ISBN:
019508263X
Language:
English
Pages:
X, 234 S.
Year of publication:
1996
DDC:
291/.093
Keywords:
Kirchengeschichte 30-600
;
Christentum
;
Frühchristentum
;
Heidendom
;
Jodendom
;
Judentum
;
Kirchengeschichte
;
Macht
;
Vroege kerk
;
Christianity and other religions Greek religion
;
Christianity and other religions Judaism
;
Christianity and other religions Roman religion
;
Church history Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
;
Judaism Relations
;
Christianity
;
Power (Social sciences)
;
Naher Osten
;
Rom
;
Middle East Religion
;
Rome Religion
;
Kirchengeschichte 30-600
Abstract:
This book contributes to the small but growing body of literature on the interaction between religion and power in antiquity. Douglas Edwards focuses on the eastern "Greek" provinces in the first and second centuries C.E. - the period during which Christianity, Judaism, and numerous other religions and cults exploded across the Roman Empire. His purpose is to show how the local elite classes appropriated and manipulated mythic and religious images and practices to establish and consolidate their social, political, and economic power. Edwards considers both archaeological and literary evidence. He examines coins, epigraphy, statuary, building complexes, mosaics, and paintings from across Asia Minor and Syria-Palestine looking for evidence of sponsorship by local elites and the meaning of such sponsorship. On the literary side, Edwards selects one representative figure from each of the three major religio-cultural traditions: the Greek writer, Chariton of Aphrodisias; the Jewish historian, Josephus; and the Christian evangelist, the author of Luke-Acts. He illustrates how each writer's use of religion reflects the interaction of local elite groups with the "web of power" that existed in political, cultural, and social spheres of the Roman Empire.
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