The Wisdom of Solomon, Ruler Cults, and Paul's Polemic against Idols in the Areopagus Speech
Despite recent attempts to read Luke-Acts as subverting Roman imperial ideology and power, the Areopagus speech in Acts 17:16-34 remains politically elusive. If Luke's attitude toward Rome was negative, one would expect to find anti-imperial motifs in Paul's Missionsreden, especially in At...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Scholar's Press
[2017]
|
| In: |
Journal of Biblical literature
Year: 2017, Volume: 136, Issue: 3, Pages: 609-632 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Acts of the Apostles
/ Polemics
/ Greece (Antiquity)
/ Gods
/ Roman Empire
/ Ruler worship
/ Cultic object
|
| RelBib Classification: | BE Greco-Roman religions HC New Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
BIBLE. Song of Solomon
B Worship B Gods B Bible. Acts B Paul, The Apostle, Saint |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Despite recent attempts to read Luke-Acts as subverting Roman imperial ideology and power, the Areopagus speech in Acts 17:16-34 remains politically elusive. If Luke's attitude toward Rome was negative, one would expect to find anti-imperial motifs in Paul's Missionsreden, especially in Athens, where we know imperial cult media existed and where Luke most explicitly criticizes Greco-Roman religion. In this study, I investigate the political referents of the Areopagus speech through (1) an examination of the hybrid material representation of gods and kings in the urban spaces of empire, including Roman Athens; and (2) a comparative analysis of the Areopagus speech with the Wisdom of Solomon's polemic against imperial cult media (Wis 14:16-21). In contrast to scholars who read the Areopagus speech as a critique of the traditional gods sensu stricto, I suggest that Paul's polemic against sebasmata (objects of worship, Acts 17:23) and precious materials (Acts 17:29) critiques the iconic spectacle underlying the visibility and euergetism of gods and imperial authority. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1934-3876 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Biblical literature
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.15699/jbl.1363.2017.198325 |