The Historical Jesus in Context

by Levine, Amy-Jill

• ISBN13: 9780691009919
• ISBN10: 0691009910
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-16
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

The Historical Jesus in Contextis a landmark collection that places the gospel narratives in their full literary, social, and archaeological context. More than twenty-five internationally recognized experts offer new translations and descriptions of a broad range of texts that shed new light on the Jesus of history, including pagan prayers and private inscriptions, miracle tales and martyrdoms, parables and fables, divorce decrees and imperial propaganda. The translated materials--from Christian, Coptic, and Jewish as well as Greek, Roman, and Egyptian texts--extend beyond single phrases to encompass the full context, thus allowing readers to locate Jesus in a broader cultural setting than is usually made available. This book demonstrates that only by knowing the world in which Jesus lived and taught can we fully understand him, his message, and the spread of the Gospel. Gathering in one place material that was previously available only in disparate sources, this formidable book provides innovative insight into matters no less grand than first-century Jewish and Gentile life, the composition of the Gospels, and Jesus himself.

Author Biography

Amy-Jill Levine is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at the Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion of Vanderbilt University. Dale C. Allison Jr. is Errett M. Grable Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christianity at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. John Dominic Crossan is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at DePaul University.

Table of Contents

Princeton Readings in Religions	p. v
Contributors	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Archaeological Contributions to the Study of Jesus and the Gospels	p. 40
Josephus on John the Baptist and Other Jewish Prophets of Deliverance	p. 55
Abba and Father: Imperial Theology in the Contexts of Jesus and the Gospels	p. 64
Miraculous Conceptions and Births in Mediterranean Antiquity	p. 79
First and Second Enoch: A Cry against Oppression and the Promise of Deliverance	p. 87
Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls	p. 110
The Chreia	p. 132
The Galilean Charismatic and Rabbinic Piety: The Holy Man in the Talmudic Literature	p. 149
Miracle Stories: The God Asclepius, the Pythagorean Philosophers, and the Roman Rulers	p. 166
The Mithras Liturgy	p. 179
Apuleius of Madauros	p. 193
The Parable in the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic Literature	p. 206
The Aesop Tradition	p. 222
Targum, Jesus, and the Gospels	p. 238
The Psalms of Solomon	p. 256
Moral and Ritual Purity	p. 266
Gospel and Talmud	p. 285
Philo of Alexandria	p. 296
The Law of Roman Divorce in the Time of Christ	p. 309
Associations in the Ancient World	p. 323
Anointing Traditions	p. 339
The Passover Haggadah	p. 343
Joseph and Aseneth: Food as an Identity Marker	p. 357
The Pliny and Trajan Correspondence	p. 366
Imitations of Greek Epic in the Gospels	p. 372
Narratives of Noble Death	p. 385
Isaiah 53:1-12 (Septuagint)	p. 400
Thallus on the Crucifixion	p. 405
Maps	p. 407
Glossary	p. 409
Index of Ancient Works	p. 417
Index of Ancient Persons	p. 435
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