Inscriptions, Graffiti, Documentary Papyri (Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies Vol 10; Grand Rapids: Zondervan) edited by J. R. Harrison and R. Richards , 2024
Everyday Life in New Testament Times: Essays in Honor of Peter Arzt-Grabner edited by C. M. Kreinecker, J. R. Harrison and J. Kloppenborg , 2024
The paper takes up some brief intimations of PeterArzt-Grabner on the connection between the lang... more The paper takes up some brief intimations of PeterArzt-Grabner on the connection between the language of Philemon and weaving apprenticeship contracts. I advance this a step further, not only exploring the involvement of slaves in the weaving industry but postulating Paul’s rhetorical use of parts of these contracts to advance his persuasion of Philemon.
Habitats of the Basileia: Essays on Honour of Elaine M. Wainwright edited by R. J. Myles, C. Blyth and E. Colgan, 2024
It has become increasingly recognised that the author of Mark’s Gospel made a decisive interventi... more It has become increasingly recognised that the author of Mark’s Gospel made a decisive intervention in the toponomy of Palestine by renaming the body of water usually called Lake Gennesaret. The name has become entrenched in subsequent ecclesiastical and administrative gazetteers unable to be rescinded by Luke or John’s efforts to correct the innovation, conscious as they must have been, like the third century Porphyry of Tyre, that this small body of water could never qualify as a sea. The supplanting of the lake by “the Sea of Galilee” or simply “the Sea” has struggled to find an explanation beyond a contorted appeal to the semantic range and/or literary evocation of Hebrew antecedents. I suggest that there is a more potent, contemporary driver for the change, running at two levels — one a parody of Vespasianic militaristic propaganda; the other an appropriation of a fundamental tenet of Greek and Roman law. The gospel’s highly charged and resistant misappellation profoundly distills a confrontation about the use and abuse of a major component of the environment of first century Galilee. It is not only about restoring an environment to a subsistence reciprocity rather than a mercantile resource but also about releasing the waters and its life from the destructiveness of economic expropriation. The analysis will bring a reconfiguration of ecological hermeneutics by tracing the origins of anthropocenic toxicity to early imperial intensification of agricultural and aquacultural practices for material gain. It will thereby allow a nascent ecological concern to the early Jesus movement, albeit factored into the complexity of socio-economic disruption occurring under the avaricious watch of the Roman sycophant, Herod Antipas.
Revelation and Material Religion in the Roman East: Essays in Honor of Steven J. Friesen , 2024
Steven Friesen secured eminent notice in 1993 with the publication of his Twice Neokoros. Laodike... more Steven Friesen secured eminent notice in 1993 with the publication of his Twice Neokoros. Laodikeia had not much disturbed Steve’s initial research into the imperial cult, though this has changed with his work on the Apocalypse. The question of when Laodikeia, after its failed attempt in 26 CE, actually gained “the pinnacle of achievement”, the neokoria, has remained contentious. A decade after the Friesen study, Barbara Burrell contributed a substantial examination of Laodikeia’s neokorate award, though this only compounded the problems presented by the city’s pursuit of the title. That problem was flagged at the beginning of her study. Normally, the iconography of neokorate coins indicated, inter alia, that “the number of temples matches the number of neokoriai.” But Laodikeia never claimed a multiple neokorate. Uniquely, she was once neokoros but of two emperors, Commodus and Caracalla. Extant Laodikeian coins from the time of Commodus (apart from those featuring his wife Crispina) are rare. His damnatio memoriae had erased neokoria celebrations just as surely as νεωκόρος was replaced by φιλοσέβαστος on a Laodikeian inscription dated to the time of Commodus. Laodikeia’s problems in selecting the appropriate emperor to realize its aspirations did not end there, for Caracalla suffered the same ignominious fate. The complexity of pinpointing Laodikeia’s neokorate award has recently been exacerbated by the publication of an inscribed statue base for Hadrian, that names Laodikeia as “neokoros city”. This paper offers two related contributions: to re-examine the torturous climb for the award of neokorate status to Laodikeia in the light of this inscription and to offer some suggestions as to how Laodikeia pursued the award in the light of Tacitus’ commentary on the award in 29 CE.
A complete geographical and thematic overview of the village in an antiquity and its role in the ... more A complete geographical and thematic overview of the village in an antiquity and its role in the rise of Christianity. The volume begins with a “state-of-question” introduction by Thomas Robinson, assessing the interrelation of the village and city with the rise of early Christianity. Alan Cadwallader then articulates a methodology for future New Testament studies on this topic, employing a series of case studies to illustrate the methodological issues raised.
From there contributors explore three areas of village life in different geographical areas, by means of a series of studies, written by experts in each discipline. They discuss the ancient near east (Egypt and Israel), mainland and Isthmian Greece, Asia Minor, and the Italian Peninsula. This geographic focus sheds light upon the villages associated with the biblical cities (Israel; Corinth; Galatia; Ephesus; Philippi; Thessalonica; Rome), including potential insights into the rural nature of the churches located there.
A final section of thematic studies explores central issues of local village life (indigenous and imperial cults, funerary culture, and agricultural and economic life).
