In connection with a course I am teaching, I have prepared an accessible version of Oenomaus’ critique of deceptive oracles and placed it on archive.org: Oenomaus of Gadara, Detection of Deceivers, or Charlatans Exposed (Γοήτων φώρα). This work was cited in Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica = Preparation for the Gospel 5.18-36 and 6.7 (translation with modifications from Gifford, Eusebii Pamphili Evangelicae Praeparationis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1903)).
Oenomaus (Oinomaos) of Gadara in Palestine was a Cynic philosopher (probably in the second century CE, during the reign of Hadrian) who wrote a work against deceptive divination practices and procedures at oracles, including those at Delphi and Claros (Klaros). The work is only preserved in extracts by the church historian, Eusebius (early fourth century CE). For clarity, I present Eusebius’ own comments in italics and those attributed to Oenomaus of Gadara in regular font. Oracles cited by Oenomaus are indented. I have modernized Gifford’s English translation.
The work is especially helpful in providing context for Lucian of Samosata’s critique of the oracle of Glykon set up by Alexander of Abonouteichos, a writing also known as Alexander the False Prophet (link). Lucian aligns himself with Epicurean philosophers who likewise sought to expose the supposed deceptions of this oracle in northern Asia Minor (in Paphlagonia).
In the first of two episodes dealing with the Church Fathers, here I look at how Justin Martyr and Origen contribute to the story of Satan and his demons in countering external opponents.
Podcast 8.12: Satan’s Demons and the Greco-Roman Gods in the Church Fathers (2nd-3rd centuries CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I examine “On the Origin of the World” (one of the writings found at Nag Hammadi), which attributes to the creator God (Yaldabaoth) of the Hebrew Bible many of the negative attributes and motivations found in developing stories about Satan. The result is a Satanic creator god and a wise serpent in the garden who brings knowledge (gnosis) and salvation.
Podcast 8.11: The Jealous Creator and the Serpent of Wisdom in Gnosticism (2nd century CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Nice to finally have a copy of my new book in hand now. This one took more than 10 years (off and on)
Philip A. Harland, Greco-Roman Associations Texts, Translations, and Commentary, Volume II: North Coast of the Black Sea, Asia Minor (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 204; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2014), 565 pages, € 99.95 / $140.00 (De Gruyter order page).
Table of Contents:
Here I discuss the expanded story of Adam and Eve that emerged around the turn of the common era as a way of explaining the motivations of Satan (primarily jealousy) in connection with both the creation of humans in the image of God and the serpent in the garden.
Podcast 8.10: Jealous Satan, the Image of God, and the Serpent in the Life of Adam and Eve (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I discuss Satan in John’s Apocalypse (Revelation), pointing out how this author pulls together many strands of the story of Satan and does so to demonize an external power: the Roman empire.
Podcast 8.9: A Satanic Empire in John’s Apocalypse (ca. 80-100 CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I introduce Paul’s apocalyptic worldview and go on to discuss the way in which some early Christian authors or leaders (e.g. Paul and the elder John) used the language or rhetoric of Satan or evil personified figures (e.g. Antichrist) to label and combat internal opponents within the Christian communities.
Podcast 8.8: Internal Functions of the Rhetoric of Satan in Paul and John (ca. 50-110 CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I discuss how the authors of the synoptic gospels portray Jesus in conflict with demons and with the Devil.
Podcast 8.7: The Devil and Beelzebub in Early Biographies of Jesus (70-100 CE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I continue to trace the development of evil personified figures in Judean literature around the turn of the first century BCE, focussing on Mastema (Enmity personified) and Beliar or Belial (Worthless One). I also discuss the Prince of Darkness in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Podcast 8.6: Mastema in Jubilees and Beliar in the Dead Sea Scrolls (ca. 100 BCE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I discuss 1 Enoch’s expanded story of the fallen angels headed by Azazel and Semyaz (based on an interpretation of Genesis 6), which came to play a crucial role in the emerging story of Satan.
