__Empsychoi Logoi__ — Religious Innovations in Antiquity: Studies in Honour of Pieter Willem van der Horst

The fact that religions show internal variation and develop over time is not only a problem for believers, but has also long engaged scholars. This is especially true for the religions of the ancient world, where the mere idea of innovation in religious matters evoked notions of revolution and destruction. With the emergence of new religious identities from the first century onwards, we begin to find traces of an entirely new vision of religion. The question was not whether a particular belief was new, but whether it was true and the two were no longer felt to be mutually exclusive. The present volume brings together articles that study this transformation, ranging from broad overviews to detailed case-studies. 'judenthum', 'griechenthum' And 'christenthum' As Parameters In Early Nineteenth Century Jewish Political Thinking / I. Zwiep -- Explaining Change In Judaism In Late Antiquity / M. Goodman -- The End Of Sacrifice : Religious Mutations Of Late Antiquity / G.g. Stroumsa -- Worshipping The Visible Gods : Confict And Accommodation In Hellenism, Hellenistic Judaism And Early Christianity / D.t. Runia -- The Impact Of The Individual -- Ammianus Marcellinus' Judgement Of Julian's Piety / J. Den Boeft -- A Quodam Persa Exstiterunt : Re-orienting Manichaean Origins / A. De Jong -- The Letter Of Mara Bar Sarapion : Some Comments On Its Philosophical And Historical Context / A. Merz & T. Tieleman -- John The Baptist According To Flavius Josephus, And His Incorporation In The Christian Tradition / J. Tromp -- The Panegyris In Jerusalem : Responses To Herod's Initiative ( Josephus, Antiquities 15.268-290) / J.w. Van Henten -- Group Dynamics As Agents Of Religious Change -- Sabbath At Elephantine : A Short Episode In The Construction Of Jewish Identity / B. Becking -- The Opponents In The Johannine Epistles : Fact Or Fiction? / M.j.j. Menken -- Is There A Heresy That Necessitated Jude's Letter? / G. Van Oyen -- Jewish Monotheism And Christian Origins / B.j. Lietaert Peerbolte -- The Didache Redefining Its Jewish Identity In The Light Of Gentiles Joining The Community / H. Van De Sandt -- Bereshit Bara Elohim : Bereshit Rabba, Parashah 1, Reconsidered / P. Schaefer -- New Texts, New Readings -- Manichaean Elements In N Early Version Of The Virgin Mary's Assumption / R. Van Den Broek -- Interpretative Thetas In The Strasbourg Empedocles / J. Mansfeld & K. Algra -- 'our Righteous Brethren' : Reflections On The Description Of The Righteous Ones According To The Greek Revelation Of Peter (akhm. 2) / T. Nicklas -- The Evil Inclination In The Dead Sea Scrolls, With A Re-edition Of 4q468i (4qsectarian Text?) / E. Tigchelaar -- A Greek Letter From Syria / K. Worp -- Jewish And Christian Texts In Comparison -- Close Encounters Of The Third Kind : Heliodorus In The Temple And Paul On The Road To Damascus / J.n. Bremmer -- The Untold End : 2 Maccabees And Acts / H. Lichtenberger -- The Fate Of The Wicked : Second Death In Early Jewish And Christian Texts / A. Houtman & M. Misset-van De Weg -- 'why Do The Nations Conspire?' : Psalm 2 In Post-biblical Jewish And Christian Traditions / G. Rouwhorst & M. Poorthuis -- The Development Of Jewish Literature -- The Composition Of Prayers And Songs In Philo's De Vita Contemplativa / J.h. Newman -- Life And Death In Pseudo-phocylides / K.-w. Niebuhr -- The Phrase 'good Works' In Early Judaism : A Universal Code For The Jewish Law? / E. Ottenheijm -- The Translation Of Esther : A Paraphrastic Translation Of Mt, A Free Translation Or A Rewritten Version? / E. Tov -- The Hidden Reference : The Role Of Edom In Late Antique And Early Medieval Jewish Hymnography / W.j. Van Bekkum -- The Development Of Early Christian Literature -- Rearranging The 'house Of God' : A New Perspective On The Pastoral Epistles / J. Herzer -- Prayer As Theological Reflection : The Function Of Prayer In Ephesians / G.e. Sterling -- Reflections On The Apocryphal Gospels As Supplements / G. Musser. Edited By Alberdina Houtman, Albert De Jong, Magda Misset-van De Weg. Includes Papers Originally Presented At An International Symposium, Held In Utrecht On June 15-16, 2006, To Mark Pieter Willem Van Der Horst's Retirement. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. 'Judenthum', 'Griechenthum' and 'Christenthum' as parameters in early nineteenth-century Jewish political thinking / I.E. Zwiep -- Explaining change in Judaism in late antiquity / M. Goodman -- The end of sacrifice : religious mutations of late antiquity / G.G. Stroumsa -- Worshipping the visible gods : conflict and accommodation in Hellenism, Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity / D.T. Runia -- Ammianus Marcellinus' judgement of Julian's Piety / J. den Boeft -- A quodam persa exstiterunt : re-orienting Manichaean origins / A. de Jong -- The letter of Mara bar Sarapion : some comments on its philosophical and historical context / A. Merz and T. Tieleman -- John the Baptist according to Flavius Josephus, and his incorporation in the Christian tradition / J. Tromp -- The Panegyris in Jerusalem : responses to Herod's initiative (Josephus, antiquities 15.268-291) / J.W. van Henten -- Sabbath at Elephantine : a short episode in the construction of Jewish identity / B. Becking -- The opponents in the Johannine Epistles : fact or fiction? / M.J.J. Menken -- Is there a heresy that necessitated Jude's letter? / G. Van Oyen -- Jewish Monotheism and Christian origins / B.J. Lietaert Peerbolte -- The didache redefining its Jewish identity in the light of Gentiles joining the community / H. van de Sandt -- Bereshit bara Elohim : Bereshit Rabba, Parashah 1, reconsidered / P. Schäfer -- Manichaean elements in an early version of the Virgin Mary's assumption / R. van den Broek -- Interpretative Thētas in the Strasbourg Empedocles / J. Mansfeld & K. Algra -- 'Our righteous brethren' : reflections on the description of the righteous ones according to the Greek revelation of Peter (Akhm. 2) / T. Nicklas -- The evil inclination in the Dead Sea Scrolls, with a re-edition of 4Q468i (4QSectarian text?) / E. Tigchelaar -- A Greek letter from Syria / K. Worp -- Close encounters of the third kind : Heliodorus in the temple and Paul on the road to Damascus / J.N. Bremmer -- The unt "The fact that religions show internal variation and develop over time is not only a problem for believers, but has also long engaged scholars. This is especially true for the religions of the ancient world, where the mere idea of innovation in religious matters evoked notions of revolution and destruction. The present volume brings together articles that study this transformation, ranging from broad overviews to detailed case-studies." --Book Jacket The contributions to this volume all deal with the crucial problem of change in the religious traditions of the ancient world. They range from broad overviews to detailed case-studies, discussing examples from Greek, Roman, Jewish, Christian and Manichaean literature