Christs Enthronement at Gods Right Hand and Its Greco-Roman Cultural Context

244 Pages·2021·59.312 MB·English

by  D. Clint Burnett

D. Clint Burnett
Christ’s Enthronement at God’s Right Hand and Its Greco-Roman Cultural Context
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift
für die neutestamentliche
Wissenschaft
Edited by
Matthias Konradt, Judith Lieu, Laura Nasrallah,
Jens Schröter and Gregory E. Sterling
Volume 242
D. Clint Burnett
Christ’s Enthronement at
God’s Right Hand and Its
Greco-Roman Cultural Context
ISBN 978-3-11-069153-5
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-069179-5
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-069188-7
ISSN 0171-6441
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020941595
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
Detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
To my doctoral mother and the type of scholar I aspire to be, Pheme Perkins
κατηρτισμένος δὲ πᾶς [μαθητὴς] ἔσται ὡς ὁ διδάσκαλος αὐτοῦ (Luke 6:40).

Contents
Acknowledgements IX
List of Tables XI
List of Figures XIII
Abbreviations XV
Introduction 1
Chapter 1
“Sit at My Right Hand”
Psalm 110:1 in the Second Temple Period and Earliest Christianity 17
Chapter 2
“That They Might Share the Temple or Throne”
Temple Sharing and Throne Sharing in the Hellenistic and Roman
Periods 35
Chapter 3
“Beside the Gods in Their Temples”
Royal and Imperial Temple Sharing 52
Chapter 4
“Beside the Gods on their Thrones”
Royal and Imperial Throne Sharing 94
Chapter 5
“God Highly Exalted Him”
Phil 2:9–11, Ps 110:1, and Jesus’s Share in God’s Temple and Throne 111
Chapter 6
“Where the Messiah Is”
Col 3:1–4, Ps 110:1, and Jesus’s Share in God’s Temple and Throne 157
Conclusion 180
VIII Contents
Bibliography 185
Index of Ancient Sources 208
Index of Modern Authors 220
Index of Subjects 225
Acknowledgements
TherootsofthisprojectbeganwithmytimeasaGraduateAssistantforProf.Ri-
chard E. Oster (Harding School of Theology) (2011–2012). At that time, he was
completing a commentary on Revelation and, as his Graduate Assistant, I con-
ducted research and read and edited his manuscript. During this process,
I read the promise of the exalted Jesus to the Laodicean Christ-confessors:
“The one who conquers I will allow him to sit with me on my throne as I con-
quered and sat with my Father on his throne” (Rev 3:21). The footnote to this
verse that Prof. Oster provided was A.D. Nock’s seminal article, “Σύνναος
Θεός,” which focuses on Roman principes as temple and throne sharers of the
gods. During the first year of my Ph.D. program at Boston College (2013),
ItookacourseonRomanreligionwithProf.KendraEshleman(BostonCollege)
andwroteatermpaperonthatverytopic.Later,IpresentedthatpaperinBoston
College’s Biblical Studies doctoral colloquium (2014). After my presentation,
Prof. Pheme Perkins (Boston College) told me, “This needs to be your disserta-
tion.” And, so it was. I am delightedthat because of Prof. Perkins’s encourage-
mentnotonlydidthisprojectbecomemydoctoralthesisbutalso,aftersubstan-
tial revision, my first monograph.
Iwishtoacknowledgeanddedicatethismonographtothefollowinggiants
onwhoseshouldersIstand.CharlesClark(retiredminister)piquedmyinterestin
the study of the Bible as a nineteen-year-old new convert to Christianity. Prof.
Kevin Youngblood (Harding University) taught me Greek and Hebrew and was
the first person to encourage my pursuit of a doctorate in Biblical Studies.
Prof.OsterintroducedmetotheacademicstudyofPaultheapostleandthelarg-
erGreco-Romanworld.Prof.JamesC.Walters(BostonUniversitySchoolofThe-
ology) furthered my study of the Greco-Roman world by introducing me to the
archaeology of cities associated with Paul and allowing me to discover some
of these cities on the western coast of Turkey in an on-site archaeology and
theNewTestamentcoursethatheconducted.Prof.LauraNasrallah(YaleDivin-
itySchool)honedmyarchaeologicalskillsetwhileonfacultyatHarvardDivinity
School.Intheprocess,shestressedthenecessityofcontextualizedinterpretation
ofmaterialcultureandallowedmetojoinheron-sitecourseonarchaeologyand
the New Testament in Greece and Turkey. Prof. David Vanderhooft (Boston Col-
lege)demonstratedtomethepossibilitiesandbenefitsofusingmaterialculture
intheinterpretationoftheBible,theHebrewBibleinparticular.Heisthepatron
ofmycareerasafieldarchaeologist,asupporterofmywork,someonewhohas
believed in me,even on those dayswhen Ido not believe in myself, and above
all,awonderfulamicusetmentor.Prof.JohnDarr(BostonCollege)pushedmeto
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110691795-001
X Acknowledgements
considerthepractical,theologicalimplicationsofthisprojectforfirstcenturyCE
Christ-confessors.Prof.JeffCooley(BostonCollege)showedmethenecessityand
benefitofknowingthehistoryofscholarshipinone’sareaofresearch.Prof.Esh-
lemanintroducedmetoRomanandGreekreligionandstressedtheneedtoread
everytextinitsoriginallanguage.Prof.YonderGillihan(BostonCollege)hasun-
derscored the necessity of not going beyond the claims of our ancient sources.
Joel B. Kemp (Emory University), C. Thomas Fraatz (St. Lawrence University),
Kimberly Bauser McBrien (Trinity University), Daniel Vos (Boston College),
Craig A. Ford (St. Norbert College), Jonathan Bailes (Christ Church, Plano,TX),
and Christopher Stroup (School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College)
were the best fellow Ph.D. students, colleagues, and most importantly friends
thatanyoneinadoctoralprogramcouldaskfor.FrommyfirstdayatBostonCol-
lege and beyond, they have inspired and reassured me, at times consoled me,
and cheered my progress to this very day. Prof. Perkins is one of the main rea-
sons I pursued my doctorate from Boston College. Her breadth of knowledge,
scholarship, and professionalism are on levels few mortals reach. Her commit-
ment to me throughout mydoctoral program and beyond has been unshakable
andherinfluenceisoneverypageofthisbook.ThepersontowhomIammost
indebted,however,ismywife,GerilynBurnett.Shehasbeenafountofencour-
agement to me since the day that we met. She is confident in my own abilities
whenIamnot.WithoutmybelovedGerilyn,Iwouldnothavepursueddoctoral
studies in Bible and life would not be as fulfilling as it is.
Finally, I wish to show my gratitude to several individuals who helped to
move my manuscript to publication. I appreciate my blind reviewers (whoever
they are!).Their comments served to improve my argumentation and presenta-
tion of the material. In addition, I am grateful to my editors at de Gruyter,
AliceMerozandDr.AlbrechtDöhnert,foracceptingmymanuscriptandguiding
itthroughtopublicationandespeciallyforAlicewhooversawtheentireprocess
even in the midst of and challenges presented by a global catastrophe, the
COVID–19pandemic.ThelastpersonIneedtothankismygoodfriend,Jeremiah
Smith,who demonstrated Christian charity by proofreading the entirety of this
manuscript,includingitscopiousfootnotes.Anyerrorsfoundtherein,however,
are my own fault and not his.
D.Clint Burnett
Knoxville,TN
Lent 2020