ABSTRACT
At the centre of this chapter is the investigation of the discussion of neo-Pietist theologians (such as Tholuck, Otto von Gerlach, and Hengstenberg) about Jews and Judaism. It shows an evident change in the conceptualization of Jews which appears to intensify some of the features attributed to Jews and Judaism by the earlier Pietists. Following the works of these theologians, one notes that they do not conceive of Jewish religious texts in a mere theological sense. Rather, their exegesis of the Bible and other Jewish writings portray Judaism as the original model of peoplehood. Jewish religious laws and culture make Jews into a particular nation, despite periods of degeneration, that is unable to assimilate. The chapter also demonstrates how neo-Pietist theological interpretations trace the origins of the Jews as a people, constituting a nation since the exodus from Egypt, after which they realized their exclusive belonging to God. At the same time, it does not overlook a certain anti-Jewish dimension of their work. It provides, therefore, the theoretical theological platform for the Jews’ designation as a nation in the more modern sense as well and in contrast to (and some similarities with) the Pietist ideal of the Christian state.
