Contesting Conversion

• Posits the controversial thesis that ancient Jews, unlike most modern religions, did not believe it possible for outsiders to convert to 'Judaism'
• Argues that some Jews in the late Second Temple period continued to define Jewishness in strictly genealogical terms

Readership: Scholars of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, early Judaism, and New Testament

Matthew Thiessen, Senior Lecturer in New Testament, College of Emmanuel and St. Chad and Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon Theological Union

Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the College of Emmanuel and St. Chad in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I: Genealogy and Circumcision in the Hebrew Bible
Chapter 1: Ishmael, Isaac, and Covenantal Circumcision in Genesis 17
Chapter 2: Uncircumcised and Circumcised Gentiles in the Hebrew Bible
Part II: Genealogy and Circumcision in Early Judaism and Christianity
Chapter 3: Eighth-Day Circumcision in Jubilees
Chapter 4: Jewishness as Genealogy in the Late Second Temple Period
Chapter 5: Jews, Gentiles, and Circumcision in Early Christianity
Conclusion
Bibliography