Calvin J. Roetzel - The world that shaped the New Testament
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The author discusses the first-century biblical writers and outlines the major realities they faced as they shaped the New Testament record: political history, forms of religious expression, institutions, scriptural interpretation, and the mythic significance of evil.
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Bible.--N.T.--History of contemporary events, etc, Christianity--Origin.
publication date
:
1985
lcc
:
BS2410.R68 1985eb
ddc
:
225.9/5
subject
:
Bible.--N.T.--History of contemporary events, etc, Christianity--Origin.
Page i
The World That Shaped the New Testament
Calvin J. Roetzel
Forward by David L. Tiede
Page ii
Unless otherwise indicated Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, copyright, 1946, 1952, and 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and used by permission.
The cover map is adapted from a reproduction of the map "Expeditionis Alexandri Magni" ("Expeditions of Alexander the Great") from Ptolemy's Geography published in Strasbourg, 1522. Courtesy of the James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Roetzel, Calvin J. The world that shaped the New Testament.
Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Bible. N.T.History of contemporary events, etc. 2. ChristianityOrigin. I. Title. BS2410.R68 1985 225.9'5 85-12492 ISBN 0-8042-0455-1
copyright John Knox Press 1985 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 Printed in the United States of America John Knox Press Atlanta, Georgia 30365
Page iii
Foreword
The Bible bridges many worlds, reaching from the setting of our experience back to the context of its origins. Meanwhile the formation, collection, and commentary on biblical texts have been ongoing, and the Bible continues to be read in cultures quite alien to our own. Most Bible readers are aware of only "now" and "then," and they may wonder what they can know about that past, or if they should even explore that history.
For many, the long history of the biblical text is unimportant. It is the book of the present age, and its use ranges from the profound to the trivial. It is the book of the contemporary church and synagogue. The Bible is at home in present communities of worship, in family prayer and ritual, in political speeches and motel rooms. It is used in administering solemn public oaths, and carried for good luck. It is handed out in tracts by street evangelists and bound in fine leather with gold lettering for great cathedrals. It is a source of comfort for the discouraged and of direction for the faithful. Yet this "Holy Bible" may belong so completely within the culture that it simply gives voice to shared convictions. As long as present values are unquestioned, little urgency may be felt to search out the origins of the Bible or to trace its history of interpretation. But challenges to the usage and meaning of the Bible may come from several directions.
Political candidates with opposing views appeal to the same Bible for support. Biblical concepts like "justice," "peace," or "freedom" may carry a vastly different sense in the public speech of South America than they convey in traditional public worship in Western Europe or the United States. Such profound differences in understanding may lead us to renewed study of these sacred texts to speak with their voice and not ours. Then we are compelled to ask about how the Christians and Jews of the first century of this era were also affected by the political realities and rhetoric of the hellenistic kingdoms? What difference did their situation make to their understanding of the "kingdom of God," their vision of history, their experience of historical
Page iv
terror, and their convictions about their role as God's people in the developing cosmic drama?
Challenges to accepted biblical understanding may also come from within the religious community. New forms of religious expression may confront the faithful with convictions and behavior which appear to be as sincere as they are strange. How can such differing pieties arise from the same religious heritage? What variety can the faith tolerate? Once again, the historical question may be raised. What social, cultural, and theological factors contributed to the diversity of early Judaism and Christianity? How have such differences been resolved in the past? Which modern piety more accurately reflects the tradition to which all appeal? Now the historical questions have become urgent: what did happen then? can we know? how much can we know?
Synagogues and local congregations, temples and cathedrals, bishops and high priests, liturgies, rituals, and festivals continue from generation to generation until disrupted. Once the course of the institution is deflected, a whole series of questions arise. What is the importance of these institutions? What is the meaning of the Scriptures? Which writings are sacred? And which of those are most urgent and authoritative? What fundamental convictions remain about God's presence and action and speech in this world? How has the world view of the ancient biblical authors influenced our deepest myths and visions of good and evil, heaven and hell, the divine and demonic?
These challenges from within and without constantly press the religious community to search for its roots. They also confront all who draw upon the Bible for interpreting the human situation with the need to seek new insight and fresh wisdom for living in an altered world. Basic to such a search is the task of viewing the New Testament in its world, before using it to interpret ours.
The World That Shaped the New Testament will open the eyes of the Bible reader both to the world of origins of Christianity and Judaism and to realities of the world in which the Bible is now being read. Calvin Roetzel is an accomplished interpreter of the New Testament in its historical setting, and he is a gifted teacher with an uncanny sense for what will prove interesting, important, and challenging to thoughtful students. He selects his stories with scholarly understanding and tells them with insight and dramatic art. Sweeping through the vast reaches of several centuries of Jewish history and culture within the Greco-Roman world, he lingers with the fascinating Alexander the Great and his prowess, illuminating the theocratic claims of hellenistic kingship in concrete, vibrant, and frightening detail. He introduces the rich variety of Jewish religious groups and institutions and then pauses in the complex workshops of their scriptural interpreters. He draws
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