Marshall SMCJC 1997

This is a book review of a 1994 book by Anthony J. Saldarini (Saldarini MCJC 1994).

According to Marshall, Saldarini attempts to integrate contemporary social theory concerning identification of deviant sub-groups with the interpretation of the gospel of Matthew. He takes the view that the Matthean community was a sub-group of Judaism that reserved the right to remain Jewish and yet interpret the Hebrew scriptures with a view of the role and person of Jesus of Nazareth, along with their desire to influence Judaism. Although not successful with this aspect, Saldarini sees the "accidental" success of Christianity as what actually occurred but was not the intention of the Matthean community.

Marshall claims that basically Saldarini's analysis is "unremarkable" but what he finds "refreshing" is that Saldarini takes what other scholars have found in Matthew as signs of anti-Jewishness and interprets them as the Matthean community's own new way of interpreting its own Jewishness as believers in Jesus. Marshall declares that Saldarini enlarges the definition of Judaism in order to make his theory work, and in essence in claiming for a Christian-Jewish instead of a Jewish-Christian Matthean community, which Marshall thinks would work better if Saldarini maybe just dropped the "Christian" part since he seems to think is anachronistic anyway. All in all however, Marshall thinks Saldarini justs doesn't pursue this work thorough enough to suit him.