The Interpretation of the New Testament in Greco-Roman Paganism

The Interpretation of the New Testament in Greco-Roman Paganism PDF Author: John Granger Cook
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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The Interpretation of the New Testament in Greco-Roman Paganism

The Interpretation of the New Testament in Greco-Roman Paganism PDF Author: John Granger Cook
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
Publisher Description

The Interpretation of the Old Testament in Greco-Roman Paganism

The Interpretation of the Old Testament in Greco-Roman Paganism PDF Author: John Granger Cook
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161484742
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
According to the available evidence not many pagans knew the Greek Bible (Septuagint) before the advent of Christianity. Those pagans who later became aware of Christian texts were among the first, according to the surviving data, to seriously explore the Septuagint. They found the Bible to be difficult reading. The pagans who reacted to biblical texts include Celsus (II C.E.), Porphyry (III C.E.), and Julian the Apostate (IV C.E.). These authors thought that if they could refute one of the primary foundations of Christianity, namely its use or interpretation of the Septuagint, then the new religion would perhaps crumble. John Granger Cook analyzes these pagans' voice and elaborates on its importance, since it shows how Septuagint texts appeared in the eyes of Greco-Roman intellectuals. Theirs was not an abstract interest, however, because they knew that Christianity posed a grave danger to some of their dearest beliefs, self-understanding, and way of life.

Among the Gentiles

Among the Gentiles PDF Author: Luke Timothy Johnson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780300168105
Category : Christianity and culture
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
An acclaimed scholar presents a bold new interpretation of the relationship between Greco-Roman religion and Christianity. The question of Christianity's relation to the other religions of the world is more pertinent and difficult today than ever before. While Christianity's historical failure to appreciate or actively engage Judaism is notorious, Christianity's even more shoddy record with respect to "pagan" religions is less understood. Christians have inherited a virtually unanimous theological tradition that thinks of paganism in terms of demonic possession, and of Christian missions as a rescue operation that saves pagans from inherently evil practices. In undertaking this fresh inquiry into early Christianity and Greco-Roman paganism, Luke Timothy Johnson begins with a broad definition of religion as a way of life organized around convictions and experiences concerning ultimate power. In the tradition of William James's Variety of Religious Experience, he identifies four distinct ways of being religious: religion as participation in benefits, as moral transformation, as transcending the world, and as stabilizing the world. Using these criteria as the basis for his exploration of Christianity and paganism, Johnson finds multiple points of similarity in religious sensibility. Christianity's failure to adequately come to grips with its first pagan neighbors, Johnson asserts, inhibits any effort to engage positively with adherents of various world religions. This thoughtful and passionate study should help break down the walls between Christianity and other religious traditions.

Greco-Roman Culture and the New Testament

Greco-Roman Culture and the New Testament PDF Author: David Edward Aune
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004226311
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Focusing on a strength of the faculty of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, this volume is a collection of nine essays by an international group of scholars who have used texts from the Greco-Roman world to illuminate various aspects of the New Testament.

Hellenistic Commentary to the New Testament

Hellenistic Commentary to the New Testament PDF Author: M. Eugene Boring
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 654

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Book Description
"The Hellenistic Commentary to the New Testament, the product of collaboration between German and American New Testament scholarship, is the most complete collection of Hellenistic texts correlated to the New Testament available in English. Translations of 976 texts (compared with 626 in the German edition) are cited that directly illustrate the religious world into which early Christianity was born. Many of the texts are extensive enough to give a thorough sampling of how, for instance, miracle stories and birth stories of quasi-divine beings were told in the Hellenistic world, and how revelatory or conversion experiences were expressed in Greco-Roman religions. The texts are arranged according to the canonical order of New Testament books. Thorough cross-references and indexes make it easy to locate texts relevant to the interpretation of any New Testament text or theme. Each text is provided with annotations suggesting ways in which it might illuminate the New Testament text. Furthermore, the new introduction to the English edition specifies ways in which the treasures of these texts might be unlocked, as well as pointing to dangers in their superficial use. The original German introduction provides helpful categories for the application of these texts to New Testament interpretation."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context

The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context PDF Author: David Edward Aune
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004143041
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 495

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Book Description
This volume is a collection of newly published scholarly studies honoring Prof.Dr. David. E. Aune on his 65th birthday. These groundbreaking studies written by prominent international scholars investigate a range of topics in the New Testament and early Christian literature with insights drawn from Greco-Roman culture and Hellenistic Judaism.

