The Oberammergau Passion Play: A Lance Against Civilization

Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1984. Cloth, xix, 270 pages, [9] pages of plates, illustrations; 23 cm. Near fine. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Top edge lightly soiled. Dust jacket, with light shelfwear, protected in a mylar cover."People of Oberammergau have re ceived highest praise for their fidelity through 350 years. But Friedman asks questions that must be addressed: 'Can the traditional text be reconciled with the Gospels? Does the play generate harmful, stereotypic images of Jews? Is the Passion truly a "hymn of reconciliation" or is it, as Nietzsche said of Wagner's Meistersinger, a "lance against civilization'? / Saul Friedman is Professor of Near East and Jewish History at Youngstown State University." - Publisher. CONTENTS: Foreword, by Emil Fackenheim; New Testament roots of Christian anti-Semitism, by Judson Shaver; The way to Oberammergau; The origins of the Passion; The Daisenberger Passion; Guidelines rejected: a new covenant; History ignored: the Sanhedrin and Pilate; Hymn of reconciliation or an anti-Semitic play?; The impact of anti-Semitism; The tercentenary: the Passion play as Nazi propaganda; The 1950 revival; Profit from the Passion; The Rosner option; A contemporary Passion?. 1st. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo.