Witch Hunt in Galatia

Magic, Medicine, and Ritual and the Occasion of Paul's Letter to the Galatians

Inbunden, Engelska, 2020

2 019 kr

Beställningsvara. Skickas inom 10-15 vardagar. Fri frakt för medlemmar vid köp för minst 249 kr.

Approximately 2,000 years ago, some Jewish communities of Galatia in central Asia Minor believed they had fallen under a curse, argues Jeremy Wade Barrier. A fellow Jew named Paul wrote the letter we call Galatians to help them escape its effects. In the letter, Barrier argues, Paul called for the Jews in Galatia to stop practicing circumcision. The rite had fallen into disuse within many Jewish communities in the Roman Empire, but Barrier argues the Galatian Jews believed it was a talisman that would protect them from harm. As a further precaution, they needed to deal with the person who had brought this evil to their community. A witch hunt was underway, and some had concluded that the witch was none other than Paul. Barrier provides a reconstruction of the original occasion of Paul’s letter to the Galatians and shows how Paul defended himself from accusations of witchcraft by countering that the ritual that would protect them from the “Evil Eye” was not circumcision, but rather baptism. Through the ritual of baptism, they could receive healing from a material, yet divine, “breath” of God. Barrier also reconstructs an earlier understanding of this pneuma that was lost to subsequent Christianity under the influence of Neoplatonism.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2020-09-29
Mått162 x 240 x 31 mm
Vikt835 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SeriePaul in Critical Contexts
Antal sidor410
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9781978709751

Tillhör följande kategorier

Religion: allmänt inom Filosofi och religion
Biblar inom Filosofi och religion
Kristendom inom Filosofi och religion

Prologue1. IntroductionPart One: Paul’s Perspective on Medicine and Physiology in Galatians2. Pneuma in Ancient Physiology3. Pathophysiology in GalatiaPart Two: Cultural Systems for Paul and Galatia4. Evil Eye in a Cultural-anthropological Context5. The Evil Eye and Fascinum in GalatiansPart Three: Taking Pneuma from Physiology to Theology6. Physiological Pneuma and the Doctrine of the Trinity: From Paul to Augustine7. Physiological Pneuma in the Apocryphon of John8. Conclusion, Possible Implications, and Further Inquiries

In his well-written and provocative book Jeremy Wade Barrier provides a fresh reading of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, concentrating on intercultural differences between Paul and his addressees rather than theological discourse about “works of the law” versus “justification by faith”. The focus on the cultural background of the Galatians challenges usual interpretations of the letter as a reaction to Paul’s Jewish-Christian opponents. Barrier argues that Paul is criticizing his addressees for integrating circumcision in their pagan view of apotropaic rituals and is offering baptism as the appropriate and effective alternative ritual. Moreover, the emphasis on sorcery and the “Evil Eye” sharpens the view of the religious and cultural context presupposed in the letter. Future interpretation will have to look more carefully on the discourse behind the letter, particularly on the meaning of the verb “bewitch” in Galatians 3:1.

Mer från samma serie

Onesimus Our Brother

Matthew V. Johnson Sr., Demetrius K. Williams, Matthew V. Johnson, Matthew V Johnson, Demetrius K Williams, James A. Noel, Matthew V Johnson, James A Noel

Inbunden

619 kr