DOCSLIB.ORG

REDESCRIBING CHRISTIAN ORIGINS Symposium Series

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

REDESCRIBING CHRISTIAN ORIGINS Symposium Series Christopher R. Matthews, Editor Number 28 REDESCRIBING CHRISTIAN ORIGINS REDESCRIBING CHRISTIAN ORIGINS Edited by Ron Cameron and Merrill P. Miller BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2004 REDESCRIBING CHRISTIAN ORIGINS Copyright © 2004 by the Society of Biblical Literature This edition published under license from the Society of Biblical Literature by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by means of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to the Rights and Permissions Office, Society of Biblical Literature, 825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA. Cover photo of the leaf of Papyrus 46 containing 2 Cor. 11:33–12:9 courtesy of the Papyrol- ogy Collection, Graduate Library, University of Michigan. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Redescribing Christian origins / edited by Ron Cameron and Merrill P. Miller. p. cm. — (Society of Biblical Literature symposium series ; no. 28) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 90-04-13064-0 (alk. paper) 1. Christianity—Origin—Congresses. I. Cameron, Ron. II. Miller, Merrill P. III. Sym- posium series (Society of Biblical Literature) ; no. 28. BR129.R43 2004b 270.1—dc22 2004004671 ISSN 1569-3627 Printed in The Netherlands on acid-free paper. In memory of Andy and Lena Cameron and To my mother, Ruth Miller, and in memory of my father, Arthur Miller, and my brother, Kerry Miller CONTENTS Abbreviations..................................................................................................xi Introduction: Ancient Myths and Modern Theories of Christian Origins Ron Cameron and Merrill P. Miller ........................................................1 PART 1: ALTERNATE BEGINNINGS: THE SAYINGS GOSPEL Q AND THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS Introduction to the Papers from the Third Year of the Consultation Merrill P. Miller ......................................................................................33 The Schooling of a Galilean Jesus Association (The Sayings Gospel Q) Willi Braun ............................................................................................43 Why Q Failed: From Ideological Project to Group Formation William E. Arnal ....................................................................................67 Ancient Myths and Modern Theories of the Gospel of Thomas and Christian Origins Ron Cameron..........................................................................................89 “Keep Speaking until You Find...”: Thomas and the School of Oral Mimesis Arthur J. Dewey ....................................................................................109 Discussion and Reflections Merrill P. Miller ....................................................................................133 PART 2: A JESUS SCHOOL IN JERUSALEM? Proposal for the First Year of the Seminar Ron Cameron........................................................................................141 viii Contents Introduction to the Papers from the First Year of the Seminar Ron Cameron........................................................................................151 Acts and the History of the Earliest Jerusalem Church Christopher R. Matthews ......................................................................159 Antioch, Paul, and Jerusalem: Diaspora Myths of Origins in the Homeland Merrill P. Miller ....................................................................................177 What Do We Really Know about the Jerusalem Church? Christian Origins in Jerusalem according to Acts and Paul Dennis E. Smith ....................................................................................237 A Jewish Jesus School in Jerusalem? Burton L. Mack ....................................................................................253 History, Historiography, and Christian Origins: The Jerusalem Community Luther H. Martin ..................................................................................263 Agenda for the Annual Meeting, Discussion, and Reflections Ron Cameron........................................................................................275 PART 3: A PRE-PAULINE CHRISTOS ASSOCIATION Proposal for the Second Year of the Seminar Ron Cameron........................................................................................285 Introduction to the Papers from the Second Year of the Seminar Ron Cameron........................................................................................293 The Problem of the Origins of a Messianic Conception of Jesus Merrill P. Miller ....................................................................................301 Christos as Nickname Barry S. Crawford ................................................................................337 From Messiahs to Christ: The Pre-Pauline Christ Cult in Scholarship Christopher R. Matthews ......................................................................349 Why Christos ? The Social Reasons Burton L. Mack ....................................................................................365 Contents ix The Anointed Jesus Merrill P. Miller ....................................................................................375 Agenda for the Annual Meeting, Discussion, and Reflections Ron Cameron........................................................................................417 Backbay Jazz and Blues Burton L. Mack ....................................................................................421 Smoke Signals from the North: A Reply to Burton Mack’s “Backbay Jazz and Blues” Willi Braun ..........................................................................................433 Issues and Commentary Ron Cameron and Merrill P. Miller ....................................................443 PART 4: METAREFLECTIONS Social Formation and Mythmaking: Theses on Key Terms William E. Arnal and Willi Braun......................................................459 Remarkable Burton L. Mack ....................................................................................469 Redescribing Christian Origins: Historiography or Exegesis? Luther H. Martin ..................................................................................475 Dayyeinu Jonathan Z. Smith ................................................................................483 Mythmaking, Social Formation, and Varieties of Social Theory Stanley K. Stowers ................................................................................489 Conclusion: Redescribing Christian Origins Ron Cameron and Merrill P. Miller ....................................................497 Select Bibliography......................................................................................517 Index of Ancient Texts................................................................................521 Select Index of Modern Authors ................................................................535 x Contents Index of Subjects ........................................................................................537 Contributors ................................................................................................539 ABBREVIATIONS PRIMARY SOURCES 1 En. 1 Enoch (Ethiopic Apocalypse) 1QM Milhamah˙ or War Scroll 1QS Serek Hayahad˙ or Rule of the Community 1QSa Rule of the Congregation (Appendix a to 1QS) 1QSb Rule of the Blessings (Appendix b to 1QS) 2 Bar. 2 Baruch (Syriac Apocalypse) 4QCommGen A Commentary on Genesis A, formerly Patriarchal Bless- ings or Pesher Genesis 4QFlor Florilegium 4QMessAp Messianic Apocalypse 11QMelch Melchizedek Ap. Jas. Apocryphon of James Apuleius Metam. Metamorphoses / The Golden Ass Aristotle Mem. rem. De memoria et reminiscentia / Memory and Reminis- cence Poet. Poetica / Poetics As. Mos. Assumption of Moses CD Cairo Genizah copy of the Damascus Document Crates Ep. Epistula / Epistle Did. Didache Epictetus Diss. Dissertationes / Dissertations Eusebius Hist. eccl. Historia ecclesiastica / Ecclesiastical History Exeg. Soul Exegesis of the Soul Gen. Rab. Genesis Rabbah Gos. Heb. Gospel of the Hebrews Gos. Thom. Gospel of Thomas Gos. Truth Gospel of Truth xi xii Abbreviations Irenaeus Haer. Adversus haereses / Against Heresies Josephus Ant. Jewish Antiquities War Jewish War Jub. Jubilees L.A.B. Liber antiquitatum biblicarum (Pseudo-Philo) Libanius Orat. Orationes / Orations m. Mishnah Midr. Midrash Philo Flacc. In Flaccum / Against Flaccus Legat. Legatio ad Gaium / On the Embassy to Gaius Praem. De praemiis et poenis / On Rewards and Punishments Plutarch Conj. praec. Conjugalia Praecepta / Advice to the Bride and Groom and a Consolation to His Wife P.Oxy. Oxyrhynchus papyri Pss. Sol. Psalms of Solomon Quintilian Inst. Institutio oratoria / The Orator’s Education Shepherd of Hermas Herm. Sim. Shepherd of Hermas, Similitudes Sib. Or. Sibylline Oracles T. Jud. Testament of Judah T. Levi Testament of Levi T. Reu. Testament of Reuben Ta(an. Ta(anit Tg. Neof. Targum Neofiti y. Jerusalem Talmud SECONDARY SOURCES AB Anchor Bible ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by D. N. Freedman. 6 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1992. ABRL Anchor Bible Reference Library AGJU Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums
Recommended publications
  • The Search for a No-Frills Jesus CHARLOTTE ALLEN Atlantic Magazine, December 1996

