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Resource reviews

Two Nations in Your Womb
Jacob Israel Yuval
$58.95 from Powell's

"Two Nations in Your Womb" examines the Jewish-Christian relationship in the Middle Ages, and Yuval evidence that challenges the previous assumptions that Christians had the first polemic texts, and uses his evidence to support a sister relationship, with each religion developing out of influences from the other. Yuval explains the blood sacrifice rituals, differentiating views of redemption, and relative isolation of Jews to prove the sister relationship.

Yuval's work is important because it builds off of historical evidence to put the polemical arguments in context. If you've heard arguments about the foundation of the Jewish-Christian relationship, and you're curious about how the arguments came about and why they are still relevant, I recommend you take into consideration Yuval's arguments. It challenges previous academic assumptions that Christians dominated the polemical debate, and confronts difficult historical issues such as the blood libel, which made the work particularly controversial.

Yuval's work could be used as a background resource for a wider discussion about the influence of polemics, accompanied with an examination of modern polemics and how they are regarded. The sister model of the Jewish Christian relationship is important because many people can argue that the sister relationship is continuing to be built, based upon our own relationships with other faiths. I read the book in a class on Jewish-Christian relations, and the foundation the book provided us with allowed us to confidently debate current issues such as Jewish-Christian ideas on inter-marriage, homosexual rights, and contemporary tolerance.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in better understanding how the Jewish-Christian debate was framed in the Middle Ages, and how this affects the relationship today.

Reviewed by: Meredith Jackson, University of California, Davis
Posted: May 1, 2007

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		Resource reviews Two Nations in Your Womb Jacob Israel Yuval $58.95 from Powell's "Two Nations in Your Womb" examines the Jewish-Christian relationship in the Middle Ages, and Yuval evidence that challenges the previous assumptions that Christians had the first polemic texts, and uses his evidence to support a sister relationship, with each religion developing out of influences from the other. Yuval explains the blood sacrifice rituals, differentiating views of redemption, and relative isolation of Jews to prove the sister relationship. Yuval's work is important because it builds off of historical evidence to put the polemical arguments in context. If you've heard arguments about the foundation of the Jewish-Christian relationship, and you're curious about how the arguments came about and why they are still relevant, I recommend you take into consideration Yuval's arguments. It challenges previous academic assumptions that Christians dominated the polemical debate, and confronts difficult historical issues such as the blood libel, which made the work particularly controversial. Yuval's work could be used as a background resource for a wider discussion about the influence of polemics, accompanied with an examination of modern polemics and how they are regarded. The sister model of the Jewish Christian relationship is important because many people can argue that the sister relationship is continuing to be built, based upon our own relationships with other faiths. I read the book in a class on Jewish-Christian relations, and the foundation the book provided us with allowed us to confidently debate current issues such as Jewish-Christian ideas on inter-marriage, homosexual rights, and contemporary tolerance. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in better understanding how the Jewish-Christian debate was framed in the Middle Ages, and how this affects the relationship today. Reviewed by: Meredith Jackson, University of California, Davis Posted: May 1, 2007 Was this review or resource helpful to you? We want to know what you think. Send your comments on this review or on this material to blyons@helmdisciples.org. Your comments will be posted on this page.