Reflections on Talmudic Exegesis of Scripture and Christianity
Issue 169 · 1994
This article by Anna Iampolskaia offers a study of the Talmudic exegesis of Scripture considered in its relationship to Christianity. Adopting both an analytical and comparative approach, the author examines several discussions between Talmudic masters — notably Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua — concerning the themes of Deliverance, repentance, and the messianic advent. The central idea is that the very form of Talmudic discussion, grounded in the irreducible plurality of viewpoints, constitutes a foreshadowing of the Christian antinomic thought as expressed in the apostle Paul and in dogmatic theology. The article's contribution is twofold: it offers an internal reading of the Midrash that is respectful of its own paradigm, and then shows, drawing on the mystical theology of the Eastern Church, how these texts involuntarily bear witness to the mystery of the crucified Christ and of universal Deliverance.
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