Boyarin and Idel Comment on Ancient Hebrew Tablet
"Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection," an article in yesterday's New York Times, outlines the potential religious significance of a centuries-old stone tablet that "may speak of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days." The article quotes Daniel Boyarin, author of Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity, to provide some theological context for the controversy surrounding the document.
Daniel Boyarin, a professor of Talmudic culture at the University of California at Berkeley, said that the stone was part of a growing body of evidence suggesting that Jesus could be best understood through a close reading of the Jewish history of his day.
“Some Christians will find it shocking — a challenge to the uniqueness of their theology — while others will be comforted by the idea of it being a traditional part of Judaism,” Mr. Boyarin said.
According to the New York Times, the tablet will be the subject of discussion at an upcoming conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Moshe Idel, author of the forthcoming Old Worlds, New Mirrors: On Jewish Mysticism and Twentieth-Century Thought, was also quoted in the article.
Expectations of Justice in the Age of Augustine examines the complex and varying roles Christian bishops played during late antiquity and how their experiences fundamentally affected Christian ideals of divine justice.
