Geoffrey D. Dunn, Tertullian's Aduersus Iudaeos: A Rhetorical Analysis, Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, coll. Patristic Monograph Series 19, 2008. xiv, 210 pages.
- ISBN 9780813215266
- $39.95
Recension par Stéphanie Binder (Bar-Ilan University) dans Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.02.07.
Présentation de l'éditeur:
Tertullian's Aduersus Iudaeos (Against the Jews) is oneof the most controversial works of early Christian literature formodern scholarship not only because of its subject matter, which deniesthe enduring validity of Judaism subsequent to the appearance ofChristianity, but also because of the debate surrounding theauthenticity of the second half of the work itself. Many believe thatthe parallels with the third book of Aduersus Marcionemindicate that someone other than Tertullian completed this work bytaking material from the latter source. As a result, historical studiesof the relationship between Jews and Christians have widely neglectedthis work.
Geoffrey D. Dunn is the first scholar to useclassical rhetoric as the interpretative tool for analyzing thequestion of the authorship of Aduersus Iudaeos. He argues thatTertullian structured this work according to the rules of classicalrhetoric and employed arguments familiar to anyone with training inoratory. This analysis demonstrates that the work's conceptualstructure matches what is written, that there are parts of the pamphletthat remain an unrevised draft, and that it was Tertullian himself wholater used the material from this work in Aduersus Marcionem.
Arhetorical perspective suggests that this work was intended as anidealized Christian contribution to be employed in the debate betweenChristians and Jews. The intended readers of Aduersus Iudaeoswere Tertullian's fellow Christians, and, by writing the work, hesought to provide them with better debating points to use in their ownencounters with Jews.
This book presents valuable evidenceof an ongoing, lively interaction between Jews and Christians in latesecond-century Carthage about the validity of both religions and theirinterpretations of the scriptures.
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