Antti Laato, Dr.Theol. (1988) in Old Testament Exegetics, Åbo Akademi University, Finland, is Professor of Old Testament Exegetics and Judaic Studies at Åbo Akademi University. He has published extensively on the Old Testament, as well as Jewish Messianic beliefs. He is co-editor of Theodicy in the World of the Bible (Brill 2003) and main editor of the series Studies in the Rewritten Bible (Eisenbauns).Pekka Lindqvist, Dr. Theol. (2006) in Judaic Studies, Åbo Akademi University, Finland, is a teacher and post-doctoral research fellow in Exegetics and Judaic Studies at Åbo Akademi University. He has published a monograph Sin at Sinai(/i> (Eisenbrauns 2008) and is currently working on a text book in Finnish on early Jewish texts.

• NTRODUCTION Antti Laato and Pekka LindqvistPART ONEINTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE—THEORETICAL VIEWPOINTS THE REALM OF THE BETWEEN Ruth IllmanBASIC OF THEOLOGY OF RELIGION Hans-Olof KvistPART TWOBIBLICAL INTERPRETATION AND ITS IMPACTS RIGHT TO LIFE AND JEWISH-CHRISTIAN ETHICS IN THE ROMAN WORLD: A CASE STUDY OF THE FIGHTING MEN AND THE UNHAPPY BIRTH Erkki Koskenniemi“BROTHER ESAU?” ESAU IN RABBINIC MIDRASH Gerhard LangerPART THREEENCOUNTERS AND CONFRONTATIONS BETWEEN THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM IN LATE ANTIQUITY JUSTIN MARTYR ENCOUNTERS JUDAISM Antti LaatoRABBINIC LITERATURE AND CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES Jacob NeusnerRABBINIC REACTIONS TO THE CHRISTIANIZATION OF ROMAN PALESTINE. A SURVEY OF RECENT RESEARCH Gunter StembergerLESS ANTAGONISTIC NUANCES IN THE EARLY JEWISH ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHRISTIANITY Pekka LindqvistPART FOURENCOUNTERS AND CONFRONTATIONS BETWEEN THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM IN THE MIDDLE AGE THE OPEN AND CLOSED IN EARLY MUSLIM SOCIETY David ThomasPALACE OF HISHAM AND 8TH CENTURY ICONOCLASM Mikko LouhivuoriTHE TRANSMISSION OF LATE ANTIQUE CULTURE INTO ISLAMIC CULTUREJaakko Hameen-AnttilaTHE CONNECTION BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND JEWS IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES Mariano Gomez ArandaON THE INFUSION OF PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS INTO THE MEDIEVAL JEWISH CULTUREHannu ToyrylaMYSTICAL ENCOUNTERS: JEWISH, CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM MYSTICS IN 13TH-14TH CENTURY SPAINFelicia WaldmanPART FIVECULTURAL ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN CHILDEN OF ABRAHAM IN MODERN TIMESMISSION AMONG JEWS AND MUSLIMS IN MAHABAD. STRATEGIES OF THE GERMAN ORIENT MISSION IN IRAN Martin TamckeABRAHAM: CONFLICTING INTERPRETATION AND SYMBOL OF PEACEFUL COOPERATIONPim Valkenberg