The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity edited by A. H. Cadwallader, J. R. Harrison, A. Standhartinger and L. L. Welborn (London: T & T Clark), 2024
The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity edited by A. H. Cadwallader, J. R. Harrison, A. Standhartinger and L. L. Welborn (London: T & T Clark), 2024
Asian coinage of the Roman imperial period is replete with legends flagging sponsorship by men ke... more Asian coinage of the Roman imperial period is replete with legends flagging sponsorship by men keen to promote their citizenship, official positions and authorization. This general pattern is little different in Phrygia, except for a one hundred and fifty year window when a number of women are named on civic bronze coins. A collation of women who may credibly be identified as civic coin sponsors provides the platform for a closer examination of women in Phrygian cities who appear to have used their cities’ mints as an outlet for their benefactions. This paper assumes that just as male euergetism in Asian cities included the minting of coins, so also the non-imperial/royal women named on coins can generally be assumed to be benefactors of the city mint unless there are strong reasons (such as commemorations) to counter the assignment. The goal of this paper is to test for indications of the extension of personal choice to sponsor a coin to influence on the resultant design. As Zuiderhoek advises, “analyses of the motivation behind euergetism should take the individual benefactor as their starting point.” Particular reference will be made to the coins of Pedia Sekounda of Eukarpeia (especially Hermes’ “penny”) and Claudia Eugenetoriane of Kolossai (especially the widow’s goddess, Demeter).
The First Urban Churches Volume 7: Thessalonica edited by J. R. Harrison and L. L. Welborn, 2022
In the debate about the level and nature of Paul’s political teaching for Christ-groups in the Ro... more In the debate about the level and nature of Paul’s political teaching for Christ-groups in the Roman Empire, one small mound of words has gained mountainous attention in recent times — the reference to “peace and security” (εἰρήνη καὶ ἀσφάλεια) in 1 Thess 5:3. It is worth recalling that the interpretation of Paul’s engagement with imperial ideology draws on a significant number of elements, but this verse is treated as a prime piece. Jeff Weima provided a fulsome gathering of evidence designed to demonstrate that the phrase, presented as a quotation by Paul, was a discrete formulation of Roman imperial propaganda, circulating in Thessaloniki. A fateful abbreviation of his argument, that it was “a fixed slogan of Roman political propaganda”, may simply have joined a growing chorus of commentators from Bammel to Galinsky. But it became the tunneled target for rebuttal of both the amassed evidence and its implications for Paul as a counter-imperial subversive (the extreme caricature of the argument). Joel White in a series of articles has, firstly, attempted to deconstruct any notion of a Roman slogan used by Paul, and then, as a counter-thesis, provided a conjoined, dichotomous pseudo-slogan of Paul’s own making. Both take the context and inheritance of first-century Thessaloniki seriously, though with Weima accenting the Roman background and White the Hellenistic. A sophisticated attempt to bridge the divide by focusing on this background as the frame for audiential reception has been offered by Christoph Heilig. My intention here is, firstly, to review some salient parts of the arguments of Weima and White; secondly, to propose some new lines of investigation dealing with textual form, visual aesthetics and the dynamics of cultural exchange in the early Empire; thirdly, to situate Paul within rather than outside his Roman context in his purpose for introducing the phrase.
The oral dimension of the gospel became a key explanation for the Synoptic problem in nineteenth-... more The oral dimension of the gospel became a key explanation for the Synoptic problem in nineteenth-century Gospel interpretation (Westcott). The burgeoning, critical hunt for the ipsissima verba of Jesus drove two subsequent modulations: the retroversion of the written Greek sources to a postulated Aramaic original (for at least some of Jesus' sayings) (Dalman); the formcritical excisions of authorial embellishments on gospel traditions, which were content with reliance on the Greek language of the written Gospels (including Thomas and other apocryphal texts) for their reconstructions (Bultmann; Robinson). The assumption of substantial continuity and unity between the oral and written Gospels was challenged in the second half of the twentieth century (Kelber). A reaction against the resultant polarisation of oral and written has swung attention to the oral/aural dimensions of the written Gospels (Dewey; Horsley). A bifurcation of research has developed, one accenting the performantial elements in the delivery of the Gospels, a second returning to the poiesis of the text, particularly emphasising what is called 'soundmapping' (Lee-Scott; Nässelqvist). This paper seeks to provide an overview of the changes in the understanding and development of orality in relation to Gospel research and then to apply some insights from socio-anthropological linguistics to Mark's Gospel to explore three elements crucial to its oral/aural dimensions. Firstly, what poetic and rhetorical structures are found in the text that invite an audiential response so as to produce a speech event-here reference is made to the mega-euphonic opening of Mark 1:1, the onomatopoeic extension of Mark 5:38, the assonantial associations of Mark 8:11 and the iambic abuse of Mark 7:27; secondly, what might these constructed speech events imply about the personnel involved in the delivery of Mark's Gospel demanded in Mark 13:14; and thirdly, what settings or spatial contexts can be inferred from such elements, building on the expansive territory of Mark 4. It will be argued that there is yet considerable mileage to be gained from studies in the oral dimensions of the Gospels.
