Bibliography
| Title: Jesus and the sabbath. An investigation of the sabbath in Jewish literature from 200 B.C. to A.D. 100 and its impact upon the ministry of Jesus Type: Generic Year: 1988 Abstract: "The purpose of the dissertation, Jesus and the Sabbath: an Investigation of the Sabbath in Jewish Literature from 200 B.C. to A.D. 100 and its Impact Upon the Ministry of Jesus, is to examine references to the Sabbath in the Jewish literature in order to provide a better background for understanding passages relating to Jesus and the Sabbath found in the four gospels. Relevant passages from the Pseudepigrapha, Apocrypha, Qumran Scrolls, Philo, Josephus, and the Mishnah are examined. The relevant passages are interpreted within the context of the larger work of which they are a part. Since the Mishnah is the earliest compilation of rabbinic materials, relevant passages from its Division of Appointed Times are examined, with an attempt to isolate traditions which antedate the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In determining the status of the Sabbath around the time of Jesus, anachronistic references and superficial parallels from the Jewish source materials are omitted. The level of Sabbath observance represented in this vast literature emerges as being multifaceted and flexible. The traditions behind the Qumran literature are the strictest in their interpretation of Sabbath halakah. An examination of the divergent sources related to the Sabbath indicates that the oral law at the time of Jesus had not become rigid and universal. The central issue in the Sabbath conflict passages is the direct opposition to Jesus as the Messiah and not a spirited hostile defense of an established oral tradition. In the Synoptics the Pharisees from Jerusalem are the primary opponents of Jesus. Their opposition to Jesus was motivated by the political and social concerns from the religious establishment in Jerusalem. In John's Gospel the main source of conflict in the Sabbath passages is the Jews' rejection of Jesus' unique relationship with God. Jesus primarily used the Sabbath as an opportunity to perform the redemptive works of God. The passages related to the Sabbath in the Gospels provide little information for the early church concerning the Christian practice of the Sabbath." Keywords: Theology of Ancient Judaism and early Christianity |