Cosmology is concerned with the order of the universe and seeks to provide an account, not only o... more Cosmology is concerned with the order of the universe and seeks to provide an account, not only of that order, but also of the mind or reason behind it. In antiquity, the cosmos was usually understood religiously, such that the cosmologies of the ancient Mediterranean world were either religious in nature or constituted a reaction to a religiously conceived understanding of the structures of the universe. The oldest form in which ancient cosmologies occur is myth, which, owing to its elasticity as a form, enabled them to be appropriated, adapted and used by different groups. In addition, different cosmologies co-existed within the same ancient culture, each having an authoritative status. This article provides an introductory overview of these cosmological myths and argues that a comparative approach is the most fruitful way to study them. Emphasis is given to certain prominent cosmological topics, including theogony (the genesis of the divine) or the relationship of the divine to t...
Throughout his career, Fika Janse van Rensburg has rightly insisted on the importance of the soci... more Throughout his career, Fika Janse van Rensburg has rightly insisted on the importance of the socio-historical context in interpreting early Christian literature. Although New Testament scholars have given careful attention to many aspects of this context, they have generally neglected writings by physicians. This neglect includes the numerous works of the philosopher-physician Galen (129-ca. 216 or 217 CE), who was one of the Roman Empire’s most prolific writers. As a corrective, this article focuses on Galen, with attention given to his life and to a recently discovered treatise on distress or grief (lype¯), known as De indolentia [Avoiding Distress or On Freedom from Distress]. Galen discusses grief from both a physiological and philosophical perspective, and his treatment of this emotion and common human experience provides an important context for the statements about lype¯ found in the New Testament and other early Christian documents.
This thoroughly revised and expanded edition includes an entirely new introduction to Paul and th... more This thoroughly revised and expanded edition includes an entirely new introduction to Paul and the central issues surrounding his writings, as well as several newly included sections of writings from Paul's time to the present, among them "Annotated Text: Pseudo-Pauline Writings"; "The Apocryphal Paul: Some Early Christian Traditions and Legends," with writings by Jerome, Clement of Alexandria, Ambrosiaster, and others; "The Martyrdom of Paul"; "Paul and His Pagan Critics;" "Valentinus and the Gnostic Paul,"with writings by Theodotus and Elaine Pagels; "Paul and the Christian Martyrs"; "A Sampler of Patristic Interpretations"; "The Second Century Paul"; "Reading Romans," with writings from Origen, Theodoret of Cyrus, Paul W. Meyer, Stanley Stowers, Ernst Kasemann, and others; and "A Sampler of Modern Approaches to Paul and His Letters," with writings by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenz...
The question of "parallels" to the language and formulations of the New Testament and o... more The question of "parallels" to the language and formulations of the New Testament and other early Christian literature has been a key scholarly issue since the seventeenth century, when a number of linguistic and comparative studies began to appear. These works, largely the product of a new philologically oriented approach to early Christian literature, continued to proliferate during the eighteenth century and included several limited or specialized collections of parallels based on some individual authors like Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Josephus, and Philo. Best known among these was that of Johann Jacob Wettstein. Wettstein's collection originated out of the burgeoning work of the period on textual criticism. In order to understand fully how a Paul might have appropriated these semantic and social conventions, one must continue to examine closely the parallels in their contexts. Keywords: Christian; Diodorus Siculus; Jew; Johann Jacob Wettstein; Josephus; Paul; Philo; Polybius
This volume deals with the topics of friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech in the Greco-R... more This volume deals with the topics of friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech in the Greco-Roman world. The three topics were often related, with candor or frank criticism viewed as the trait that distinguished the true friend from the flatterer. The book's eleven essays are divided into three parts. The first part introduces the volume and discusses the three topics in the thought of Philodemus and Plutarch. Part two deals with Paul's use of friendship language in his correspondence with the Church at Philippi. Part three examines the concept of frankness (parrhesia) in Paul, Luke-Acts, Hebrews, and the Johannine corpus. The volume will be particularly useful to NT Scholars, classicists, and modern theologians and ethicists who are interested in the theory and practice of friendship in antiquity.
Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern ... more Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern cosmology have prompted renewed interest in the intersections between religion, theology and cosmology. This article, which is intended as a brief introduction to the series of studies on theological cosmology in this journal, identifies three general areas of theological interest stemming from the modern scientific study of cosmology: contemporary theology and ethics; cosmology and world religions; and ancient cosmologies. These intersections raise important questions about the relationship of religion and cosmology, which has recently been addressed by William Scott Green and is the focus of the final portion of the article. Godsdiens, teologie, en kosmologie. Kosmologie is tans een van die belangrikste navorsings-terreine en ontwikkelings in moderne kosmologie. Dit het 'n nuwe belangstelling wakker gemaak in die verband wat tussen godsdiens, teologie en kosmologie bestaan. Hierdie...
exchange, but other forces also caused goods to change hands. Such nonmarket transfers ranged fro... more exchange, but other forces also caused goods to change hands. Such nonmarket transfers ranged from small private gifts to the wholesale confiscation of cities, lands, and their peoples. The papers presented in this volume examine aspects of this extramercantile economy, particularly benefaction and the role of associations, as well as their impact on the market economy. This volume brings together ancient historians, New Testament scholars, and classicists to assess critically the New Institutional Economics framework. Combining theoretical approaches with detailed investigations of particular regions and topics, its chapters examine Greek economic thought, the benefits of membership in private associations, and the economic role of civic euergetism from classical Athens to the municipalities of Roman Spain. The Extramercantile Economies of Greek and Roman Cities will be of use to those interested in the economic context of ancient religions, the role of associations in the economy, theoretical approaches to the study of the ancient economy, labor, and politics in the ancient city, as well as how Greek philosophers, from Xenophon to Philodemus, developed ethical ideas about economic behavior.
Cosmology is concerned with the order of the universe and seeks to provide an account, not only o... more Cosmology is concerned with the order of the universe and seeks to provide an account, not only of that order, but also of the mind or reason behind it. In antiquity, the cosmos was usually understood religiously, such that the cosmologies of the ancient Mediterranean world were either religious in nature or constituted a reaction to a religiously conceived understanding of the structures of the universe. The oldest form in which ancient cosmologies occur is myth, which, owing to its elasticity as a form, enabled them to be appropriated, adapted and used by different groups. In addition, different cosmologies co-existed within the same ancient culture, each having an authoritative status. This article provides an introductory overview of these cosmological myths and argues that a comparative approach is the most fruitful way to study them. Emphasis is given to certain prominent cosmological topics, including theogony (the genesis of the divine) or the relationship of the divine to t...
Throughout his career, Fika Janse van Rensburg has rightly insisted on the importance of the soci... more Throughout his career, Fika Janse van Rensburg has rightly insisted on the importance of the socio-historical context in interpreting early Christian literature. Although New Testament scholars have given careful attention to many aspects of this context, they have generally neglected writings by physicians. This neglect includes the numerous works of the philosopher-physician Galen (129-ca. 216 or 217 CE), who was one of the Roman Empire’s most prolific writers. As a corrective, this article focuses on Galen, with attention given to his life and to a recently discovered treatise on distress or grief (lype¯), known as De indolentia [Avoiding Distress or On Freedom from Distress]. Galen discusses grief from both a physiological and philosophical perspective, and his treatment of this emotion and common human experience provides an important context for the statements about lype¯ found in the New Testament and other early Christian documents.
