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Among the gentiles : Greco-Roman religion and Christianity / Luke Timothy Johnson.

Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: The Anchor Yale bible reference libraryPublication details: New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press, 2009.Description: x, 461 siderISBN:
  • 9780300142082 (hbk.)
  • 0300142080 (hbk.)
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 270.1 22
  • 261.2 2 22
LOC classification:
  • BR127 .J585 2008
Contents:
Beyond attack and apology : a new look at an old debate -- Beginning a new conversation -- A preliminary profile of Greco-Roman religion -- Religion as participation in divine benefits : Aelius Aristides -- Religion as moral transformation : Epictetus -- Religion as transcending the world : Poimandres -- Religion as stabilizing the world : Plutarch -- Ways of being Jewish in the Greco-Roman world -- The appearance of Christianity in the Greco-Roman world -- New Testament Christianity as participation in divine benefits -- New Testament Christianity as moral transformation -- Christianity in the second and third centuries : participation in divine benefits -- Moral transformation in second- and third-century Christianity -- Transcending the world in second- and third-century Christianity -- Stabilizing the world in second- and third-century Christianity -- After Constantine : Christianity as imperial religion.
Summary: The question of Christianity's relation to the other religions of the world is more pertinent and difficult today than ever before. While Christianity's historical failure to appreciate or actively engage Judaism is notorious, Christianity's even more shoddy record with respect to 'pagan' religions is less understood. Christians have inherited a virtually unanimous theological tradition that thinks of paganism in terms of demonic possession, and of Christian missions as a rescue operation that saves pagans from inherently evil practices. In undertaking this fresh inquiry into early Christianity and Greco-Roman paganism, Luke Timothy Johnson begins with a broad definition of religion as a way of life organized around convictions and experiences concerning ultimate power. In the tradition of William James' "Variety of Religious Experience", he identifies four distinct ways of being religious: religion as participation in benefits, as moral transformation, as transcending the world, and as stabilizing the world.Summary: Using these criteria as the basis for his exploration of Christianity and paganism, Johnson finds multiple points of similarity in religious sensibility. Christianity's failure to adequately come to grips with its first pagan neighbours, Johnson asserts, inhibits any effort to engage positively with adherents of various world religions. This thoughtful and passionate study should help break down the walls between Christianity and other religious traditions.
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Beyond attack and apology : a new look at an old debate -- Beginning a new conversation -- A preliminary profile of Greco-Roman religion -- Religion as participation in divine benefits : Aelius Aristides -- Religion as moral transformation : Epictetus -- Religion as transcending the world : Poimandres -- Religion as stabilizing the world : Plutarch -- Ways of being Jewish in the Greco-Roman world -- The appearance of Christianity in the Greco-Roman world -- New Testament Christianity as participation in divine benefits -- New Testament Christianity as moral transformation -- Christianity in the second and third centuries : participation in divine benefits -- Moral transformation in second- and third-century Christianity -- Transcending the world in second- and third-century Christianity -- Stabilizing the world in second- and third-century Christianity -- After Constantine : Christianity as imperial religion.

The question of Christianity's relation to the other religions of the world is more pertinent and difficult today than ever before. While Christianity's historical failure to appreciate or actively engage Judaism is notorious, Christianity's even more shoddy record with respect to 'pagan' religions is less understood. Christians have inherited a virtually unanimous theological tradition that thinks of paganism in terms of demonic possession, and of Christian missions as a rescue operation that saves pagans from inherently evil practices. In undertaking this fresh inquiry into early Christianity and Greco-Roman paganism, Luke Timothy Johnson begins with a broad definition of religion as a way of life organized around convictions and experiences concerning ultimate power. In the tradition of William James' "Variety of Religious Experience", he identifies four distinct ways of being religious: religion as participation in benefits, as moral transformation, as transcending the world, and as stabilizing the world.

Using these criteria as the basis for his exploration of Christianity and paganism, Johnson finds multiple points of similarity in religious sensibility. Christianity's failure to adequately come to grips with its first pagan neighbours, Johnson asserts, inhibits any effort to engage positively with adherents of various world religions. This thoughtful and passionate study should help break down the walls between Christianity and other religious traditions.