God's Grace Inscribed on the Human Heart Essays in Honour of James R. Harrison (Early Christian Studies, 23) edited by P. G. Bolt and S. Kim, 2022
The greetings section of the Pauline corpus have become increasingly surveyed since Jeff Weima’s ... more The greetings section of the Pauline corpus have become increasingly surveyed since Jeff Weima’s ground-breaking monograph published in 1994. The study of the salutations has relied on two main points of intersection — an infra-comparative analysis based on the canonical Pauline corpus, and an inter-comparative investigation based on the thousands of letters surviving on papyri and ostraka, mainly from Egypt, with some Judean additions and a minuscule number fortuitously preserved on lead or wood from various locations. The first approach is problematic because of a tendency to homogenize the greetings sections of letters, even though Weima had noted that for all of the structural similarity, “the apostle regularly shapes and adapts his letter closings.” The letter to the Colossians stands out as an example of distinctive emphasis. Questions of pseudepigraphy aside, the instructions for the synoiketic reading of two letters plus an enigmatic instruction to Archippos are unique in the Pauline corpus. Here I want to hone in on the valuable assistance that epigraphy can deliver. It is, I hope, a fitting tribute to Jim Harrison whose gentle yet assiduous scholarship has for decades sought to gain bread from stones. I lay a foundation in the particularity of Col 4:15–17, move to the wider context of the inter-polis tensions that operated in the Lycus Valley once Colossae lost its hegemony over the entire area in the Hellenistic to early Roman period, and then examine how some inscriptions that record greetings and their delivery might contribute to an understanding of this small sub-section of the letter to the Colossians.
Dealing with Difference: Patterns of Response to Religious Rivalry in Late Antiquity edited by G. Dunn and C. Shepardson, 2021
Language use in diplomacy usually requires the amelioration of heightened expression in order not... more Language use in diplomacy usually requires the amelioration of heightened expression in order not to offend or inflame. However, there are occasions when the well-credentialed skill of deflection mounted extreme characterisations in the effort to maintain cooperation, rebuild relationships or bolster vulnerable groups. Before the popular story of St Michael of Chonai became straitened to a more refined and consistent literary Byzantine text in service of a centralist liturgical agenda, there was one figure that received undiluted yet protean vilification: the devil. Given the conflictual context for the rise of the popular story and the conflictual content that dominates the narrative, the question of the role and function of the lengthy aside describing the devil requires analysis, especially given that this part of the story is one of two sections that is the most fluid in the story’s transmission. The devil becomes the receiver of a constantly-changing but always reprehensible spoiled identity, deflecting attention from specific human agents attacking the place and the patronage of St Michael at Chonai/Colossae. It is the devil who becomes the emblematic representative and progenitor of repudiated behaviours and ideas at ecclesial flash-points across three centuries; and it is the devil who provides the ultimate deflection from the real offenders and thereby affords those under attack a diplomatic manoeuvre. This paper explores the manner and function of setting historical dimensions of conflict set into a mythological frame.
The Struggle over Class: Socioeconomic Analysis of Ancient Jewish and Christian Texts edited by G. A. Keddie, M. Flexsenhar and S. J. Friesen, 2021
Recent efforts have been made to restore agency to the lives of slaves in Greco-Roman antiquity. ... more Recent efforts have been made to restore agency to the lives of slaves in Greco-Roman antiquity. Laudable as such an irenic (if not apologetic) corrective may be, the question of the degree to which slaves might express their own independent judgment and exert their own will becomes critical when the primary class binary of slave and free is acknowledged. This dualism is pervasive in the economic structure and ideological defence of the first century Empire. These two critical facets of the ancient mode of production establish and entrench the fundamentals of the social relations that are labeled “class”; they are also standard reference points in the interpretation of Paul’s letter to Philemon, though usually exposited in isolation from each other. Moreover, the dominance of the appeal to Roman jurisprudence and economic operations begs the primary question of whether Roman law and commercial practice is the most pertinent resource for understanding the class dynamics in Paul’s letter. This paper proposes to problematize not only the interpretation of the shortest member of the Pauline corpus, but also the ways in which class relations might be constructed in an ancient Greek polis, one constantly negotiating the ubiquity of the Roman presence but seeking to maintain a measure of reality within the fiction of city independence. The line of exploration suggests a greater complexity to the intersection of economics and law in the socio-political relationships and language frames related to slavery than has usually been admitted — with considerable consequences for how class might be recognized in Paul’s writing.
One inscribed tombstone was placed at Appa station on the Ottoman Railway line from İzmir to Dina... more One inscribed tombstone was placed at Appa station on the Ottoman Railway line from İzmir to Dinar. The inscription was published by three different copyists in the course of eleven years. Each person who transcribed the inscription, Georg Weber, William Mitchell Ramsay and Georges Cousin, made no acknowledgement of each other. Moreover, each transcription and reconstruction differed from the other in more lines than the number of lines in which they were in agreement; the provenance for the stone was credited to different locations and the minimal description of the form of the stone left considerable doubt as to the tombstone’s design. No sketch or photograph was provided. The names on the epitaph have been harnessed by the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names to a site (Sanaos) to which none of the three published editions actually tied the inscription. The dispute may have been left unresolved, but for a photograph taken by Gertrude Bell in 1907. She never published it, but, for her, it was the fitting compensation for a failed visit to the site of Colossae. By careful enhancement of the photograph and close study of its contents, the three disputed elements — the form of the tombstone, its original location and the wording of the inscription — can be resolved to a high degree of probability. The restored inscription becomes particularly valuable for a name that may connect with one of the (in)famous features of Colossian religious life — the worship of angels.
