When Christians were Jews The first generation

Fredriksen's thesis--that the Jesus movement of the first century can be understood as a conversation within Judaism rather than in the context of later divisions between church and synagogue--is not revolutionary, but her book is nevertheless admirable for it presentation of one scholarly argument on first-century Christianity. As Fredriksen (emer., Boston Univ.; visiting professor, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) writes in the epilogue, her working notion is that one must "peer behind Acts," because Acts is a carefully constructed narrative of the first generation of Jesus followers and it minimizes the fraught nature of their community, and privileges the letters of Paul in the New Testament along with authors such as Josephus and Philo. Understood in their Jewish context, Paul's letters are as much an affirmation of Judaism as they are a representation of his own understanding of how Jesus reinvigorated it. In addition, Fredriksen writes that through "Jewish scriptural improvisation" the Gospel authors situated Jesus much more clearly within the religious traditions of Israel. Topics the author addresses include the centrality of Jerusalem and the temple for early Jesus followers; the rhetoric of Paul's letters; the eschatological crises of the early Christian community; and the nature of the relationship between Israel and the nations in the minds of early Christians. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; graduate students; general readers. --Robert Everett Winn, Northwestern College

Fredriksen (emerita, Aurelio Professor of Scripture, Boston Univ.; Paul: The Pagans' Apostle) has made a career out of bringing alive the ancient Jewish roots of Christianity. This work continues that effort by telling the story of the formative years that saw Jesus come to prominence, most significantly, the impact of his death on the nascent Christ-centered community in Palestine. Because "the future imposes itself on the past," Fredriksen argues, people may read ancient church history without proper context. The author focuses on cooperation between the Apostle Paul and the Jerusalem church headed by James and Peter. However, she scrupulously avoids the terms Christian and church, as modern misconceptions. She asserts that Paul never viewed Jesus as God; such divinization had to wait for the imperial councils of the fourth and fifth centuries. Resurrection of the dead was already part of Jewish belief long before Jesus. Thus, calling this first Jerusalem generation anything other than Jews domesticates the theological and historical validity of their lives. VERDICT An intriguing challenge to biblical history that will be compelling to readers interested in Christianity's Jewish beginnings.-Sandra Collins, Byzantine Catholic ­Seminary Lib., Pittsburgh © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.