Review

Author(s): Paul S. Minear

Review by: Paul S. Minear
Source: The Classical Weekly, Vol. 37, No. 9 (Dec. 13, 1943), p. 107
Published by: Classical Association of the Atlantic States
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4341834
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CLASSICAL

the list of writerson linguistics;the rest of the books

are on variousphasesof psychology,politicsand economics. On the latter two topics those cited presentthe
author'sown views.
The tendencyrepresentedby these pretentiousworks
will probablycontinue until someone writes a book
with the alluringtitle Semanticsfor the Millions, but
we hope the authorwill not be a college professorbecauLsethat term, for various reasons, is now itself undergoing semantic change.
EDWARD COYLE
MORRIS HIGH SCHOOL, NEW YORK

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

"half-Jewish,half-paganfaith" and in producingthe

"greatand relativelyswift successof Paul."The third
sourceof Christiansuccesswas the bridgewhich Hellenistic Jewishwritershad erectedover the chasm separating Judaismfrom Hellenism, a bridge of ideas and
methodsof persuasionwhich aggressiveapostlesquickly
adopted.The main pillarsin this bridge,each of whiclh
receivcsclose inspection,are Philo and the writersof
Wisdom of Solomon, IV Maccabees, and Sibylline
Oracles.Throughoutthis section,the author'sdescription of conditionsis far moreconvincingthan his all too
facileidentificationof causes.
After brief chapterson literarysourcesand on the
pre-Paulineperiod,fully half of the book is devotedto
the careerand thought of Paul,who is presentedas the
"realfounder"of the new religion.Unstable emotionally, troubled by attacks of epilepsy (one of which
occurredat the time of his conversion),Paul was never
completelyat home in either his first or his second
religion. From first to last, his personalitywas divided
by the strugglebetweenPharisaismand Hellenism.His
achievementsstemmed not from his ethical greatness
but from his uniquemysticism,his talent for organization and his genius for opportunisticadaptability.His
faith was an amalgamof separateideas drawn from
Judaismand Hellenism, although the internalcontradiction was never resolved.He "was firmly rooted in
PharisaicJudaismin spite of himself" even while he
advocatedthe nullificationof the Torah, using "Talmudiccasuistryfor an anti-Talmudicpurpose."Because
of the high regardfor the Old Testament,Christianity
has contributedto the survivalof Judaismin western
culture,but becauseof differentworld-viewsthe two
religionswill never becomereconciled.
The revieweris unableto acceptKlausner'sinterpretation but he is gratefulfor a candid statementof a
modern Jew's attitudes towardearly Christianityand
for a very competenttranslation.
PAUL S. MINEAR
GARRETT BIBLICAL INS rITUTE

Hori Apollinis Hieroglyphica.

tivo.

Saggio introdutEdizione critica del testo e commento. By

FRANCESCO
SBORDONE. lXViii, 226

fredo,Naples (1940).

pages. Luigi Lof-

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

Apion and Chaeremonin the first centuryA.D., to

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Plu-