    The Search for a No-Frills Jesus CHARLOTTE ALLEN Atlantic Magazine, December 1996

    The Search for a No-Frills Jesus CHARLOTTE ALLEN Atlantic Magazine, December 1996 “It should bring an end to the myth, the history, the mentality, of the Gospels. But nobody's going to want to read it!" Burton L. Mack, until his recent retirement a professor of New Testament at the School of Theology at Claremont, in southern California, and the author of a best-selling book about the origins of Christianity, was drumming his palms on a table in his living room not long ago and talking about the publication of a scholarly document that he believes radically undercuts Christianity's claim to be the religion of Jesus of Nazareth. Mack, although he taught future ministers, would not be displeased. He blames Christianity for contributing to centuries of U.S. wrongdoing, from wars against Native Americans to interventionism abroad. "They'll have to read it!" he declaimed. The document he was discussing is a reconstructed Greek text (with an immense scholarly apparatus) of "Q," as biblical scholars have named a hypothetical first-century work composed mostly of sayings of Jesus. The first installment was published last spring by the Belgian firm Peeters under the series title Documenta Q. Many scholars believe that Q served as a literary source ("Q" is short for Quelle, the German word for "source") for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which contain numerous parallel passages. Other scholars believe it never existed -- there are no manuscripts of Q or references to it in ancient literature. Contained in Q, or at least in the parallel passages of Matthew and Luke for which Q is the hypothetical source, are many of the teachings of Jesus that Christians placed near the heart of their faith: the Lord's Prayer, the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, the Golden Rule, and the famous admonition "You cannot serve God and Mammon." It would therefore seem at first glance as though Q were a thoroughly Christian text, not the threat to Christianity that Mack describes.
  • The Real Jesus: the Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospel, Luke Timothy Johnson

    The Real Jesus: the Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospel, Luke Timothy Johnson

    Leaven Volume 4 Issue 1 The Psalms Article 17 1-1-1996 The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospel, Luke Timothy Johnson Christopher Roy Hutson [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Hutson, Christopher Roy (2012) "The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospel, Luke Timothy Johnson," Leaven: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 17. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol4/iss1/17 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Religion at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Leaven by an authorized editor of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Hutson: The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and 40 Leaven, Winter, 1996 Book Reviews Nahum M. Sarna, On the Book of Psalms: the Psalms are "theotrophic," and are words of the Exploring the Prayers of Ancient Israel people's worship to God. Recognizing how the Psalms differ from the Law and the Prophets in genre, Sarna (New York: Schocken Books, 1993) reviewed demonstrates how they complement each other. He by Amy Bost Reneger. contrasts the opening and closing of the Ten Com- mandments with those of the Psalms. The Ten Nahum M. Sarna is Professor Emeritus of Commandments begin with the statement "I am the Biblical Studies at Brandeis University.
  • JOHNSON, LUKE TIMOTHY. Luke Timothy Johnson Papers, 1965-2018

    JOHNSON, LUKE TIMOTHY. Luke Timothy Johnson Papers, 1965-2018

    JOHNSON, LUKE TIMOTHY. Luke Timothy Johnson papers, 1965-2018 Emory University Pitts Theology Library 1531 Dickey Drive, Suite 560 Atlanta, GA 30322 404-727-4166 Descriptive Summary Creator: Johnson, Luke Timothy. Title: Luke Timothy Johnson papers, 1965-2018 Call Number: Manuscript Collection No. 346 Extent: 17.2 cubic feet (35 boxes) Abstract: Consists of the academic papers of Luke Timothy Johnson, New Testament scholar and Robert W. Woodruff Professor Emeritus. Language: Materials entirely in English. Administrative Information Restrictions on Access Restricted access to folders 4 through 10. Terms Governing Use and Reproduction All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction. Citation [after identification of item(s)], Luke Timothy Johnson papers (MSS 346), Archives and Manuscript Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University. Processing Processed by Trisha Cousino and Brandon Wason, 2019. Collection Description Biographical Note Luke Timothy Johnson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor Emeritus of Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He is a leading New Testament scholar and sought after lecturer, speaking across the country and abroad. He has delivered 200 presentations and lectures, and has authored 30 books, 70 scholarly articles, and 100 popular articles. Johnson has directed more than 20 PhD dissertations students throughout his career. His research concerns the literary, Emory Libraries provides copies of its finding aids for use only in research and private study. Copies supplied may not be copied for others or otherwise distributed without prior consent of the holding repository. Luke Timothy Johnson papers, 1965-2018 Manuscript Collection No. 346 moral and religious dimensions of the New Testament, Luke-Acts, the Pastoral Letters, and the Letter of James.
  • Jesus Seminar 1 Jesus Seminar

