Notes on Alan Segal's Two Powers in Heaven : Early Rabbinic Reports about Christianity and Gnosticism
Introductory Post- 9/9/2024
This is a scholarly work that explores how early Jewish and rabbinic thought addressed the challenges posed by Christian and Gnostic beliefs. The book examines the concept of "two powers" in heaven, which was seen as heretical within Jewish tradition. Segal investigates how this idea was perceived and refuted in early rabbinic literature, connecting it to developments in early Christianity and Gnosticism.
Segal's work is influential in the study of ancient Judaism, especially in how it contextualizes Jewish monotheism in relation to theological debates and emerging sects in the first centuries of the Common Era. It highlights how Jewish thinkers responded to what they saw as the theological threat of dualism, which could be interpreted as undermining the strict monotheism of Jewish belief.
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Detailed note to follow