The Incarnation of God: The Character of Divinity in Formative Judaism (1988 Neusner), book

The Incarnation of God: The Character of Divinity in Formative Judaism (1988) is a book by Jacob Neusner.

Abstract

Although motivated by different ideological aims and concerns, for centuries both Jewish and Christian scholars alike affirmed that the doctrine of the Incarnation was a uniquely Christian phenomenon. While Christians pointed to Jesus Christ as the one and only substantiation of God incarnate, a union of humanity and divinity, Jews adamantly emphasized the utterly aniconic and nonanthropomorphic character of Judaism, rejecting the possibility that corporeality could find a place in their conception of God. In response, Jacob Neusner tacitly attacks these long held assumptions by arguing that the incarnation of God occurs within formative documents of Rabbinic Judaism, which he calls the "Judaism of the Dual Torah," as well. In order to demonstrate this point, Neusner traces the development of this phenomenon in two main stages. First, he examines evidence from the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Tractate Avot, and second, he explores the Yerushalmi, Genesis & Leviticus Rabbah, the Pesiqta deRab Kahana, and finally the Bavli. In this process, he traces a gradual, though not always linear, process whereby each subsequent text presents God in an increasingly corporeal manner from mere premise to presence to person and finally to personality. This process, for Neusner, culminates in the Bavli where God is depicted as the ideal sage, fully incarnate with respect to physical, emotional, and social aspects of humanity. From the immense number of rabbinic texts that he analyses through, Neusner singles out the story found in b. Shab. 89a, as the one "truly striking story" where God is both a sage, and more than a sage as well, being both incarnate and ineffable at the same time (229). ~Deborah Forger

"Advancing his monumental study of formative Judaism further, Jacob Neusner examines the notion of divine incarnations as a central element of the portrait of God that came into focus through the Judaism of the dual Torah. In dealing with his concept—which is obviously critical for Christian theology also—Neusner shows how God was described in allusions and narratives as corporeal, exhibiting traits of emotions like those of human beings, and doing deeds that women and men do"--Publisher's description.

Editions and translations

Published in Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1988.

External links

• [ Google Books]