Jewish Mission in the Second Temple Period: From Circumcision to Education

Authors

  • Alexander TARASENKO Presently he is a Baptist pastor in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, Czechia

Keywords:

Jewish mission of the Second Temple period, Judaic mission, mission of the Pharisees, mission of the first Christians

Abstract

The present article is a broadened variant of a speech, which was presented in International Baptist Theological Seminary (Prague) few years ago. The article is about Jewish mission of the Second Temple period and that transformation, which took place during few centuries after the Babylon exile. From an author‘ point of view, Judaism did not practice mission in that conception of this word, which is peculiar to modern Christianity. The article contains various sources, which show extensive spread of the Jews and Judaism within the Mediterranean, and short analysis of missionary practice of Judaism and one of its sects, the Pharisees. Author divides Judaic mission on the passive (natural spreading of the Jews and Judaism among surrounding nations) and the active one (conscious dissemination sectarian theology among the Jews of the Diaspora). Transformation of Judaism was provoked by development of society itself under influence of external factors and led to gradual shift of religious identification from circumcision to education. On the ground of various sources, the author show that this shift was typical for mission of the Pharisees and later also of the first Christians.

Author Biography

Alexander TARASENKO, Presently he is a Baptist pastor in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Alexander Tarasenko was born in 1965 in Melitopol, Ukraine. He is a graduate of St.-Petersburg Christian University (BTh, 1998) and the University of South Africa in Pretoria (MTh, 2000). In 1997–2000 he was an editor of the almanac Chronograph. He has taught in various Christian schools in St. Petersburg. Since 1988 his articles have been published in secular periodicals; in addition, he is the author of Jesus and ”the Fulness of Time” (2000) and The Forth Gospel and its Palestinian Context (2010). His main specialisations are the New Testament and the history of Israel in the Second Temple period. Presently he is a Baptist pastor in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic (www.istocnik.cz). He is married.

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THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS #12 (2011)

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TARASENKO, Alexander. 2011. “Jewish Mission in the Second Temple Period: From Circumcision to Education”. Theological Reflections: Eastern European Journal of Theology, no. 12 (May):98-111. http://reflections.eeit-edu.info/article/view/85559.

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No. 12 (2011): Theological Reflections: Euro-Asian Journal of Theology

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