Christine Hayes
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691165196
- eISBN:
- 9781400866410
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691165196.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In the thousand years before the rise of Islam, two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. ...
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In the thousand years before the rise of Islam, two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. This book untangles the classical and biblical roots of the Western idea of divine law and shows how early adherents to biblical tradition—Hellenistic Jewish writers such as Philo, the community at Qumran, Paul, and the talmudic rabbis—struggled to make sense of this conflicting legacy. This book shows that for the ancient Greeks, divine law was divine by virtue of its inherent qualities of intrinsic rationality, truth, universality, and immutability, while for the biblical authors, divine law was divine because it was grounded in revelation with no presumption of rationality, conformity to truth, universality, or immutability. The book describes the collision of these opposing conceptions in the Hellenistic period, and details competing attempts to resolve the resulting cognitive dissonance. It shows how Second Temple and Hellenistic Jewish writers, from the author of 1 Enoch to Philo of Alexandria, were engaged in a common project of bridging the gulf between classical and biblical notions of divine law, while Paul, in his letters to the early Christian church, sought to widen it. The book then delves into the literature of classical rabbinic Judaism to reveal how the talmudic rabbis took a third and scandalous path, insisting on a construction of divine law intentionally at odds with the Greco-Roman and Pauline conceptions that would come to dominate the Christianized West. This book sheds critical light on an ancient debate that would shape foundational Western thought, and that continues to inform contemporary views about the nature and purpose of law and the nature and authority of Scripture.Less
In the thousand years before the rise of Islam, two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. This book untangles the classical and biblical roots of the Western idea of divine law and shows how early adherents to biblical tradition—Hellenistic Jewish writers such as Philo, the community at Qumran, Paul, and the talmudic rabbis—struggled to make sense of this conflicting legacy. This book shows that for the ancient Greeks, divine law was divine by virtue of its inherent qualities of intrinsic rationality, truth, universality, and immutability, while for the biblical authors, divine law was divine because it was grounded in revelation with no presumption of rationality, conformity to truth, universality, or immutability. The book describes the collision of these opposing conceptions in the Hellenistic period, and details competing attempts to resolve the resulting cognitive dissonance. It shows how Second Temple and Hellenistic Jewish writers, from the author of 1 Enoch to Philo of Alexandria, were engaged in a common project of bridging the gulf between classical and biblical notions of divine law, while Paul, in his letters to the early Christian church, sought to widen it. The book then delves into the literature of classical rabbinic Judaism to reveal how the talmudic rabbis took a third and scandalous path, insisting on a construction of divine law intentionally at odds with the Greco-Roman and Pauline conceptions that would come to dominate the Christianized West. This book sheds critical light on an ancient debate that would shape foundational Western thought, and that continues to inform contemporary views about the nature and purpose of law and the nature and authority of Scripture.
Owen White and J. P. Daughton
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195396447
- eISBN:
- 9780199979318
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195396447.003.0000
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion, World Modern History
This introductory chapter assesses the way in which religious missionaries have been dealt with—and often ignored—in the historiography of modern French colonialism. Missionaries defy many of the ...
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This introductory chapter assesses the way in which religious missionaries have been dealt with—and often ignored—in the historiography of modern French colonialism. Missionaries defy many of the categories commonly used to study the history of empires. Religious workers complicate concepts like modernity, nationalism, and even empire since they regularly portrayed themselves as inheritors of a biblical tradition of evangelizing across national and imperial borders for the greater glory of God. The myriad struggles created by missionary work in the age of secular empires only became accentuated with the rise of anticolonialism and national independence movements in the wake of the Second World War.Less
This introductory chapter assesses the way in which religious missionaries have been dealt with—and often ignored—in the historiography of modern French colonialism. Missionaries defy many of the categories commonly used to study the history of empires. Religious workers complicate concepts like modernity, nationalism, and even empire since they regularly portrayed themselves as inheritors of a biblical tradition of evangelizing across national and imperial borders for the greater glory of God. The myriad struggles created by missionary work in the age of secular empires only became accentuated with the rise of anticolonialism and national independence movements in the wake of the Second World War.