    Jesus Seminar 1 Jesus Seminar

    Jesus Seminar 1 Jesus Seminar The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 150 critical scholars and laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk under the auspices of the Westar Institute.[1][2] The seminar was active in the 1980s and 1990s. It preceded the short-lived Jesus Project, which was active 2008 to 2009. In March 2006, the Jesus Seminar began work on a new description of the emergence of the Jesus traditions through the first two centuries of the common era [C.E.]. In this new phase, the Jesus Seminar on Christian Origins, fellows employ the methods and John Dominic Crossan, noted member of the Jesus Seminar techniques pioneered by the original Jesus Seminar. The seminar uses votes with colored beads to decide their collective view of the historicity of the deeds and sayings of Jesus of Nazareth.[3] They produced new translations of the New Testament and apocrypha to use as textual sources. They published their results in three reports: The Five Gospels (1993),[4] The Acts of Jesus (1998),[5] and The Gospel of Jesus (1999).[6] They also run a series of lectures and workshops in various U.S. cities. The seminar's reconstruction of the historical Jesus portrayed him as an itinerant Hellenistic Jewish sage and faith healer who preached a gospel of liberation from injustice in startling parables and aphorisms. An iconoclast, Jesus broke with established Jewish theological dogmas and social conventions both in his teachings and behaviors, often by turning common-sense ideas upside down, confounding the expectations of his audience: He preached of "Heaven's imperial rule" (traditionally translated as "Kingdom of God") as being already present but unseen; he depicts God as a loving father; he fraternizes with outsiders and criticizes insiders.
  • The Historical Jesus

    The Historical Jesus

    The Historical Jesus 1. The Historical Jesus: Introductions & Overviews 2. The Quest for the Historical Jesus: 18th-Mid 20th Centuries 3. The Jesus Seminar & Its Critics 4. The Quest for the Historical Jesus: The Contemporary Mainstream 5. New Testament Portraits of Jesus 1. THE HISTORICAL JESUS: Introductions & Overviews David B. Gowler, What Are They Saying About the Historical Jesus? (New York: Paulist Press, 2007). A good place to start. Gowler has chapters on the early quest (from Reimarus to Schweitzer), the Jesus Seminar (Robert Funk, Markus Borg, John Dominic Crossan), and the new mainstream (E.P. Sanders, John Meier). Dale C. Allison, Jr., “The Problem of the Historical Jesus,” in The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament, ed. David Aune (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), 220-235. Richard Bauckham, Jesus: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011). James Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy, eds., The Historical Jesus: Five Views (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2009). Helen Bond, Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed, Guides for the Perplexed (New York: T&T Clark International, 2012). Marcus Brockmuhl, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Jesus (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002). Delbert Burkett, ed., The Blackwell Companion to Jesus, series: Blackwell Companions to Religion (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). James H. Charlesworth, The Historical Jesus: The Essential Guide (Nashville: Abingdon, 2008). Craig A. Evans, Life of Jesus Research: An Annotated Bibliography, rev. ed. New Testament Tools and Studies 24 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996). Craig A. Evans, ed., Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus (New York / London: Routledge, 2008). 1 Bibliographies for Theology, compiled by William Harmless, S.J.
  • Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?: Bridging the Divide Between The

    Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?: Bridging the Divide Between The

    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2003 Will the real Jesus please stand up?: bridging the divide between the Jesus Seminar and its opponents through a Burkeian approach Carol Melissa Hopson-Sparks Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Hopson-Sparks, Carol Melissa, "Will the real Jesus please stand up?: bridging the divide between the Jesus Seminar and its opponents through a Burkeian approach" (2003). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 2044. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/2044 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. WILL THE REAL JESUS PLEASE STAND UP? BRIDGING THE DIVIDE BETWEEN THE JESUS SEMINAR AND ITS OPPONENTS THROUGH A BURKEIAN APPROACH A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Communication Studies by C. Melissa Hopson-Sparks B.A., Louisiana State University, 1991 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1995 August 2003 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I offer thanks to all who have helped me with this project, especially my committee: Andrew King, Renee Edwards, Cecil Eubanks, Joshua Gunn, and Joseph Ricapito. Additionally, I offer my sincere appreciation to my earlier mentors Harold Mixon and Owen Peterson who helped to shape my research interests.