Description
Product ID: | 9781978711792 |
Product Form: | Hardback |
Country of Manufacture: | GB |
Title: | Jesus the Oracle |
Subtitle: | Reading Mark in Roman Egypt |
Authors: | Author: Annelies Gisela Moeser |
Page Count: | 178 |
Subjects: | New Testaments, New Testaments, Middle Eastern history, Indigenous religions, spiritual beliefs and mythologies of the Americas, Ancient religions & mythologies, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome |
Description: | In Jesus the Oracle, Annelies Gisela Moeser reads Jesus’ journey from Capernaum to Jerusalem in Mark’s gospel through the cultural context of 2nd-3rd century Roman Egypt. Moeser provides a rich description of the Egyptian practice of oracles, including processional oracles, to build a model with which to read Mark. This prism brings attention to descriptions of Jesus’ supernatural knowledge and wisdom, e.g., in the story of the Rich Man (Mk 10:17-22). In contrast to Clement of Alexandria’s homily on the Rich Man which counseled detachment from possessions, this reading from a non-elite perspective considers Jesus’ advice to be more radical. This model of processional oracles highlights the importance of access to the divine, including by non-elite crowds, by persons with disabilities (for example, in comparing Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52) with Gemellus Horion of Karanis (a town in Egypt)), and by children. Traditional Egyptian religion upheld the existing socio-political regime. However, Jesus’ procession and proclamation of the basileia (reign) of G*d subverts the Roman world order and that of their local, elite allies. In Jesus the Oracle, Annelies Gisela Moeser reads Jesus’ journey from Capernaum to Jerusalem in Mark’s gospel through the cultural context of 2nd-3rd century Roman Egypt. Moeser provides a rich description of the Egyptian practice of oracles, including processional oracles, to build a model with which to read Mark. This prism brings attention to descriptions of Jesus’ supernatural knowledge and wisdom, e.g., in the story of the Rich Man (Mk 10:17-22). In contrast to Clement of Alexandria’s homily on the Rich Man which counseled detachment from possessions, this reading from a non-elite perspective considers Jesus’ advice to be more radical. This model of processional oracles highlights the importance of access to the divine, including by non-elite crowds, by persons with disabilities (for example, in comparing Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52) with Gemellus Horion of Karanis (a town in Egypt)), and by children. Traditional Egyptian religion upheld the existing socio-political regime. However, Jesus’ procession and proclamation of the basileia (reign) of G*d subverts the Roman world order and that of their local, elite allies. |
Imprint Name: | Lexington Books/Fortress Academic |
Publisher Name: | Rowman & Littlefield |
Country of Publication: | GB |
Publishing Date: | 2023-10-15 |