G. Kratz Reinhard
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198728771
- eISBN:
- 9780191795503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198728771.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Judaism
This chapter provides a sketch of the literary history of the Hebrew Bible with the narrative tradition in Genesis–Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah as the most conducive guideline for both ...
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This chapter provides a sketch of the literary history of the Hebrew Bible with the narrative tradition in Genesis–Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah as the most conducive guideline for both relative and absolute chronologies. The outline therefore combines and synthesizes Parts A (history) and B (tradition), thus structured according to the most distinctive caesura and significant epochs in the history of Israel and Judah. The chapter begins with the distinction between historical and biblical Israel and further relates the history of the biblical tradition and its changing picture of “Israel” with the course of Israelite and Judahite history in the era of the two kingdoms, after the end of Israel (722 BCE) and of Judah (597/587 BCE), and in the era of the two provinces, concluding with an extensive view of the para-biblical tradition in the Hellenistic–Roman period.Less
This chapter provides a sketch of the literary history of the Hebrew Bible with the narrative tradition in Genesis–Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah as the most conducive guideline for both relative and absolute chronologies. The outline therefore combines and synthesizes Parts A (history) and B (tradition), thus structured according to the most distinctive caesura and significant epochs in the history of Israel and Judah. The chapter begins with the distinction between historical and biblical Israel and further relates the history of the biblical tradition and its changing picture of “Israel” with the course of Israelite and Judahite history in the era of the two kingdoms, after the end of Israel (722 BCE) and of Judah (597/587 BCE), and in the era of the two provinces, concluding with an extensive view of the para-biblical tradition in the Hellenistic–Roman period.
Michael C. Legaspi
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190885120
- eISBN:
- 9780190885151
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190885120.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Early Christian Studies
This is a book about wisdom. It is an inquiry into the beginnings of a particular way of thinking about life in the world. Seen in terms of wisdom, the world is not a meaningless array of ...
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This is a book about wisdom. It is an inquiry into the beginnings of a particular way of thinking about life in the world. Seen in terms of wisdom, the world is not a meaningless array of disconnected things but something that is experienced as an ordered reality. This holistic way of understanding life in the world characterized pursuits of wisdom in a two-sided classical and biblical tradition that exercised a profound influence on Western culture. This book examines the development of that tradition in a wide range of texts from Homer to Plato and in the writings of early Jewish and Christian authors.Less
This is a book about wisdom. It is an inquiry into the beginnings of a particular way of thinking about life in the world. Seen in terms of wisdom, the world is not a meaningless array of disconnected things but something that is experienced as an ordered reality. This holistic way of understanding life in the world characterized pursuits of wisdom in a two-sided classical and biblical tradition that exercised a profound influence on Western culture. This book examines the development of that tradition in a wide range of texts from Homer to Plato and in the writings of early Jewish and Christian authors.
Alejandro Nava
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520293533
- eISBN:
- 9780520966758
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520293533.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book explores the meaning of “soul” in sacred and profane incarnations, from its biblical origins to its central place in the rich traditions of black and Latin history. Surveying the work of ...
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This book explores the meaning of “soul” in sacred and profane incarnations, from its biblical origins to its central place in the rich traditions of black and Latin history. Surveying the work of writers, artists, poets, musicians, philosophers, and theologians, the book shows how their understandings of the “soul” revolve around narratives of justice, liberation, and spiritual redemption. The book contends that biblical traditions and hip-hop emerged out of experiences of dispossession and oppression. Whether born in the ghettos of America or of the Roman Empire, hip-hop and Christianity have endured by giving voice to the persecuted. This book offers a view of soul in living color, as a breathing, suffering, dreaming thing.Less
This book explores the meaning of “soul” in sacred and profane incarnations, from its biblical origins to its central place in the rich traditions of black and Latin history. Surveying the work of writers, artists, poets, musicians, philosophers, and theologians, the book shows how their understandings of the “soul” revolve around narratives of justice, liberation, and spiritual redemption. The book contends that biblical traditions and hip-hop emerged out of experiences of dispossession and oppression. Whether born in the ghettos of America or of the Roman Empire, hip-hop and Christianity have endured by giving voice to the persecuted. This book offers a view of soul in living color, as a breathing, suffering, dreaming thing.
