Intersecting Pathways: Modern Jewish Theologians in Conversation with Christianity

by Marc A. Krell

Overview

This book deconstructs the boundaries between Jewish and Christian cultures while at the same time redefining what it means to be Jewish in relation to Christianity in the twentieth century. Consequently, this analysis reveals the emergence of modern Jewish theologies out of the complex negotiations between Jewish thinkers and their Christian milieu.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195347890
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/22/2003
Series:	AAR Cultural Criticism Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	319 KB

About the Author

University of Arizona

Editorial Reviews

Krell has given us a provocative book in the best sense of the term. He has provided a challenging new framework for understaing the Jewish-Christian theological encounter. We should be grateful to Krell for providing a work that can significantly contribute to a rich, ongoing dialogue between Judaism and Christianity." —Shofar

"Krell frequently cogently challenges not only the conclusions of these thinkers, but also others' analyses of them.... Overall, Krell's analysis is persuasive and provocative. Recommended."—Choice

"Marc Krell's important study of four contemporary Jewish thinkers is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Jewish-Christian relations, on post-Holocaust reflection on religion and on cultural studies of the intersection between distinct but related traditions. His attention to the critical interface between Jewish thinkers and their mainly Christian cultural context draws out not only new ways of interpreting key thinkers, but shows quite clearly that religious ideas have a rich and complex set of meanings and applications. That Jewish thinkers not only borrow but re-interpret Christian symbols and ideas is an important insight and shows how one must see the relation between Christians and Jews, especially in the current context in which contact between the two communities increases and efforts to bring about reconciliation create new levels of creative thought in both communities."—Dr. James F. Moore, author of Christian Theology after the Shoah

"Intersecting Pathways is timely, well-researched, well-written, and well-conceived...Krell's work is courageous in taking on the issue of the significant influence of Christian theology in the construction of Jewish thought."—Steven Kepnes, Murray W. and Mildred K. Finard Professor in Jewish Studies, Colgate University

"In Intersecting Pathways Marc Krell brilliantly analyzes how the luminaries of twentieth-century Jewish thought negotiated Jewish identity in the presence of a culturally dominant Christianity. Combining biographical and critical approaches, the book shows how these figures' awareness of Jewish tradition, Christianity, and anti-Semitism evolved over time. Most importantly, Intersecting Pathways demonstrates that the desire to understand Christianity does not mean a lack of concern with Judaism, Jewish unity or the Jewish future. Krell confidently illumines 'the intertextual and arguably intercultural nature of modern Jewish self-consciousness,' showing that modern Jewish identity formation cannot be understood apart from the Jewish-Christian dialectic he describes."—Stephen R. Haynes, author of Reluctant Witnesses: Jews and the Christian Imagination and Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery

"Scholars have recently shown how Judaism in antiquity and the Christian middle ages cannot be understood outside of its persistent polemical interaction with Christianity. Now, Marc Krell demonstrates that the same dynamic is at work in modern Jewish thought. His incisive and close analysis of two Weimar and two American Jewish thinkers reveals their strong debt to Christian theology, even as they frequently resisted it. This is a book that adds a new and surprisingly understudied dimension to the history of modern Jewish thought."—David Biale, Emmanuel Ringelblum Professor of Jewish History, University of California, Davis

"Setting Jewish theology in relation to a Christian key, Marc Krell's Intersecting Pathways is a signal contribution to the exploration of Jewish-Christian relations as understood by Jewish theologians from the vantage point of the twentieth century. Spanning the historical gap between interwar Frankfurt, Germany and postwar Riverdale, New York, Krell provides a lively foray into often curious amalgams of Judaism and and Christian categories found in the work of Franz Rosenzweig, Hans Joachim Schoeps, Richard Rubenstein, and Irving Greenberg. Krell's bold propensity to discombobulate rigid cultural boundaries will lend fresh insight essential to the study and practice of Jewish thought and Christian theology." —Zachary Braiterman, Department of Religion, Syracuse University

"Marc Krell's thoughtful and groundbreaking work sheds new light on the complex and intertwined phenomenon of Jewish/Christian relations. Viewing the work of four major twentieth-century Jewish theologians through a postmodern lens, Krell offers valuable insights into the nature of Jewish identity construction before and after the Holocaust, the dynamic of religion itself, and the elusive yet omnipresent cultural and theological contact between Judaism & Christianity. This book is crucial for those wishing to better under vital matters of interfaith dialogue in the contemporary world."—Alan L. Berger, Raddock Eminent Scholar Chair of Holocaust Studies, Florida Atlantic University

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