Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity / Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion / University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004 / Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9780812237641 / 978-0812237641 

ISBN-10: 0812237641

Printed in the USA

Pages 392 

!!! condition of this book is USED LIKE NEW !!!

Winner of the 2006 Award for Excellence in the Historical Study of Religion from the American Academy of Religion. The historical separation between Judaism and Christianity is often figured as a clearly defined break of a single entity into two separate religions. Following this model, there would have been one religion known as Judaism before the birth of Christ, which then took on a hybrid identity. Even before its subsequent division, certain beliefs and practices of this composite would have been identifiable as Christian or Jewish.In Border Lines, however, Daniel Boyarin makes a striking case for a very different way of thinking about the historical development that is the partition of Judaeo-Christianity.

There were no characteristics or features that could be described as uniquely Jewish or Christian in late antiquity, Boyarin argues. Rather, Jesus-following Jews and Jews who did not follow Jesus lived on a cultural map in which beliefs, such as that in a second divine being, and practices, such as keeping kosher or maintaining the Sabbath, were widely and variably distributed. The ultimate distinctions between Judaism and Christianity were imposed from above by "border-makers," heresiologists anxious to construct a discrete identity for Christianity. By defining some beliefs and practices as Christian and others as Jewish or heretical, they moved ideas, behaviors, and people to one side or another of an artificial border—and, Boyarin significantly contends, invented the very notion of religion.

"Boyarin's book challenges the ordinary usage of the terms 'Judaism' and 'Christianity' and juxtaposes the for- mation of orthodoxy as it is formulated within rabbinic tra- dition and among Christians of the patristic period. His bold thesis will no doubt prove controversial and important."-Elaine Pagels, author of Beyond Belief. The Secret Gospel of Thomas

"This is an imaginative-in the most positive sense-and creative reading of the emergence of Christianity and of Judaism."-Judith Lieu, author of The Theology of the Johannine Epistles

The historical separation between Judaism and Christianity is often figured as a clearly defined break of a single entity into two separate religions. Following this model, there would have been one religion known as Judaism before the birth of Christ, which then took on a hybrid identity. Even before its subsequent divi- sion, certain beliefs and practices of this composite would have been identifiable as Christian or Jewish. In Border Lines, however, Daniel Boyarin makes a striking case for a very different way of thinking about the historical develop- ment that is the partition of Judaeo-Christianity.

There were no characteristics or features that could be described as uniquely Jewish or Christian in late antiquity, Boyarin argues. Rather, Jesus-following Jews and Jews who did not follow Jesus lived on a cultural map in which beliefs, such as that in a second divine being, and prac- tices, such as keeping kosher or maintaining the Sabbath, were widely and variably distributed. The ultimate distinc- tions between Judaism and Christianity were imposed from above by "border-makers," heresiologists anxious to construct a discrete identity for Christianity. By defining some beliefs and practices as Christian and others as Jewish or heretical, they moved ideas, behaviors, and people to one side or another of an artificial border-and, Boyarin significantly contends, invented the very notion of religion.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Pennsylvania Press; First edition, first printing (full number line) (June 14, 2004)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 392 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0812237641
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0812237641
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.55 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.88 x 9.21 inches