Judeophobia and the New Testament Texts and Contexts Edited by Sarah E. Rollens, Eric M. Vanden Eykel and Meredith J. C. Warren

Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts and Contexts is a timely and incisive contribution to the ongoing discourse surrounding the New Testament’s role in the history of anti-Judaism and Judeophobia. The volume brings together leading voices in biblical studies, Jewish studies, and ancient history to interrogate the intersections between New Testament texts and the socio-political dynamics of Jewish–non-Jewish relations in antiquity and their afterlives in Christian tradition.

The book’s central thesis challenges the traditional Christian assumption that Judeophobia is primarily a post-biblical phenomenon. Instead, the editors and contributors argue that forms of anti-Jewish discourse are already embedded within or provoked by certain New Testament texts, though often in complex and contextually conditioned ways. The volume thus aligns with the broader trajectory of scholarship that has sought to dislodge the artificial separation between “anti-Judaism” as a theological issue and “antisemitism” as a social-political one.

The structure of Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts and Contexts is thoughtfully divided into two main parts, each serving a distinct pedagogical and scholarly purpose. In the first half, readers are introduced to a series of thematic essays that contextualize Judeophobia within the broader socio-political, cultural, and theological milieu of the Greco-Roman world. These contributions provide critical frameworks for understanding how anti-Jewish sentiment operated in antiquity—not merely as isolated prejudice but as part of wider discourses on ethnicity, religion, power, and identity. This volume does a good job demonstrating the ambient hostilities and anxieties that shaped early Christian and non-Christian attitudes toward Jews and Judaism.

The second half of the volume shifts to more text-centered analyses, with essays focused on specific books of the New Testament as well as relevant non-canonical writings. These chapters undertake close readings of texts such as the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John, the Pauline epistles, Acts, and early Christian apocrypha, assessing the ways in which these writings construct and deploy "the Jews" as rhetorical figures. Contributors question not only what the texts say, but how they have historically been interpreted, received, and mobilized—particularly within Christian theological traditions that have contributed to anti-Jewish sentiment and violence.

Running throughout both halves of the volume is a clear and urgent objective: to educate readers about how New Testament texts have been used—both deliberately and inadvertently—to engender, sustain, and legitimize Judeophobia from the earliest phases of Christian identity formation through to contemporary expressions of Christian theology. The volume does not merely catalogue problematic passages or offer a historical survey; it issues a call to responsibility. While the collection is designed with a pedagogical orientation, it simultaneously aims to provoke critical reflection within the field of New Testament studies.

One of the volume’s greatest strengths is its methodological diversity. Historical-critical, rhetorical, postcolonial, and theological approaches are employed alongside close textual analysis, yielding a rich tapestry of interpretive insight. This breadth ensures that the volume is not only a resource for biblical scholars but also a prompt for ecclesial and interreligious reflection. However, the collection is not without tensions. The editors attempt to strike a balance between contextualization and moral critique. Conversely, others err on the side of apologetic caution, hesitant to fully confront the theological complicity of New Testament authors in shaping enduring stereotypes.

A central aim of Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts and Contexts is to confront the enduring theological and hermeneutical legacies of Christian anti-Judaism. The volume issues a direct challenge to New Testament scholars: to reckon with the history of Judeophobic interpretation, to acknowledge the role that biblical scholarship itself has played in perpetuating anti-Jewish tropes and theological frameworks, and to adopt more ethically responsible and historically grounded interpretive strategies.  The contributors collectively recognize that the problem is not limited to a few isolated passages or “difficult texts,” but lies in the broader rhetorical and theological structures through which Christian identity was historically constructed. The strength of the collection lies precisely in its contributors’ refusal to impose a uniform interpretive framework. Instead, they attend closely to the literary, theological, and socio-historical particularities of each text.

All in all, this work is a landmark volume that brings historical clarity and ethical urgency to the study of early Christian texts. It is an essential resource for scholars of Christian origins, Jewish–Christian relations, and anyone concerned with the interpretive legacies of Scripture. The editors and contributors deserve commendation for confronting head-on the uncomfortable questions that the New Testament continues to raise for contemporary faith and scholarship.