Photo de l'auteur

A propos de l'auteur

Comprend les noms: Leif Vaage

Œuvres de Leif E. Vaage

Oeuvres associées

Asceticism (1995) — Contributeur — 25 exemplaires
Whose Historical Jesus? (1997) — Contributeur — 11 exemplaires

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Membres

Critiques

This book of essays is concerned with competition between religious groups in antiquity with an eye to discovering the reason why Christianity ultimately triumphed in the Roman world. The ten pieces attempt to refine the terminology that is used when discussing ChristianityÛªs rise and as well to dismiss assumptions that have often been used in scholarly attempts to account for it. The book has a tripartite structure. The first section, Rivalries?, seeks to ascertain if ‰ÛÏrivalry‰Û is an adequate term when applied to antiquity. The second section, Mission?, looks at specific authors and movements in order to assess whether the modern category of mission is appropriate to the ancient world. The third set of essays, Rise?, place themselves in dialogue with the work of sociologist of religion Rodney Stark and his influential book The Rise of Christianity.
In the introductory essay, Leif A. Vaage, begins with a critique of ‰ÛÏcertain stock features‰Û (3) which have dominated the discussion of religious rivalries and of the rise of Christianity. Both Edward Gibbon and Adolph Von Harnack are discussed in some depth. In their suggestions about the rise of Christianity both these authors relied, at least in part, on a mischaracterization of Judaism. In his critique of the paradigms presented by these authors, Vaage is interested not only in challenging these antiquated and triumphalist views, but also the validity of the term ‰ÛÏmissionary‰Û and ‰ÛÏmission‰Û as they apply both to Judaism and Christianity. Vaage thus also questions the recent work by Martin Goodman, who has asserted that Christianity‰Ûªs missionary character was unique in the ancient world.
Philip Harland, in an article which complements his previous book Associations, Synagogues and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society is primarily concerned with critiquing the model of decline that is often used to describe the polis in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Harland suggests these models are based on biased paradigms, namely an idealization of classical Athens and the conception of Christianity as a genuine religion in contrast to the various polytheistic religions of the ancient world. Harland looks at epigraphical evidence to show that Greco-Roman voluntary associations were active participants in the city and that their existence attests to the vitality of the Greco-Roman polis, rather than its decline. Harland concludes that rivalry was a natural outworking of the competition of these groups for imperial benefaction. As in the above piece by Vaage, Harland succeeds in laying bare the a-priori assumptions of an earlier generation of scholarship as well as presenting an abundance of evidence regarding associations in a succinct and accessible way.
Stephen Wilson‰Ûªs article concerns defection (Wilson, for the most part, consciously avoids the value laden term ‰ÛÏapostasy,‰Û but see page 56) from religious groups in antiquity. The article utilizes a wide range of sources including Philo, Josephus, early patristics, the New Testament and philosophical writings. This dazzling breadth is to be expected from Wilson, whose Related Strangers remains one of the most comprehensive books about early Jewish/Christian relations. Wilson concludes that defections were common, and motivated by a broad range of factors. However, despite these defections, there is little evidence for missionary activity in antiquity.
Reena Basser and Jack Lightstone both focus on the early rabbinic literature. Basser‰Ûªs contribution, which concerns rabbinic legislation about pagan fairs in antiquity, contains some interesting insights, but the article lacks focus. The Russian formalists whose work Basser says she will utilize are mentioned only summarily and do not add much to her overall discussion. Lightstone‰Ûªs article is concerned primarily with issues of methodology and contains some interesting observations about the differences between the Avodah Zarah tractates of the Mishnah and the Tosefta and their respective takes on Jewish-Gentile relations.
The second section of the book focuses on the spread of particular religions. Terence Donaldson, in his article about Paul and mission, begins, similarly to Vaage, by challenging Martin Goodman‰Ûªs assertion that Christianity was unique in the ancient world because it had a cohesive, centralized mission. Donaldson persuasively argues that Paul‰Ûªs mission was caught between his grand vision of a divinely inspired world-wide mission and the harsh realities of the implementing such a vision in the Roman world. Donaldson also suggests that there is little evidence of itinerant missionaries after the first century and the movement likely continued to spread informally from the major urban centres of the Roman world.
