Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Revolution in the Making

Revolution in the Making

Last updated on: November 28, 2014 at 2:27 am by Philip Jenkins

Revolution in the Making 2014-11-25T20:27:22-04:00 Philip Jenkins

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Something strange happened to the Jewish world in the third century BC.

Although the land was usually part of the Ptolemaic Empire, local authorities carried on ruling much as before, largely undisturbed in their power. If we read our main source for the period – the twelfth book of Josephus’s Jewish Antiquities, roughly covering the years 320-160BC – there is little sign of seething discontent or intellectual ferment, at least before the 170s or so. Yet as I have noted, the few literary works that we can date to this period indicate quite radical changes under way in Jewish thought, changes that prefigure later trends in rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity. What was going on?

The best evidence for change comes in the several texts that would later be combined to form 1 Enoch, with its focus on angels good and evil, on the End of Days, on cosmic forces of evil, and messianic hopes. (The book has of course attracted a vast literature, by such scholars as Gabriele Boccaccini, Michael Knibb, George Nickelsburg, Annette Yoshiko Reed, and James C. VanderKam). Less striking than any single statement in the book is the lack of any suggestion that this was anything terribly new or revolutionary in the late third century, when the components are usually dated. 1 Enoch has a prehistory that we still do not understand.

Also, we are clearly not dealing with a lone genius creating his own mythical universe. The Enochic writing come from a tradition and presumably a group, and by far the best candidate for the movement involved would be the Essenes, whose ideas echo those of the Enochic writings at so many points. The problem is one of chronology. Although so much is obscure about the Essenes, their existence is not actually recorded before the mid-second century. (In recent academic debate, the influential idea that the Dead Sea sect spun off from an earlier, third century, Essene movement is usually called the Groningen Hypothesis).

Might we legitimately hypothesize the existence of Enochians, who became our known Essenes, who in turn spun off the Dead Sea sect?

Rather than focus on any one lone genius, then, let me suggest some issues that were simmering in the background at this time, and which led some Jews to explore daring new ideas:

–The Temple. The Second Temple built in the fifth century enjoyed far less prestige and evident sanctity than the first, and it was tainted by its association with Gentile rulers and an unpopular high priestly caste. It is not surprising that some religious Jews would condemn the approved cult to the point of secession. If not an actual break, as occurred with the Dead Sea sect, then we would expect serious dissidence.

–Hellenization. Hellenistic rule meant that Jews were now exposed to a bewildering range of foreign influences from both east and west. Judaism was part of a wider world, an Oikoumene. In the early second century, Jewish elites were famously divided over attempts to Hellenize, with circumcision as a key source of controversy. Although we don’t hear about such debates in earlier decades, our sources for that period are strictly limited, and running controversies were probably in progress. It has even been suggested that the evil fallen angels in 1 Enoch might represent veiled attacks on the Hellenistic rulers, with their divine claims and titles.

–Eastern Influences. Already in the Persian period, Jews were exposed to Persian and Mesopotamian ideas, about astronomy and astrology, and also, possibly, Dualist theories. That connection certainly did not vanish in Alexander’s time, and might actually have grown. The Seleucid Empire, which on occasion ruled Palestine, long had its capital at Seleucia, near Babylon. People and ideas moved easily between what were now provinces of one empire.

–The Rise of Scripture. In Second Temple Judaism, we see a decline from the charismatic and prophetic guidance claimed in earlier centuries, as Jews turned to what was increasingly a defined and closed body of scriptures. Although the process was lengthy, it was certainly under way no later than the third century BC, when Egyptian Jews knew that translating the sacred books into Greek was essential to preserving their religion. At the start of the second century, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) chapters 44-50 lists a Biblical canon very much like what would be known in later centuries, and the great patriarchs and prophets found in it. (Intriguingly, he begins with Enoch). By the end of that century, the Letter of Aristeas first refers to the Hebrew scriptures as the Books, ta Biblia, and as Scripture. In the first century AD, Josephus says the canon closed in the time of Artaxerxes, around 420BC.

In those Books – in the “Bible” – the faithful read, meditated and found explanations, including for the evils that had overtaken the religion. This increased the likelihood of sectarian division, as different groups found independent justifications and interpretations, and created their new alternative scriptures. Over time, those sects even considered going into formal schism, and declaring themselves the true core of faith. As Protestant Christians have long known, a book-based faith is likely to be both diverse and sectarian.

Linked to the rise of scripture was the creation of a new profession, of scribes, and new institutions, the synagogues.

–The Problem of Evil. Eastern ideas of a coming Judgment proved particularly attractive, in promising a time when those who betrayed or violated the true faith could be duly punished. Meanwhile, readers sought Biblical explanations for the evils affecting the land. Judging by the quasi-scriptural outpourings over the next century or two, the story of the Watchers in Genesis 6 proved a uniquely fruitful source for speculation. Even better, that passage went directly from describing the fallen angels to portraying God’s great judgment of an evil world, in the form of the Great Flood.

That Genesis-derived sequence of the rise of evil and the ensuing Judgment does much to shape concepts of eschatology, and of the apocalyptic literature that emerged to describe the End of Days.

I can’t point to any one moment where these themes came together, but all were present by 250 or so. They achieved definitive form in 1 Enoch, especially the Book of the Watchers, and then went on to transform Jewish thought.

Previous Post

November 27, 2014

Free Food!

Next Post

November 30, 2014 The Enoch Code

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe Guest Post guest post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Lo-debar" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Lord’s land The chosen city Valley of rest No pasture