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Library of Early Christology
Two Powers in Heaven: Early Rabbinic Reports About Christianity & Gnosticism
In this study of the rabbinic heretics who believed in Two Powers in Heaven , Alan Segal explores some relationships between rabbinic Judaism, Merkabah mysticism, and early Christianity. Two Powers in Heaven was a very early category of heresy. It was one of the basic categories by which the rabbis perceived the new phenomenon of Christianity and one of the central issues over which Judaism and Christianity separated. Segal reconstructs the development of the heresy through prudent dating of the stages of the rabbinic traditions. The basic heresy involved interpreting scripture to say that a principal angelic or hypostatic manifestation in heaven was equivalent to God. The earliest heretics believed in two complementary powers in heaven, while later heretics believed in two opposing powers in heaven. Segal stresses the importance of perceiving the relevance of rabbinic material for solving traditional problems of New Testament and gnostic scholarship, and at the same time maintains the necessity of reading those literatures for dating rabbinic material.
Please note that Two Powers in Heaven was previously published by Brill in hardback, ISBN 90 04 05453 7 (no longer available).
Please note that Two Powers in Heaven was previously published by Brill in hardback, ISBN 90 04 05453 7 (no longer available).
314 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2012
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About the author
Alan F. Segal
16 books15 followersAlan Franklin Segal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_F....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_F....
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 29, 2019
This rather technical monograph attempts to trace the concept of "two powers in heaven" within early rabbinic writings in order to find the origin of the heresy (and just what it was the rabbis were responding to: Christianity? gnosticism? paganism? something else?). Segal spends a lot of time quoting and analyzing the rabbinical texts, most of which I'm not familiar with. What this meant for me, as one who has not read the Mishnah and other such works or who has spent a lot time reading about them, was that I found Segal's book at times difficult to follow--and a little dull.
Things pick up a bit toward the end, once Segal turns to intertestamental writings, Christian writings, and gnostic writings. In part, that was because I was more familiar with them, but also he spends a lot less time on these than he does on the rabbinacal work--so he's not quite so punctilious and technical.
The basic point that Segal is able to make is that the rabbis were responding not just to ideas that were around at the time in which they were putting their sayings down but to ideas that had been around for a century or two, ideas that go back to at least the first century. Some of these ideas may have come from Hellenistic Jews such as Philo, some from Christians, and some from gnostics. He also finds that most gnostic ideas probably had a route in Judaism rather than in Christianity, though of course such ideas drew from all sorts of sources.
Segal's book is referenced in the work of a number of other scholars, so there's no doubt that it is important. But writers such as Larry Hurtado discuss a number of the same things, only in a way that is much more accessible. So unless one has an interest in the real technical side of this discussion--and specifically of the rabbinical side--it's probably not the book to start with.
Things pick up a bit toward the end, once Segal turns to intertestamental writings, Christian writings, and gnostic writings. In part, that was because I was more familiar with them, but also he spends a lot less time on these than he does on the rabbinacal work--so he's not quite so punctilious and technical.
The basic point that Segal is able to make is that the rabbis were responding not just to ideas that were around at the time in which they were putting their sayings down but to ideas that had been around for a century or two, ideas that go back to at least the first century. Some of these ideas may have come from Hellenistic Jews such as Philo, some from Christians, and some from gnostics. He also finds that most gnostic ideas probably had a route in Judaism rather than in Christianity, though of course such ideas drew from all sorts of sources.
Segal's book is referenced in the work of a number of other scholars, so there's no doubt that it is important. But writers such as Larry Hurtado discuss a number of the same things, only in a way that is much more accessible. So unless one has an interest in the real technical side of this discussion--and specifically of the rabbinical side--it's probably not the book to start with.
November 25, 2025
Alan F. Segal’s seminal work on the “two powers in heaven” controversy/heresy is a staple for anyone interested in the origins of Jewish-Christian-gnostic polemics on God and his alleged mediator in creating and governing all things.
