Contents Foreword by Robert Jewett Editor's Note Introduction Part 1: Introduction: From the Beginnings of Urban Roman Christianity to the Separation from the Synagogue Part 2: Topography Part 3: First Diachronic Section: General Information About Urban Roman Christianity Part 4: Second Diachronic Section: Prosopographic Investigation Part 5: The Fractionation of Roman Christianity Part 6: Final Remarks.

From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries

GNOTICISM Jewish elements in gnosticism: the problem defined It should be obvious even from a cursory reading of Gnostic literature that there are Jewish elements in Gnosticism. These elements are of many different kinds, and may be classified in many different ways, but for our present purposes it will be sufficient to distinguish two broad categories – biblical and non-biblical. To the first category belong the quotations from, or allusions to, the Old Testament in the Gnostic texts. (For convenience we may include here also much Gnostic exegesis of the Old Testament.) Into the second category may be put all those Gnostic ideas, motifs, literary genres, technical terms and formulae which have been paralleled more or less convincingly in post-biblical Jewish literature. It is important to realize that the significance of an element will vary according to the category into which it falls. The Jewishness of elements in category one is not, in the last analysis, open to question. We may speculate on how Old Testament materials found their way into Gnosticism (whether through Christianity, pre-Christian Jewish Gnosticism, or by direct borrowing from Judaism), but that they are Jewish can hardly be disputed. The Jewishness of elements in category two, on the other hand, is often problematic. We are dealing here in the first instance with parallelism, and that creates a host of problems. We must establish that the parallelism we perceive is real and significant – in itself no small task. Then we must face the question of origins: who has borrowed from whom? There is a tendency for scholars to assume that in cases of parallelism Gnosticism is indebted to Judaism.

Jewish elements in gnosticism and magic c. ce 70– c. ce 270

The early liturgy of the synagogue

This thesis examines the traditional view of Domitian 's reign, particularly as it relates to his alleged persecution of Roman Christians. In the light of recent revisionist studies, which offer alternative views, this alleged persecution needs to be reassessed. In order to reevaluate this topic, it will be necessary to examine the opinions of the traditionalists and the revisionists, argued from the pagan primary sources together with views expressed in Christian primary and secondary sources. The study of the development of the Domitianic tradition, which involves accounts from a variety of primary and secondary sources, will involve a re-examination of literary texts that discuss Domitian's reign. The authenticity and applicability of some texts to the discussion about Domitian will also be considered. Some attempt has also been made to include archeological aspects into this topic and recent studies will also be considered to determine if anything substantive may be found. This thesis will argue that Domitian was not as bad as the biased primary pagan sources portray him and that it is unlikely that Domitian ever persecuted the Roman Christians. This examination of traditional and revisionist points of view will provide a more up to date assessment of Domitian's reign.

/pdf/the-alleged-persecution-of-the-roman-christians-by-the-2efe86m5qn.pdf

Marcus Borg

Papers

A New Context for Romans xiii