Language:
English
Year of publication:
1998
Titel der Quelle:
Harvard Theological Review
Angaben zur Quelle:
91,4 (1998) 351-372
Keywords:
Melito,
;
Christianity and antisemitism History To 1500
;
Christianity and other religions Judaism
;
Passover
Abstract:
Most scholars have attributed the homily "Peri Pascha" to Melito, a 2nd-century Quartodeciman bishop of Sardis, mentioned in Eusebius, and regarded it as an anti-Jewish work. The discovery of the magnificent synagogue during the excavations in Sardis in 1958-75 seemingly substantiates the hypothesis that the large Jewish community in Sardis was the target of the homily. No historical evidence, however, and nothing in the homily itself confirms the assumptions either that Melito of Sardis was the author of "Peri Pascha", or that there was a big Jewish community in Sardis in his time, or that "Israel" referred to in the homily means Jews. More likely, the homily reflects an intra-Christian controversy (most probably part of the anti-Marcionite polemics), and "Israel", denounced by the unknown author, is an image invented by him for rhetorical purposes.
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