'The Gods of the Nations are idols' (Ps. 96:5) : paganism and idolatry in Near Eastern Christianity
This thesis will explore the presentation in Christian literature of gentile religious life in the Roman Near East in the first few centuries AD. It will do so by performing a close study of three sources â the Syriac Oration of Meliton the Philosopher, the Syriac translation of the Apology of Aristides, and the Greek Address to the Greeks of Tatian. It will compare their presentation of a number of areas of gentile religious life â focussing particularly on iconolatry, sacrifice, and morality â and attempt to build a coherent picture of Christian attitudes to these areas. It will then compare these attitudes with a variety of non-Christian evidence: the majority of this will be literary sources, and in particular Lucian of Samosata, but will also include epigraphic evidence from the region. Other Latin and Greek sources will be compared when applicable, but the focus will remain on religious life in the Roman Near East. In the process, this dissertation will not only determine whether it is possible to talk about a single Christian âattitudeâ towards gentile religious life in the area, but also develop a more detailed picture of the perception of that religious life by its gentile participants.
Nichols, Sebastian Toby
'The Gods of the Nations are idols' (Ps. 96:5) : paganism and idolatry in Near Eastern Christianity. This thesis will explore the presentation in Christian literature of gentile religious life in the Roman Near East in the first few centuries AD. It will do so by performing a close study of three sources â the Syriac Oration of Meliton the Philosopher, the Syriac translation of the Apology of Aristides, and the Greek Address to the Greeks of Tatian. It will compare their presentation of a number of areas of gentile religious life â focussing particularly on iconolatry, sacrifice, and morality â and attempt to build a coherent picture of Christian attitudes to these areas. It will then compare these attitudes with a variety of non-Christian evidence: the majority of this will be literary sources, and in particular Lucian of Samosata, but will also include epigraphic evidence from the region. Other Latin and Greek sources will be compared when applicable, but the focus will remain on religious life in the Roman Near East. In the process, this dissertation will not only determine whether it is possible to talk about a single Christian âattitudeâ towards gentile religious life in the area, but also develop a more detailed picture of the perception of that religious life by its gentile participants.
the gods nations idol paganism idolatry near eastern christianity explore presentation christian literature gentile religious_life roman_near_east perform close_study source syriac oration philosopher syriac translation apology greek address greeks compare presentation number area gentile religious_life focus_particularly sacrifice morality attempt_build coherent picture christian attitudes area compare attitude variety non_christian evidence majority literary_source particular also_include epigraphic_evidence region latin greek source compare applicable focus remain religious_life roman_near_east process determine_whether possible talk single christian attitude_towards gentile religious_life area also_develop detailed_picture perception religious_life gentile participant