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The Temple and Early Christian Identity Continuity and Discontinuity: The Temple and Early Christian Identity by Timothy Scott Wardle Department of Religion Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Joel Marcus, Supervisor ___________________________ Eric Meyers ___________________________ Lucas Van Rompay ___________________________ Christopher Rowe Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Religion in the Graduate School of Duke University 2008 ABSTRACT Continuity and Discontinuity: The Temple and Early Christian Identity by Timothy Scott Wardle Department of Religion Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Joel Marcus, Supervisor ___________________________ Eric Meyers ___________________________ Lucas Van Rompay ___________________________ Christopher Rowe An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Religion in the Graduate School of Duke University 2008 Copyright by Timothy Scott Wardle 2008 Abstract In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he asks the readers this question: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16). Although Paul is the earliest Christian writer to explicitly identify the Christian community with the temple of God, this correlation is not a Pauline innovation. Indeed, this association between the community and the temple first appears in pre-Pauline Christianity (see Gal 2:9) and is found in many layers of first-century Christian tradition. Some effects of this identification are readily apparent, as the equation of the Christian community with a temple (1) conveyed the belief that the presence of God was now present in this community in a special way, (2) underlined the importance of holy living, and (3) provided for the metaphorical assimilation of Gentiles into the people of God. Though some of the effects of this correlation are clear, its origins are less so. This study contends that the early Christian idea of the Christian community as a temple should be understood in relation to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Moreover, this nascent Christian conception of the community as a temple should be seen in light of the existence of other Jewish temples which were established as alternatives to the one in Jerusalem: namely, the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim, the Oniad temple in Leontopolis, and the “temple of men” at Qumran. Though the formation of each temple was a complex affair, in each case the primary motivating factor appears to have been conflict with the Jerusalem religious establishment. iv This work concludes that the transference of temple terminology to the Christian community also developed through conflict with the Jerusalem chief priests charged with oversight of the temple, and that the creation of a communal temple idea should be understood as a culturally recognizable way to register dissent against the Jerusalem priesthood. As a result, we are better able to situate the early Christians in their originally Jewish nexus and see the extent to which tension in Jerusalem helped to forge the nascent Christian mindset. v Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ xi Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Question ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The Scope of the Project ......................................................................................... 5 1.3 History of Research ................................................................................................. 6 1.4 Outline................................................................................................................... 11 1.5 Methodological Issues .......................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2: The Centrality of the Temple and High Priest in Second Temple Judaism .... 18 2.1 The Jerusalem Temple .......................................................................................... 19 2.1.1 Religious Significance ..................................................................................... 21 2.1.2 Excursus on the synagogue as a religious institution ....................................... 29 2.1.3 Economic impact ............................................................................................. 33 2.1.4 Socio-Political significance ............................................................................. 39 2.1.5 Summary Observations on the Role of the Temple in Second Temple Judaism ................................................................................................................................... 42 2.2 Priests and Politics ................................................................................................ 44 2.2.1 Persian and Hellenistic Eras ............................................................................. 48 2.2.2 Hasmonean Era ................................................................................................ 55 2.2.3 Excursus on the Gerousia and Sanhedrin ......................................................... 59 2.2.4 Roman Era ....................................................................................................... 62 2.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 69 vi Chapter 3: Reactions to the Control and Influence of the Jerusalem Temple and Priesthood ......................................................................................................................... 71 3.1 Exilic and Post-Exilic Biblical Literature ............................................................. 73 3.2 The Hellenistic Period prior to Antiochus Epiphanes ........................................... 78 3.2.1 Tobit ................................................................................................................. 78 3.2.2 Enochic Literature: the Astronomical Book and the Book of the Watchers .... 81 3.2.3 Aramaic Levi ................................................................................................... 86 3.2.4 Conclusion to earliest works ............................................................................ 87 3.3 The Period of Antiochus Epiphanes and the Early Maccabean Years .................. 92 3.3.1 Jubilees ............................................................................................................. 92 3.3.2 The Animal Visions ......................................................................................... 95 3.3.3 The Apocalypse of Weeks ............................................................................... 97 3.3.4 Testament of Moses ......................................................................................... 99 3.3.5 The Qumran Scrolls ....................................................................................... 101 3.3.6 4QMMT ......................................................................................................... 102 3.3.7 Damascus Document ..................................................................................... 106 3.3.8 The Rise of Jewish Sects ................................................................................ 108 3.3.9 Conclusions about the Period of Antiochus Epiphanes and the Rise of the Maccabees ............................................................................................................... 116 3.4 The Late Second Century B.C.E. to the Destruction of the Temple ................... 121 3.4.1 Second Maccabees ......................................................................................... 122 3.4.2 Greek Testament of Levi ............................................................................... 124 3.4.3 Pesher Habakkuk ........................................................................................... 127 3.4.4 Psalms of Solomon ........................................................................................ 129 vii 3.4.5 Testament of Moses 6-7 ................................................................................. 133 3.4.6 Sibylline Oracles 3-5 ...................................................................................... 134 3.4.7 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch ....................................................................................... 137 3.4.8 Conclusion to Literary Evidence from the Second Century B.C.E. to the First Century C.E. ............................................................................................................ 139 3.5 Concluding Observations .................................................................................... 141 Chapter 4: The Emergence of Alternative Temples ....................................................... 147 4.1 The Samaritans .................................................................................................... 148 4.1.1 The Relationship Between Samaritans and Jews ..........................................
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