Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2020.1779102
J. Vikman
Abstract This article addresses the relationship between religious expertise and kinship language in the inscriptions of Ephesian voluntary associations. I argue that kinship language functioned as a well-established rapid signaller of stable trustworthiness. I base my analysis on perspectives gained from evolutionary studies on religion, which I present before my analysis. As a conclusion to my analysis, I propose that a similar reliance on stable genealogical kinship also characterises early Christian expertise in Ephesus, even though only a few early Christian authorities had religious experts as close relatives.
{"title":"Kinship as a Trustworthy Cue: The Signalling of Religious Expertise in the Epigraphy of Ephesian Voluntary Associations","authors":"J. Vikman","doi":"10.1080/2222582X.2020.1779102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/2222582X.2020.1779102","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article addresses the relationship between religious expertise and kinship language in the inscriptions of Ephesian voluntary associations. I argue that kinship language functioned as a well-established rapid signaller of stable trustworthiness. I base my analysis on perspectives gained from evolutionary studies on religion, which I present before my analysis. As a conclusion to my analysis, I propose that a similar reliance on stable genealogical kinship also characterises early Christian expertise in Ephesus, even though only a few early Christian authorities had religious experts as close relatives.","PeriodicalId":40708,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Christian History","volume":"10 1","pages":"12 - 28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/2222582X.2020.1779102","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43115118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2021.1950998
Gerhard van den Heever
Abstract This essay traces the gradual development of an understanding of early Christian social formations and Christ-cult groups as subsets of Graeco-Roman associations from the History of Religions School in the nineteenth century to the present day. It argues that such an etic perspective is indispensable for understanding the living reality of Christ-cult groups in their Graeco-Roman contexts. Categorising Christ-cult groups as associations enables comparative theorising of Christian origins and the functioning of Christian social formations. Such comparisons with associations lead to new experimental readings of early Christian literature.
{"title":"Once Again: Modelling Early Christian Social Formations and Christ-Cult Groups among Graeco-Roman Cults","authors":"Gerhard van den Heever","doi":"10.1080/2222582X.2021.1950998","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/2222582X.2021.1950998","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This essay traces the gradual development of an understanding of early Christian social formations and Christ-cult groups as subsets of Graeco-Roman associations from the History of Religions School in the nineteenth century to the present day. It argues that such an etic perspective is indispensable for understanding the living reality of Christ-cult groups in their Graeco-Roman contexts. Categorising Christ-cult groups as associations enables comparative theorising of Christian origins and the functioning of Christian social formations. Such comparisons with associations lead to new experimental readings of early Christian literature.","PeriodicalId":40708,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Christian History","volume":"10 1","pages":"1 - 11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/2222582X.2021.1950998","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46367873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2021.1879661
Jin Hwan Lee
Abstract In 1 Cor 11:19, Paul talks about hoi dokimoi faneroi (“the distinctively approved ones”) among the Christ group in Corinth. Paul mentions these people in a context in which he criticises factions and divisions in the group. The verse itself is not enough to understand what the group practiced in advance to have such approved members, nor are we aware of how the group proceeded with the practice and what the prerequisites were. This article attempts to answer these crucial questions by examining association data from ancient Greece regarding election procedures to understand 1 Cor 11:19 within its particular social context, and the Christ group in Corinth in general.
{"title":"Reading 1 Cor 11:19 in Light of Election Practices in Private Associations","authors":"Jin Hwan Lee","doi":"10.1080/2222582X.2021.1879661","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/2222582X.2021.1879661","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In 1 Cor 11:19, Paul talks about hoi dokimoi faneroi (“the distinctively approved ones”) among the Christ group in Corinth. Paul mentions these people in a context in which he criticises factions and divisions in the group. The verse itself is not enough to understand what the group practiced in advance to have such approved members, nor are we aware of how the group proceeded with the practice and what the prerequisites were. This article attempts to answer these crucial questions by examining association data from ancient Greece regarding election procedures to understand 1 Cor 11:19 within its particular social context, and the Christ group in Corinth in general.","PeriodicalId":40708,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Christian History","volume":"10 1","pages":"29 - 43"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/2222582X.2021.1879661","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47967483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2021.1948348
C. L. de Wet
Abstract This response engages with the articles in the themed issue of Journal of Early Christian History focusing on “modelling Christian cult groups among Graeco-Roman cults.” Three articles in the themed issue are responded to, namely those of Jin Hwan Lee and Jarkko Vikman, on the relationship between early Christian groups and ancient associations, and that of Margaret Froelich, about the debate on the consumption of sacrificed meat in 1 Cor 8. The response concludes that the view that early Christ followers were more “accommodating” of diverse cult participation and shaped their religious identity more instinctively as a habitus assists us in deconstructing traditional understandings of early Christianity as wholly unique and wholly different. As ancient associations and/or Graeco-Roman cults per se we might then suspect that the first groups of Christ followers were much more “at home” in Graeco-Roman society than Christian authors of the third and fourth centuries, and beyond, would want us to believe.