Katell Berthelot
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780691199290
- eISBN:
- 9780691220420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691199290.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
This chapter investigates how biblical traditions emerged partly as responses to imperial domination and ideology. It refers to a dialectic of opposition and rejection and imitation or mimesis in the ...
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This chapter investigates how biblical traditions emerged partly as responses to imperial domination and ideology. It refers to a dialectic of opposition and rejection and imitation or mimesis in the Book of Isaiah or Deuteronomy. It also covers ancient authors who elaborated fantasies of Israel's universal rule over the nations at the end of days, which run from the writings of the prophets through apocalyptic texts and late Talmudic accounts. The chapter looks at some cases of mimesis that are in fact examples of mimicry, implying derision or subversion of the dominant model, instances of acculturation, unintended reproduction of the dominant power's norms. A recurring feature of Israelite, Judean, or Jewish attitudes toward empires is their complexity as they cannot be reduced to a dichotomous, oppositional discourse.Less
This chapter investigates how biblical traditions emerged partly as responses to imperial domination and ideology. It refers to a dialectic of opposition and rejection and imitation or mimesis in the Book of Isaiah or Deuteronomy. It also covers ancient authors who elaborated fantasies of Israel's universal rule over the nations at the end of days, which run from the writings of the prophets through apocalyptic texts and late Talmudic accounts. The chapter looks at some cases of mimesis that are in fact examples of mimicry, implying derision or subversion of the dominant model, instances of acculturation, unintended reproduction of the dominant power's norms. A recurring feature of Israelite, Judean, or Jewish attitudes toward empires is their complexity as they cannot be reduced to a dichotomous, oppositional discourse.
G. Kratz Reinhard
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198728771
- eISBN:
- 9780191795503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198728771.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Judaism
This chapter focuses on the transition and transformation of the relicts of scribal culture in Israel and Judah into biblical literature and tradition. The terms “transition” and “transformation” ...
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This chapter focuses on the transition and transformation of the relicts of scribal culture in Israel and Judah into biblical literature and tradition. The terms “transition” and “transformation” signify the fundamental change and interpretative dynamics experienced by the sources of scribal culture in the process of their becoming specifically “biblical” literature. “Theologization” serves as a preliminary designation for this process of transition and transformation, which continued in an extensive, long-lasting process of interpretation and revision (Fortschreibung) of the biblical writings. This process did not begin simultaneously in all the various domains of tradition but developed quite differently in chronology and content alike. The chapter follows the main areas of biblical tradition and treats—in this order—the growth of the prophetic, narrative, legislative, psalmic, and sapiential literature.Less
This chapter focuses on the transition and transformation of the relicts of scribal culture in Israel and Judah into biblical literature and tradition. The terms “transition” and “transformation” signify the fundamental change and interpretative dynamics experienced by the sources of scribal culture in the process of their becoming specifically “biblical” literature. “Theologization” serves as a preliminary designation for this process of transition and transformation, which continued in an extensive, long-lasting process of interpretation and revision (Fortschreibung) of the biblical writings. This process did not begin simultaneously in all the various domains of tradition but developed quite differently in chronology and content alike. The chapter follows the main areas of biblical tradition and treats—in this order—the growth of the prophetic, narrative, legislative, psalmic, and sapiential literature.
Marek Tuszewicki
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906764982
- eISBN:
- 9781800853027
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906764982.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter discusses the treatment of medical matters in the Biblical and Talmudic tradition. It talks about the way in which the holy books, as well as the midrashic, ethical, and kabbalistic ...