The Impact of Jesus of Nazareth: Historical, Theological and Pastoral Perspectives edited by J. R. Harrison and P. Bolt, 2020
One word in Mark’s Gospel has caused considerable difficulty in translation and yet has received ... more One word in Mark’s Gospel has caused considerable difficulty in translation and yet has received little concerted attention. The hapax legomenon κωμόπολις (Mk 1:38) receives here detailed attention for two reasons. Firstly, it is a word that seems to have currency only in the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Both the transmission history of the Gospel of Mark and the testimonia confirm this assessment. Secondly, the sifting of the patterns of human settlement to which the term might be applied are explored in detail. The familiar citations from Strabo are supplemented by the less well-known partial text of Isidore of Charax to yield some new insights into the word’s meaning. These insights raise two further issues for future research. The first relates to the implications the study may have for a re-assessment of the provenance of the gospel; the second suggests that Mark is shifting the axis of geo-spatial relationships for the term.
Inscriptions, Graffiti, Documentary Papyri (Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies Vol 10; Grand Rapids: Zondervan) edited by J. R. Harrison and R. Richards , 2024
Everyday Life in New Testament Times: Essays in Honor of Peter Arzt-Grabner edited by C. M. Kreinecker, J. R. Harrison and J. Kloppenborg , 2024
The paper takes up some brief intimations of PeterArzt-Grabner on the connection between the lang... more The paper takes up some brief intimations of PeterArzt-Grabner on the connection between the language of Philemon and weaving apprenticeship contracts. I advance this a step further, not only exploring the involvement of slaves in the weaving industry but postulating Paul’s rhetorical use of parts of these contracts to advance his persuasion of Philemon.
Habitats of the Basileia: Essays on Honour of Elaine M. Wainwright edited by R. J. Myles, C. Blyth and E. Colgan, 2024
It has become increasingly recognised that the author of Mark’s Gospel made a decisive interventi... more It has become increasingly recognised that the author of Mark’s Gospel made a decisive intervention in the toponomy of Palestine by renaming the body of water usually called Lake Gennesaret. The name has become entrenched in subsequent ecclesiastical and administrative gazetteers unable to be rescinded by Luke or John’s efforts to correct the innovation, conscious as they must have been, like the third century Porphyry of Tyre, that this small body of water could never qualify as a sea. The supplanting of the lake by “the Sea of Galilee” or simply “the Sea” has struggled to find an explanation beyond a contorted appeal to the semantic range and/or literary evocation of Hebrew antecedents. I suggest that there is a more potent, contemporary driver for the change, running at two levels — one a parody of Vespasianic militaristic propaganda; the other an appropriation of a fundamental tenet of Greek and Roman law. The gospel’s highly charged and resistant misappellation profoundly distills a confrontation about the use and abuse of a major component of the environment of first century Galilee. It is not only about restoring an environment to a subsistence reciprocity rather than a mercantile resource but also about releasing the waters and its life from the destructiveness of economic expropriation. The analysis will bring a reconfiguration of ecological hermeneutics by tracing the origins of anthropocenic toxicity to early imperial intensification of agricultural and aquacultural practices for material gain. It will thereby allow a nascent ecological concern to the early Jesus movement, albeit factored into the complexity of socio-economic disruption occurring under the avaricious watch of the Roman sycophant, Herod Antipas.
Revelation and Material Religion in the Roman East: Essays in Honor of Steven J. Friesen , 2024
Steven Friesen secured eminent notice in 1993 with the publication of his Twice Neokoros. Laodike... more Steven Friesen secured eminent notice in 1993 with the publication of his Twice Neokoros. Laodikeia had not much disturbed Steve’s initial research into the imperial cult, though this has changed with his work on the Apocalypse. The question of when Laodikeia, after its failed attempt in 26 CE, actually gained “the pinnacle of achievement”, the neokoria, has remained contentious. A decade after the Friesen study, Barbara Burrell contributed a substantial examination of Laodikeia’s neokorate award, though this only compounded the problems presented by the city’s pursuit of the title. That problem was flagged at the beginning of her study. Normally, the iconography of neokorate coins indicated, inter alia, that “the number of temples matches the number of neokoriai.” But Laodikeia never claimed a multiple neokorate. Uniquely, she was once neokoros but of two emperors, Commodus and Caracalla. Extant Laodikeian coins from the time of Commodus (apart from those featuring his wife Crispina) are rare. His damnatio memoriae had erased neokoria celebrations just as surely as νεωκόρος was replaced by φιλοσέβαστος on a Laodikeian inscription dated to the time of Commodus. Laodikeia’s problems in selecting the appropriate emperor to realize its aspirations did not end there, for Caracalla suffered the same ignominious fate. The complexity of pinpointing Laodikeia’s neokorate award has recently been exacerbated by the publication of an inscribed statue base for Hadrian, that names Laodikeia as “neokoros city”. This paper offers two related contributions: to re-examine the torturous climb for the award of neokorate status to Laodikeia in the light of this inscription and to offer some suggestions as to how Laodikeia pursued the award in the light of Tacitus’ commentary on the award in 29 CE.
