RLST 137: Syllabus & Readings

Please come to class having read the assigned materials and being prepared to discuss the perceptions, attitudes, and interactions that Jews and Christians have exhibited toward one another. When preparing for class, you might consider one or more of the following questions:

What does the author/text say about the religious beliefs and practices or the other?
How does the author/text represent the other as a person (e.g., physical traits, habits)?
How does the author/text justify or support its presentation (e.g., Scripture, history, reason, science)?
How do political, legal, economic, and social factors inform attitudes and perceptions and structure relations?
How have Jews and Christians responded to the attitudes and perceptions of the other?

Note: blue links are immediately accessible online; red links will take to you a reading stored on Sakai (if you're not already logged in, you will be prompted to do so)

1. (1.18)	Introduction: Defining the Issue
2. (1.23)	God, Israel, and Covenant Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 1-24 Biblical texts Genesis 12.1-9; 15; 17 (Hebrew Bible) Exodus 19-23; 34.6-7 (Hebrew Bible) Leviticus 19-20 (Hebrew Bible) Deuteronomy 4.30-31; 29.9-31.13 (Hebrew Bible) Isaiah 1 (Hebrew Bible) Jeremiah 11; 30-31 (Hebrew Bible) Psalms 86; 119 (Hebrew Bible) Ancient Jewish writings Dead Sea Scrolls, Commentary on Habakkuk (Sakai)
3. (1.25)	The Law and Israel: the Pauline paradigm Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 40-44 Paul’s letters Letter to the Galatians (New Testament) Letter to the Romans, chapters 1-11 (part 1; part 2) (New Testament) Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3 (New Testament)
4. (1.30)	Jews, Judaism, and Gospel Traditions Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 24-40 Biblical texts Gospel of Matthew 5-7; 12; 21-28 (New Testament) Gospel of John 2.1-11; 6-8 (New Testament) Acts of the Apostles 2-3; 7; 10; 13; 24-26 (New Testament)
5. (2.1)	Theologizing the Jews Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 44-56 Early Christian writings Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho (selections) (Sakai) Melito of Sardis, "Paschal Homily"
6. (2.6)	Images of Jews in Late Antique Christian Thought Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 57-64 Christian writings from Late Antiquity John Chrysostom, First Homily Against Judaizers Augustine, Reply to Faustus, 12.9-13 Augustine, Letter 71 (to Jerome) Jerome, Letter 112 (to Augustine)
7. (2.8)	Jewish-Christian Relations in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries Laws and Church Canons Codex Theodosianus, XVI: Laws Concerning the Jews (Sakai) Destruction of the Synagogue at Callinicum Ambrose, Letter 40 (to Theodosius) Conversions on Minorca Severus of Minorca, “Conversion of the Jews” (Sakai)
8. (2.13)	Jewish Views of and Responses to Christianity Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 65-101 Jewish Texts on Jesus and Christianity Rabbinic Passages on Jesus and Minut (Sakai)
9. (2.15)	Jews and Christians in Medieval Europe Charters and Privileges Germany: Bishop of Speyer (1084) England: Charter of Richard I (1190) England: Charter of King John of England (1201) Statute of the Jewry (Sakai) Jews and Moneylending Loans to the Abbey of St. Edmunds Loan arising from a tax Concerning loans from the Jews Anna Abulafia, Christian-Jewish Relations, 37-60; 88-108 (Sakai) Note: Research proposal due February 17 at 12:00 noon.
10. (2.20)	The Crusades Christian Accounts of the Crusades Albert of Aix and Ekkehard of Aura Jewish Accounts of the Crusades Solomon bar Samson Anonymous, “The Martyrs of Mainz” (Sakai) David bar Meshullam of Speyer, “The Sacrifices” (Sakai) Ephraim of Bonn, “The Slaughter of Isaac and His Revival” (Sakai) Jeremy Cohen, "Introduction," Sanctifying the Name of God: Jewish Martyrs and Jewish Memories of the First Crusade (Philadelphia, 2004), 1-13
