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Gates to Hell, Fiery Sermons, and the Book of Revelation

March 30, 2013 7:55 pm / 1 Comment

I have pointed out earlier in this blog and now in my recent commentary (Seven Congregations in a Roman Crucible) that many Graeco-Roman pagans also believed in postmortem punishment in the afterlife.  You might not be aware, however, that they actually believed they had discovered some of the entrance portals to Hell, Hades, and the underworld where one encountered smoky streams and lakes of fire and sulfur.  Think of the science fiction TV series Stargate SG-1, but imagine a portal that does not transport you to another region of the universe, but into the underworld where the dead reside.  Or, perhaps better known to those of us more familiar with earlier science fiction culture, think of Jules Verne’s 19th century work Journey to the Center of the Earth.  This view about entrance points into the underworld was generally accepted in antiquity and even Jesus spoke of gates into the afterlife/underworld (Matt. 16:18).  In Graeco-Roman mythology this type of site was called a Plutonium, named after the pagan deity of the underworld, Pluto, a.k.a. Hades.

Statue of Greek deity Hades, housed in the Archaeological Museum in Hierapolis

Statue of Greek deity Hades, housed in the Archaeological Museum in Hierapolis

It has been known for a long time that one such imagined portal into the underworld was located in the city of Hierapolis, not far from the city of Laodicea mentioned in Rev. 3:14-22.  Paul’s letter to the church of Colossae (4:13-15) also mentions Hierapolis and Laodicea as all three of these were located in the Lycus Valley, about 100 miles east of Ephesus.  Recently Italian archaeologists have extended their excavations at the site of the Plutonium in Hierapolis and even created some digital views of what it might have looked like.

Digital reconstruction of Plutonium at Hierapolis

Digital reconstruction of Plutonium at Hierapolis

Italian Excavations of Plutonium at Hierapolis

Italian Excavations of Plutonium at Hierapolis

Both friend and foe of the biblical message have acknowledged that the writers of Scripture often used the common language of the day to communicate Christian doctrine, values, and ideas to the surrounding culture.  This is clearly the case regarding ideas about the afterlife, at least at times.  2 Peter 2:4, for example, contains the Greek verb  ταρταρόω, tartaroō  which means “to cast into Tartarus.”  Tartarus is defined in the best lexicon for the Greek NT as a location, “thought of by the Greeks as a subterranean place lower than Hades where divine punishment was meted out,” and was also viewed this way by the Jewish author Philo and also in “Israelite apocalyptic” literature (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition, eds. Walter Bauer & F. W. Danker).  It is no surprise that the archaeological museum at Hierapolis contains a clear example of the Greek deity Hades.

So if and when you make your way to Hierapolis, Turkey try to get your guide to show you the remains of the Plutonium.  If and when you make your way into the Gospels or the book of Revelation, keep two points in mind.  First, Jesus and his earliest followers certainly felt compelled to announce the painful consequences of rejecting God and his ways.  Secondly, when apostolic authors did announce this, they did it in a way that was intelligible to their audiences by using the vernacular to communicate their theology.

THE END IS NEAR

March 1, 2013 2:06 am / 11 Comments

These books were gathered by my GA Kevin Burr to facilitate the task of proofreading the footnotes in the commentary on the letters to the seven congregations. These represent most of the bibliographic materials, excluding journals, which were used in the commentary. Having footnotes not only satisfies the ethical and legal issues of citing the copyrighted materials of other authors and scholars, but also provides a type of map for interested readers who want to follow research and ideas. Nobody likes to use misleading maps, whether printed or electronic, that take you nowhere or to the wrong destination. Two graduate students (Kevin Burr and Anthony Gleghorn) and I spent a week together in the library of Harding School of Theology checking these intellectual and research maps located in the 500+ footnotes.

These books were gathered by my GA Kevin Burr to facilitate the task of proofreading the footnotes in the commentary on the letters to the seven congregations. These represent most of the bibliographic materials, excluding journals, which were used in the commentary. Having footnotes not only satisfies the ethical and legal issues of citing the copyrighted materials of other authors and scholars, but also provides a type of map for interested readers who want to follow research and ideas. Nobody likes to use misleading maps, whether printed or electronic, that take you nowhere or to the wrong destination. Two graduate students (Kevin Burr and Anthony Gleghorn) and I spent a week together in the library of Harding School of Theology checking these intellectual and research maps located in the 500+ footnotes.

