Knowledge and Religious Authority in the Pseudo-Clementines

Knowledge and Religious Authority in the Pseudo-Clementines PDF Author: Nicole Kelley
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161490361
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
The Pseudo-Clementines are best known for preserving early Jewish Christian traditions, but have not been appreciated as a resource for understanding the struggles over identity and orthodoxy among fourth-century Christians, Jews, and pagans. Using the work of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, Nicole Kelley analyzes the rhetorical strategies employed by the Recognitions . These strategies discredit the knowledge of philosophers and astrologers, and establish Peter and Clement as the exclusive stewards of prophetic knowledge, which has been handed down to them by Jesus. This analysis reveals that the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions is not a jumbled collection of earlier source materials, as previous interpreters have thought, but a coherent narrative concerned primarily with epistemological issues. The author understands the Recognitions as a reflection of complex rivalries between several types of Christian and non-Christian groups such as that found in fourth-century Antioch or Edessa.

Knowledge and Religious Authority in the Pseudo-Clementines

Knowledge and Religious Authority in the Pseudo-Clementines PDF Author: Nicole Kelley
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161490361
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
The Pseudo-Clementines are best known for preserving early Jewish Christian traditions, but have not been appreciated as a resource for understanding the struggles over identity and orthodoxy among fourth-century Christians, Jews, and pagans. Using the work of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, Nicole Kelley analyzes the rhetorical strategies employed by the Recognitions . These strategies discredit the knowledge of philosophers and astrologers, and establish Peter and Clement as the exclusive stewards of prophetic knowledge, which has been handed down to them by Jesus. This analysis reveals that the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions is not a jumbled collection of earlier source materials, as previous interpreters have thought, but a coherent narrative concerned primarily with epistemological issues. The author understands the Recognitions as a reflection of complex rivalries between several types of Christian and non-Christian groups such as that found in fourth-century Antioch or Edessa.

Forgery and Counter-forgery

Forgery and Counter-forgery PDF Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199928037
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 641

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Book Description
Forgery and Counter-forgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics is the first major contemporary work on forgery in early Christian literature. It examines the motivation and function behind Christian literary forgeries.

From Shame to Sin

From Shame to Sin PDF Author: Kyle Harper
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674074580
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
When Rome was at its height, an emperor’s male beloved, victim of an untimely death, would be worshipped around the empire as a god. In this same society, the routine sexual exploitation of poor and enslaved women was abetted by public institutions. Four centuries later, a Roman emperor commanded the mutilation of men caught in same-sex affairs, even as he affirmed the moral dignity of women without any civic claim to honor. The gradual transformation of the Roman world from polytheistic to Christian marks one of the most sweeping ideological changes of premodern history. At the center of it all was sex. Exploring sources in literature, philosophy, and art, Kyle Harper examines the rise of Christianity as a turning point in the history of sexuality and helps us see how the roots of modern sexuality are grounded in an ancient religious revolution. While Roman sexual culture was frankly and freely erotic, it was not completely unmoored from constraint. Offending against sexual morality was cause for shame, experienced through social condemnation. The rise of Christianity fundamentally changed the ethics of sexual behavior. In matters of morality, divine judgment transcended that of mere mortals, and shame—a social concept—gave way to the theological notion of sin. This transformed understanding led to Christianity’s explicit prohibitions of homosexuality, extramarital love, and prostitution. Most profound, however, was the emergence of the idea of free will in Christian dogma, which made all human action, including sexual behavior, accountable to the spiritual, not the physical, world.

The Conqueror's Gift

The Conqueror's Gift PDF Author: Michael Maas
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691259046
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
The essential role of ethnographic thought in the Roman empire and how it evolved in Late Antiquity Ethnography is indispensable for every empire, as important as armies, tax collectors, or ambassadors. It helps rulers articulate cultural differences, and it lets the inhabitants of the empire, especially those who guide its course, understand themselves in the midst of enemies, allies, and friends. In The Conqueror’s Gift, Michael Maas examines the ethnographic infrastructure of the Roman Empire and the transformation of Rome’s ethnographic vision during Late Antiquity. Drawing on a wide range of texts, Maas shows how the Romans’ ethnographic thought evolved as they attended to the business of ruling an empire on three continents. Ethnography, the “conqueror’s gift,” gave Romans structured ways of finding a place for foreigners in the imperial worldview and helped justify imperial action affecting them. In Late Antiquity, Christianity revolutionized the imperial ethnographic infrastructure by altering old concepts and introducing credal models of community. The Bible became a source for organizing the Roman world. At the same time, many previously unseen collective identities emerged across Western Eurasia in reaction to the diminution of Roman power. These changes deeply affected the Empire’s ethnographic infrastructure and vision of the world. Maas argues that a major consequence of these developments was the beginning of a sectarian age, as individuals and political communities came to identify themselves primarily in terms of religion as well as ethnicity. As they adjusted to changing ethnographic realities, Romans understood their place among the peoples of the world in new ways. Willingly or not, we continue to be recipients of the conqueror’s gift today.

Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity

Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity PDF Author: Ulla Tervahauta
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004344934
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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Book Description
Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity offers a collection of essays that deal with perceptions of wisdom, femaleness, and their interconnections in a wide range of ancient sources, including papyri, Nag Hammadi documents, heresiological accounts and monastic literature.

Antiquity in Antiquity

Antiquity in Antiquity PDF Author: Gregg Gardner
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161494116
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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Book Description
Leading scholars in early Christianity, Judaic studies, classics, history and archaeology explore the ways that memories were retrieved, reconstituted and put to use by Jews, Christians and their pagan neighbours in late antiquity, from the third century B.C.E. to the seventh century C.E.

