In The Other Judaisms of Late Antiquity the late Alan F. Segal is at his very best. This reissued and expanded editionanow containing his celebrated "Heavenly Ascent in Hellenistic Judaism, Early Christianity, and Their Environment"adelineates the variegated nature of both Judaism and Christianity in their formative periods. As Segal demonstrates, it is more accurate to speak of Judaisms and Christianities. Through his deft deployment of social-scientific methods and due attention to Jewish primary sources from the Second Temple period, Segal is able to trace the intricate, internecine struggles among Jewish, Christian, and gnostic communities in the earliest days of the Common Era. In doing so, Segal masterfully validates the importance of inductive historical reconstruction and analytical comparative study for illuminating the complex religious world of the first three centuries.

About the Author
Alan F. Segal (1945-201) was Professor of Religion and Ingeborg Rennert Professor of Jewish Studies at Barnard College.

Reviews
In many ways this second edition of The Other Judaisms of Late Antiquity is a welcome reintroduction of Segal's work to the scholarly conversation. The particular intersection between Hellenistic Jewish, early Christian, and gnostic sources is an important and often overlooked component of undergraduate courses on ancient Judaism. -- Matthew Goldstone -- Reading Religion
Some of the essays in The Other Judaisms of Late Antiquity are to be credited with helping establish the claim - which was radical when Segal made it but has since become an axiom for many in the field - that earliest Christianity was not a religion other than Judaism, but a Jewish heterodoxy made good. This is a book that deserves to be republished and widely read by this and subsequent generations. -- Matthew V. Novenson -- Journal for the Study of the New Testament



Book Information
ISBN 9781481307598
Author Alan F. Segal
Format Paperback
Page Count 308
Imprint Baylor University Press
Publisher Baylor University Press