Mission and Conversion Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire

by Goodman, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780198263876
• ISBN10: 0198263872
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-02-22
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This is a controversial and important new examination of the origins of Christian mission, set against the background of ancient Judaism and the pagan culture of the Roman Empire. The author invites a total reconsideration of the grounds for religious conversion in both Christianity and Judaism. He suggests that mission was not inherent to either early Judaism or Christianity, and was only sporadically practiced in antiquity by these religions. Clear, accessible, and displaying considerable scholarship, this book will provide an important challenge and a stimulus to both theologians and historians.

Author Biography

Martin Goodman is Reader in Jewish Studies and Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew Studies.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	xii
The Significance of Proselytizing	1	(19)
The Diffusion of Cults and Philosophies in the Pagan Roman Empire	20	(18)
Judaism before 100 CE: Attitudes to Gentile Paganism	38	(22)
Judaism before 100 CE: Proselytes and Proselytizing	60	(31)
Mission in the Early Church	91	(18)
Judaism in the Talmudic Period: Attitudes to Gentile Paganism	109	(20)
Judaism in the Talmudic Period: Proselytes and Proselytizing	129	(25)
The Consequences and Origins of Proselytizing	154	(21)
Bibliography	175	(14)
Index	189