Paul, James, Qumran, and the Broader Jewish Society

Dr. Serge Ruzer is a Senior Research Fellow and professor of comparative religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research focuses on reading the texts of the Jesus movement in comparison with the Dead Sea Scrolls and other contemporary Jewish writings. Many of his fundamental arguments about trends in first-century Jewish interpretation have been presented in his book Mapping the New Testament: Early Christian Writings as a Witness for Jewish Biblical Exegesis. Recently he co-edited (with Hans-Jürgen Becker) a collection entitled The "Sermon on the Mount" and Its Jewish Setting. In this interview with Dr. Yeshaya Gruber of the Israel Bible Center, Dr. Ruzer explores the concepts of freedom, Torah, circumcision, and redemption in Jewish thought of the late Second Temple Period, as well as the uniqueness of Syriac Christian and Jewish interpretations that subsequently developed in the Persian Zoroastrian context.