Messianism Among Jews and Christians features twelve studies of messianism among Jews and Christians focused primarily on the Herodian period and the New Testament, in the setting of ancient Jewish and early Christian theology.
William Horbury examines some relatively neglected topics bearing on messianism, including the treatment of suffering in synagogue poetry and the theology of grace in Greek Jewish poetry on the exodus. Herod’s temple restoration and the reference in Persius to “Herod’s days” are studied against the background of ruler cult, and the treatment of Christ as high priest in the Epistle to the Hebrews is related to Herodian priestly ideals and practices. Throughout the book, messianism is set in its broader religious and political context.
Central themes include: messianism in the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha; the historical Jesus and the concepts of the Son of man and the Twelve; Jerusalem in Pauline hope; second-century Christology and messianism; Antichrist; and the cult of Christ and the cult of the saints in their Jewish and Christian context. The theology of ancient Judaism is discussed with special reference to debate on monotheism and Christology.
These studies represent an important and valuable resource for scholars and students of Judaism, Christianity and the world in which Christianity was born.