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This chapter discusses the treatment of medical matters in the Biblical and Talmudic tradition. It talks about the way in which the holy books, as well as the midrashic, ethical, and kabbalistic literature based on them, influenced curative practices in Jewish society. Among the many customs of Jewish society, there are many examples of instrumental treatment of books. The Bible and Talmud created a system of laws regulating all aspects of a Jew's life, and contained many detailed pronouncements on health-related issues, including physical cleanliness, procedures designed to help maintain physical health, and the correct diet. So many and such varied matters were regulated in various places scattered throughout the extensive treatises and chapters that it seemed impossible to know them all fully. Assistance was at hand in the form of the halakhic codes but the rabbinic authorities of Ashkenaz discouraged study of halakhic matters from sources other than those written in Hebrew as they did not trust translations. The wealth of Bible-related resources grew larger the further one departed from a literal interpretation of words and quotations. The Bible constituted a boundless reservoir of quotes which might be used in conjurations against illnesses or on amulets. These were seen not only as guidance for action, but also as integral elements of sorcery.Less
This chapter discusses the treatment of medical matters in the Biblical and Talmudic tradition. It talks about the way in which the holy books, as well as the midrashic, ethical, and kabbalistic literature based on them, influenced curative practices in Jewish society. Among the many customs of Jewish society, there are many examples of instrumental treatment of books. The Bible and Talmud created a system of laws regulating all aspects of a Jew's life, and contained many detailed pronouncements on health-related issues, including physical cleanliness, procedures designed to help maintain physical health, and the correct diet. So many and such varied matters were regulated in various places scattered throughout the extensive treatises and chapters that it seemed impossible to know them all fully. Assistance was at hand in the form of the halakhic codes but the rabbinic authorities of Ashkenaz discouraged study of halakhic matters from sources other than those written in Hebrew as they did not trust translations. The wealth of Bible-related resources grew larger the further one departed from a literal interpretation of words and quotations. The Bible constituted a boundless reservoir of quotes which might be used in conjurations against illnesses or on amulets. These were seen not only as guidance for action, but also as integral elements of sorcery.
Michael C. Legaspi
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190885120
- eISBN:
- 9780190885151
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190885120.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Early Christian Studies
Classical and biblical tradition, with its distinctive pursuits of wisdom, is today culturally contested and intellectually marginal. It no longer serves as the basis for educational programs, as it ...
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Classical and biblical tradition, with its distinctive pursuits of wisdom, is today culturally contested and intellectually marginal. It no longer serves as the basis for educational programs, as it once did; it is out of step with modern philosophies and forms of life in which distinctive fields of human concern—sacred obligation, scientific understanding, social order, and personal morality—are programmatically held apart from one another. As classical and biblical literacy fades, it is nevertheless possible to discern the spectral presence of traditional wisdom in modern culture and to see new bids for wisdom, not as a simple rejection of the tradition but rather as a sign of its enduring relevance.Less
Classical and biblical tradition, with its distinctive pursuits of wisdom, is today culturally contested and intellectually marginal. It no longer serves as the basis for educational programs, as it once did; it is out of step with modern philosophies and forms of life in which distinctive fields of human concern—sacred obligation, scientific understanding, social order, and personal morality—are programmatically held apart from one another. As classical and biblical literacy fades, it is nevertheless possible to discern the spectral presence of traditional wisdom in modern culture and to see new bids for wisdom, not as a simple rejection of the tradition but rather as a sign of its enduring relevance.
G. Kratz Reinhard
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198728771
- eISBN:
- 9780191795503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198728771.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Judaism
Religion plays a major role in the history of Israel and Judah, as in any culture of the ancient Near East. Chapter IV provides an overview of the development of Yahwistic religion in Israel and ...
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Religion plays a major role in the history of Israel and Judah, as in any culture of the ancient Near East. Chapter IV provides an overview of the development of Yahwistic religion in Israel and Judah from its beginnings in the land to the changes it underwent in the post-exilic period. It shows there was no unilinear development of religious history for Israel and Judah. Rather, a certain (common) form of Israelite and Judahite religion remained more or less constant, whereas the biblical tradition emerged in the late eighth and seventh century BCE and flourished over the following centuries within or rather alongside the common religious practice, creating a new form of religion in the process. Exactly when (and how) the biblical tradition and the Jewish religion based on it began to gain wider acceptance and become the normative, common practice of the Judahite (Israelite) religion remains an open question.Less
Religion plays a major role in the history of Israel and Judah, as in any culture of the ancient Near East. Chapter IV provides an overview of the development of Yahwistic religion in Israel and Judah from its beginnings in the land to the changes it underwent in the post-exilic period. It shows there was no unilinear development of religious history for Israel and Judah. Rather, a certain (common) form of Israelite and Judahite religion remained more or less constant, whereas the biblical tradition emerged in the late eighth and seventh century BCE and flourished over the following centuries within or rather alongside the common religious practice, creating a new form of religion in the process. Exactly when (and how) the biblical tradition and the Jewish religion based on it began to gain wider acceptance and become the normative, common practice of the Judahite (Israelite) religion remains an open question.
