How The Gospels Became History - Jesus And Mediterranean Myths

307 Pages·2019·3.06 MB·English

by  M. David Litwa

HOW THE GOSPELS
BECAME HISTORY
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SYNKRISIS
Comparative Approaches to Early Christianity
in Greco-Roman Culture
SERIES EDITORS
Dale B. Martin (Yale University)
L. L. Welborn (Fordham University)
Synkrisis is a project that invites scholars of early Christianity and the Greco-
Roman world to collaborate toward the goal of rigorous comparison. Each
volume in the series provides immersion in an aspect of Greco-Roman culture,
so as to make possible a comparison of the controlling logics that emerge from
the discourses of Greco-Roman and early Christian writers. In contrast to
older “history of religions” approaches, which looked for similarities between
religions in order to posit relations of infl uence and dependency, Synkrisis
embraces a fuller conception of the complexities of culture, viewing Greco-
Roman religions and early Christianity as members of a comparative class.
The diff erential comparisons promoted by Synkrisis may serve to refi ne and
correct the theoretical and historical models employed by scholars who seek
to understand and interpret the Greco-Roman world. With its allusion to the
rhetorical exercises of the Greco-Roman world, the series title recognizes that
the comparative enterprise is a construction of the scholar’s mind and serves the
scholar’s theoretical interests.
editorial board
Loveday Alexander (Sheffi eld University)
John Bodel (Brown University)
Kimberly Bowes (University of Pennsylvania)
Daniel Boyarin (University of California, Berkeley)
Fritz Graf (Ohio State University)
Ronald F. Hock (University of Southern California)
Hans-Josef Klauck (University of Chicago)
Angela Standhartinger (Marburg University)
Stanley K. Stowers (Brown University)
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H O W T H E
G O S P E L S B E C A M E
H I S T O R Y
J
ESUS AND
M M
EDITERRANEAN YTHS
M.David Litwa
New Haven & London
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Copyright © 2019 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part,
including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying
permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law
and except by reviewers for the public press), without
written permission from the publishers.
Yale University Press books may be purchased in
quantity for educational, business, or promotional use.
For information, please e-mail [email protected]
(U.S. offi ce) or [email protected] (U.K. offi ce).
Set in Baskerville type by Newgen North America.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018964308
i sbn 978-0-300-24263-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of
ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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For Elham (cid:994)(cid:991)(cid:937),
Love and inspiration
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ὦ φίλοι οἶδα μὲν οὕνεκ’ ἀληθείη πάρα μύθοις
οὕς ἐγὼ ἐξερέω∙ μάλα δ’ ἀργαλέη γε τέτυκται
ἀνδράσι καὶ δύσζηλος ἐπὶ φρένα πίστιος ὁρμή.
—Empedocles DK 31 B114
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CONTENTS
introduction
The Gospels, Mythography, and Historiography, 1
chapter one
Jesus Myth Theory, 22
chapter two
A Theory of Comparison, 46
chapter three
Incarnation, 64
chapter four
Genealogy, 77
chapter five
Divine Conception, 86
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CONTENTS
chapter six
Dream Visions and Prophecies, 96
chapter seven
Magi and the Star, 103
chapter eight
Child in Danger, Child of Wonder, 115
chapter nine
The Righteous Lawgiver, 127
chapter ten
Miracles, 135
chapter eleven
The Pharmakos, 156
chapter twelve
Empty Tombs and Translation, 169
chapter thirteen
Disappearance and Recognition, 179
chapter fourteen
Ascent, 187
chapter fifteen
Eyewitnesses, 194
conclusion
The Myth of Historicity, 209
viii
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CONTENTS
Notes, 223
Index of Subjects, 269
Index of Modern Authors, 283
Index of Ancient Sources, 285
ix
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