The Origin of Sin: Greece and Rome, Early Judaism and Christianity

Description

Where did the idea of sin arise from? In this meticulously argued book, David Konstan takes a close look at classical Greek and Roman texts, as well as the Bible and early Judaic and Christian writings, and argues that the fundamental idea of ‘sin’ arose in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, although this original meaning was obscured in later Jewish and Christian interpretations. Through close philological examination of the words for ‘sin,’ in particular the Hebrew hata‘ and the Greek hamartia, he traces their uses over the centuries in four chapters, and concludes that the common modern definition of sin as a violation of divine law indeed has antecedents in classical Graeco-Roman conceptions, but acquired a wholly different sense in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1 The Greco-Roman World: The Unwritten Laws of the Gods 2 The Hebrew Bible: Chasing after Foreign Gods 3 The New Testament: Jesus’ Sense of Sin 4 The Church Fathers and the Rabbis: The Transformation of Sin A Final Word Notes References Index