Chapter 1—Sources
A lovely quote, “History
is the autobiography of humanity written by the learned and ignorant alike”
(1). Monuments, clay tablets, coins,
architectural, papyri, scrolls, manuscripts, caves, monasteries and more tell
stories that the historian studies.
In one sense, the
canonical period governs the questions of New Testament inquiry, from Herod the
Great (4 B.C.) to the closure of John’s life and Revelation (assuming 90 A.D.).
But, a wider period
also comes to view covering the second Jewish commonwealth of the Maccabean
Revolt (175 A.D.) to the age of Emperor Hadrian (117—138 A.D.). Or, even antecedents to 175 A.D. and period
following 138 A.D. With Mr. Ernst
Hengstenberg, we are reminded that “to be” a theologian (including the New
Testament), one must first be an Old Testament theologian. Want to specialize in the NT? Get your Ph.D. in the OT first. Then, get a
NT Ph.D. Or, with Mr. Brevard Childs, being rooted in Old Testament studies
provides a check against using the OT as a foil for NT work alone. More could
be said.
Some sources.
Jewish Sources for NT studies: Flavius Josephus
·
Born
37-38 A.D. in Jerusalem. Well-to-do family. Educated in rabbinic learning. He was familiar with the schools, principles
and leaders from the parties of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. He was a
Pharisee. He spent 3 years studying with a rabbinic hermit in Banias (we would
add, a wonderful oasis with abundant and verdant greeneries just north of the
Sea of Galilee)
·
He
fought in the war against Rome in 66 A.D. He was committed to defending
Jotapata Fortress, but it fell.
·
Ultimately,
he foresaw the Roman victory. He was
brought before Vespasian and “predicted” the victory. Being flattered, he took Josephus into his
orbit. Vespasian took Josephus with him to Alexandria, Egypt.
·
He
accompanied Titus, Vespasian’s son, to Jerusalem and aided in the negotiations
with Jewish leaders.
·
He
retired to Rome, was given a pension by Vespasian, a residence and Roman
citizenship. As such, inferably, he had
the quiet life of a scholar.
·
He
wrote The War of the Jews, consisting
of 7 books, covering the rise of the Seleucid wingnut and Hellenizer, Antioches
Epiphanes IV (called the “madman”) in 175 B.C. to the fall of Jerusalem in 70
A.D.
·
He
wrote the Antiquities of the Jews, a
recitation of Jewish history back to the earliest of times. He also cites 18 authors whose texts are
lost.
·
Josephus, Flavius. Josephus: The Complete Works. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003. 1200
pages. http://www.amazon.com/Josephus-The-Complete-Works/dp/0785250506/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383349242&sr=8-1&keywords=josephus+the+complete+works
Jewish Sources for NT studies: 1 & 2 Maccabees
·
1
Maccabees was used by Josephus. It was
originally written in Hebrew and was tightly translated to Greek (no small feat
for that leap)
·
2
Maccabees was predicated on an earlier work by Jason, a Cyrenian
·
We’ll
reserve further comments here
Jewish Sources for NT studies: Dead Sea Scrolls
·
The
story is quickly told, for the present purposes, to wit, a Bedouin boy’s goat
crawls in cave, he tosses a stone into the cave and hears something breaking,
ambles into the cave, discovers documents, and a long story ensues of their
transmission until their final home under Israel’s custody
·
This
prompted further archaeological inquiries and more caves and a settlement (with
more finds) result
·
We’re
forego further comments, reserved for other places
Greek sources for NT studies:
·
Polybius,
c. 203—103 B.C. He was a Greek who moved to Rome in 167 B.C. Amazon offers
this: “Written in
the 2nd century by the Greek historian Polybius, The Histories is a multi-volume work detailing many of the events,
people, and ideas of the Hellenistic Period. While his focus is the space of
time in which ancient Rome became a world power from 220 to 167 BC, Polybius
also discusses his role as a 'pragmatic historian', a discourse on fate (called
tyche), and the superiority of the mixed constitution. Though all forty volumes
have not survived to the present day, the complete books extant today cover the
affairs of all the important nations of the time, including Egypt, Greece, and
Spain, as well as the first and second Punic Wars. Polybius speaks at length on
the government of the Romans, citing it as the reason for Rome's success as a
force of the world. Though it includes a couple of digressions concerning
lesser issues of the time, "The Histories" has proven and continues
to be a valuable text when studying the Hellenistic time period and manner of
writing.” Polybius.
The Complete Histories of Polybius. Digireads,
2009. 606 pages. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Histories-Polybius/dp/1420934236/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383352189&sr=1-1&keywords=polybius+complete
·
Diodorus
of Sicily, died 21 B.C. He was a contemporary of Julius Ceasar and
Augustus. He wrote a survey of the
beginning of mankind beginning with Egypt and Assyria to the conquest of Gaul by
Julius Ceasar. Diodorus of Sicily. Library of History. Boston: Harvard
University Press, 1933. There are 12 volumes.
Here is one. http://www.amazon.com/Diodorus-Siculus-Library-History-Classical/dp/0674993071/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383353134&sr=1-1-fkmr1&keywords=diodorus+of+sicily+complete+loeb+classical
·
Plutarch,
b. 50—120 A.D. Plutach. Lives of Noble
Grecians and Romans (Complete). Benediction
Classics, 2010. http://www.amazon.com/PLUTARCH-Grecians-Romans-Complete-Unabridged/dp/1849025797/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383353438&sr=1-2&keywords=plutarch%27s+lives+complete
Also, the Great Books of Encyclopedia Britannica is an excellent edition as
well.