Reinhard G. Kratz
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198728771
- eISBN:
- 9780191795503
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198728771.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Judaism
At the center of this book lies a fundamental yet unanswered question: under which historical and sociological conditions and in which manner the Hebrew Bible became an authoritative tradition, that ...
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At the center of this book lies a fundamental yet unanswered question: under which historical and sociological conditions and in which manner the Hebrew Bible became an authoritative tradition, that is, holy scripture and the canon of Judaism as well as Christianity. The book answers this very question by distinguishing between historical and biblical Israel. This foundational and, for the arrangement of the book, crucial distinction affirms that the Israel of biblical tradition, i.e. the sacred history (historia sacra) of the Hebrew Bible, cannot simply be equated with the history of Israel and Judah. Thus, this book provides a synthesis of both the Israelite and Judahite history and the genesis and development of biblical tradition in two separate chapters, though each area depends directly and inevitably upon the other. These two distinct perspectives on Israel are then confronted and correlated in a third chapter, which constitutes an area intimately connected with the former but generally overlooked apart from specialized inquiries: those places and “archives” that either yielded Jewish documents and manuscripts (Elephantine, Al-Yahudu, Qumran) or associate conspicuously with the tradition of the Hebrew Bible (Mount Gerizim, Jerusalem, Alexandria). Here, the various epigraphic and literary evidence for the history of Israel and Judah comes to the fore. Such evidence sometimes represents Israel’s history; other times it reflects its traditions; still others it reflects both simultaneously. The different sources point to different types of Judean or Jewish identity in Persian and Hellenistic times.Less
At the center of this book lies a fundamental yet unanswered question: under which historical and sociological conditions and in which manner the Hebrew Bible became an authoritative tradition, that is, holy scripture and the canon of Judaism as well as Christianity. The book answers this very question by distinguishing between historical and biblical Israel. This foundational and, for the arrangement of the book, crucial distinction affirms that the Israel of biblical tradition, i.e. the sacred history (historia sacra) of the Hebrew Bible, cannot simply be equated with the history of Israel and Judah. Thus, this book provides a synthesis of both the Israelite and Judahite history and the genesis and development of biblical tradition in two separate chapters, though each area depends directly and inevitably upon the other. These two distinct perspectives on Israel are then confronted and correlated in a third chapter, which constitutes an area intimately connected with the former but generally overlooked apart from specialized inquiries: those places and “archives” that either yielded Jewish documents and manuscripts (Elephantine, Al-Yahudu, Qumran) or associate conspicuously with the tradition of the Hebrew Bible (Mount Gerizim, Jerusalem, Alexandria). Here, the various epigraphic and literary evidence for the history of Israel and Judah comes to the fore. Such evidence sometimes represents Israel’s history; other times it reflects its traditions; still others it reflects both simultaneously. The different sources point to different types of Judean or Jewish identity in Persian and Hellenistic times.
Jeffrey Hart
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300087048
- eISBN:
- 9780300130522
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300087048.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
This chapter looks at Paul of Tarsus and how he played a major role in the coming together of biblical tradition and Greek philosophy. While he may not be so dramatic a figure as either Socrates or ...
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This chapter looks at Paul of Tarsus and how he played a major role in the coming together of biblical tradition and Greek philosophy. While he may not be so dramatic a figure as either Socrates or Jesus, Paul did play a major role in what can be called the birth of the Western mind, shaping events and being shaped by them. There was a predominated question in the mind of those Jews in and around Jerusalem at that time, and this involved the question of meaning. A Judaizing account of Jesus would place him in the tradition of the major Prophets, while for Hellenizing Jews, Jesus became intelligible through the lens of Greek philosophy. In a sense, both the Judaizing and Hellenizing Jews sought out a context of meaning in order to grasp and understand what had happened to Jesus. As a result, Paul attempted to effect in his own mind a synthesis between Athens and Jerusalem.Less
This chapter looks at Paul of Tarsus and how he played a major role in the coming together of biblical tradition and Greek philosophy. While he may not be so dramatic a figure as either Socrates or Jesus, Paul did play a major role in what can be called the birth of the Western mind, shaping events and being shaped by them. There was a predominated question in the mind of those Jews in and around Jerusalem at that time, and this involved the question of meaning. A Judaizing account of Jesus would place him in the tradition of the major Prophets, while for Hellenizing Jews, Jesus became intelligible through the lens of Greek philosophy. In a sense, both the Judaizing and Hellenizing Jews sought out a context of meaning in order to grasp and understand what had happened to Jesus. As a result, Paul attempted to effect in his own mind a synthesis between Athens and Jerusalem.