A complete geographical and thematic overview of the village in an antiquity and its role in the ... more A complete geographical and thematic overview of the village in an antiquity and its role in the rise of Christianity. The volume begins with a “state-of-question” introduction by Thomas Robinson, assessing the interrelation of the village and city with the rise of early Christianity. Alan Cadwallader then articulates a methodology for future New Testament studies on this topic, employing a series of case studies to illustrate the methodological issues raised.
From there contributors explore three areas of village life in different geographical areas, by means of a series of studies, written by experts in each discipline. They discuss the ancient near east (Egypt and Israel), mainland and Isthmian Greece, Asia Minor, and the Italian Peninsula. This geographic focus sheds light upon the villages associated with the biblical cities (Israel; Corinth; Galatia; Ephesus; Philippi; Thessalonica; Rome), including potential insights into the rural nature of the churches located there.
A final section of thematic studies explores central issues of local village life (indigenous and imperial cults, funerary culture, and agricultural and economic life).
The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity edited by A. H. Cadwallader, J. R. Harrison, A. Standhartinger and L. L. Welborn (London: T & T Clark), 2024
The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity edited by A. H. Cadwallader, J. R. Harrison, A. Standhartinger and L. L. Welborn (London: T & T Clark), 2024
Asian coinage of the Roman imperial period is replete with legends flagging sponsorship by men ke... more Asian coinage of the Roman imperial period is replete with legends flagging sponsorship by men keen to promote their citizenship, official positions and authorization. This general pattern is little different in Phrygia, except for a one hundred and fifty year window when a number of women are named on civic bronze coins. A collation of women who may credibly be identified as civic coin sponsors provides the platform for a closer examination of women in Phrygian cities who appear to have used their cities’ mints as an outlet for their benefactions. This paper assumes that just as male euergetism in Asian cities included the minting of coins, so also the non-imperial/royal women named on coins can generally be assumed to be benefactors of the city mint unless there are strong reasons (such as commemorations) to counter the assignment. The goal of this paper is to test for indications of the extension of personal choice to sponsor a coin to influence on the resultant design. As Zuiderhoek advises, “analyses of the motivation behind euergetism should take the individual benefactor as their starting point.” Particular reference will be made to the coins of Pedia Sekounda of Eukarpeia (especially Hermes’ “penny”) and Claudia Eugenetoriane of Kolossai (especially the widow’s goddess, Demeter).
The First Urban Churches Volume 7: Thessalonica edited by J. R. Harrison and L. L. Welborn, 2022
In the debate about the level and nature of Paul’s political teaching for Christ-groups in the Ro... more In the debate about the level and nature of Paul’s political teaching for Christ-groups in the Roman Empire, one small mound of words has gained mountainous attention in recent times — the reference to “peace and security” (εἰρήνη καὶ ἀσφάλεια) in 1 Thess 5:3. It is worth recalling that the interpretation of Paul’s engagement with imperial ideology draws on a significant number of elements, but this verse is treated as a prime piece. Jeff Weima provided a fulsome gathering of evidence designed to demonstrate that the phrase, presented as a quotation by Paul, was a discrete formulation of Roman imperial propaganda, circulating in Thessaloniki. A fateful abbreviation of his argument, that it was “a fixed slogan of Roman political propaganda”, may simply have joined a growing chorus of commentators from Bammel to Galinsky. But it became the tunneled target for rebuttal of both the amassed evidence and its implications for Paul as a counter-imperial subversive (the extreme caricature of the argument). Joel White in a series of articles has, firstly, attempted to deconstruct any notion of a Roman slogan used by Paul, and then, as a counter-thesis, provided a conjoined, dichotomous pseudo-slogan of Paul’s own making. Both take the context and inheritance of first-century Thessaloniki seriously, though with Weima accenting the Roman background and White the Hellenistic. A sophisticated attempt to bridge the divide by focusing on this background as the frame for audiential reception has been offered by Christoph Heilig. My intention here is, firstly, to review some salient parts of the arguments of Weima and White; secondly, to propose some new lines of investigation dealing with textual form, visual aesthetics and the dynamics of cultural exchange in the early Empire; thirdly, to situate Paul within rather than outside his Roman context in his purpose for introducing the phrase.