11. (2.22)	Ritual Murder and Blood Libel Accusations of Ritual Murder Thomas of Monmouth, “Life of William of Norwich” Accusations of Blood Libel Ephraim ben Jacob, “Ritual Murder Accusation at Blois” Ephraim of Bonn, “Lament for Massacre at Blois” (Sakai) Barukh of Magenza, “The Martyrs of Blois” (Sakai) Papal Position on Blood Libel Gregory X, Letter on Jews Accusations in Popular Culture Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Prioress’s Tale”
12. (2.27)	The Growth of Eliminationist Attitudes Catholic Law and Theology Fourth Lateran Council Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II.2.10, “On Unbelief” Disputations Gilbert Crispin, “Disputation of a Jew with a Christian” Peter of Blois, “Against the Perfidy of the Jews” The Barcelona Disputation Jewish perspective: Moses Nachmanides (Sakai) Christian perspective: Anonymous Latin Report (Sakai)
13. (3.1)	Jewish Apologetical and Polemical Responses to Christianity Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 109-11 Nizzahon Vetus on Psalm 22 (Sakai) Joseph Kimhi, The Book of the Covenant, 46-49, 74-78 (Sakai) Hasdai Crescas, “Concerning the New Torah” (Sakai) David Berger, “The Jewish-Christian Debate,” Essential Papers on Judaism and Chrisitanity in Conflict, 484-513 (Sakai)
14. (3.6)	Mid-term exam
15. (3.8)	Jews and Christians in Late Medieval Spain Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 116-19 Spanish Laws Regulating Jews Las Siete Partidas Ordinances of the Jews The Sentencia-Estatuto, Toledo (1449) (Sakai) Expulsion from Spain Account of expulsion Jane Gerber, The Jews of Spain, 113-144 (Sakai) Yosef Yerushalmi, "Assimilation and Racial Antisemitism" (Sakai)
16. (3.20)	Images of Jews in Medieval and Renaissance Drama and Art The Oberammergau Passion Play, VIII.3, XI (Sakai) Gordon Mork, "Christ's Passion on Stage: The Traditional Melodrama of Deicide," Journal of Religion and Film 8 (2004) (Sakai) George Panaghi, "Passionsspiele Oberammergau 2010," Western European Stages 23.1 (2011): 67-72 (Sakai)
17. (3.22)	Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice Note: Annotated bibliography due on March 24 at 12:00 noon
18. (3.27)	Reformation and the Jews Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 119-23 Martin Luther, “That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew” Martin Luther, “On the Jews and Their Lies” Stephen G. Burnett, "Calvin's Jewish Interlocutor: Christian Hebraism and Anti-Jewish Polemics during the Reformation," Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance 55 (1993): 113-23 (Sakai)
19. (3.29)	Emancipation and Jewish Responses Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 124-31 Debate on Emancipation Wilhelm von Dohm, “Concerning the Amelioration of the Civil Status of the Jews” (Sakai) Johann David Michaelis, “Arguments Against Dohm” (Sakai) Conversion to Christianity Moses Mendelssohn, “Letter to Johann Caspar Lavater” (Sakai) David Friedländer, “Open Letter to Teller” (Sakai) Abraham Mendelssohn, “Why I Have Raised You as a Christian” (Sakai) Heinrich Heine, “A Ticket to Admission To European Culture” (Sakai) Rahel Varnhagen, “O How Painful to Have Been Born a Jewess!” (Sakai) Todd Endelman, “Memories of Jewishness” (Sakai) Counter-history and Wissenschaft des Judentums Michael Meyer, “Two Persistent Tensions Within Wissenschaft des Judentums,” Modern Judaism 24:2 (2004): 105-19 (Sakai)
20. (4.3)	The Jewish Question Voltaire, “Jews” (Sakai) Bruno Bauer, The Jewish Problem (Sakai) Karl Marx, On The Jewish Problem (Sakai) Adolf Stoecker, “What We Demand of Modern Jewry” (Sakai) Heinrich von Treitschke, “A Word About Our Jewry” (Sakai) Karl Duehring, “The Question of the Jew Is a Question of Race” (Sakai) Sander Gilman, “The Construction of the Male Jew,” Freud, Race, and Gender, 49-69 (Sakai)
