Loading...Now that I’ve devoted several posts to summarizing the themes, emphases, authors, and occasions of the three Catholic epistles, I can provide some suggestions for further reading: important works written by scholars for non-scholars. I have given brief annotations for each book to give you a sense of what it’s about and so help you decide which, if any, might be worth your while.
I have divided the list into three sections:
- Books that provide important discussion of one or more of these Catholic epistles, and of the problem of persecution dealt with in 1 Peter.
Unlock 4,000+ Articles Like This!
Get access to Dr. Ehrman's library of 4,000+ articles plus five new articles per week about the New Testament and early Christianity. It costs as little as $2.99/mth and every cent goes to charity!
Learn More!
For the non-scholar,me, the myth of persecution was a fascinating read.
Bart,
Was Jesus smart enough to have a Platonic notion of God?
Jesus: Your God does not give you a rock or snakes. God, your Heavenly Father, is good all the time.
Scholar David Litwa says the Hebrew God did not pass the tests of Plato, for example, a god cannot be jealous.
“He was good; and in the good no jealousy ever arises about anything. Being free from jealousy, he wished that all things should become, as far as possible, like himself.”
Plato. Timaeus. 29e.
Jesus’ theology could only evolve out of Yahweh via The Republic, Book II 379-380 and Timaeus 29e.
Do you agree?
What do you think about Jesus’ concept of God being more than the God of the TANAK but also a god that passes Platonic notions of God?
Steve Campbell, Biblical Criticism / New Testament Criticism author
Author of Historical Accuracy, March 2021
Jesus is Decius Mundus who sacrificed himself for the world (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.3.4)
referencing Decius Mus, the son who sacrificed himself for victory, 295 BCE (History of Rome, Books 8-10 by Livy)
Jesus’ relationship to Platonic philosohy is less a questoin of smarts than of education and access. I’d say that in Galiless in the early first century there was close to zero chance that Jesus would be reading the Timaeus.
I am reading Pagels’ Miracles and Wonders. In talking about how Jewish readers might interpret the Gerasene demons Legion, she comes up with an explanation I have never heard before. The Roman Legion Fretensis was hated by Jews for their savagery in suppressing revolts, and their banner was a wild boar. Pagels sees this story as a metaphor or wishful thinking. The Lord will drive out the Romans and give Jews their freedom again one day. So Jesus driving out the demon Legion (Fretensis) and transferring them to pigs to die alludes to the hope this will happen to the Roman tenth legion. Is this a common idea or unique to Pagels? What do you think about it?
Yes the basic idea that “legion” refers to the Roman occupation that Jesus will bring liberation from is common. I’m not sure about the Legion Fretensis in particular….