The oral dimension of the gospel became a key explanation for the Synoptic problem in nineteenth-... more The oral dimension of the gospel became a key explanation for the Synoptic problem in nineteenth-century Gospel interpretation (Westcott). The burgeoning, critical hunt for the ipsissima verba of Jesus drove two subsequent modulations: the retroversion of the written Greek sources to a postulated Aramaic original (for at least some of Jesus' sayings) (Dalman); the formcritical excisions of authorial embellishments on gospel traditions, which were content with reliance on the Greek language of the written Gospels (including Thomas and other apocryphal texts) for their reconstructions (Bultmann; Robinson). The assumption of substantial continuity and unity between the oral and written Gospels was challenged in the second half of the twentieth century (Kelber). A reaction against the resultant polarisation of oral and written has swung attention to the oral/aural dimensions of the written Gospels (Dewey; Horsley). A bifurcation of research has developed, one accenting the performantial elements in the delivery of the Gospels, a second returning to the poiesis of the text, particularly emphasising what is called 'soundmapping' (Lee-Scott; Nässelqvist). This paper seeks to provide an overview of the changes in the understanding and development of orality in relation to Gospel research and then to apply some insights from socio-anthropological linguistics to Mark's Gospel to explore three elements crucial to its oral/aural dimensions. Firstly, what poetic and rhetorical structures are found in the text that invite an audiential response so as to produce a speech event-here reference is made to the mega-euphonic opening of Mark 1:1, the onomatopoeic extension of Mark 5:38, the assonantial associations of Mark 8:11 and the iambic abuse of Mark 7:27; secondly, what might these constructed speech events imply about the personnel involved in the delivery of Mark's Gospel demanded in Mark 13:14; and thirdly, what settings or spatial contexts can be inferred from such elements, building on the expansive territory of Mark 4. It will be argued that there is yet considerable mileage to be gained from studies in the oral dimensions of the Gospels.
God's Grace Inscribed on the Human Heart Essays in Honour of James R. Harrison (Early Christian Studies, 23) edited by P. G. Bolt and S. Kim, 2022
The greetings section of the Pauline corpus have become increasingly surveyed since Jeff Weima’s ... more The greetings section of the Pauline corpus have become increasingly surveyed since Jeff Weima’s ground-breaking monograph published in 1994. The study of the salutations has relied on two main points of intersection — an infra-comparative analysis based on the canonical Pauline corpus, and an inter-comparative investigation based on the thousands of letters surviving on papyri and ostraka, mainly from Egypt, with some Judean additions and a minuscule number fortuitously preserved on lead or wood from various locations. The first approach is problematic because of a tendency to homogenize the greetings sections of letters, even though Weima had noted that for all of the structural similarity, “the apostle regularly shapes and adapts his letter closings.” The letter to the Colossians stands out as an example of distinctive emphasis. Questions of pseudepigraphy aside, the instructions for the synoiketic reading of two letters plus an enigmatic instruction to Archippos are unique in the Pauline corpus. Here I want to hone in on the valuable assistance that epigraphy can deliver. It is, I hope, a fitting tribute to Jim Harrison whose gentle yet assiduous scholarship has for decades sought to gain bread from stones. I lay a foundation in the particularity of Col 4:15–17, move to the wider context of the inter-polis tensions that operated in the Lycus Valley once Colossae lost its hegemony over the entire area in the Hellenistic to early Roman period, and then examine how some inscriptions that record greetings and their delivery might contribute to an understanding of this small sub-section of the letter to the Colossians.
Dealing with Difference: Patterns of Response to Religious Rivalry in Late Antiquity edited by G. Dunn and C. Shepardson, 2021
Language use in diplomacy usually requires the amelioration of heightened expression in order not... more Language use in diplomacy usually requires the amelioration of heightened expression in order not to offend or inflame. However, there are occasions when the well-credentialed skill of deflection mounted extreme characterisations in the effort to maintain cooperation, rebuild relationships or bolster vulnerable groups. Before the popular story of St Michael of Chonai became straitened to a more refined and consistent literary Byzantine text in service of a centralist liturgical agenda, there was one figure that received undiluted yet protean vilification: the devil. Given the conflictual context for the rise of the popular story and the conflictual content that dominates the narrative, the question of the role and function of the lengthy aside describing the devil requires analysis, especially given that this part of the story is one of two sections that is the most fluid in the story’s transmission. The devil becomes the receiver of a constantly-changing but always reprehensible spoiled identity, deflecting attention from specific human agents attacking the place and the patronage of St Michael at Chonai/Colossae. It is the devil who becomes the emblematic representative and progenitor of repudiated behaviours and ideas at ecclesial flash-points across three centuries; and it is the devil who provides the ultimate deflection from the real offenders and thereby affords those under attack a diplomatic manoeuvre. This paper explores the manner and function of setting historical dimensions of conflict set into a mythological frame.
The Struggle over Class: Socioeconomic Analysis of Ancient Jewish and Christian Texts edited by G. A. Keddie, M. Flexsenhar and S. J. Friesen, 2021
Recent efforts have been made to restore agency to the lives of slaves in Greco-Roman antiquity. ... more Recent efforts have been made to restore agency to the lives of slaves in Greco-Roman antiquity. Laudable as such an irenic (if not apologetic) corrective may be, the question of the degree to which slaves might express their own independent judgment and exert their own will becomes critical when the primary class binary of slave and free is acknowledged. This dualism is pervasive in the economic structure and ideological defence of the first century Empire. These two critical facets of the ancient mode of production establish and entrench the fundamentals of the social relations that are labeled “class”; they are also standard reference points in the interpretation of Paul’s letter to Philemon, though usually exposited in isolation from each other. Moreover, the dominance of the appeal to Roman jurisprudence and economic operations begs the primary question of whether Roman law and commercial practice is the most pertinent resource for understanding the class dynamics in Paul’s letter. This paper proposes to problematize not only the interpretation of the shortest member of the Pauline corpus, but also the ways in which class relations might be constructed in an ancient Greek polis, one constantly negotiating the ubiquity of the Roman presence but seeking to maintain a measure of reality within the fiction of city independence. The line of exploration suggests a greater complexity to the intersection of economics and law in the socio-political relationships and language frames related to slavery than has usually been admitted — with considerable consequences for how class might be recognized in Paul’s writing.
