Judaism and Christianity both arose in times of empire, with roots in Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. In order to understand these religious movements, we must first understand the history and society of these imperial cultures. In these formative years, wisdom and apocalyptic traditions flourished as two significant religious forms. In Scribes, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judea, distinguished New Testament scholar Richard A. Horsley analyzes the function and meaning of these religious movements within their social context, providing essential background...
Judaism and Christianity both arose in times of empire, with roots in Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. In order to understand these religio...
Richard A. Horsley surveys responses in Second Temple Jewish literature to the rise of Hellenistic and Roman empires, discovering in a range of apocalyptic writings the traces of a coherent movement of defiance, critique, and resistance to tyranny. Revolt of the Scribes breaks new ground in the study of apocalyptic origins and in our understanding of Jewish life in the Greco-Roman world.
Richard A. Horsley surveys responses in Second Temple Jewish literature to the rise of Hellenistic and Roman empires, discovering in a range of apocal...
Jesus and the Powers rediscovers Jesus response to the imperial power of his day. Richard A. Horsley describes the relevance of political realities under great empires for understanding the rise of covenantal theology and apocalyptic vision in Israels history; then he explores aspects of Jesus activity in the context of the Roman Empire. Horsley examines Jesus as an exorcist and prophetic figure and the character of his death by crucifixion; then turns to discuss how the community life in the early Pauline assemblies gave form to a new response to imperial powers.
Jesus and the Powers rediscovers Jesus response to the imperial power of his day. Richard A. Horsley describes the relevance of political realities un...
Debate over whether or not Jesus can be best interpreted within an -apocalyptic scenario- has continued to dominate historical Jesus studies since Schweitzer and Bultmann. In The Prophet Jesus and the Renewal of Israel Richard Horsley shows that the apocalyptic scenario -- with its supposed expectation of -the end of the world, - the fiery -last judgment, - and -the parousia of the Son of Man- -- is a modern scholarly construct that obscures the particulars of texts, society, and history. Drawing on his wide-ranging earlier scholarship, Horsley refocuses and reformulates...
Debate over whether or not Jesus can be best interpreted within an -apocalyptic scenario- has continued to dominate historical Jesus studies since Sch...
In this book Richard Horsley and Tom Thatcher trace the Gospel of John's portrayal of Jesus as a prophet of renewal by reading the text against a double backdrop -- the social history of Roman Palestine and the media world of John. This innovative study is the first to consider the Gospel of John as story in the ancient media context of oral communication and oral performance. Horsley and Thatcher creatively combine concerns from the fields of Jesus studies and ancient media studies in their analysis. Taking the main conflict evident in John's story of Jesus as the key to its plot,...
In this book Richard Horsley and Tom Thatcher trace the Gospel of John's portrayal of Jesus as a prophet of renewal by reading the text against a doub...
