Montefiore Lecture | ‘Sectarian’ Judaism of the Second Temple Period: A Reappraisal Event

It has become commonplace in scholarship to refer to Judaism in the Second Temple Period as ‘sectarian’. The assumption is that there were numerous sects each individually offering their own distinctive way of interpreting law and praxis (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, ‘Zealots’, Christians, Qumran covenanters, Baptist followers, and so on). But how accurate is the term ‘sect’ for the groups in question? In this lecture, the origins of the contemporary idea of ‘sectarian’ Judaism will be investigated, and the evidence will be considered anew in the light of Judaean national politics from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE.

This lecture will be chaired by Sarah Pearce and Helen Spurling.

Please note that this event is now online only, and not hybrid as previously advertised.

About the Speaker

Joan Taylor is Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at King’s College London, and has recently been appointed also as Honorary Professor at Australian Catholic University, Melbourne. Among her numerous publications, she is author of The Immerser: John the Baptist within Second Temple Judaism (1997). Jewish Women Philosophers of First-Century Alexandria: Philo’s ‘Therapeutae’ Reconsidered (2003), The Essenes, the Scrolls and the Dead Sea (2012) and, with David Hay, Philo of Alexandria, On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020).