AJR is happy to host the Society of Biblical Literature’s panel discussion on what “Paul Within Judaism” means. The panel, organized by SBL’s “Paul Within Judaism” Unit, met virtually at the 2021 annual meeting.Two of the four essays are published so far:
SBL 2021 Panel I John Van Maaren on Paul Within Judaism
“Sociologists and anthropologists agree that identity, whether ethnic, religious, or national cannot be determined by a list of shared or defining characteristics exhibited by all group members. Rather, identity is primarily a matter of ascription—that is, a person is Jewish, Greek, Roman, or Syrian first and foremost because they think and claim they are.”SBL 2021 Panel I Matthew V. Novenson on Paul Within Judaism
Thus my goal in my own research is not to prove that Paul was an [x] Jew, as if proving such a thing could tell us very much. I do think that Paul was an apocalyptic Jew, and a Second-Temple Jew, and a diaspora Jew, and a great many other things—all suitably defined and qualified, of course. But I do not think that to apply any of those labels is to understand him.
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