Leo D. Sandgren
Adjunct Assistant Professorr
Ph.D. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Judaism, Christian Origins, Historical Fiction

Office: 131 Anderson Hall
Phone: (352) 392-1625
Email: sandgren@religion.ufl.edu

Leo Sandgren wrote his doctoral dissertation entitled “We have no King but Caesar: Jewish Legitimation of Roman Rule from Judas Maccabeus to Judah Ha-Nasi (165 BCE - 235 CE),” dealing with the Jewish acceptance of Roman rule while retaining the theocratic nature of Judaism during Second Temple and early rabbinic Judaism. His recent book, The Shadow of God: Stories from Early Judaism (2003), covers six centuries of Jewish history, from the Babylonian exile to the destruction of the Second Temple, in fifteen stores each centered on a historical event. Currently he is revising his dissertation for publication, and working on a companion volume to The Shadow of God covering the Ancient Near East and the history of ancient Israel.