carlos A. Segovia (Camilo José Cela University)
- Co-Chair: Antonio González (Xavier Zubiri Foundation)
- Secretary: Cameron James Doody (Autonoma University of Madrid)
First edition (2013)
THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT: THE ORIGINS OF THE BIBLE, JUDAISM, AND CHRISTIANITY – Pamela Michelle Eisenbaum (Iliff School of Theology) – Madrid, Spain; March 20–21, 2013
In recent years, a few scholars have begun to demonstrate the way in which Judaism and Christianity were intertwined, and, in some cases, undifferentiated, for several more centuries than scholars have traditionally assumed. According to this line of research, the process by which Christianity and Judaism became distinct religions is much more complicated than simply identifying whether or not a community embraced Jesus. There were many other factors that contributed to the formation of distinctly Jewish and Christian communities. In this seminar we will study the way in which the production, replication, utilization, dissemination, and canonization of scripture became factors in the demarcation between Judaism and Christianity. Participants will be exposed to images of ancient manuscripts as well as discussions about scripture in Jewish and Christian sources. The intent is to demonstrate how scriptural practices gradually led to diverging conceptions of holy texts, and that this divergence ultimately became essential to the differentiation of the two faiths.
First Session: Introduction | Scripture/Canon/Bible
Readings: • Exodus 34 • 2 Corinthians 3 • Hebrews 8-11
- I. Agenda of the Seminar: Status Quaestionis of the Origins of Judaism and Christianity and their “Separation”
a. Boyarin and Judeo-Christianity b. Origin of Judaism and Christianity and the Origin of Religion
- II. What is Scripture for Jews and Christians Today?
- III. Definition of Terms
a. Scripture b. Canon c. Bible
- IV. What was Scripture at the time of Jesus and Paul?
- V. Stages of Development in Establishing the Authority of Scripture
a. Hebrew Bible/Jewish Scripture b. New Testament/Christian Scripture
- VI. The Role of Scripture in the Formation of Jewish and Christian Communities
Second Session: The Word as Written
Readings: • Mishnah Tractate Megillah • Canon Lists from B. Ehrman, Lost Scriptures, pp. 330-42
- I. Jewish Devotion to the Torah
a. Scribal Practice b. TheologyofScripture
- II. Christian Production of Scripture texts
a. Scribal Practice b. Textual Variance
- III. Development of the Christian Canon
- IV. Consolidation, Canonization, and Conflict
Third Session: The Word as Interpreted
Readings: • Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana, Book I.1-2; Book III.28-37 • Maimonides, Preface to Mishneh Torah
- I. Christian Hermeneutics
a. Justin Martyr b. Origen c. Augustine
- II. Jewish Hermeneutics
a. “Torah in the Mouth” b. A little Midrash
- III. Conclusion—A Closed Book and an Open Torah?