21. (4.5)	Moments in Modern Antisemitism The Dreyfus Affair Edouard-Adolphe Drumont, Jewish France (Sakai) Antisemitic songs (Sakai) Emile Zola, “J’Accuse” (Sakai) Leslie Derfler, The Dreyfus Affair, 1-6, 17-27 (Sakai) Conspiratorial Theories Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Sakai)
22. (4.10)	Jews and Christians in Pre-War Europe Liberal Protestant Theology and Jewish Responses Adolf Harnack, What is Christianity? (Sakai) Leo Baeck, “Harnack’s Lectures on the Essence of Christianity” (Sakai) Franz Rosenzweig, “Selections from the Letters” (Sakai) Uriel Tal, “Liberal Protestantism and the Jews in the Second Reich,” Jewish Social Studies 26 (1964): 23-41 (Sakai)
23. (4.12)	Jews and Christians on Jesus Jewish Reclamation of Jesus Susannah Heschel, “Reversing the Gaze,” Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus, 1-22 (Sakai) Robin Cembalest, "Resurrecting Chagall's Jewish Jesus," ArtNews 9/10/13 Aryanization of Jesus Susannah Heschel, “Reading Jesus as a Nazi,” A Shadow of Glory, 27-41 (Sakai)
24. (4.17)	Christians, Christianity, and the Holocaust Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 131-37 Protestant Theologians Karl Barth, “The Jewish Problem and the Christian Answer” (Sakai) Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Aryan Clauses” (Sakai) Catholic Church Michael Marrus, "Pius XII and the Holocaust: Ten Essential Themes," Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust, 43-55 (Sakai) Michael Phayer, "Ethical Questions about Papal Policy," Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust, 221-26 (Sakai) Biblical Scholars Wayne Meeks, "A Nazi New Testament Professor Reads his Bible: The Strange Case of Gerhard Kittel," The Idea of Biblical Interpretation, 513-44 (Sakai)
25. (4.19)	Post-Holocaust and Contemporary Reflections and Relations Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 140-46 Catholic Statements: Roman Catholic Church, Nostra Aetate, section 4 Notes on the Correct Way to Present Jews and Judaism We Remember: Reflections on the Shoah Dominus Iesus Protestant Statements: World Council of Churches, "The Church and the Jewish People" German Evangelical Church Statements (Sakai) Evangelical Church of the Rhineland, "Toward Renovation of the Relationship of Christians and Jews" National Council of Churches, “Interfaith Relations and the Churches” Presbyterian Church, “A Theological Understanding of the Relationship Between Christians and Jews” John Conway, “The Changes in Recent Decades in the Churches Doctrine and Practice Toward Judaism and the Jewish People,” 589-612 (Sakai) Note: Research project paper due on April 28 at 12:00 noon
26. (4.24)	Jewish and Christian Feminisms Elisabeth Schussler-Fiorenza, In Memory of Her (selection) (Sakai) Susannah Heschel, "Anti-Judaism in Christian Feminist Theology," Tikkun 5.3 (1990): 25-28, 95-97 (Sakai) Judith Plaskow, "Feminist Anti-Judaism and the Christian God," Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 7.2 (1991): 99-108 (Sakai)
27. (4.26)	Contemporary Jewish Reflections Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 137-40 Dabru Emet (“Speak Truth”) David Berger, “Jewish-Christian Relations: a Jewish Perspective,” Essential Papers on Jewish Christian Relations in Conflict, 328-361 (Sakai)
28 (5.1)	Israel and Jewish-Christian Relations Kessler, Jewish-Christian Relations, 147-69 Protestant Churches on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Israel/Palestine Mission Network (PCUSA), Zionism Unsettled Laurie Goldstein, "Presbyterians Vote to Divest Holdings to Pressure Israel," New York Times 20 June 2014 Letter from American Rabbis to Our Christian Neighbors Regarding Divestment Proposals Christian Zionism Tim Weber, “How Evangelicals Became Israel’s Best Friend,” Christianity Today 42:11 (1998) (Sakai) Christians United for Israel
29. (5.3)	Conclusion

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