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In the first full-length study of the circumcision of Jesus, Andrew S. Jacobs turns to an unexpected symbol—the stereotypical mark of the Jewish covenant on the body of the Christian savior—to explore how and why we think about difference and identity in early Christianity.
Jacobs explores the subject of Christ's circumcision in texts dating from the first through seventh centuries of the Common Era. Using a diverse toolkit of approaches, including the psychoanalytic, postcolonial, and poststructuralist, he posits that while seeming to desire fixed borders and a clear distinction between self (Christian) and other (Jew, pagan, and heretic), early Christians consistently blurred and destabilized their own religious boundaries. He further argues that in this doubled approach to others, Christians mimicked the imperial discourse of the Roman Empire, which exerted its power through the management, not the erasure, of difference.
For Jacobs, the circumcision of Christ vividly illustrates a deep-seated Christian duality: the fear of and longing for an other, at once reviled and internalized. From his earliest appearance in the Gospel of Luke to the full-blown Feast of the Divine Circumcision in the medieval period, Christ circumcised represents a new way of imagining Christians and their creation of a new religious culture.
Andrew S. Jacobs is Associate Professor and Chair of the Religious Studies department at Scripps College and the author of Remains of the Jews.
"This book is a tour de force in demonstrating how varieties of theory can enable fresh readings and understanding of old problems, namely orthodoxy and heresy or the relation of Judaism and Christianity."—J. Rebecca Lyman, Church Divinity School of the Pacific
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Christ Circumcised
DIVINATIONS: REREADING LATE ANCIENT RELIGION Series Editors: Daniel Boyarin, Virginia Burrus, Derek Krueger A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher.
Christ Circumcised A Study in Early Christian History and Difference
Andrew S. Jacobs
un i ve r sit y o f penns y lva ni a p res s phil ad e lph ia
Copyright © 2012 University of Pennsylvania Press All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher. Published by University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104–4112 www.upenn.edu/pennpress
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jacobs, Andrew S. Christ circumcised : a study in early Christian history and difference / Andrew S. Jacobs. p. cm. — (Divinations : rereading late ancient religion) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8122-4397-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Jesus Christ—Circumcision. 2. Church history—Primitive and early church, ca. 30−600. I. Title. II. Series: Divinations. BT318.5.J33 2012 232.92—dc23 2011043922
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Copyright © 2012 University of Pennsylvania Press All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher. Published by University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104–4112 www.upenn.edu/pennpress
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jacobs, Andrew S. Christ circumcised : a study in early Christian histor