The Jewish Messiah–​Christian Messiah Distinction

Gershom Scholem is perhaps its best-known modern proponent, but the essentializing distinction between the Jewish messiah (earthly, political, delivers from oppression) and the Christian messiah (heavenly, spiritual, delivers from sin) goes back as far as Justin Martyr. In this chapter it is argued that this familiar and influential distinction is fatally undermined by counterexamples on the one side as well as the other. Many Jewish messiah texts bend the messiah myth to accommodate contingent historical developments and persons, while many Christian messiah texts obstinately maintain utopian aspects of the messiah myth despite their nonfulfillment in the career of Jesus. It is argued, furthermore, that the enormous popularity of the Jewish messiah–Christian messiah distinction has always been a result, in large part, of its rhetorical utility for religious self-definition and interreligious dialogue.