{"title":"Modelling Christian Cult Groups among Graeco-Roman Cults: A Response","authors":"C. L. de Wet","doi":"10.1080/2222582X.2021.1948348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/2222582X.2021.1948348","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This response engages with the articles in the themed issue of Journal of Early Christian History focusing on “modelling Christian cult groups among Graeco-Roman cults.” Three articles in the themed issue are responded to, namely those of Jin Hwan Lee and Jarkko Vikman, on the relationship between early Christian groups and ancient associations, and that of Margaret Froelich, about the debate on the consumption of sacrificed meat in 1 Cor 8. The response concludes that the view that early Christ followers were more “accommodating” of diverse cult participation and shaped their religious identity more instinctively as a habitus assists us in deconstructing traditional understandings of early Christianity as wholly unique and wholly different. As ancient associations and/or Graeco-Roman cults per se we might then suspect that the first groups of Christ followers were much more “at home” in Graeco-Roman society than Christian authors of the third and fourth centuries, and beyond, would want us to believe.","PeriodicalId":40708,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Christian History","volume":"10 1","pages":"57 - 63"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/2222582X.2021.1948348","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48761933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2021.1948349
C. L. de Wet
Why was a priest named John (ca. 349–407 CE), from Syrian Antioch, considered to be one of the best ancient Christian preachers of his day—so much so that he was posthumously called by his many followers Chrysostomos, or the “golden-mouthed”? In this masterfully written piece of scholarship, Blake Leyerle argues that it was his understanding and strategic use of emotions (or the “passions”) in his narrative preaching that earned him this distinction. John Chrysostom has never been known as one of the great “theologians” of the ancient church. Unlike contemporaries such as Augustine or the Cappadocian fathers, Chrysostom seemed uninterested in formulating complex and intricate theological treatises and apologies. In fact, Chrysostom’s theology and teaching have, at times, even been considered to be inconsistent and incoherent. Scholars such as Robert Hill and David Rylaarsdam have argued that the notion of synkatabasis, or “condescension,” was actually the golden thread that bound his theology;1 Rylaarsdam goes so far as to call Chrysostom’s theology a “rhetorical theology.”2 Leyerle, in this book, takes us even further, and demonstrates that the emotions were central in Chrysostom’s homiletic programme to transform his audience into imitators of virtuous biblical exempla. Unlike Stoic philosophy, Chrysostom does not urge the suppression of emotion—quite the contrary, in fact. By using stories, “Chrysostom explores the sensations associated with various emotions, discloses their underlying thought patterns, and traces their impact” (p. 186). The book focuses mainly on four emotions, namely anger, grief, fear, and zeal. This does not mean that other emotions are not treated throughout the book. But the choice of these emotions is based
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Pub Date : 2020-09-01DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2020.1779101
M. Froelich
Abstract In roughly the sixth decade of the first century, Paul sent a letter to people that he knew in Corinth, part of which warns about possible consequences if some of them consume meat that has been sacrificed in local temples. Scholarly treatments of these passages tend to focus on Paul’s larger rhetorical point, and/or understand the problem of sacrificed meat to be one of complete or incomplete conversion. Instead of reading Paul at face value, this article investigates the logic behind 1 Cor 8, and proposes several ways in which interpreters might understand the sacrificed-meat conflict from native Corinthian perspectives. The investigation covers food taboo, concerns over purity and pollution, political and social motivations, and issues of competing or conflicting identities. While it is impossible to know exactly what was happening among Jesus worshippers in Corinth at this time, the article assumes that Greco-Roman thought worlds are more immediately relevant than Jewish ones, and that “Christianity” and “conversion” are anachronistic categories only just beginning their development in this period.
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Pub Date : 2020-07-01DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2012.11877260
J. Oort
The article starts by describing the present state of research on Alexander of Lycopolis (Egypt), who formerly was considered to be a Christian bishop converted from Manichaeism to orthodox Christianity, but now is generally regarded as a pagan philosopher. After the main contents of his treatise 'Against the Doctrines of Mani' have been outlined, the focus is first on Alexander's unique description of Manichaeism as a form of Christianity and after that on Alexander's own philosophical position.
