Heavenly Realms And Earthly Realities In Late Antique Religions

The concept of heaven occupied a special place in the Late Antique imagination, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in the Greco-Roman religious, philosophical, scientific, and "magical" traditions. Drawing upon the expertise of scholars of Classics, Ancient History, Jewish Studies, and Patristics, this volume explores the different functions of heavenly imagery in different texts and traditions in order to map the patterns of unity and diversity within the religious landscape of Late Antiquity.

The idea of heaven held a special place in the late antique imagination, which was marked by a poignant sense of the relevance of otherworldly realities for earthly life. Such concerns can be found not only in Judaism and Christianity but also in the Greco-Roman religious, philosophical, scientific, and 'magical' traditions. Transcending social, regional and creedal boundaries, the preocupation with heaven in Late Antiquity serves as a focus for an interdisciplinary approach to understanding this formative era in Western culture and history. Drawing upon the expertise of scholars of Classics, Ancient History, Jewish Studies and Patristics, this volume explores the different functions of heavenly imagery in different texts and traditions in order to map the patterns of unity and diversity within the religious landscape of Late Antiquity.

This book considers the early history of Jewish-Christian relations focussing on the fallen angels.

This volume in the ongoing Late Antique Archaeology series draws on material and textual evidence to explore the diverse religious world of Late Antiquity. Subjects include Jews and Samaritans, orthodoxy and heresy, pilgrimage, stylites, magic, the sacred and the secular.

Late Antiquity, the period of transition from the crisis of Roman Empire in the third century to the Middle Ages, has traditionally been considered only in terms of the 'decline' from classical standards. Recent classical scholarship strives to consider this period on its own terms. Taking the reign of Constantine the Great as its starting point, this book examines the unique intersection of rhetoric, religion and politics in Late Antiquity. Expert scholars come together to examine ancient rhetorical texts to explore the ways in which late antique authors drew upon classical traditions, presenting Roman and post-Roman religious and political institutions in order to establish a desired image of a 'new era'. This book provides new insights into how the post-Roman Germanic West, Byzantine East and Muslim South appropriated and transformed the political, intellectual and cultural legacy inherited from the late Roman Empire and its borderlands.

"The papers collected in this volume shift the focus away from "heretics" and "heresy" to heresiological discourse, by contextualizing the late antique Jewish and Christian groups that produced our extant literature. The contributors to the volume draw from multiple literary corpora and genres, bringing a variety of late antique perspective to explore the discursive construction of the Other. They unravel ethnic identities, and re-create the multiple voices textured in the dialogue between the "orthodox" and "heretical" writers."--BOOK JACKET.

Papers from a conference held 2007, Princeton University.

* The first paperback edition of the hardcover published by Mohr Siebeck in 2003 * Startling, state-of-the-art essays on Jewish-Christian relations in antiquity * Includes a new preface by the editors discussing scholarships since 2003