Idolatry and authority : a study of 1 Corinthians 8.1-11.1 in the light of the Jewish diaspora
1 Cor 8.1-11.1 concerns the subject of idolatry in first-century Christianity and ancient Judaism. Jews and Christians differ over what constitutes idolatry; and even within ancient Judaism and early Christianity, there was no consensus on what it meant. The NT passage concerns three parties, i.e. Paul, the âstrongâ, and the âweakâ, who differed over idolatrous practices. Scholarly opinions concerning this particular passage differ significantly and one of the most important reasons for this state of affairs is the ambiguity of the definition of idolatry. In this thesis, a set of definitions are set up which are applied to the examination of the various relevant Diaspora Jewish literature, inscriptions and papyri, and finally the NT passage. And this reveals that while there is a package of definitions of idolatry, these definitions do not always operate as a package. Jews adopted different definitions and so carved out spaces for themselves. Some Jews adopted a blanket condemnation of anything related to Gentile religions and idols, e.g. Philo, Josephus, Joseph and Aseneth, and such like. Such Jews operated with strict definitions of idolatry and condemned everything related to idols and their makers.
Phua, Liong Seng Richard
BS The Bible
Idolatry and authority : a study of 1 Corinthians 8.1-11.1 in the light of the Jewish diaspora. 1 Cor 8.1-11.1 concerns the subject of idolatry in first-century Christianity and ancient Judaism. Jews and Christians differ over what constitutes idolatry; and even within ancient Judaism and early Christianity, there was no consensus on what it meant. The NT passage concerns three parties, i.e. Paul, the âstrongâ, and the âweakâ, who differed over idolatrous practices. Scholarly opinions concerning this particular passage differ significantly and one of the most important reasons for this state of affairs is the ambiguity of the definition of idolatry. In this thesis, a set of definitions are set up which are applied to the examination of the various relevant Diaspora Jewish literature, inscriptions and papyri, and finally the NT passage. And this reveals that while there is a package of definitions of idolatry, these definitions do not always operate as a package. Jews adopted different definitions and so carved out spaces for themselves. Some Jews adopted a blanket condemnation of anything related to Gentile religions and idols, e.g. Philo, Josephus, Joseph and Aseneth, and such like. Such Jews operated with strict definitions of idolatry and condemned everything related to idols and their makers.
idolatry authority study corinthians light jewish diaspora cor concern subject idolatry first_century christianity ancient judaism jews christians differ constitutes idolatry even within ancient judaism early_christianity consensus meant passage concern party paul strong_weak differ idolatrous practice scholarly opinion concern particular passage differ significantly one_important reason state_affair ambiguity definition idolatry set definition set apply examination_various relevant diaspora jewish literature inscription papyri finally passage reveals package definition idolatry definition always operate package jews adopt different definition carve space themselves jews adopt blanket condemnation anything related gentile religion idol philo josephus joseph_aseneth like jews operate strict definition idolatry condemn everything related idol maker