Essay On Polytheism In Destroyer Of The Gods

Larry Hurtado’s novel, Destroyer of the gods 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 religious beliefs and practices that separated them 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 represents a different aspect of history and were what stuck out in the novel. However, there are strengths and weaknesses that are contained

Those who converted to the Christian faith, “were to withdraw particularly from making sacrificial offerings to the gods of their household, their city and their empire, and now were to practice the exclusivity in matters of worship that was expected of members” (Hurtado 53). These expectations caused people to reject everything that they grew up with for a higher calling of purity. Their conversion demanded a change in behavior and habits, however, “Gentile converts to the gospel remained Gentiles; they did not become Jews either physically or ethnically, or in some “spiritual” sense” (Hurtado 56). Socially they were still gentiles they just adopted the Jewish moral code. With the change in behavior Hurtado outlines that Gentiles and Jews “cannot drink the cup of the lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (Hurtado 60). This contrast sets an example that one cannot simply partake in two different religions without consequences as it becomes the role of believers to remain pure. However, “believers could accept a dinner invitation from non-Christians and could eat whatever was put in on the table […] provided that the host did not explicitly declare the meal a participation in a sacrificial feast to a pagan deity” (Hurtado 151). Similarly, Christians were prohibited against “murder and adultery, […] against being

Infant exposure is “typically involved casting the unwanted newborn baby on a trash heap site or some abandoned place, the infant left to die or be collected by someone usually to be reared for slavery” (Hurtado 144). Depending upon the gender some would be spared, “if it is a boy, let it be, if it is a girl, cast it out” (Hurtado 145). It was not unusual at the time to practice infant exposure and those that practiced it were normal people of sound mind (Hurtado 145). It is unknown if it was a result of poverty, but that may have been the case, depending upon the situation (Hurtado 145). This act would sometimes include parents strangling newborn infants, or throwing them out to sea, or taking them to a deserted place, where they could be devoured by beasts or carnivorous birds or being taken in by travelers (Hurtado 146-147). Hurtado’s discussion of infant exposure is a drastic point that he brought up which causes the reader to try and understand the mindset to commit an atrocious