{"title":"The Platonist Philosopher Alexander of Lycopolis on Manichaeism","authors":"J. Oort","doi":"10.1080/2222582X.2012.11877260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/2222582X.2012.11877260","url":null,"abstract":"The article starts by describing the present state of research on Alexander of Lycopolis (Egypt), who formerly was considered to be a Christian bishop converted from Manichaeism to orthodox Christianity, but now is generally regarded as a pagan philosopher. After the main contents of his treatise 'Against the Doctrines of Mani' have been outlined, the focus is first on Alexander's unique description of Manichaeism as a form of Christianity and after that on Alexander's own philosophical position.","PeriodicalId":40708,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Christian History","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/2222582X.2012.11877260","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59973743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-03DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2021.1928526
Gerhard van den Heever
Abstract This essay theorises the mythographic historiography that goes by the phrase “Christianisation of the Roman Empire.” It considers the work of Eusebius, and some direction-setting contemporary authors, as examples of historiography that, in essence, replicates the perspectives of the Christian sources themselves. The essay investigates the theme of the Christianisation of the Roman Empire as a discourse. The theme is studied through the lenses of mediaeval anthropology and hybridity or syncretism as normal modes of constructions of religious discourses in relation to religious change. It is normally taken as fact that Greek and Roman cults and religions became extinct after the so-called Constantinian Revolution. However, the evidence of religious history is more complex. Christianity/-ies is, one can say, an epiphenomenon of a multitude of processes of cultural shifts and demographic changes affecting the circum-Mediterranean world. The “old religions” did not suddenly cease to exist but continued to shape nascent Christian discourses and practices. This process was not an even one, it differed in pace and shape from one geographic locale to the other—therefore the plural, twilights. Reading the evidence from outside the triumphalist framework characterising early Christian writers, one is left with the unavoidable impression of the interpenetration of “paganism” and Christianity. Christianity was born as a syncretic phenomenon in a process of cultural bricolage. This has some implications, not only for how we conceive of the origins of Christianity, but also for how we conceive of religion as object of theoretical reflection.
{"title":"Twilights of Greek and Roman Religions: Afterlives and Transformations—A Response","authors":"Gerhard van den Heever","doi":"10.1080/2222582X.2021.1928526","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/2222582X.2021.1928526","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This essay theorises the mythographic historiography that goes by the phrase “Christianisation of the Roman Empire.” It considers the work of Eusebius, and some direction-setting contemporary authors, as examples of historiography that, in essence, replicates the perspectives of the Christian sources themselves. The essay investigates the theme of the Christianisation of the Roman Empire as a discourse. The theme is studied through the lenses of mediaeval anthropology and hybridity or syncretism as normal modes of constructions of religious discourses in relation to religious change. It is normally taken as fact that Greek and Roman cults and religions became extinct after the so-called Constantinian Revolution. However, the evidence of religious history is more complex. Christianity/-ies is, one can say, an epiphenomenon of a multitude of processes of cultural shifts and demographic changes affecting the circum-Mediterranean world. The “old religions” did not suddenly cease to exist but continued to shape nascent Christian discourses and practices. This process was not an even one, it differed in pace and shape from one geographic locale to the other—therefore the plural, twilights. Reading the evidence from outside the triumphalist framework characterising early Christian writers, one is left with the unavoidable impression of the interpenetration of “paganism” and Christianity. Christianity was born as a syncretic phenomenon in a process of cultural bricolage. This has some implications, not only for how we conceive of the origins of Christianity, but also for how we conceive of religion as object of theoretical reflection.","PeriodicalId":40708,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Christian History","volume":"10 1","pages":"108 - 142"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/2222582X.2021.1928526","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44869860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-03DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2021.1931904
C. L. de Wet
Abstract This introduction sets the scene for the “Twilights of Greek and Roman Religions” special issue of Journal of Early Christian History. “‘Twilights’ is a good way to put the question, since twilight is that time between day and night, it is not quite dark but also no longer fully light. ‘Twilights’ suggest the in-between, the both-and. And this is what the essays collected in this special issue described, the both-and of Greek and Roman religions and nascent Christianity.” In our volume, several authors explore some aspects of the complex transitions and transformations we find between Christian and Greek and Roman religions at the beginning of Late Antiquity, when what has traditionally (and erroneously) been labelled “pagan” religion seemed to have been coming to an end, or transitioning into something different. Rather than a violent vanquishing of one by the other, the transition in Late Antiquity to a Christian society has only recently been described as a “soft” and generally peaceful transition, with some exceptions, of course.
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Pub Date : 2020-05-03DOI: 10.1080/2222582x.2021.1880956
Jeffrey Brodd
Abstract Emperor Julian based his attempt to rebuild the Jerusalem temple in the spring of 363 CE on a version of Judaism that constitutes an “invented tradition” per the theoretical construct developed by Eric Hobsbawm and others in The Invention of Tradition (1983). Julian envisioned the rebuilt temple as a venue for animal sacrifice in honour of the god of the Jews—a god whom Julian identified as one in his Neoplatonic pantheon. He endeavoured to appropriate the ancient tradition of the Jewish cultic rites and their sacred site to fortify his own “Hellene” religious tradition, a combination of elements of ancient Greek and Roman traditions, mystery religions, and fourth-century Neoplatonism that emphasised the efficacy of animal sacrifice. From the point of view of Christian authors, the real motive lay in the emperor’s desire to assail Christianity and its own recently established tradition involving the destruction in 70 CE of the temple, namely that prophecy had been fulfilled and Christians had become the new “chosen people” of God. Julian’s attempt to rebuild the temple thus provides a lens through which to consider a complex interplay of various traditions. I argue that Julian was motivated by his Hellene religious commitment, not necessarily by anti-Christian sentiment—although his Hellenism was in some ways fundamentally incompatible with Christianity. Nor did Julian strive to restore ancient Jewish tradition primarily for the benefit of the Jewish community. Rather, through his “invented” version of their religious tradition, he sought to nurture his own.
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