The Problem of Christian Identity in the Context of Graeco-Roman Culture of the Early Roman Empire

2011 ◽  
pp. 15-63
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Roman Culture

scholarly journals The Making of a Canon: Impact of the Old Testament Scriptures in the Christian Canon Development

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 ◽  
pp. 7-21
Author(s):  
Kwaku Boamah
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Linear Process ◽  
Church Of Christ ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Christian Formation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Jewish Scriptures ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
The Church

The formation of the Christian canon was not a one day venture. Some scholars maintain it spanned from the first up to about the fourth centuries. This paper has three main parts: the first draws a linear process of canon generation, beginning from text to scripture and possibly becoming canonical. The second focuses on the creation of the Christian canon by exploring the stages and the implications of naming the canon as `Testaments`. At the heart of the study is a consideration of the use and inclusion or exclusion of the Jewish scripture by Christians as discussed by a heretic (Marcion) and three Anti-heretics (Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Tertullian) in the 2nd and/or 3rd centuries of the Roman Empire. The third part takes an example of a modern church (Church of Christ) whose reception to the Old Testament is one of skepticism. Furthermore, the level of usage of the Old Testament by the Church of Christ is key for the thesis of this paper. It is, therefore, important to assess a possible relationship between Marcion and the Church of Christ. Historical, theological and an interview are employed to explore these developments. The paper concludes that by the naming of the Christian canon and inclusion of the Jewish scriptures, the Christian identity can be described as Judeo-Christian. This description has impacted Christian formation and development a great deal from antiquity to the modern era. Marcion and his followers did not take this lightly in the first four centuries of the Christian history. On the other hand, in the nineteenth century the Church of Christ seemingly follows this example in antiquity on including the Old Testament as part of the Christian canon.

scholarly journals Prve kršćanske zajednice / First Christian communities

2019 ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Drago Župarić
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Roman Province ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
New Religion

Christianity, having developed in a Jewish setting, quickly separated from Judaism and opened itself to the aspirations of the Greco-Roman world. This paper will explore the first Christian communities in Jerusalem, Antioch and Rome, from whence Christianity spread to the ends of the Mediterranean basin, that is to say, through the Roman Empire. Each of the aforementioned  communities, which were very well respected, will be discussed with regards to  the date of their foundation, the source material concerning these communities, and their prominent characteristics. In other words, this paper will discuss  the spread of Christianity, with reference to the question of the triumphant  campaign of the young Church from Jerusalem to Rome. After the acceptance of pagans into their communities, Christianity as a new religion began to gain importance, and the number of adherents grew quickly. The Christian community was declared an opposition to imperial government, and was already heavily repressed by the mid-1  century. The communities that survived repression sought peace; that is, collaboration between the  Roman state and the “early Church”, which was seen as a new institution. The  cult opened itself more and more to the outside world and different cultures,  which led to the mingling of Christians and pagans, leading to many theological disputes, especially concerning the “divinity” of Jesus Christ. Between the 1st  and 2nd st  century the beginnings of Christianity should be viewed as an organization in which commissions and administrations are present, as the number of believers grew and the need for better organization arose. The basis of the rapid expansion of Christianity in the old world should  certainly be viewed in its universality. The author of this paper touches upon  the question of the beginnings of Christianity in Dalmatia and Pannonia, side by side with Roman culture. Christianity was not very influential in the Roman province of Dalmatia until the mid-3  century, even though it is likely that there were smaller Christian groups here, as well as organized Christian communities.

A Time to Regender: The Transformation of Roman Time

KronoScope ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Barden Dowling
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Universal Time ◽  
First Century ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Roman Time ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Nature Of Time ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Imperial State ◽  
Representation Of Time

AbstractAt the end of the first century A.D., at the height of the Roman empire, a new abstract deity of eternal time, Aeternitas, appeared. This first discrete personification of abstract time was initially a female image represented on official coins and monuments, but in A.D. 121, a new male personification of eternal time appeared in imperial, state sponsored art. Both male and female depictions of eternal time were accompanied by a rich array of attributes that connected eternity, immortality, and earthly prosperity. This change in the image of time occurred simultaneously with tremendous changes in Roman culture: the creation of universal time keeping, the creation of elaborate beliefs in the afterlife, and transformations in Romans' expectations of life, lead to the embodiment of an ideal of eternity in the personification Aeternitas, and explain the radical transformations in her/his iconography. It is through a study of the representation of time that we identify a profound reenvisioning of the nature of time in Western thought, when human temporal and metaphysical experiences of time were expanded, laying the foundation for the successful spread of the Christian conceptions of eternal blissful time after the apocalypse.

