The Interpretation Of The New Testament In Greco Roman Paganism

Publisher 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.

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.

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.

"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

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.

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.