Steve Mason‰Ûªs article on Josephus is unique within the book in its understanding of mission. While both Vaage and Wilson are skeptical about the existence of missionary activity, Mason reframes the issue by noting that while the non-missionary character of first century Judaism is becoming a new consensus, ‰ÛÏall the key terms are problematic‰Û (140). Beginning with a description of the references to Jewish converts which abound in the classical Latin authors, Mason then turns to a discussion of coverts in Josephus‰Ûª Antiquities. He successfully refutes the arguments of scholars who have argued that this work is negative in its assessment of converts and conversion to Judaism. Mason then examines the apologetic work Contra Apionem in order to argue that the work itself is a type of missionary literature, specifically a logos protreptikos, which was used by philosophical schools to procure members. Because many of the examples of this genre are second century Christian works, this claim is difficult to substantiate.
In his first of two articles in the book, Roger Beck looks at Mithraism, the mystery religion popular amongst Roman soldiers, in order to ascertain how this movement, which ‰ÛÏrigorously‰Û_ denied itself of all opportunities for self-promotion‰Û (175) managed to gain adherents. After critiquing scholarly opinions on the movement as being less of a religion than a clique of Roman ‰ÛÏgood ol‰Ûª boys‰Û (178), Beck looks at new archeological evidence of the cult in Virunum and puts forth some interesting suggestions about the group‰Ûªs use of sacred space. Beck concludes that Mithraism likely maintained its membership through social and familial networks. This, as the author notes, is how sociologist Rodney Stark suggests that Christianity spread throughout the empire. The essay thus provides a bridge to the final section of the book, which engages specifically with the arguments made by Stark.
The contributions by Adele Reinhartz and Steven Muir deal with the problems of applying sociological models to ancient texts. Reinhartz addresses Stark‰Ûªs suggestion that, contrary to common scholarly opinion, a Christian mission to the Jews continued until the 5th century. Stark maintains that this mission was primarily directed to Jews of the Diaspora, whose Hellenized form of Judaism put them on the margins of their tradition. Reinhartz astutely notes that Stark‰Ûªs conception of Hellenistic Judaism relies far too heavily on the writings of the first century philosopher Philo and on a conception of orthodoxy within Judaism that likely did not exist in the first century. However, utilizing the two-level reading of the Gospel of John popularized by J. Louis Martyn, Reinhartz concedes that some of the sociological principles applied by Stark, namely the importance of social networks, the marginality of the converts and continuity with the previous tradition, are borne out by the textual evidence, even though Reinhartz acknowledges that the two-level reading strategy is itself problematic and must be used with caution.
Steven Muir takes issue with Stark‰Ûªs contention that one of the reasons Christianity was ultimately successful is because of their superior care for the sick. While not doubting that Christianity engaged in widespread medical activity and that this aided in the spread of Christianity, Muir elucidates several problems with Stark‰Ûªs argument. He convincingly shows that Stark often makes ‰ÛÏbreathtaking generalizations‰Û (216) which are based on erroneously assuming that ancient Christian rhetoric corresponded to social reality. While Christianity may have ‰ÛÏmass-marketed‰Û (231) charity, it was certainly not new in the religious world of the Roman empire.
Roger Beck‰Ûªs second contribution looks Stark‰Ûªs religion/market analogy, that is religions ultimately succeed or fail because of their ‰ÛÏproduct lines‰Û (233), and suggests that Stark does not go far enough in his comparison. The article also provides a succinct critique of Stark‰Ûªs presentation of pagan religions in antiquity.
In the final essay, Vaage suggests why Christianity ultimately triumphed in the Roman world. Against scholars who see 4th century Constantinian Christianity as a corruption of Christianity‰Ûªs original character, Vaage convincingly argues that the movement, from its inception, had ‰ÛÏa latent‰Û_ lust for social dominance‰Û (253). An examination of NT literature, namely Luke-Acts, the Pauline corpus and Revelation shows that earliest Christianity borrowed the political language of the empire as evidence of its ‰ÛÏintrinsic will to rule‰Û (278).
Ultimately, the essays in the book are interesting and succeed in challenging many long held scholarly assumptions. Scholars already informed in this area will also find the book invaluable. As a corrective to the work of Stark, the final section of the book is particularly useful.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
Jenniferzcodex | Oct 26, 2013 |

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi

Auteurs associés

Statistiques

Œuvres
9
Aussi par
2
Membres
92
Popularité
#202,476
Critiques
1
ISBN
15

Tableaux et graphiques