Neusner on Judaism: Religion and Theology, Vol. 3 Book

Neusner (religion and theology, Bard College) reproduced articles and essays he has published over nearly 50 years of study into the formation of normative Judaism into three volumes representing the areas he has worked most extensively in: history, literature, and religion and theology. His contribution to the study of the history of the Jews in late antiquity in the Land of Israel and Babylonia, he says, is essentially negative because it insists on a critical reading of the Rabbinic sources, as is commonplace in biblical studies, rather than taking for granted the historical reliability of Rabbinic stories and the attributions of sayings to named authorities. The 23 essays cover history in formative Judaism, problems of historical method, and historical studies of Jewry in the Land of Israel and Iranian Babylonia. As usual, he does not provide an index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR