The Pharisees
Joseph Sievers and Amy-Jill Levine, editors
THE ANCIENT WORLD
Who the Pharisees were, what they taught, and how they have been understood and depicted throughout history For centuries, Pharisees have been well known but little understood—due at least in part to their outsized role in the Christian imagination arising from select negative stereotypes based on the Gospels. Yet historians see Pharisees as respected teachers and forward-thinking innovators who helped make the Jewish tradition more adaptable to changing circumstances and more egalitarian in practice. Seeking to bridge this gap, the contributors to this volume provide a multidisciplinary appraisal of who the Pharisees actually were, what they believed and taught, and how they have been depicted throughout history. The volume concludes with an address by Pope Francis on correcting the negative stereotypes of Pharisees that have led to anti-Semitic prejudices and finding resources that “will positively contribute to the relationship between Jews and Christians, in view of an ever more profound and fraternal dialogue.” CONTRIBUTORS
Luca Angelelli, Harold W. Attridge, Vasile Babota, Shaye J. D. Cohen, Philip A. Cunningham, Deborah Forger, Paula Fredriksen, Yair Furstenburg, Massimo Grilli, Susannah Heschel, Angela La Delfa, Amy-Jill Levine, Hermut Löhr, Steve Mason, Eric M. Meyers, Craig E. Morrison, Vered Noam, Henry Pattarumadathil, Adele Reinhartz, Jens Schröter, Joseph Sievers, Matthias Skeb, Abraham Skorka, Günter Stemberger, Christian Stückl, Adela Yarbro Collins, and Randall Zachman. “This volume provides an authoritative and comprehensive update on the Pharisees. The articles, written by leading scholars, consider the Pharisees—including their reception history and legacy up to the present—from multiple perspectives, based on careful analyses of diverse sources such as the Qumran scrolls, Josephus, the New Testament, rabbinic literature, and Christian writers.” — JODI MAGNESS
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“Sievers and Levine are to be warmly congratulated on bringing together a remarkable multidisciplinary array of scholars not only to dispel myths about the role of the Pharisees in Jewish society in the time of Jesus but also to explore the role of those myths in Jewish-Christian relations over the centuries down to the present.” — MARTIN GOODMAN
University of Oxford
“This valuable collection of modern scholarship not only is important in providing a more accurate understanding of who the Pharisees were and what they stood for but also is a significant contribution toward combatting anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism which continue to blight our world.” — RABBI DAVID ROSEN
978-0-8028-7929-5 • Hardcover • 506 pages • $54.99 US • $73.99 CAN • £44.99 UK AVAILABLE DECEMBER 2021
Joseph Sievers has taught Jewish history and literature of the Hellenistic period at the Pontifical Biblical Institute since 1991. In addition, he served as director of the Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University from 2003 to 2009. Amy-Jill Levine is the University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and the Mary Jane Werthan Chair of Jewish Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University. Her numerous publications include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus.
International Director of Interreligious Affairs, American Jewish Committee
“Who hasn’t heard a homily denouncing the Pharisees as the archenemies of Jesus? This volume breaks open the complexity of the Pharisaic Movement and the stereotypical understanding that Christians have had of it, and it demonstrates the Pharisaic themes that positively influenced Jesus’s teachings. The inclusion of Pope Francis’s address on the Pharisees is a plus. The book is a must-read for anyone who preaches from the New Testament.” — JOHN T. PAWLIKOWSKI, OSM
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professor emeritus at Catholic Theological Union and honorary life president of the International Council of Christians and Jews
“In this book is everything you’d want to know about the Pharisees, from ancient origins to modern films, from Jesus and the Pharisees to the Pharisees and the rabbis. Elegantly edited, the more than two dozen essays in this volume strike the ideal balance between scholarship and accessibility.” — LEONARD GREENSPOON
Creighton University
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