Podcast 8.5: Fallen Angels in 1 Enoch (ca. 225 BCE) (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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My apologies that somehow this episode from the last series never got released (ooohh the suspense). Here it is:
Here I further explore the first-person visionary account in Daniel chapters 7-12, our earliest example of an historical apocalypse as veiled history.
Podcast 7.9: Daniel’s Visions as Veiled History (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I explore other building blocks of Satan’s story from Israelite culture by looking at arrogant foreign kings and angels or messengers of God in the Hebrew Bible.
Podcast 8.4: Other Predecessors of Satan from the Hebrew Bible (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I discuss the battle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu in Persian Zoroastrianism in relation to the role of Satan within Judean apocalypticism.
Podcast 8.3: Predecessors of Satan from Persia (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode continues to consider the centrality of the “combat myth” for the subsequent origins of Satan, considering Ugaritic (Canaanite) and Israelite examples of a god slaying a chaos monster, such as Leviathan.
Podcast 8.2: Predecessors of Satan from Canaan and Israel (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This series of the podcast investigates the origins, history and functions of personified evil from ancient Judean (Jewish) and Christian culture to modern, Western culture. We begin with what you might call the pre-history of Satan by exploring the building blocks of what ultimately became the story of Satan within Judean and Christian circles. The first among the predecessors of Satan are monsters (who are also gods) found within Mesopotamian mythology in the second and first millenia BCE. The so-called “combat myth” is a fundamental building block of Satan’s story.
Podcast 8.1: A Cultural History of Satan – Predecessors from Mesopotamia (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I introduce the “historical apocalypse” of Daniel, including a discussion of the kingdoms in king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (ch. 2) and the historical context of chapters 7-12 (the visionary apocalypse proper) during the time of the Hellenistic king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (in the 160s BCE).
Podcast 7.8: Introduction to Daniel’s Historical Apocalypse (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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The new, thoroughly revised edition of my book Associations, Synagogues and Congregations (2013) is now available for download. On the companion site, you can read part one of the work for free online or download the entire book for a pay-what-you-will price ($0-15). Simultaneously, I have refurbished and updated my websites for a better look.
The main advantage of this edition is that each of the inscriptions and sources mentioned is keyed to the new Associations in the Greco-Roman World sourcebook and there are direct, clickable links in the pdf of the book to the corresponding inscription on the AGRW companion website. You simply click on an inscription number (e.g. IEph 1503) and are brought to the description, Greek text, and a translation. There are also many, many new illustrations and figures (many in color).
Here I examine the importance of the story of the fallen angels in 1 Enoch 1-36 for Judean apocalypticism, dealing with the literary genre of the otherworldly or cosmic journey apocalypse.
Podcast 7.7: 1 Enoch – Fallen Angels in Early Apocalypticism (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I begin to introduce our earliest example of the Judean apocalyptic worldview and our first example of an otherworldly journey apocalypse as a type of literature, 1 Enoch (which most likely dates to about 225-200 BCE). The next episode examines the so called “Book of Watchers” in 1 Enoch chapters 1-36 in more detail.
Podcast 7.6: 1 Enoch – An Introduction to the Earliest Apocalypse (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I continue to discuss the importance of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible for the subsequent development of apocalypticism, dealing with Zechariah and Isaiah 24-27 (sometimes known as the “Apocalypse of Isaiah”).
Podcast 7.5: Origins part 3b – Israelite Prophets 2 (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I discuss the importance of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible for the subsequent development of apocalypticism, beginning with a survey of important events in the history of Israel and discussion of a passage in Ezekiel (chs. 37-39).
Podcast 7.4: Origins part 3a – Israelite Prophecy 1 (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I turn to Persia (Iran) in order to examine Zoroastrian apocalypticism and its relation to Judean apocalypticism. This is part of series 6 (Visions of the End: Apocalypticism) of the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean podcast.