Pagans and Christians in the Late Roman Empire

Pagans and Christians in the Late Roman Empire PDF Author: Marianne Sághy
Publisher: Central European University Press
ISBN: 9633862566
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
Do the terms 'pagan' and 'Christian,' 'transition from paganism to Christianity' still hold as explanatory devices to apply to the political, religious and cultural transformation experienced Empire-wise? Revisiting 'pagans' and 'Christians' in Late Antiquity has been a fertile site of scholarship in recent years: the paradigm shift in the interpretation of the relations between 'pagans' and 'Christians' replaced the old 'conflict model' with a subtler, complex approach and triggered the upsurge of new explanatory models such as multiculturalism, cohabitation, cooperation, identity, or group cohesion. This collection of essays, inscribes itself into the revisionist discussion of pagan-Christian relations over a broad territory and time-span, the Roman Empire from the fourth to the eighth century. A set of papers argues that if 'paganism' had never been fully extirpated or denied by the multiethnic educated elite that managed the Roman Empire, 'Christianity' came to be presented by the same elite as providing a way for a wider group of people to combine true philosophy and right religion. The speed with which this happened is just as remarkable as the long persistence of paganism after the sea-change of the fourth century that made Christianity the official religion of the State. For a long time afterwards, 'pagans' and 'Christians' lived 'in between' polytheistic and monotheist traditions and disputed Classical and non-Classical legacies.

Christianity in the Greco-Roman World

Christianity in the Greco-Roman World PDF Author: Moyer V. Hubbard
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781565636637
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Understanding the sociological setting for New testament in Asia Minor and Europe-the Greco Roman World-is essential for correctly interpreting the letter of Paul. Hubbard address the realms of religion and superstition, of education and philosophy, of the urban society, and of the family. Each major section begins with a brief fictional tale, followed by description of the cultural setting related to that vignette, and culminating in drawing out the implications of the cultural setting for understanding Paul's letters written to that World. Book jacket.

The Last Days of Greco-Roman Paganism

The Last Days of Greco-Roman Paganism PDF Author: Johannes Geffcken
Publisher: North-Holland
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Gods, Spirits, and Worship in the Greco-Roman World and Early Christianity

Gods, Spirits, and Worship in the Greco-Roman World and Early Christianity PDF Author: Craig A. Evans
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567703274
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Greco-Roman religions and superstitions, and early Christianity's engagement with them, are explored in 12 unique studies. The beliefs and fears with regard to demons (or daimons), their origins, and threatening behavior are examined, both in their pagan and Judaeo-Christian contexts. These new studies look at the Greco-Roman heroic gods, how they faced death, and how James and John, the “sons of Thunder,” may well have been viewed in some circles as the equivalent of the “sons of Zeus”, Castor and Pollux. The contributors also explore Roman omens, especially as they relate to Rome's legendary founder Romulus and what light they shed on the omens that accompany the birth and death of Jesus of Nazareth. Particular focus is placed upon Paul, binding spells, women and hymns of exaltation, along with atheism in late antiquity, with special consideration of the charlatan Alexander. Finally, there is a re-visitation of the confusion, misinformation and legends surrounding the discovery of the Qumran caves, including fear of jinn. This book provides invaluable resources for precisely how early Christians interacted with different ideas and traditions around gods and spirits - both benevolent and malevolent - in the Greco-Roman world.