Overview

The question of Christianity's relation to the other religions of the world is more pertinent and difficult today than ever before. While Christianity's historical failure to appreciate or actively engage Judaism is notorious, Christianity's even more shoddy record with respect to 'pagan' religions is less understood. Christians have inherited a virtually unanimous theological tradition that thinks of paganism in terms of demonic possession, and of Christian missions as a rescue operation that saves pagans from inherently evil practices. In undertaking this fresh inquiry into early Christianity and Greco-Roman paganism, Luke Timothy Johnson begins with a broad definition of religion as a way of life organized around convictions and experiences concerning ultimate power. In the tradition of William James' ""Variety of Religious Experience"", he identifies four distinct ways of being religious: religion as participation in benefits, as moral transformation, as transcending the world, and as stabilizing the world. Using these criteria as the basis for his exploration of Christianity and paganism, Johnson finds multiple points of similarity in religious sensibility. Christianity's failure to adequately come to grips with its first pagan neighbours, Johnson asserts, inhibits any effort to engage positively with adherents of various world religions. This thoughtful and passionate study should help break down the walls between Christianity and other religious traditions.

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Reviews

Who will fail to benefit from this stimulatingly provocative contribution from Luke Timothy Johnson? --James D.G./i>--James D.G. Dunn Interpretation

A remarkable synthesis that challenges reigning assumptions about early Christianity's relationship to the Graeco-Roman world, this book proposes new analytical categories to advance and enliven the ongoing 'Christ and culture' debate. -Carl R. Holladay, Emory University -- Carl R. Holladay

The author's discussion of the religious symphony that is polytheism is very helpful and clear this is by no means usual and is to be applauded. . . . This volume is a valuable edition to the Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. It is richly annotated, provoking thought and questions and providing the notes and resources needed to pursue those questions further. I believe it achieves the author's goal of presenting Greco-Roman religious practice and sensibility without the Christian apologetics and value judgments that have so often obscured the appreciation of this rich and unique tradition. Lynn Lidonnici, <i>Journal of Church History</i>--Lynn Lidonnici Journal of Church History

Author Information

Luke Timothy Johnson is the R. W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Candler School of Theology and a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University.

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