- Dio Cassius. He was born in 155 A.D. in Bithynia. He became a Proconsul of Northern Africa. He died in 229 A.D. We wonder what his interactions were with African Christianity? He wrote an 80-book history of Rome, but only 18 books survive. Dio Cassius. History of Rome. Echo Library, 2008. There are 6 volumes in this series. http://www.amazon.com/Dios-Rome-1-Cassius-Dio/dp/1406826421/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383353807&sr=1-2&keywords=dio+cassius+history+of+rome
Roman sources for NT studies:
·
Strabo,
63 B.C.—21 B.C. His Geography, 17
books, survived. His History, 47 books, has not survived. We
have the Geography around here
somewhere.
·
Timagenes
of Alexandria, a Syrian, is referenced by Josephus
·
The Commentaries of Herod are lost
·
The Commentaries of
Vespasian are
lost; Josephus is aware of these two commentary sets
·
Justus
of Tiberius, a Jew, living on the Sea of Galilee (about 9 o’clock, assuming 12
o’clock is due north, a lovely city to this day). He was a contemporary of
Josephus, participated in the war, and felt that Josephus was a self-serving
self-aggrandizer. He wrote two volumes: History
of the Jewish War and Chronicles of
the Jewish Kings from Moses to Agrippa. Josephus knew of these works; we wonder if
Eusebius was at Caesarea?
·
Cicero
(106—43 B.C.). Varied. Also, well acquainted with history of Syria. We
would recommend this excellent biography.
Everitt,
Anthony. Cicero. New York: Random
House, 2003. From
Publishers Weekly: “Using Cicero's letters to his good friend Atticus, among
other sources, Everitt recreates the fascinating world of political intrigue,
sexual decadence and civil unrest of Republican Rome. Against this backdrop, he
offers a lively chronicle of Cicero's life. Best known as Rome's finest orator
and rhetorician, Cicero (103 -43 B.C.) situated himself at the center of Roman
politics. By the time he was 30, Cicero became a Roman senator, and 10 years
later he was consul. Opposing Julius Caesar and his attempt to form a new Roman
government, Cicero remained a thorn in Caesar's side until the emperor's
assassination. Cicero supported Pompey's attempts during Caesar's reign to
bring Rome back to republicanism. Along the way, Cicero put down conspiracies,
won acquittal for a man convicted of parricide, challenged the dictator Sulla
with powerful rhetoric about the decadence of Sulla's regime and wrote
philosophical treatises. Everitt deftly shows how Cicero used his oratorical
skills to argue circles around his opponents. More important, Everitt portrays
Cicero as a man born at the wrong time. While Cicero vainly tried to find better
men to run government and better laws to keep them in order, Republican Rome
was falling down around him, never to return to the glory of Cicero's youth. A
first-rate complement to Elizabeth Rawson's Cicero or T.N. Mitchell's
monumental two-volume biography, Everitt's first book is a brilliant study that
captures Cicero's internal struggles and insecurities as well as his external
political successes. Maps.” http://www.amazon.com/Cicero-Times-Romes-Greatest-Politician/dp/037575895X/ref=pd_sim_b_2
·
Livy
(59—1 7 A.D.) He wrote a complete history of Rome. 38 books are extant. He is good on the Maccabean period. Here’s 5 books. Livy. Early History of Rome, Bks. 1-5. Penguin
Classics, 2002. http://www.amazon.com/Livy-Early-History-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140448098/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383350565&sr=8-1&keywords=titus+livy
·
Tacitus
(55—120 A.D.) His Annals cover
Tiberius to Nero and his History covers
Nero to Domitian. The Great Books, Encyclopedia Britannica has a lovely volume
of both volumes. Or, Tacitus. Complete Works of Tacitus. McGraw Hill,
1964. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Works-Tacitus/dp/0075536390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383350189&sr=8-1&keywords=tacitus+complete
·
Suetonius
(69—121 A.D.) A painstaking scholar, friend of Pliny, secretary to Emperor
Hadrian, fluent in both Greek and Hebrew, and with access to imperial archives. Suetonius, Gaius. The Twelve Caesars (Complete). FQBooks,
2010. http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Twelve-Caesars-Complete/dp/B003YH9OSK/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383351904&sr=1-4&keywords=suetonius+complete+lives+of+the+caesars
Apostolic
Fathers: 70—180 A.D.
·
Clement of Rome/1 Clement
·
II Clement has a debated provenance
·
Shepherd of Hermas
·
Ignatius of Antioch, his 7
famous letters, and martyrdom in Rome
·
Epistle of Polycarp, martyred in 155 A.D., a
Churchman who knew Ignatius and John the Apostle
·
Didache
·
Epistle of Barnabas
·
Justin Martyr, a
Syrian-Greek-turned Christian
·
Irenaeus’ Against Heresies
·
We’ll deal with these
elsewhere
Eusebius: A must-have and must-read for all Christian adult Churchmen and
Churchwomen. He does church history, had
access to many records, and was scholarly.
He covers this up to Nicea, 325 A.D., and also write a rather flattering
biography of Constantine the Great. Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical History, Complete and
Unabridged. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998. http://www.amazon.com/Eusebius-Ecclesiastical-History-Complete-Unabridged/dp/1565633717/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383354382&sr=1-1&keywords=eusebius+ecclesiastical+history
No comments:
Post a Comment