Neither Jew nor Greek?: Constructing Early Christianity

by Judith M. Lieu

A ground-breaking study in the formation of early Christian identity, by one of the world's leading scholars.In Neither Jew Nor Greek, Judith Lieu explores the formation and shaping of early Christian identity within Judaism and within the wider Graeco-Roman world in the period before 200 C.E.

Lieu particularly examines the way that literary texts presented early Christianity. She combines this with interdisciplinary historical investigation and interaction with scholarship on Judaism in late Antiquity and on the Graeco-Roman world.The result is a highly significant contribution to four of the key questions in current New Testament scholarship: how did early Christian identity come to be formed? How should we best describe and understand the processes by which the Christian movement became separate from its Jewish origins? Was there anything special or different about the way women entered Judaism and early Christianity? How did martyrdom contribute to the construction of early Christian identity?
The chapters in this volume have become classics in the study of the New Testament and for this Cornerstones edition Lieu provides a new introduction placing them within the academic debate as it is now.

284 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

Reviews

[Fred Kohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve seen this author referenced now and again, so when I saw this book with this title, I knew I had to read it. To my disappointment, it was not an exposition of Galatians 3.28 but rather a series of essays, some of which were only loosely tied to the main theme. I was also disappointed that, whereas there were several essays about the relationship between Jews and Christians, less was said about the relationship between "Greeks (or gentiles)" and Christians. I did enjoy most of the essays, especially the two about god-fearers.