Paradise in Antiquity
Jewish and Christian Views

The essays in this volume highlight the multiple perspectives on Paradise from Second Temple Judaism and Christian origins to Augustine and rabbinic literature.

Markus Bockmuehl (Edited by), Guy G. Stroumsa (Edited by)

9780521117869, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 June 2010

272 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 1.9 cm, 0.57 kg

'Collections of this kind stand or fall on the ability of their essays to cover their subject meaningfully and intelligently. This volume succeeds.' H-Judaic (h-net.org/~judaic)

The social and intellectual vitality of Judaism and Christianity in antiquity was in large part a function of their ability to articulate a viably transcendent hope for the human condition. Narratives of Paradise - based on the concrete symbol of the Garden of Delights - came to play a central role for Jews, Christians, and eventually Muslims too. The essays in this volume highlight the multiple hermeneutical perspectives on biblical Paradise from Second Temple Judaism and Christian origins to the systematic expositions of Augustine and rabbinic literature. They show that while early Christian and Jewish sources draw on texts from the same Bible, their perceptions of Paradise often reflect the highly different structures of the two sister religions. Dealing with a wide variety of texts, these essays explore major themes such as the allegorical and literal interpretations of Paradise, the tension between heaven and earth, and Paradise's physical location in space and time.

1. Introduction Guy G. Stroumsa
Part I. Paradises of Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins: 2. The Messiah in the Garden Joachim Schaper
3. Philo's scholarly inquiries into the story of Paradise Maren R. Niehoff
4. Paradise in the Biblical Antiquities of Pseudo-Philo Richard Bauckham
5. Paradise, gardens and the afterlife in the first century CE Martin Goodman
6. Paradise in the New Testament Grant Macaskill
7. Quis et Unde? Heavenly obstacles in Gos. Thom. 50 and related literature Simon Gathercole
Part II. Contemporizing Paradise in Late Antiquity: 8. Tertullian and the law of Paradise Sabrina Inowlocki
9. The language of Paradise: Hebrew or Syriac? Linguistic speculations and linguistic realities in late antiquity Yonatan Moss
10. The Tree of Life and the turning sword: Jewish biblical interpretation, symbols and theological patterns and their Christian counterparts Menahem Kister
11. Erotic Eden: a rabbinic nostalgia for Paradise Galit Hasan-Rokem
12. Augustine on Virgil and Scripture Gillian Clark
13. Paradise as political theme in Augustine's City of God Emile Perreau-Saussine
14. Locating Paradise Markus Bockmuehl
Epilogue: a heaven on earth Alessandro Scafi
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Judaism [HRJ], Bibles [HRCF], Christianity [HRC], Philosophy of religion [HRAB], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]