Editorial. The Messiah in history / Seán Freyne -- I. Biblical. Did Israel need the Messiah? / Wim Beuken -- Palestinian Jewish groups and their messiahs in late second temple times / Richard Horsley -- The early Christians and Jewish messianic ideas / Seán Freyne -- II. Historical. When did Judaism become a messianic religion? / Jacob Neusner -- Messianism between reason and
delusion: Maimonides and the Messiah / Marcel Poorthuis -- The messianism of Shabbetai Zevi and Jewish mysticism / Marcus van Loopik -- Messianic ideals in the German reformation / Helga Robinson-Hammerstein --III. Some contemporary implications. Marx's messianic faith / Alistair Kee -- Messiahs and messianisms: reflections from El Salvador / Jon Sobrino -- Christology and
Jewish-Christian relations / Rosemary Radford Ruether -- Special column. The Church as communion / Jürgen Moltmann.