Why Did Paul Go West?: Jewish Historical Narrative and Thought

‘While Professor Doron Mendels’ book Why did Paul go West? focuses on the Hellenistic period, its great interest lies not only in its investigation of the ancient world, but above all in the way in which this investigation is made fruitful for an understanding of current historical and political realities. Indeed, the originality of its contribution is found both in what Doron Mendels terms a ‘polyphonic reading’ of I Maccabees, revealing Hellenistic practices of remembering and reconfiguring (at times subverting) the past, and also in its groundbreaking examination of the deeper implications of this biblical text for an understanding of the modern conception of ‘political theology.’ Professor Mendels brilliantly demonstrates how the Hellenistic context of Jewish history, in which God and the prophets no longer seemed to guide the people, clearly foreshadows what 20th century political theory has termed a political “state of exception”, thus raising the problem of sovereignty in a way that has lost nothing of its significance for our contemporary world.’ — Professor Jeffrey Andrew Barash, University Of Picardie, Amiens, France.

‘Professor Mendels – a prolific scholar of early Judaism and perceptive contributor with new theoretical insights on ancient history – provocatively challenges the Judaism-Hellenism dualism. In recent decades it has been intellectual fashion to deconstruct the time-honoured Judaism-Hellenism dichotomy and to assert that all forms of early Judaism simultaneously were part and parcel of Hellenism. Mendels dissolves the absolute nature of the argument by highlighting the vast differences in terms of Hellenistic influence that existed between various forms of Judaism in the Western and Eastern part of the Roman Empire. The discussion is brought considerably further by nuanced reinstallation of former scholarship’s dualism.’ —Professor Anders Klostergaard Petersen, Aarhus University, Denmark.