Podcast 7.3: Origins part 2 – Zoroastrian apocalypticism (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I go back to the earliest Mesopotamian mythologies (starting about 3000 BCE) about the gods in order to trace a recurring pattern — labelled the “combat myth” by scholars – that later came to play a role in Judean (Jewish) apocalypticism. This is part of series 7 (Visions of the End 1: Origins of Judean Apocalypticism) of the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean podcast.
Podcast 7.2: Origins part 1 – Ancient Near Eastern Combat Myths (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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With the November release of Associations in the Greco-Roman World: A Sourcebook (book info), Ascough, Kloppenborg, and I have been busy preparing a companion website that I think you’ll find of some interest:
http://philipharland.com/greco-roman-associations/
Basically, users of the site can browse through hundreds of inscriptions (450 so far) involving guilds, immigrant groups, and other associations in the ancient Mediterranean. The user can browse by geography or by topics (including gods) using the right side bar. There is also a feature we called “selected exhibits” on (hopefully) interesting topics to a general reader (with about 10 inscriptions in each exhibit). There are many documents with English translations, and the user can choose to view just those (in selected exhibits). One of the selected exhibits is for Judeans (Jews) in the diaspora. The plan is to continue to expand the website with more inscriptions relating to these groups. There are already 100 inscriptions that do not appear in the sourcebook (marked with an asterisk).
The AGRW sourcebook itself goes beyond the inscriptions to include literary excerpts on associations (from, e.g., Philo, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, Tertullian), descriptions of meeting-place excavations, and an extensive annotated bibliography (table of contents here). The book has been designed to be used as a text in courses as well.
Update: I should also add that I have previously released a podcast series on associations and you can access that all in one place here: Podcast series 6: Associations in the Greco-Roman World.
Richard sends the latest from the Society of Biblical Literature conference in Chicago:
In this first episode I begin to define apocalypticism with reference to (1) a worldview or ideology focused on an imminent end of the world, (2) social groups that live out that worldview, and (3) a type of writing or genre of literature (e.g. the book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible and John’s Revelation.in the New Testament).
This is the first of two series, with this one dealing with both the predecessors of apocalypticism and the period up to the writing of 1 Enoch and Daniel (ca. 160s BCE). The second series will come later and deal with later Judean and Christian apocalypticism, beginning with the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is part of series 7 (Visions of the End 1: Origins of Judean Apocalypticism) of the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean podcast.
Podcast 7.1: Visions of the End – What is Apocalypticism? (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This final episode in the series continues the discussion of how negative ethnic stereotypes (including accusations of human sacrifice, cannibalism, and incest) impacted immigrant associations and cultural minorities, including groups of Jesus followers.
Podcast 6.14: Cultural Minority Associations and Ethnic Stereotypes, part 2 (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This and the following episode explore ethnic stereotypes as they impacted associations of Judeans and Jesus-followers, placing these groups within the context of ethnic rivalries. In this episode, I discuss common negative stereotypes about Judeans found within writings of the elites, particularly the Roman Tacitus and the Greek Egyptian Apion.
Podcast 6.13: Cultural Minority Associations and Ethnic Stereotypes, part 1 (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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Here I continue to discuss groups of Jesus followers in Asia Minor with case studies of 1 Peter and Revelation (John’s Apocalypse), focusing on both indications of identity construction or maintenance and signs of assimilation or acculturation. This is part of series 6 (Associations in the Greco-Roman World) of the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean podcast.
Podcast 6.12: Jesus Groups as Associations and Cultural Minorities, part 2 (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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This episode introduces groups of Jesus-followers within the context of associations, Judeans, and cultural minority groups, setting the stage for case studies of Jesus groups in Asia Minor. This is part of series 6 (Associations in the Greco-Roman World) of the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean podcast.
Podcast 6.11: Jesus Groups as Associations and Cultural Minorities, part 1 (mp3; archive.org page with various downloading options here).
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