Religious Context of Early Christianity

Dr. Hans-Josef Klauck is Professor of New Testament Exegesis, University of Munich, Germany.

• Introduction - Daily life and Liminal Experiences: Civic and Domestic Religion - The Fascination of the Mysterious: The Mystery Cults - Popular Belief: A Panorama - Astrology, Soothsaying, Miracles, Magic - Divinised Human Beings: The Cult of Rulers and Emperors - V. In search of Happiness: Philosophy and Religion - Return to the Divine Origin: The Gnostic Transformation; 1. Preface; Introduction; 1. The broader task; 2. An earlier programme; 3. Elements from social theory; 4. Biblical paradigms; I. Daily life and Liminal Experiences: Civic and Domestic Religion; 1. The Sacrificial cult; 2. The associations; 3. Religio domestica; 4. The cult of the dead; II. The Fascination of the Mysterious: The Mystery Cults; 5. Approaching the phenomenon; 6. The mysteries of Eleusis; 7. The cult and mysteries of Dionysus; 8. The cult of Attis; 9. The cult of Isis; 10. The mysteries of Mithras; 11. Evaluation; III Popular Belief: A Panorama - Astrology, Soothsaying, Miracles, Magic; 12. Miracles of Healing; 13. Foretelling the future and interpreting signs; 14. Magic; 15. Astrology; IV Divinised Human Beings: The Cult of Rulers and Emperors; 16. The Hellenistic cult of rulers; 17. The Roman imperial cult