This is a technical work and the content here is impressive and extensive. Segal surveys a large swath of biblical, extra-biblical (Jewish apocalyptic literature), and tannaic texts to pinpoint the beginnings of when and why Jews (and thus Christians and gnostics) would imply (and promulgate) the existence of another god or divine power into their monotheistic theology.
Segal looks at the “problematic” passages in the Old Testament (i.e. the “son of man” passage in Daniel and the theophanies in the Torah and the prophets) and early rabbinic responses to them in light of Jewish mystics who would import another divine power alongside God from those passages. He further analyses the texts that support a divinised human or principal angel (e.g. Metatron/Yahoel) as a second power alongside God, and how Midrashic writings rebutted and condemned those ideas. From there, Segal engages positively with Philo and his interpretations concerning God and his “logos”, charitably rehearses early Christian thinkers and their belief that Christ is the referent to all “two powers” passages in the Old Testament (albeit he still considers it heresy), and chronicles the evolution of gnostic teachings that began from two gods working in consort into the dualistic framework of a superior and inferior god for which gnosticism is well known.
Apart from my Christian bias, this is an extraordinary work and I highly recommend it. Segal has done religious and particular Christian scholarship a service by diving deeply into the history of 1st century Jewish polemics and their engagement with those who, on the basis of the Old Testament, teach a plurality of the Godhead.
This is a technical work and the content here is impressive and extensive. Segal surveys a large swath of biblical, extra-biblical (Jewish apocalyptic literature), and tannaic texts to pinpoint the beginnings of when and why Jews (and thus Christians and gnostics) would imply (and promulgate) the existence of another god or divine power into their monotheistic theology.
Segal looks at the “problematic” passages in the Old Testament (i.e. the “son of man” passage in Daniel and the theophanies in the Torah and the prophets) and early rabbinic responses to them in light of Jewish mystics who would import another divine power alongside God from those passages. He further analyses the texts that support a divinised human or principal angel (e.g. Metatron/Yahoel) as a second power alongside God, and how Midrashic writings rebutted and condemned those ideas. From there, Segal engages positively with Philo and his interpretations concerning God and his “logos”, charitably rehearses early Christian thinkers and their belief that Christ is the referent to all “two powers” passages in the Old Testament (albeit he still considers it heresy), and chronicles the evolution of gnostic teachings that began from two gods working in consort into the dualistic framework of a superior and inferior god for which gnosticism is well known.
Apart from my Christian bias, this is an extraordinary work and I highly recommend it. Segal has done religious and particular Christian scholarship a service by diving deeply into the history of 1st century Jewish polemics and their engagement with those who, on the basis of the Old Testament, teach a plurality of the Godhead.
September 25, 2022
Being Christian I don’t agree with his conclusions or why he thinks it’s a heresy obviously but nonetheless he makes his points as a Jewish scholar and I can appreciate and respect the work for what it is. I will admit for the layperson this may be a difficult read to understand if you haven’t read the source material he quotes extensively but if you have mostly, you’ll get a lot out of this.
July 3, 2024
A well-argued read that raises some provocative questions about not only the split between Judaism and Christianity but also the origins of gnosticism (and Jewish mysticism) in late antiquity.
Want to read
July 15, 2025God the Father and God the Son, two parts of the Trinity, in the Old Testament according to a Jewish scholar. More by David Wood at https://youtu.be/YXdJbCgdXj4 (Spanish).
November 29, 2020
Seminal work on the Two Powers "heresy" and it's prevalence in @nd Temple Judaism. Keep your Hebrew notes nearby as Segal exhaustively pours thru Rabbinic records in a well thought pattern that proves an underpinning to the "binitarian" worship influences for Christianity. He spends considerable time on who the "heretics" (min). Well worth time... especially when every, not some, NT scholarship quotes this source as foundational research. May Segal's memory be maintained.
July 11, 2024
Interesting topic. VERY academic.
November 11, 2022
ancient jewish heterodoxy never felt so good
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews