Larry Hurtado’s novel, Destroyer of the God’s discusses the historical context behind Christianity and its role in the polytheistic world of ancient Rome. Hurtado examines what characterized early Christians through distinctive patterns of their religious beliefs and practices that distinguished themselves from the Roman world (Hurtado 76). The novel consists of five significant points that demonstrate the difference between Christianity and polytheism which includes: religion in Rome, rules that Jews and converted Gentiles had to follow, Christian rituals, the history of the codices, and infant exposure. Each of these points represent a different aspect of history and were what stuck out in the novel. However, there are strengths and weaknesses …show more content…
The novel’s structure provides his intent and formation of his argument in an organized setting. For instance, each chapter contains subpoints dividing the topics and keeping the attention of the reader, such as, chapter one, Early Christians and Christianity in the Eyes of Non-Christians is composed of eight different sub points, which include: Jewish Responses, Saul/Paul, Pagan Criticism, Pliny, Galen, Marcus Aurelius, Lucian, and Celsus. The sub points make it easier for the reader to navigate each chapter as well as the awareness of a transition to another topic. Each chapter ends with a summary which gives a brief overview of each chapter reminding the reader of previous concepts covered. This feature as a strength becomes a useful tool. As part of the historical context that is presented within the novel Hurtado provides useful background information, such as, “the Greek word eidolon (“idol”) to designate deities” (Hurtado 51). Hurtado’s consideration of the structure, summary and background information contributes towards the understanding of the historical beliefs and practices of …show more content…
Specifically, Hurtado analyzes the features between early Christians and the Romans through distinctive patterns of religious beliefs and practices (Hurtado 76). In the novel there are five primary aspects that Hurtado discusses. Religion in Rome was primarily integrated in social life as it was used in a daily setting influencing the choices of people. Rules that Jews and converted Gentiles were prohibited from partaking in pagan rituals or immoral sexual activity in order to remain pure to an exclusive God. The rituals of Christianity represented the conversion to a new life and the act of confessing one’s sin to become Christ-like. The history of the codices informs the reader of the role the Christian church played in the development of the codex. Infant exposure was a common practice that people partook in abandoning unwanted children. The strengths of the novel were the structure, summary and background information that was provided to the reader to make it an easier read and to further the readers understanding. The weaknesses, however, made the novel repetitive in some parts as well as the information appeared to overshadow the content of the novel overall. The novel overall does present useful and relevant information pertaining to the topic, however, the repetition and straying away from the main argument can sometimes cause the reader to get loss.
According to David M. Carr, the history of Scriptural interpretation indicates that religious texts are popular candidates for reinterpretation and, as such, are spaces wherein the personal identity of the reader frequently inscribes itself at length:
The study of religion is often a rigorous process because the central tenets of the subject: image, ritual, and myth are often copious in their complexity. For example, consider the multiple meanings that are inherent in the image of a crucifix. Some Christians might view it as an image of suffering, whilst others would reject that notion and instead perceive it to be one of love. These differences may seem inconsequential at first, but they can overtime shape the beliefs of an individual and by extension a community. To understand this dynamic better one only has to analyze the Christo Aparecido (Christ Appeared), an authentic Mexican crucifix with a fascinating history from the colonial era to the present. This history is made known by the text, Biography of a Mexican Crucifix: Lived Religion and Local Faith from the Conquest to the Present by Jennifer Hughes, from which I contend that over the life of the Christo Aparecido there continues to be an understanding among devotees that this crucifix is sacred because it displays animus while being a vestige for the sacred to occupy. To support my position I will attempt to relate the moments where the Christo Aparecido is said to show signs of life, in particular his stay in Mexico City during the colonial era and his role in more modern times with rival groups clashing over its efficacy in the village of Totolapan.
Fifth The Editors of The Encyclopædia Britannica, ed. " Allegory. " The Encyclopædia Britannica.
“The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas” is a document written in ancient Roman times that exhibits the role religion plays in the forming of a culture and the lives of individuals in the ancient world. For her belief in Christianity, they throw Perpetua into jail. Her execution is fighting animals in an arena. She does not renounce her faith in the face of persecution and thus becomes a martyr. This text is a unique key into the past in many ways. Part of it is written by a woman, it gives a detailed account of her martyrdom and gives us some insight into the culture of ancient Rome. For these reasons, this document provides us with valuable knowledge, specifically concerning the purpose for the composing and preservation of this document.