Roberta Stewart
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- June 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190278359
- eISBN:
- 9780190278373
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190278359.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions, World History: BCE to 500CE
Acts 1: 23–26 describes the selection of Matthias to replace Judas; use of an allotment to select a priest had Jewish, apostolic precedents. Commentators reference Biblical authorities and precedents ...
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Acts 1: 23–26 describes the selection of Matthias to replace Judas; use of an allotment to select a priest had Jewish, apostolic precedents. Commentators reference Biblical authorities and precedents for a divinely affirmed allotment. The appointment of Christian bishops in the third century CE, however, shows a popular election procedure. This chapter first considers the Christian turn away from allotment to select priests and examines allotment from the Republican into the imperial period, including Roman contexts in the first–fourth centuries CE; second, it summarizes what Christians said about allotment and particularly Matthias’s appointment by lot in the early centuries CE when Christians developed the office of the bishop and there was little evidence for the actual appointment of bishops. How Christian thinkers wrote about allotment and its use in appointing bishops allows us to track Christian appropriation or translation of ancient, classical religious practice.Less
Acts 1: 23–26 describes the selection of Matthias to replace Judas; use of an allotment to select a priest had Jewish, apostolic precedents. Commentators reference Biblical authorities and precedents for a divinely affirmed allotment. The appointment of Christian bishops in the third century CE, however, shows a popular election procedure. This chapter first considers the Christian turn away from allotment to select priests and examines allotment from the Republican into the imperial period, including Roman contexts in the first–fourth centuries CE; second, it summarizes what Christians said about allotment and particularly Matthias’s appointment by lot in the early centuries CE when Christians developed the office of the bishop and there was little evidence for the actual appointment of bishops. How Christian thinkers wrote about allotment and its use in appointing bishops allows us to track Christian appropriation or translation of ancient, classical religious practice.
Joseph A. Amato
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199926176
- eISBN:
- 9780199396788
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199926176.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Humans have increasingly endowed themselves with transformative powers, guided by a vision that is secular, progressive, and redemptive. In contrast to this utopian vision, this chapter looks further ...
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Humans have increasingly endowed themselves with transformative powers, guided by a vision that is secular, progressive, and redemptive. In contrast to this utopian vision, this chapter looks further back, offering a narrative history of Western culture, from its Greco-Roman roots, through the biblical traditions, to modern and contemporary times. Throughout this history, the author thematically queries the place and value of suffering in human existence. In these more long-lived cultural traditions, suffering has given rise to pity, sorrow, lament, supplication, and pleasure; it has occasioned judgment, punishment, and war; and it has shown itself as a source of forgiveness and the grounds for mercy. Acknowledging the power of the post-Enlightenment quest to reduce suffering through medical, scientific, and technological means, the author repeatedly declares suffering’s power to affirm, value, and consecrate personal and communal life.Less
Humans have increasingly endowed themselves with transformative powers, guided by a vision that is secular, progressive, and redemptive. In contrast to this utopian vision, this chapter looks further back, offering a narrative history of Western culture, from its Greco-Roman roots, through the biblical traditions, to modern and contemporary times. Throughout this history, the author thematically queries the place and value of suffering in human existence. In these more long-lived cultural traditions, suffering has given rise to pity, sorrow, lament, supplication, and pleasure; it has occasioned judgment, punishment, and war; and it has shown itself as a source of forgiveness and the grounds for mercy. Acknowledging the power of the post-Enlightenment quest to reduce suffering through medical, scientific, and technological means, the author repeatedly declares suffering’s power to affirm, value, and consecrate personal and communal life.