DESCRIPTION
In
Ancient Judaism: New Visions and Views Michael Stone examines a broad range of basic issues in the study of Second Temple Judaism and calls for a radical rethinking of approaches to Jewish history. Stone challenges scholars and students to question theologically conditioned histories of ancient Judaism devised by later orthodoxies, whether Jewish or Christian, and to acknowledge religious experience as a major factor in the composition and transmission of ancient religious documents. He urges readers to look above and beyond the spectacles of tradition and cultural memory that too often distort their understanding of the ancient past.
Addressing an assortment of topics regarding the authorship, transmission, and interpretation of the canonical Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, apocryphal and pseudepigraphic literature, and more, Stone's
Ancient Judaism underscores the stunning complexity of both the raw data and the resulting picture of Judaism in antiquity.
REVIEWS
Christopher Rowland
— Queen's College, Oxford
"Michael Stone's work is unique in contemporary biblical and pseudepigrapha studies. In this book he covers a wide range of subjects and illuminates the way in which scholarly debate has been conducted. Stone's wide knowledge and the originality of his approach converge here to produce studies of insight and perceptiveness that push the boundaries of our understanding of the world of the pseudepigrapha, their history, and their reception. Scholars and students alike continue to be in his debt."
George W. E. Nickelsburg
— University of Iowa
"Drawing on his vast knowledge of the Judaisms of the late Second Temple period, Michael Stone analyzes the scholarship of the past sixty years, indicating areas of significant progress and promise as well as some dead ends. Students of early Judaism and Christian origins should read, mark, and inwardly digest this book and keep it on their shelves, both for what it discusses and for the light its methodological clarity sheds on topics yet to be explored."
Journal of the American Oriental Society
"This book is recommended for use in courses relating to the literature of Second Temple Judaism and as an overview of decades of research on this topic. . . . A very fascinating, readable work."
Journal of Hebrew Scripture
"An appeal to expand the time period considered for the study of ancient Judaism. . . . A significant contribution."
Andrews University Seminary Studies
"Provides interesting new insights, a good overview of recent scholarship, and a helpful introduction to current methodologies that will benefit student and scholar alike."
Review of Biblical Literature
"In a concise presentation, this book manages to illuminate several of the fundamental issues in the study of Second Temple Judaism with a methodological distance and clarity not often encountered in the field."
Reviews in Religion and Theology
"Well-written. It introduces the reader to the broad context and carefully threads to the deeper waters of the cutting-edge discussion at hand. . . . This book should be of great interest to those making their ways into apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, and those interested in ancient Judaism or early Judaism or Christianity."
Choice
"Wide-ranging and diffuse, readers will benefit from Stone's lifetime study of particular nonbiblical texts within Second Temple Judaism. Recommended."