With almost eschatological fervor I am expecting the publication of my commentary Seven Congregations in a Roman Crucible.  A Commentary on Revelation 1-3 within weeks rather than months.  It has been a long journey for my family, for Harding School of Theology, and for me personally.  Part of the issue was the major reformulation of the focus of the commentary.  The decision I made a few years ago to do a more thorough job of integrating the text of Revelation with theological trajectories from the Hebrew Scriptures and Intertestamental Judaism meant I had to slow down and incorporate and quote not only more Jewish texts, but also a small fraction of secondary literature.

     Those who know my other publications are aware that I do not believe that the early church existed within a historical vacuum, devoid of significantinteraction with its pagan environment.  This belief requires the incorporation of primary sources, e.g., Graeco-Roman literature, inscriptions, coins, papyri, and architecture.  Even if readers of this commentary feel comfortable with the settings and theological perspectives of sacred writers such as Jeremiah or Zechariah, they might not be as comfortable with and knowledgeable of Greek and Latin authors such as Aelius Aristides and Apuleius or, to move beyond the literary elite, Anatolian inscriptions or Roman numismatics.  My decision to not only reference Graeco-Roman sources but to also quote them at times and to supply some secondary literature certainly required a significant increase of time, energy, and pages.

     In addition to the expansion into Jewish materials, both canonical and non-canonical, and into Graeco-Roman sources, a third area also retarded earlier goals for completion.  So many impediments stand in the way of our hearing John as he intended to be heard that the task is always extensive and labyrinthine.  Some assistance can be provided by visual materials that literally bring the ancient world to light.  So, I have attempted to use some images in the book to enhance the reader’s appreciation for the world of John and his first readers, an effort with a steep learning curve both for me and the publisher.

     My first fantasies about this commentary included it being available as an ebook with color images, video, and hyperlinks.  Issues such as markets, ebook readers with footnote abilities, and distribution outlets deflated that balloon a couple of years ago.  I then attempted to locate a print publisher who would do 4-color images.  Some of the obvious publishers embrace views about Revelation totally different from mine.  Beyond the initial cost, the idea of self publishing in color seemed imprudent unless I wanted lots of copies sitting in a warehouse somewhere since I have no personal distribution outlets.  I was delighted that Wipf & Stock agreed to publish my commentary, but it will be printed with grayscale images, supplemented with color images on this blog, richardoster.com.

Working on Friday afternoon when the power went out during storm.

Working on Friday afternoon when the power went out during storm.

As soon as the commentary appears I will have an Amazon.com link to Seven Congregations in a Roman Crucible.  A Commentary on Revelation 1-3 on this blog. I have also been invited to present two classes on this at the Pepperdine University Bible Lectureship, April 30-May 4, 2013.

They Think they are Jews, but Are Not

December 24, 2011 12:12 am / 3 Comments

GRANT
Graeco-Roman Antiquities & the New Testament
They Think they are Jews, but Are Not
One of the messier issues in early Christian history, including the book of Revelation, is the relationship between “church and synagogue.”  Certainly by the second generation of Christian history, those who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah began to affirm that they, rather than non-believing Jews, formed the real Israel of God.  Stated briefly, many Christians believed that Jews who did not affirm that Jesus was the Messiah forfeited their rights, privileges, and citizenship as members of Israel.
This general Christian conviction seems to show up in Rev. 2:9 and 3:9.  Some scholars who, like the early Luther, are critical of John’s theology charge the author of Revelation with religious bigotry or anti-Semitism for telling non-believing Jews that they were no longer entitled to be called Israelites.  While God allows everyone the freedom to embrace or to reject the teachings of Scripture, it should at least be pointed out that long before the advent of Christ many Second Temple Jews had already begun the process of eliminating others who regarded themselves as Israelites.
I am referring, of course, to the Samaritans.  Viewed historically, beginning from the call of Abraham, the group that came to be called Samaritans shared as much history with Judea’s Jews than they did not share.  Every episode from Abraham through Solomon was common heritage to both the “Samaritans” and the “Jews.”  
The fact that the “Jews” of Jesus’ day had disenfranchised their siblings became even more apparent with an important archaeological discovery in the 1970s.  Most of what has been known about the Samaritans is what is told about them by their enemies (=Jews).  As far as archaeological evidence is concerned, there were only a handful of artifacts that came from Samaritan hands.  
Even though archaeological excavations and research had taken place on the Greek island of Delos for decades, it was in the 1970s that the French archaeologists discovered epigraphical evidence on Delos authored by so-called “Samaritans.”  The startling fact was that the Samaritans on Delos did not call themselves “Samaritans.”  Rather, they regarded themselves as “Israelites who worship at Mt. Gerizim” (or “Israelites who make first fruit offerings at Mt. Gerizim”).  The Jews of the pre-Christian era had systematically attempted to amputate those who worshipped at Gerizim from the history that began at Abraham.
One can choose to disapprove of John’s language and theology in Rev. 2:9 and 3:9, but there is little room for depicting the Jews in Smyrna and Philadelphia as victims when long before Christianity they and their ancestors had used a similar rhetoric and process of marginalization against their siblings, those Israelites who worshipped at Gerizim.
 

