{"product_id":"contesting-conversion-matthew-thiessen-9780190912703","title":"Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMatthew Thiessen offers a nuanced and wide-ranging study of the nature of Jewish thought on Jewishness, circumcision, and conversion. Examining texts from the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, and early Christianity, he gives a compelling account of the various forms of Judaism from which the early Christian movement arose. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBeginning with analysis of the Hebrew Bible, Thiessen argues that there is no evidence that circumcision was considered to be a rite of conversion to Israelite religion. In fact, circumcision, particularly the infant circumcision practiced within Israelite and early Jewish society, excluded from the covenant those not properly descended from Abraham. In the Second Temple period, many Jews began to subscribe to a definition of Jewishness that enabled Gentiles to become Jews. Other Jews, such as the author of \u003cem\u003eJubilees, \u003c\/em\u003e found this definition problematic, reasserting a strictly genealogical conception of Jewish identity. As a result, some Gentiles who underwent conversion to Judaism in this period faced criticism because of their suspect genealogy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThiessen's examination of the way in which Jews in the Second Temple period perceived circumcision and conversion allows a deeper understanding of early Christianity. \u003cem\u003eContesting Conversion\u003c\/em\u003e shows that careful attention to a definition of Jewishness that was based on genealogical descent has crucial implications for understanding the variegated nature of early Christian mission to the Gentiles in the first century C.E.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Matthew Thiessen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0190912707\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780190912703\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/01\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 258\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.92lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.70d","brand":"Matthew Thiessen","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44119399399679,"sku":"9780190912703","price":41.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_c37c29d6-24ca-43c3-91af-fef8206a6431.jpg?v=1687409143","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/contesting-conversion-matthew-thiessen-9780190912703","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}