In this historical and theological study, John G. Gager undermines the
myth of the Apostle Paul's rejection of Judaism, conversion to
Christianity, and founding of Christian anti-Judaism. He finds that the
rise of Christianity occurred well after Paul's death and attributes the
distortion of the Apostle's views to early and later Christians.
Though Christian clerical elites ascribed a rejection-replacement
theology to Paul's legend, Gager shows that the Apostle was considered a
loyal Jew by many of his Jesus-believing contemporaries and that later
Jewish and Muslim thinkers held the same view. He holds that one of the
earliest misinterpretations of Paul was to name him the founder of
Christianity, and in recent times numerous Jewish and Christian readers
of Paul have moved beyond this understanding.
Gager also finds that Judaism did not fade away after Paul's death but
continued to appeal to both Christians and pagans for centuries. Jewish
synagogues remained important religious and social institutions
throughout the Mediterranean world. Making use of all possible literary
and archaeological sources, including Muslim texts, Gager helps recover
the long pre-history of a Jewish Paul, obscured by recent, negative
portrayals of the Apostle, and recognizes the enduring bond between Jews
and Christians that has influenced all aspects of Christianity.