Non-Christian Missionaries in Antiquity

November 19, 2011 1:02 pm / Leave a Comment

GRANT
Graeco-Roman Antiquities & the New Testament
At least as early as the writings of John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, interpreters of Acts 19:1-7 have thought that the “disciples” mentioned in 19:1 were “Baptists” who remained loyal to their eponymous prophetic founder, John the Baptist.  If Chrysostom and later interpreters have been correct, then naturally one wonders why this group was located so far removed from its Judean origin.  Without this Lukan reference, one might have imagined that followers of John would have remained clustered in Judea, or at least in the Holy Land.
The deeper one looks into the historical resources of the Graeco-Roman world, the more the mobility of the ancients becomes apparent.  The Samaritans, for example, provide another illustration of a branch of ancient Judaism that was not content to remain at home, but moved into the Diaspora.  From the Cycladic island of Delos comes a Greek inscription containing a dedication given by the Samaritans.  Once again, had this archaeological evidence not come to light, scholars would likely not have imagined that this Samaritan branch of Judaism would have had worshippers on Delos.
We do not know whether the Ephesian Baptists or the Delian Samaritans saw themselves as missionaries, but when we come to the early Buddhists, it is clear that they saw themselves involved in “proselytism,” disseminating both Buddhist teachings and lifestyle.
This archaeological record provides some of the earliest documentation of Buddhism and comes from a corpus of 3rd century BC inscriptions.  The author is a regal convert to Buddhism.  Ashoka the Great was one of India’s greatest rulers.  After the King witnessed firsthand the savage killing of over 100,000 people in his conquest of the small, neighboring state of Kalinga, he became disgusted and devoted himself to Buddhism and pacifism.
Based upon his new devotion to Buddhism, Ashoka [Beloved-of-the-gods] sends “missionaries,” not only to Greek communities in the region of Afghanistan left from the days of Alexander the Great and Seleucid control, but also “missionaries” to the Mediterranean Basis.  These ambassadors of Buddhism were sent about 4,000 miles to Greece, the Middle East, and  Egypt.  
When the modern student of the New Testament reads of the travels of the Magi in Matthew or imagines the journeys of Paul or other apostles, it is important to keep in mind the amazing amount and extent of travel in the ancient world and how itinerant most religions in the Graeco-Roman era were.  

LEARNING TO CURSE FROM MOSES

September 22, 2011 8:01 pm / Leave a Comment

GRANT
Graeco-Roman Antiquity & the New Testament

There are things you can tell about an entire ocean even if you have only one cup of water from it.  Naturally a scientist would like to have as many cups and as broad a sampling as possible, but even a single cup is of some help.  The same is true when investigating the world of the New Testament.  You can learn something even from one ancient document, though the explorer of the ancient world would like to have as many documents as possible. 
I hope once a week to present a small sample of information that mirrors some aspect of the ancient world surrounding nascent Christianity.
LEARNING TO CURSE FROM MOSES
Sometimes ancient documents contain curses against one’s enemies.  In one such pagan inscription the author of the inscription calls down a curse upon an enemy using the language of Moses.  Much like the magical Greek papyri that employ Mosaic materials in its magic and exorcisms, this Greek inscription relies upon a direct curse from Moses for its own wording.  It reads in part, “May God strike this one with difficulty and fever and cold and irritation and blight . . . ,” wording that is identical to the wording of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (LXX) in Deuteronomy 28:22, 28.  
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