Reactions to Empire: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts

Description

The authors of this volume explore various instances of theo-political visions of authoritative texts in Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism, and Early Christianity, and as such offer a broader perspective on the topos "sacred texts in their context." Instead of a narrow exploration of the "political intent" of a singular text or group of texts, the volume contains the treatment of a wide range of texts, out of different corpora, with their discrete contexts. Their juxtaposition, as well as that of the respective scholarly approaches of the essays, offers fresh insights on the matter. Each of the essays in the collection addresses the issue of oppressive imperial ideology and the extent to which the authors of sacred texts engaged their political contexts, and eight of the essays specifically present reactions to the Roman Empire. Cover Table of Contents Introduction LOREN T. STUCKENBRUCK: A Place for Socio-Political Oppressors at the End of History? Eschatological Perspectives from 1 Enoch Widening Participation: Eschatological Worship of God in the Book of Watchers The Ultimate Outcome for the Nations in the Hebrew Bible The Children of Humanity in 10:21 and Their Function in the Book of Watchers 1 Enoch 10:21: Its Impact on the Early Enoch Tradition Conclusion AMANDA M. DAVIS BLEDSOE: Attitudes Toward Seleucid Imperial Hegemony in the Book of Daniel Nebuchadnezzar in MT and OG Daniel 1–4 The Vision of Daniel 7 Conclusions: Daniel and Seleucid Imperial Hegemony NADAV SHARON: Between Opposition to the Hasmoneans and Resistance to Rome: The Psalms of Solomon and the Dead Sea Scrolls Introduction 63–37 B.C.E. : A Period of Constant Unrest The Literary Evidence The Romans as God’s Tool Psalms of Solomon’s View of the Romans The Dead Sea Scrolls’ View of the Roman Conquest and the Romans Distinct Texts but Similar Responses to Roman Domination Conclusion MATTHEW V. NOVENSON: What the Apostles Did Not See Ancient politics in modern New Testament scholarship “Someone going forth from Judea will become ruler of the world” Between early Judaism and early Christianity CHRISTOPH HEILIG: Methodological Considerations for the Search of Counter-Imperial “Echoes” in Pauline Literature Counter-Imperial “Echoes” on the Level of Subtext Introduction Methodological Foundations: Hays’s Criteria Application to Imperial Ideology: N. T. Wright Application to Imperial Ideology: Neil Elliott Summary Methodological Evaluation Criteria Bayes’s Theorem Hays’s Criteria in the Context of Bayes’s Theorem Suggestions for Evaluating the Background Plausibility p(H) Nested Necessary Conditions Discourse Context Roman Context: Criticism as Part of the Public Transcript? Roman Context: Roman Ideology in the Environment of Paul Pauline Context—The Empire in Paul’s Worldview: A Critical Attitude? Pauline Context—Paul’s Personality: From Attitude to Expression? Conclusions ALEXANDER P. THOMPSON: Thwarting the Enemies of God: Contrasting the Death of Herod and the Resurrection of Jesus in Luke-Acts The Interpretive Framework: The Literary Conflict with Herod and Political Christology Contrasting Herod and Jesus in Acts 12:20–23 Conclusion Appendix DAVID I. STARLING: “She Who Is in Babylon”: 1 Peter and the Hermeneutics of Empire 1 Peter among the Postcolonials Empire of Fear Empire of Grace Empire of Glory Conclusion BRANDON WALKER: The Forgotten Kingdom: Miracle, the Memory of Jesus, and Counter-Ideology to the Roman Empire Introduction Beelzebul Controversy (Q 11:14–23; Matt 12:22–38; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15–19) Paul, Miracles, and the Kingdom of God The Kingdom in the Second Century Acts of Peter Acts of Paul Possible Explanations for the separation of Kingdom and Miracle Conclusion CANDIDA R. MOSS: Resisting Empire in Early Christian Martyrdom Literature Introduction Prolegomena Acts of Justin Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne Conclusion BERNIE HODKIN: Theologies of Resistance: A Re-examination of Rabbinic Traditions about Rome Introduction The Mishnah The Fantasy of Titus’s Divine Retribution Conclusion List of Contributors Index of References 1. Hebrew Bible 2. Apocrypha 3. Pseudepigrapha 4. Dead Sea Scrolls 5. New Testament 6. Other Early Christian Writings 7. Other Greco-Roman Writers 8. Other Jewish Writings Index of Modern Authors and Persons Index of Subjects