This thoroughly revised and expanded edition includes an entirely new introduction to Paul and th... more This thoroughly revised and expanded edition includes an entirely new introduction to Paul and the central issues surrounding his writings, as well as several newly included sections of writings from Paul's time to the present, among them "Annotated Text: Pseudo-Pauline Writings"; "The Apocryphal Paul: Some Early Christian Traditions and Legends," with writings by Jerome, Clement of Alexandria, Ambrosiaster, and others; "The Martyrdom of Paul"; "Paul and His Pagan Critics;" "Valentinus and the Gnostic Paul,"with writings by Theodotus and Elaine Pagels; "Paul and the Christian Martyrs"; "A Sampler of Patristic Interpretations"; "The Second Century Paul"; "Reading Romans," with writings from Origen, Theodoret of Cyrus, Paul W. Meyer, Stanley Stowers, Ernst Kasemann, and others; and "A Sampler of Modern Approaches to Paul and His Letters," with writings by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenz...
The question of "parallels" to the language and formulations of the New Testament and o... more The question of "parallels" to the language and formulations of the New Testament and other early Christian literature has been a key scholarly issue since the seventeenth century, when a number of linguistic and comparative studies began to appear. These works, largely the product of a new philologically oriented approach to early Christian literature, continued to proliferate during the eighteenth century and included several limited or specialized collections of parallels based on some individual authors like Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Josephus, and Philo. Best known among these was that of Johann Jacob Wettstein. Wettstein's collection originated out of the burgeoning work of the period on textual criticism. In order to understand fully how a Paul might have appropriated these semantic and social conventions, one must continue to examine closely the parallels in their contexts. Keywords: Christian; Diodorus Siculus; Jew; Johann Jacob Wettstein; Josephus; Paul; Philo; Polybius
This volume deals with the topics of friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech in the Greco-R... more This volume deals with the topics of friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech in the Greco-Roman world. The three topics were often related, with candor or frank criticism viewed as the trait that distinguished the true friend from the flatterer. The book's eleven essays are divided into three parts. The first part introduces the volume and discusses the three topics in the thought of Philodemus and Plutarch. Part two deals with Paul's use of friendship language in his correspondence with the Church at Philippi. Part three examines the concept of frankness (parrhesia) in Paul, Luke-Acts, Hebrews, and the Johannine corpus. The volume will be particularly useful to NT Scholars, classicists, and modern theologians and ethicists who are interested in the theory and practice of friendship in antiquity.
Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern ... more Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern cosmology have prompted renewed interest in the intersections between religion, theology and cosmology. This article, which is intended as a brief introduction to the series of studies on theological cosmology in this journal, identifies three general areas of theological interest stemming from the modern scientific study of cosmology: contemporary theology and ethics; cosmology and world religions; and ancient cosmologies. These intersections raise important questions about the relationship of religion and cosmology, which has recently been addressed by William Scott Green and is the focus of the final portion of the article. Godsdiens, teologie, en kosmologie. Kosmologie is tans een van die belangrikste navorsings-terreine en ontwikkelings in moderne kosmologie. Dit het 'n nuwe belangstelling wakker gemaak in die verband wat tussen godsdiens, teologie en kosmologie bestaan. Hierdie...
exchange, but other forces also caused goods to change hands. Such nonmarket transfers ranged fro... more exchange, but other forces also caused goods to change hands. Such nonmarket transfers ranged from small private gifts to the wholesale confiscation of cities, lands, and their peoples. The papers presented in this volume examine aspects of this extramercantile economy, particularly benefaction and the role of associations, as well as their impact on the market economy. This volume brings together ancient historians, New Testament scholars, and classicists to assess critically the New Institutional Economics framework. Combining theoretical approaches with detailed investigations of particular regions and topics, its chapters examine Greek economic thought, the benefits of membership in private associations, and the economic role of civic euergetism from classical Athens to the municipalities of Roman Spain. The Extramercantile Economies of Greek and Roman Cities will be of use to those interested in the economic context of ancient religions, the role of associations in the economy, theoretical approaches to the study of the ancient economy, labor, and politics in the ancient city, as well as how Greek philosophers, from Xenophon to Philodemus, developed ethical ideas about economic behavior.
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