In conclusion, the understanding of God in Roman civilization provided the cause of the society’s decline. The concept of the gods provided no moral template for the Roman people, while the Caesars unsuccessfully tried to establish peace around the worship of their emperorship. While the story of Rome is one of great success and tragic loss, the civilization’s history highlights the importance of God in one’s worldview. With a basis of who God is, a person articulates morality, reality, and humanity’s role in history.
The Story of Christianity is a very informative summation; a continuation of Volume 1 which covered the beginning of the church up to the Protestant Reformation, while Vol. 2 dealt with the Protestant Reformation up to more modern time period. This author delivers a more comprehensive and deeper look into the development of Christianity, which includes particular events which had transpired throughout the world; particularly how Christianity has expanded into Central and South America. Gonzalez opens up this book with the “Call for Reformation,” where he shares with his readers the need for reform; the papacy had started to decline and was corrupt, in addition to the Great Schism, which had further weakened the papacy (p.8). The author explains how the church was not the only issue but that the church’s teachings were off track as well, seeing that the people had deviated from...
Christianity, originally, was thought of as an outsider religion, and wasn’t accepted by most Romans. The Romans could learn to live with other religions, but not when they were harmful to public order. At one point, Romans viewed it to be just that. Christians tended ...
The basic structure of Romans is fairly simple. It is called letter-essay style by some, though there is no proof that it was read to any group of people. It is the gospel of God’s righteousness. Sections of Romans are even dedicated to showing the basiscs of christianity like the “Romans road”. This basic knowledge allows ... ...
... allusions shown in the novel give a greater understand of Roman Catholicism and the story of Jesus. As the days go by and we live our lives we start to forget the old stories that once brought our world together. With the reading one can develop the true story behind the murder of Santiago and how his story is just like that of Jesus Christ. The reader gets the knowledge of one of the oldest stories with the help of this novel. The power of the Roman Catholic Church is a powerful effect on the world around this novel and the world today and through the novel we see the effect of the seven deadly sins that are apart of the society that we don’t see with the naked eye. Also the reader should get a deeper understanding of how the seven sins are related to people and everyday live of humans. If we don’t learn from the stories of the past we are doomed to repeat it.
The main idea of deSilva’s work is to “recover the ideology of the early Christians.” His ultimately goal for recovering the ideology of the early church is improve the contemporary Church. deSilva carefully analyzes the Scriptures through the four core values, stated in the title of his book: honor, patronage, kinship and purity. Each of these values deSeilva devotes chapters to. deSilva gives cultural structure to the New Testament analysis and seeks the ancient Judaic and Greco-Roman cultural contexts.
Doniger argued that through the comparison of myths, we can comprehend them better. This novel was very similar to the story of Jesus Christ. The first four words...
Church History in Plain Language is written by Bruce L. Shelley. This work focuses on the history of Christianity from 6 B.C. to the current period. It covers some of Christianity’s greatest events, theologians, and the various subsection of Christianity. Other than the events leading up to the death of Jesus, I had very little knowledge of Christianity’s history. After reading through the book, I have gained understanding on the Christian Councils, scholasticism, Christendom, and modern trends of Christianity.
The first two parts of the book discuss the kind of theological-historical perspective and ecclesial situation that determines the form-content configuration of Revelation. The first section attempts to assess the theological commonality to and differences from Jewish apocalypticism. Fiorenza focuses of the problem that although Revelation claims to be a genuinely Christian book and has found its way into the Christian canon, it is often judged to be more Jewish than Christian and not to have achieved the “heights” of genuinely early Christian theology. In the second part of the book, Fiorenza seeks to assess whether and how much Revelation shares in the theological structure of the Fourth Gospel. Fiorenza proposes that a careful analysis of Revelation would suggest that Pauline, Johannine, and Christian apocalyptic-prophetic traditions and circles interacted with each other at the end of the first century C.E in Asia Minor. She charts in the book the structural-theological similarities and differences between the response of Paul and that of Revelation to the “realized eschatology”. She argues that the author of Revelation attempts to correct the “realized eschatology” implications of the early Christian tradition with an emphasis on a futuristic apocalyptic understanding of salvation. Fiorenza draws the conclusion that Revelation and its author belong neither to the Johannine nor to the Pauline school, but point to prophetic-apocalyptic traditions in Asia Minor.
“Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age. It serves to detach the species from the natural world, likewise, each other. It supports blind submission to authority[control of the masses].”(Zeitgeist 2007) In this essay, we will explore the different roots of religion and the plagiarism that Christianity and a number of different religions have committed.
Bray, Gerald. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament VI Romans. (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1998)