One inscribed tombstone was placed at Appa station on the Ottoman Railway line from İzmir to Dina... more One inscribed tombstone was placed at Appa station on the Ottoman Railway line from İzmir to Dinar. The inscription was published by three different copyists in the course of eleven years. Each person who transcribed the inscription, Georg Weber, William Mitchell Ramsay and Georges Cousin, made no acknowledgement of each other. Moreover, each transcription and reconstruction differed from the other in more lines than the number of lines in which they were in agreement; the provenance for the stone was credited to different locations and the minimal description of the form of the stone left considerable doubt as to the tombstone’s design. No sketch or photograph was provided. The names on the epitaph have been harnessed by the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names to a site (Sanaos) to which none of the three published editions actually tied the inscription. The dispute may have been left unresolved, but for a photograph taken by Gertrude Bell in 1907. She never published it, but, for her, it was the fitting compensation for a failed visit to the site of Colossae. By careful enhancement of the photograph and close study of its contents, the three disputed elements — the form of the tombstone, its original location and the wording of the inscription — can be resolved to a high degree of probability. The restored inscription becomes particularly valuable for a name that may connect with one of the (in)famous features of Colossian religious life — the worship of angels.
The Impact of Jesus of Nazareth: Historical, Theological and Pastoral Perspectives edited by J. R. Harrison and P. Bolt, 2020
One word in Mark’s Gospel has caused considerable difficulty in translation and yet has received ... more One word in Mark’s Gospel has caused considerable difficulty in translation and yet has received little concerted attention. The hapax legomenon κωμόπολις (Mk 1:38) receives here detailed attention for two reasons. Firstly, it is a word that seems to have currency only in the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Both the transmission history of the Gospel of Mark and the testimonia confirm this assessment. Secondly, the sifting of the patterns of human settlement to which the term might be applied are explored in detail. The familiar citations from Strabo are supplemented by the less well-known partial text of Isidore of Charax to yield some new insights into the word’s meaning. These insights raise two further issues for future research. The first relates to the implications the study may have for a re-assessment of the provenance of the gospel; the second suggests that Mark is shifting the axis of geo-spatial relationships for the term.
The material culture of Colossae is here for the first time given as full a
collation as possibl... more The material culture of Colossae is here for the first time given as full a collation as possible to the present day. 38 inscriptions, 88 coins and 48 testimonia are brought together in the context of a thorough overview of the site of Colossae. These include evidence that has been thought lost or has been overlooked or misinterpreted or has only recently been discovered. New readings, insights and analyses of the material evidence are brought into a highly creative exchange with the two letters of the Second Testament connected with the site. Not only are significant new perspectives on these texts made possible but they are found to have been players in the life of the city, competing for influence and striving to yield a Christian response to life in the city and its territory. The texts thereby become additional evidence for an appreciation of the life of a city in the first two centuries of the Common Era.
Alan Cadwallader examines how the revision of the Authorised Version (that ran from 1870 until it... more Alan Cadwallader examines how the revision of the Authorised Version (that ran from 1870 until its published release in 1881) generated one of the most bitter instances of the political interests involved in the translation of a sacred book. Cadwallader shows how a public avowal of unity and fraternal harmony that characterized the public release and marketing of the New Testament revision in 1881 and the Old Testament revision in 1885 masks a tense historical reality that has not previously been reconstructed.
Through a thorough sifting of private correspondence, notebooks kept by some of the members of the New Testament Revision Company in England and the United States, and other not previously studied primary sources Cadwallader examines and presents the political situation that surrounded the translation. He exposes relations between an imperial, sovereign nation and the position of an Established Church; the aspirations and authenticity of denominations within a nation; the competitive tensions of national and international prestige and responsibility; and the ultimate control exercised by publishing houses that fundamentally flawed the process of revision and the public acceptance of the final product.
a survey of the material evidence about the ancient city of Colossae, covering the poverty of the... more a survey of the material evidence about the ancient city of Colossae, covering the poverty of the history of archaeological interest in the site, army presence through history, the gods, the theatre, the fortress, textiles and clothing, the baths and water system, the necropolis and the archangel Michael.