Some Graeco-Phoenician Shrines

1911 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 56-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. F. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
The State ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Third Century ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Family ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Roman Age

With but two exceptions, no trace now remains of the shrines with which this paper deals, or at least no trace has been revealed by excavation. Practically the sole record of these buildings is to be found on the coins struck in the district during the period of the Roman Empire, and more especially during the third century of our era. The earlier coins, from the beginning of the coinage towards the end of the fifth century B.C., tell us something about the cults, but little of their furniture. But in the Roman age, especially during the time of the family of Severus and Elagabalus, there was a considerable outburst of coinage, which, in its types, reveals certain details interesting to the student of the fringe of Greek and Roman culture.The evidence thus provided is necessarily disjointed, and concerns only the external, official aspects of the Phoenician religion. The inner truth of these things, it is safe to say, is hidden for ever: even the development from the primitive religion to the weird syncretistic systems of the Roman age is hopelessly obscure. One can only see dimly what was the state of things during the period illustrated by the monuments.

Classical Rhetorical Arrangement and Reasoning in the Talmud: The Case of Yerushalmi Berakhot 1:1

AJS Review ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Hidary
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Roman Empire ◽  
Greek Literature ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The People ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Civilized World

Saul Lieberman has shown that various aspects of Greco-Roman culture were pervasive not only among more Hellenized Jews of the first centuries CE, but that even “the Rabbis of Palestine were familiar with the fashionable style of the civilized world of that time. Many of them were highly educated in Greek literature. … They spoke to the people in their language and in their style.” An integral part of this culture involved the study of rhetoric, a staple of higher education throughout the Roman Empire.

Infancy and Earliest Childhood in the Roman World

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Gendered Identities ◽  
High Infant Mortality ◽  
The Family ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Many

The book is a comprehensive study of infancy and earliest childhood in a cultural overview encompassing the entirety of the Roman Empire. It brings together some of the most recent discoveries and presents a fresh perspective on archaeological, historical, and social debates. Despite the developing emphasis in current scholarship on children in Roman culture, there has been little research on the role and significance of the youngest children in the family and society. Because of the very particular historical circumstances that affected the beginning of the life cycle of a Roman child, the book isolates the age group of the under one-year-olds to explore their lives as well as Roman attitudes towards the young and the perception of personhood. It integrates social and cultural history with archaeological evidence, funerary remains, material culture, and the iconography of infancy, an approach for which this subject matter is especially well suited. An examination of the many and varied strands of evidence enables us to contextualize the rhetoric about earliest childhood in Roman texts. The volume refutes the notion that high infant mortality conditioned Roman parents not to engage in the early life of their children or to view them, or their deaths, with indifference, and it concludes that even within the first weeks and months of life Roman children were invested with social and gendered identities.

The Roman Army

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Alexander Speidel
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Roman Army ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
Local Tradition ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Military Community ◽  
The Military

The Roman imperial army was the largest state-run organization of the Roman Empire with well over 400,000 soldiers and officers serving in Rome, Italy, the provinces, and some even beyond. Men from all levels of Roman society and from all parts of the empire joined this army. The widespread use of inscriptions, even in areas where there was previously no comparable local tradition, reveals the extent to which the military community was rooted in Roman culture. This chapter analyzes this phenomenon, allowing for and explaining the differences in culture due to regional influences and developments.

Etruscan

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Bonfante
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Early Writing ◽  
Religious Ritual ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Eventual Death

This article provides an overview of Etruscan literature. It considers how the Greek innovations of myth and writing came into Etruria, how the Etruscans viewed early writing as magical, and how Etruscan culture developed its own identity. It discusses the Etruscan language, written documents, and inscriptions, as well as religious ritual, divination, and prophecy. It also examines Etruscan historical epic and myth, theatre, and imagery. Finally, it examines the influence of Etruscan culture in the Roman world: the Romans derived their alphabet from the Etruscans and adopted Etruscan dress and musical instruments, along with the organization of the army. The article shows the significance of such Etruscan influence to Roman culture and life even as the Romans maintained their own religion and language, and the eventual death of the Etruscan language by the time of the Roman Empire.

Batavians and Romans on the Lower Rhine

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Slofstra
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Major Part ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Mechanisms ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
The Social ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
The Military ◽  
Lower Rhine

AbstractThis paper is a plea for the rehabilitation of the concept of Romanisation in the discussion about socio-cultural change resulting from the confrontation of (proto-)historical peoples with Roman power and an often dominant Roman culture. In the theoretical introduction, first of all an attempt is made to identify the social mechanisms of Romanisation; this is followed by a discussion on a model of dimensional analysis attuned to the dynamics of specific processes of Romanisation.The major part of the article is devoted to an outline of the Romanisation process in the northern frontier zone of the Roman Empire, the Lower Rhine region. It focuses on the political and cultural interaction between the Batavian tribe living here and the Romans in the period between the Gallic war and the 3rd century A.D. The paper attempts to explain the differences between the process of Romanisation in the central part of Gaul (‘Interior Gaul’ in Greg Woolf's terminology) which had already been ‘civilised’ early on and the military frontier, where tribal traditions still continued to play an important part, certainly until the Batavian revolt of 69/70 A.D.

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