The Origins of the Christmas Date: Some Recent Trends in Historical Research

2012 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 903-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. P. E. Nothaft
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Religious Influence ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Recent Trends

The article reviews recent and current developments in research on the origins of Christmas, which has traditionally crystallized around two competing approaches, known as the "History of Religions Theory" and the "Calculation Theory." This essay shall look at the history of these approaches and discuss their rationale and limitations, before turning to the challenges that have been brought against them by the recent work of Steven Hijmans and Hans Förster. It will be argued that their studies reveal the need for a more nuanced approach to the history of Christmas, which retains the aspect of inter-religious influence, but also pays some overdue attention to the importance of chronological thought in early Christian scholarship.

Review of John R. Levison's, Filled with the Spirit Part III, Early Christian Literature Chapter 3, 'Filled with the Spirit and the Book of Acts'

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-206
Author(s):  
Roger Stronstad
Keyword(s):  
Original Study ◽  
Speaking In Tongues ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Literature ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Book Of Acts

Abstract Filled with the Spirit by John R. Levison is a highly original study of this theme in Israelite, Jewish, and early Christian literature. The following response to Levison's book focuses on Part III, Early Christian Literature, section 3, 'Filled with the Spirit and the Book of Acts' (pp 317365). Levison organizes his discussion under the topics, 'The Salience of a Slave-Girl', 'The Allure of Ecstasy at Pentecost', 'Speaking in Tongues', and 'Spirit and the Inspired Interpretation of Scripture'. Levison's methodology is a combination of a history of religions approach, intertextuality, and contextual exposition. According to the reviewer's assessment, Levison's approach to the subject paganizes those experiences which Luke portrays to be uniquely Judeo-Christian, profanes what Luke portrays to be an awe-inspiring sacred marvel, and humanizes what Luke portrays to be the mysterious or luminous tangible experiences of the Spirit.

A Straussian Question to ‘New Testament Theology’

1977 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of

David Friedrich Strauss died on 8 February 1874. HisLeben Jesuof 1835 was said by Albert Schweitzer to be ‘no mere destroyer of untenable solutions, but also the prophet of a coming advance in knowledge’, namely eschatology. The claims that it ‘has a different significance for modern theology from that which it had for his contemporaries’ and that it ‘marked out the ground which is now occupied by modern critical study’ appear even more true in the light of subsequent history of religions and form-critical research than Schweitzer himself realized. But as well as marking an epoch in the historical critical study of the New Testament, this book, and with it the fate of its author, remains a symbol of something else: the tension between historical research and the formation of a systematic or doctrinal theological position. Ecclesiastical authorities have in the meantime learned to live with theological pluralism and become more tolerant, but the problem itself has not disappeared. The investigation and development of Strauss' generally unappreciated contribution is perhaps an appropriate centenary celebration.

Elephantine Trespasses

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Collin Cornell
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Persian Period ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biblical Texts

Abstract This article identifies two examples of constructive theological argumentation in recent religion-historical research: specifically, research on the Yahwism of a Persian-period island called Elephantine. These examples are significant because the task of history of religions is to offer critical (re)description of the contents of religion and not to make positive recommendations for current-day god-talk or ethics. In addition to setting out these disciplinary stakes, the article suggests that the location of these trespasses is also of interest: the historical subdiscipline that studies Elephantine, by virtue of its propinquity to the Bible proper, draws theological cachet from the Bible, while its smaller infrastructure relative to academic biblical studies makes room for more editorializing. Lastly, the article answers each theological proposal in kind, with brief theological counterarguments made, not obliquely and paracanonically, but directly from canonical biblical texts. In this way, the article advocates for maintaining the integrity of each discipline: descriptive history of religions and constructive theologizing.

Urban History in Scandinavia: A survey of recent trends

Urban History ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 46-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Hammarström
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Urban History ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Local History ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Before And After ◽  
History Of ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
The Russian Empire

Urban history in Scandinavian countries has long been practised mainly in the form of individual town histories, a large number of which have been written by local amateurs. Among professional historians, however, local history (including the history of towns, parishes and regions) has been of interest since the late-nineteenth century, and has been especially popular in Norway and Finland. This may have to do with the fact that these two countries did not become independent until 1905 and 1917 respectively. The Swedish-Norwegian union of 1814–1905 had been preceded by Norway's incorporation into the Danish kingdom from 1536 on, and Finland's inclusion in the Russian empire as a semi-autonomous grand duchy between 1809 and 1917 had been preceded by her incorporation into the Swedish kingdom since the Middle Ages. These facts must be kept in mind in order to realize why historical research in Scandinavia has so many topics and features in common. They also explain some of the differences, such as why historians in Norway and Finland to a greater extent than in Sweden and Denmark should have turned to local history both before and after having achieved independence, in order to strengthen the conciousness of national identity in the two countries. Although there was much interest in rural local history, town history also got its share. There are very few towns – if any – in Norway and Finland that have not had their histories written; in Denmark and Sweden urban and local history also became increasingly popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

scholarly journals Intellectual Hegemony, Conversion Discourse and Early Christian Apologetic Literature

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 782
Author(s):  
Vassilios Adrahtas
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
Life World ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Peculiar Phenomenon

