This volume is devoted to the tense relationship of the early Christian Church with the pagan Roman Empire on the one hand, and Judaism on the other. Chapter I discusses what pagan Graeco-Roman authors had to say about Christianity. Chapter II is about the always tricky subject of Jews and Christians. It is carefully argued what exactly divided them in the first centuries. Next it is studied what Christian authors had to say of Judaism. Chapter III takes up the subject of the Judaizers as a cause of disruption.

Light Against Darkness is comprised of articles that put on display the power and pervasiveness of dualistic thought. Dualism has proved a potent cultural tool for clarifying and ordering reality. Particularly in times of social stress and psychological insecurity, it can offer a valuable conceptual grid that provides orientation to the world and a clear sense of identity. At the same time, though, there are important questions to be asked about the social effects of binary thinking. As history amply illustrates, dualistic notions can readily be deployed to legitimate cultural demonization and to rationalize violence. At a deeper level, a dualist worldview can also obscure the possibilities to be found in multiplicity.The articles in this volume treat Dualism across a wide historical spectrum and from multiple methodological perspectives. The studies are organized around the religious and cultural contexts of Ancient Judaism and they include contributions from leading voices on ancient Persia, Israel, Greece, and Egypt.Experts on modern religious and philosophical thought not only lend context to concepts applied to the ancient world, but engage recent European and American experiments in binary thought. All of the studies contribute to a richer and more complete portrait of dualism in ancient Judaism.