The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity

The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity PDF Author: Lorenzo DiTommaso
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9047442121
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 638

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Book Description
The volume is a Festschrift offered to Charles Kannengiesser on the occasion of his 80th birthday and honours him for his numerous scholarly accomplishments. Its twenty-five contributions discuss some of the major issues pertaining to the reception and interpretation of the Bible in late antique Christianity and Judaism. They focus on the ways in which communities and individuals understood the Bible and interpreted its traditions to address their historical, social, and theological requirements. Since the Bible was by far the most important book during these centuries, a discussion of its influence in such contexts will illuminate significant aspects of the formation of western civilisation.

Early New Testament Apocrypha

Early New Testament Apocrypha PDF Author: Zondervan,
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
ISBN: 0310099722
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 561

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Book Description
Broaden the scope of your New Testament studies with this introduction to early Christian apocryphal literature. To understand the New Testament well, it is important to study the larger world surrounding it, and one of the primary avenues for this exploration is through reading related ancient texts. But this task is daunting for scholars and novices alike given the sheer size of the ancient literary corpora. The Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies series aims to bridge this gap by introducing the key ancient texts that form the cultural, historical, and literary context for the study of the New Testament. Early New Testament Apocrypha offers an entry point into the corpus of early Christian apocryphal literature through twenty-eight texts or groups of texts. While the majority of the texts fall within the first four centuries CE, and therefore are useful for uncovering the earliest interpretations assigned to the New Testament, select later texts serve as reminders of how the meanings of New Testament texts continued to develop in subsequent centuries. Each essay covers introductory matters, a summary of content, interpretive issues, key passages for New Testament studies and their significance, and a select bibliography. Whether you are a scholar looking to familiarize yourself with a new corpus of texts or a novice seeking to undertake a serious contextualized study of the New Testament, this is an ideal reference work for you. Essays and contributors include: Part 1: Apocryphal Gospels Agrapha, Andrew Gregory Fragments of Gospels on Papyrus, Tobias Nicklas Gospel of Barnabas, Philip Jenkins Gospel of Peter, Paul Foster Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Reidar Aasgaard Jewish-Christian Gospels, Petri Luomanen Legend of Aphroditian, Katharina Heyden Pilate Cycle, J. K. Elliott Protevangelium of James, Eric M. Vanden Eykel Toledot Yeshu, Sarit Kattan Gribetz Revelation of the Magi, Catherine Playoust Part 2: Apocryphal Acts Acts of Andrew, Nathan C. Johnson Acts of John, Harold W. Attridge Acts of Paul, Harold W. Attridge Acts of Peter, Robert F. Stoops, Jr. Acts of Philip, Christopher R. Matthews Acts of Thomas, Harold W. Attridge Departure of My Lady Mary from This World (Six Books Dormition Apocryphon), J. Christopher Edwards Pseudo-Clementines, F. Stanley Jones Part 3: Apocryphal Epistles Jesus's Letter to Abgar, William Adler Correspondence of Paul and Seneca, Andrew Gregory Epistle to the Laodiceans, Philip L. Tite Epistula Apostolorum, Florence Gantenbein The Sunday Letter, Jon C. Laansma Part 4: Apocryphal Apocalypses Apocalypse of Paul, Jan N. Bremmer Apocalypse of Peter (Greek), Dan Batovici Apocalypse of Thomas, Mary Julia Jett 1 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John, Robyn J. Whitaker New Testament Apocrypha: Introduction and Critique of a Modern Category, Dale B. Martin SERIES DESCRIPTION: Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies is a 10-volume series that introduces key ancient texts that form the cultural, historical, and literary context for the study of the New Testament. Each volume features introductory essays to the corpus, followed by articles on the relevant texts. Each article will address introductory matters, provenance, summary of content, interpretive issues, key passages for New Testament studies and their significance, and a select bibliography. Neither too technical to be used by students nor too thin on interpretive information to be useful for serious study of the New Testament, this series provides a much-needed resource for understanding the New Testament in its Jewish, Greco-Roman, and early Christian contexts. Produced by an international team of leading experts in each corpus, Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies stands to become the standard resource for both scholars and students.

The Taming of the Canaanite Woman

The Taming of the Canaanite Woman PDF Author: Nancy Klancher
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110321386
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Current reception histories emphasize the world of Biblical readers, their socio-historical contexts, and the myriad effects of Biblical exegesis. This reception history studies interpretations of Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite woman (Matt 15:21–28) as normative “scripts” that exhort specific types of compliance in a broad range of historical and cultural settings, revealing remarkably diverse understandings of Christian identity and community.

Jewish-Christianity and the History of Judaism

Jewish-Christianity and the History of Judaism PDF Author: Annette Yoshiko Reed
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 3161544765
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 535

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Book Description
"Jewish-Christianity" is a contested category in current research. But for precisely this reason, it may offer a powerful lens through which to rethink the history of Jewish/Christian relations. Traditionally, Jewish-Christianity has been studied as part of the origins and early diversity of Christianity. Collecting revised versions of previously published articles together with new materials, Annette Yoshiko Reed reconsiders Jewish-Christianity in the context of Late Antiquity and in conversation with Jewish studies. She brings further attention to understudied texts and traditions from Late Antiquity that do not fit neatly into present day notions of Christianity as distinct from Judaism. In the process, she uses these materials to probe the power and limits of our modern assumptions about religion and identity.