The present study aspires to catch a glimpse of a peculiar phenomenon in the history of religions, namely, the competitive character of early Christian apologetic literature in its attempt to confront head-on the non-Christian ideological life-world and, for that matter, to persuade the latter’s adherents to convert to the new hierophanic message. More specifically, in this study I look into the hierophanic/religious/spiritual market of the first three centuries CE, focusing on its creating, perpetuating and promoting of intellectual hegemony interactions, while at the same time I explore the conversion discourse used by all parties concerned in order to win over the Other. Apart from other religions, early Christian ‘Apologists’ faced predominantly Middle Platonism, Stoicism, Neopythagoreanism and, last but not least, Neoplatonism. In doing so they adopted a number of rhetoric and social strategies at hand; strategies that, although intended to turn the Other into the Same—which they did achieve, albeit gradually—ended up turning the Same into the Other as well.

Complicating Myth: A Review of Bruce Lincoln’s Gods and Demons, Priests and Scholars: Critical Explorations in the History of Religions

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-208
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Ullucci
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of

Abstract Bruce Lincoln’s recent work, Gods and Demons, Priests and Scholars: Critical Explorations in the History of Religions is a collection of previously published essays on theory and myth. The collection has great pedagogical value for introducing graduate and advanced undergraduate students to the critical study of religion. This review takes up one common refrain in the essays, the role and work of religious experts, and suggests ways in which Lincoln’s work can be clarified and expanded by the cognitive theory of Harvey Whitehouse.

Insights from Cognitive and Ritual Studies

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-28
Author(s):  
Risto Uro
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Religious Experience ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Ritual Studies ◽  
Nag Hammadi ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Research Questions

Since the 1990s, scholarly debates and discussions in Gnostic or Nag Hammadi studies have largely revolved around the issues of whether the category of “Gnosticism” is helpful or detrimental in the analysis of ancient texts and how to classify the texts that were traditionally labeled “gnostic” as well as the groups that produced them. The debate about the category of “Gnosticism” in particular has brought up important issues concerning the ideological commitments of the scholars working on the Nag Hammadi texts and helped to analyze the identity formation process that shaped the history of the variety of early Christian groups during the first three centuries, but the debate has also somewhat exhausted itself. There is certainly room for new approaches and research questions. The panel on religious experience organized by the SBL Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism section and the two papers by Michael Kaler and Philip Tite presented in the panel and published in BSOR can be seen as welcome moves towards something new. Both papers share an interest in what might be called religious experience studies and therefore engage themselves in cross-disciplinary theoretical reflection and cross-fertilization between recent trends in religious studies and gnostic studies. This paper provides a critical response to these two papers with a particular emphasis on ritual and cognitive studies.

Frühchristliche Religion als Wahrnehmungsobjekt und Erkenntnisprozess

2014 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-21
Author(s):  
Michael Tilly
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Literature ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis essay explores the exegetical possibilities and boundaries of the history of religions approach to the New Testament. In part 1 it offers an overview of the history of historical critical exegesis of the New Testament from the magisterial research of the history of religions school to the newest approaches of historical Jesus research. In part 2, three hermeneutical problems for the exegete are outlined: the relationship between text and tradition, the relationship between early Christian literature and its surroundings and the relationship between the New Testament as an ancient collection and its reception today.

The Manuscript Tradition of Isidore of Pelusium

1954 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morton Smith
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Manuscript Tradition ◽  
New Period ◽  
History Of

The study of Isidore falls roughly into three periods, mediaeval, when the text was used principally for catenae and florilegia, sixteenth-and-seventeenth-century, when it was published and a rudimentary historical account of Isidore worked out from it and from the better-known testimonia, and modern. Of the modern period the outstanding works have been H. Niemeyer's account of Isidore's life and writings, Capo's, Turner's and Lake's studies establishing the relationships of the major western MSS, and the recent work of Dom Andreas Schmid, Die Christologie Isidors von Pelusium, which, by its account of the history of the text, marks a new period in the study. Besides these works, the past fifty years have seen considerable collection of parallels between Isidore's letters and passages in classical or early Christian authors, as well as several detailed discussions of the content of the letters. These discussions have uniformly been undistinguished expositions of the obvious, and the largest collection of parallels, that of L. Bayer, merited the crushing review it was given by K. Fuhr and has since been considerably supplemented by articles which individually, however, are minor.

Religion, Myth and Ideology

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-167
Author(s):  
Horst Junginger
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Iranian History ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Theoretical Considerations ◽  
Academic Study

Abstract The thirteen articles collected in Bruce Lincoln’s Gods and Demons, Priests and Scholars are a persuasive plea for an appropriate contextualization of religious phenomena in their mundane circumstances. Starting with the well-known Theses on Method that structure the book in methodological regard, each of the following texts is divided in a thorough historical research introduced or accompanied by extensive theoretical considerations. Particularly the case studies addressing problems of the Old Norse and Old Iranian history of religions are in-depth examinations of their own. Lincoln’s general interest is directed towards the analytical differentiation between the objects of the academic study of religion and their scholarly investigation. Only on the basis of a reflected distinction between both, the study of religion will achieve a deeper understanding of the attractiveness of religions and myths along with their capacity to adapt themselves to changing worldly conditions.

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