If law alone yields legalism, then religious belief, by itself, fails to create justice. In Performing Israel’s Faith, Jacob Neusner shows how Jewish Halakhah (law) and Aggadah (narrative) fit together to form a robust and coherent covenant theology—one directly concerned about this world. Neusner’s careful and thorough examination of several key issues within rabbinic Judaism—the nations, idolatry, sin, repentance, and atonement—demonstrates that neither Halakhah nor Aggadah can be fully and rightly understood when the two are isolated from each other. Performing Israel’s Faith thus effectively reveals that rabbinic Judaism’s true pattern of religion was constituted by a covenant theology comprised by both law and story—a covenant theology whose aim was to restore the sanctification of God’s original creation.
Зміст
Preface
Introduction
1 The Aggadic Theology of the Nations
2 The Halakhic Theology of Idolatry
3 The Aggadic Theology of Sin, Repentance, and Atonement
4 The Halakhic Theology of Atonement
5 Law and Theology, Halakhah and Aggadah
Epilogue
Covenantal Conduct: The Outcome of Performing Israel’s Faith
Notes
Index of Ancient Sources
Index of Subjects
Про автора
Jacob Neusner is Research Professor of Theology and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College.