The previous volume of essays, Five Uneasy Pieces was warmly received. People of faith and spirit... more The previous volume of essays, Five Uneasy Pieces was warmly received. People of faith and spirituality were looking for liberating understandings of the Bible in engagement with their own sexuality and those of friends, family and beyond. The book demonstrated clearly that oppressive uses of selected texts from the Bible were invalid. But more is needed. The obligation upon scriptural scholars is to establish scripture's hospitable inclusion of those whose sexual identities have been subjected to such oppression. Pieces of Ease and Grace retrieves biblical texts as actively embracing gays and lesbians within the community of faith with stories that profoundly intersect with those of scripture. Here is a collection of biblical essays on sexuality and welcome that restores the Bible as a book of grace to those whose sexual identities had previously been lost in interpretation. e Bible speaks the Word of God, but it speaks it in the hearts of people who live in community and ree ect upon Scripture within the full range of their human experiences: love, grace, sin, rejection, forgiveness, and acceptance. Pieces of Ease and Grace mines familiar Biblical stories from the perspective of gay and lesbian people, breaking open God's acceptance for all. It is powerful reading for all believers. e Hon Kristina Keneally, CEO Basketball Australia, former Premier of New South Wales, 2009–11. is is a gentle book. It is not written in a hostile tone, with theological essays targeted at angry adversaries. Instead, it is a calm and loving book that explores a future world in which the Christian churches, in harmony with science and daily experience, reject an unbending insistence on universal, binary sexual identities. Instead, it explores diverse relationships between loving human beings such as nowadays seem to be popping up everywhere before our very eyes. Drawing on biblical analysis and on the famous stories of Ruth and Naomi, David and Jonathan and Mary and Martha and more, it dares to explore the grace and truth of diverse human relationships as they are — not as others demand they must be. And the central message is: gays are not them; they are us.
Kaleidoscope of Pieces opens up fresh insights into readings offering pastoral and transformative... more Kaleidoscope of Pieces opens up fresh insights into readings offering pastoral and transformative support to those whose self-identification is not heterosexual. These essays do what good theological investigation requires. They both confront and challenge through scholarly investigation. Each essay opens a window, or perhaps to bring more nuanced colour and texture, a different view, like looking through a kaleidoscope, to highlight more of the theological, spiritual and ecclesiological depths to human sexuality, and to homosexuality in particular.
Mary MacKillop was canonized as St Mary of the Cross in 2010. She was proclaimed as "A saint for ... more Mary MacKillop was canonized as St Mary of the Cross in 2010. She was proclaimed as "A saint for all Australians". Accordingly, this collection is an ecumenical collection where contributors from different traditions engage the saint in the light of their own understandings of saints and holy people.
The question of hermeneutics now dominates all disciplines of human knowledge and its constructio... more The question of hermeneutics now dominates all disciplines of human knowledge and its construction. It has moved from a concentration on how to apply the results of research knowledge to considerations of the frameworks by which we conduct research as a meaningful exercise.
The apostle Paul, who sought to be 'all things to all people', wrote about Jesus Christ in a mann... more The apostle Paul, who sought to be 'all things to all people', wrote about Jesus Christ in a manner that broke beyond the confines of any one culture. His reflections on Jesus gave encouragement to the fledgling Christian communities of his own day as they searched for their identity and role in a world antagonistic to them. These same writings shed light on our questions about Jesus as we explore what it means to be a Christian community in Australia today.
AIDS is a devastating disease. This book is about people whose lives have been affected at the mo... more AIDS is a devastating disease. This book is about people whose lives have been affected at the most fundamental level by AIDS, and the questions carers, ministers, parents, patients and theologians ask. For many of these people, those questions are more than pastoral or clinical. They are questions that reflect the ambiguities of faith which exist with immense suffering and the struggle to make sense of God and the Church's response to this disease.
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Papers by Alan Cadwallader
From there contributors explore three areas of village life in different geographical areas, by means of a series of studies, written by experts in each discipline. They discuss the ancient near east (Egypt and Israel), mainland and Isthmian Greece, Asia Minor, and the Italian Peninsula. This geographic focus sheds light upon the villages associated with the biblical cities (Israel; Corinth; Galatia; Ephesus; Philippi; Thessalonica; Rome), including potential insights into the rural nature of the churches located there.
A final section of thematic studies explores central issues of local village life (indigenous and imperial cults, funerary culture, and agricultural and economic life).
From there contributors explore three areas of village life in different geographical areas, by means of a series of studies, written by experts in each discipline. They discuss the ancient near east (Egypt and Israel), mainland and Isthmian Greece, Asia Minor, and the Italian Peninsula. This geographic focus sheds light upon the villages associated with the biblical cities (Israel; Corinth; Galatia; Ephesus; Philippi; Thessalonica; Rome), including potential insights into the rural nature of the churches located there.
A final section of thematic studies explores central issues of local village life (indigenous and imperial cults, funerary culture, and agricultural and economic life).
collation as possible to the present day. 38 inscriptions, 88 coins and 48
testimonia are brought together in the context of a thorough overview of the site of Colossae. These include evidence that has been thought lost or has
been overlooked or misinterpreted or has only recently been discovered. New readings, insights and analyses of the material evidence are brought into a
highly creative exchange with the two letters of the Second Testament
connected with the site. Not only are significant new perspectives on these
texts made possible but they are found to have been players in the life of the city, competing for influence and striving to yield a Christian response to life
in the city and its territory. The texts thereby become additional evidence for an appreciation of the life of a city in the first two centuries of the Common
Era.
Through a thorough sifting of private correspondence, notebooks kept by some of the members of the New Testament Revision Company in England and the United States, and other not previously studied primary sources Cadwallader examines and presents the political situation that surrounded the translation. He exposes relations between an imperial, sovereign nation and the position of an Established Church; the aspirations and authenticity of denominations within a nation; the competitive tensions of national and international prestige and responsibility; and the ultimate control exercised by publishing houses that fundamentally flawed the process of revision and the public acceptance of the final product.
Available from http://atfpress.com/fragments-of-colossae-483.html