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Classical Association of the Atlantic States is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Classical
Weekly.
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CLASSICAL
From Jesus to Paul. By JOSEPH KLAUSNER. Translated from the Hebrewby WILLIAM F. STINESPRING.
xvi, 624 pages. Macmillan,New York I943 $3.50
In the Talmud, Jewish rabbis took more notice of
Jesusthan of Paul. In like mannerand perhapsfor like
reasons,modernJewishscholarshave devotedmore attention to the Nazarene prophetthan to the Tarsian
apostle. The greaterappreciationfor Jesus as a representativeof first-centuryJudaismcan be readilyunderstood, as can also the greater fruitfulnessof Jewish
studiesin the areaof gospelresearch.The currentyea:
is noteworthy,therefore,in the appearance
of two books
by Jewishauthorsdealingprimarilywith the studentof
Gamaliel: Sholem Asch's The Apostle and this fullscale reconstructionby Klausner.
As the title indicates,this volumeis a sequelto Professor Klausner'sJesus of Nazareth, a first-ratebiography.The pictureof Jesusgiven there is reaffirmed:
Jesusproclaimed,to Jewsonly, the comingof the kingdom, calling them to fulfill the whole Law as the sole
conditionon which the Days of the Messiahcould be
realized. This was "completely Jewish, prophetic,
Pharisaicteaching";the only distinctionwas a double
extremism;an overemphasisupon radicalethical demands,and a misplacedclaim of specialrelationshipto
deity. But this extremismdoes not explainthe riseof a
separatereligion. For that explanationother causes
must be located, which Dr. Klausnerfinds by sociologicalanalysisof environmentalconditions.
Almost half of the book, and the morevaluablehalf,
is devoted to the descriptionof three "fundamental
causes"for the rise of Christianity.The firstis the dispersionof uprootedJewsinto economicallyinsecureand
emotionallyunstablecommunities,with a half-assimilated fringe of proselytesand god-fearers."Pauland his
Christianitywerebuilt out of the ruinsof the uprooted
Judaism of the Diaspora."The spiritual conditions
among the Gentilesfumished the second cause of the
emergenceof the new religion.The unity of the Empire, the lofty idealsof the philosophers(especiallythe
Stoics), and the spiritualhungerfor mysticaland sacramental salvationas cultivatedby the mystery religions
-all these were influentialin shapingChristianityas a
107
WEEKLY
FRANCESCO
SBORDONE. lXViii, 226
fredo,Naples (1940).
8o L.
A critical edition of Horapollo, with detailed commentary by a competent editor, ilas long been a desideratum. Sbordone has admirably filled this gap in
the working apparatus of the historian of ideas. In a
long introduction he deals exhaustively with Horapollo
and his place in history, with the date and character
of his work, with extant manuscripts and their filiation.
In interesting pages he traces the development of the
curious school of ?vntoAo'yot from the Pythagorean
Bolus of Mendes in the second century .c., through
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Plu-