Theology

Sceptic and Believer in Ancient Mediterranean Religions

Edited by Babett Edelmann-Singer, Tobias Nicklas, Janet E. Spittler, and Luigi Walt

[Skeptiker und Gläubiger in den Religionen des Mittelmeeraums in der Antike.]

154,00 €
including VAT
cloth
ISBN 978-3-16-156305-8
available
Also Available As:
Published in English.
What is the role of scepticism in the religious landscape of the ancient Mediterranean? How is doubt expressed within a religious community? How does »insider doubt« differ from the sceptical attitude of outsiders? The essays in this volume explore these questions with respect to a range of ancient religious contexts.
What are the roles of doubt and scepticism in the religious landscape of the ancient Mediterranean? How is doubt expressed within a specific religious community, and what reactions does it provoke? How does »insider doubt« differ from the sceptical attitude of outsiders? Exploring these questions with respect to a wide range of religious contexts and topics (including early Christianity, Greco-Roman religions, Egyptian religions, astrology, and magic), the essays in this volume confirm the thesis that doubting one's own religious tradition is not simply a »Western« post-Enlightenment phenomenon. On the contrary, ancient religions offered opportunities and contexts wherein aspects of doubt are not just tolerated but accepted; moreover, doubt and scepticism concerning certain religious ideas or aspects of belief also motivated creative reinterpretation of those ideas.
Survey of contents
Clifford Ando: Disbelief and Cognate Concepts in Roman Antiquity – Jan Assmann: Ancient Egyptian Disbelief in the Promises of Eternity – Tim Whitmarsh: The Invention of Atheism and the Invention of Religion in Classical Athens – Jan N. Bremmer: Youth, Atheism, and (Un)Belief in Late Fifth-Century Athens – Matthew A. Fox: Disbelief in Rome: A Reappraisal – Babett Edelmann-Singer: »Who Will Worship This Man as a God, Who Will Believe in Him?« – Seneca's Apocolocyntosis and the Hermeneutical Categories of Belief and Scepticism in Emperor Cult – Kai Trampedach: Plutarch als Apologet des Orakels von Delphi – Janet Downie: Belief and Doubt in Aelius Aristides's Isthmian Oration: To Poseidon – Inger N.I. Kuin: Loukianos Atheos? Humour and Religious Doubt in Lucian of Samosata – Tobias Nicklas: Skepsis und Christusglaube: Funktionen, Räume und Impulse des Zweifels bei Paulus – David P. Moessner: Luke as Sceptical »Insider« – Re-configuring the »Tradition« by Re-figuring the »Synoptic« Plot – Benjamin Schliesser: The Gospel for Sceptics: Doubting Thomas (John 20:24–29) and Early Christian Identity Formation – Anna Van den Kerchove: »Why Do You Doubt?« – Scepticism and Some Nag Hammadi Writings – Richard L. Gordon: Evading Doubt: Astrology and Magic in the Greco-Roman Period
Authors/Editors

Babett Edelmann-Singer Born 1975; 2005 Promotion; 2013 Habilitation; since 2018 Heisenberg Fellow at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany; Research Associate at the Department of Greek, Latin and Classical Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa; 2019–2020 Visiting Associate Professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany.

Tobias Nicklas Geboren 1967; 2000 Dr. theol.; 2005–07 Professor für Neues Testament an der Radboud Universität Nimwegen, Niederlande; seit 2007 Professor für Exegese und Hermeneutik des Neuen Testaments an der Universität Regensburg; Research Associate an der University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Südafrika; seit 2018 Leiter des Centre for Advanced Studies »Beyond Canon« an der Universität Regensburg; seit 2019 Adjunct Ordinary Professor an der Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., USA.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1021-6994

Janet E. Spittler Born 1976; 2007 PhD; since 2017 Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia; Research Associate at the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3553-266X

Luigi Walt Born 1975; 2008 PhD; since 2018 Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies »Beyond Canon«, University of Regensburg, Germany.

Reviews

The following reviews are known:

In: Journal of Ecclesiastical History — 72 (2021), pp. 831–833 (Josef Lössl)
In: New Testament Abstracts — 64 (2020), pp. 457–458
In: Kleio-Historia — 14 (2021), pp. 80–86 (Mark Beumer)
In: Theologische Literaturzeitung — 146 (2021), pp. 391–393 (Stefan Krauter)
In: Annali di storia dell'esegesi — 39 (2022), pp. 263–265 (Ramón Soneira Martínez)