Worshipping a Crucified Man: Christians, Graeco-Romans and Scripture in the Second Century

By Jeremy Hudson

By the mid-second century Christian writers were engaging in debates with educated audiences from non-Jewish Graeco-Roman cultural backgrounds. A remarkable feature of some of the texts from this period is how extensively they refer to the Jewish scriptures, even though those scriptures were unfamiliar to non-Jewish Graeco-Romans. In Worshipping a Crucified Man, Jeremy Hudson explores for the first time why this should have been so by examining three works by Christian converts originally educated in Graeco-Roman traditions: Justin Martyr's First Apology, Tatian's Oratio and Theophilus of Antioch's Ad Autolycum. Hudson considers their literary strategies, their use of quotations and allusions and how they present the Jewish scriptures; all against the background of the Graeco-Roman literary culture familiar to both authors and audiences. The scriptures are presented as a critically defining feature of Christianity, instrumental in shaping the way the new religion presented itself, as it strove to engage with, and challenge, the cultural traditions of the Graeco-Roman world.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0227177347
• ISBN13: 9780227177341
• Release Date: August 2021
• Publisher: James Clarke Company
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 1.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 9.3" x 6.2"