Recap of Polemic in Late Antiquity Session at #SBLAAR18

Last updated on: December 9, 2018 at 6:04 am by James F. McGrath

Recap of Polemic in Late Antiquity Session at #SBLAAR18 2018-12-04T22:55:53-05:00 James F. McGrath

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.

This Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity session felt like it had less of a unifying thread running through it for some reason, despite the clear theme, which is ironic, given that the Digital Humanities cosponsored section had papers focused on cuneiform, Mandaic, Syriac, and Ethiopic text projects! Perhaps this was because the ways that Christians referred to and engaged with Muslims, and the ways that Mandaeans engaged with Christians, are typically isolated from one another in completely different fields. By the end of the session, however, the importance of these disparate research areas to one another was clearly evident, and so what was lacking initially emerged on the horizon as a place that needs further attention from us in the future. That is arguably as important a result as if the papers themselves had already engaged this fully and in a manner that reflected a wealth of prior scholarly engagement.

Laura Locke Estes’ paper focused on the recycling of a common trope of Christian polemic against Jews which is subsequently applied to Muslims, the idea that Christians are mature and eat solid food, while those who reject the Trinity remain with milk, at an infantile level of understanding. Figures like Sergius the Stylite and the Monk of Bet Hale were not equally familiar to everyone present. Intriguing aspects of the polemical engagement were noted – for instance, is this language an exhortation to maturation or does it reflect an inherent difference? Even though being Jewish, Muslim, or Christian is regularly spoken of in terms of ethnicity, the identities in question are simultaneously fixed and fluid. “The New Jews” is how Timothy I and other patriarchs refer to Muslims, and so there was awareness on the Christian side of similarity between the groups and perhaps also the recycling of polemical tropes. Such Christian authors allowed that Muslims may enter the kingdom, but like hired hands rather than sons. Also fascinating was the discussion of the Bahira Legends in which Kaab purportedly corrupts the Qur’an, removing Christian elements and adding anti-Trinitarian ones. The dismantling of important distinctions between Jew and Muslim allowed recycling of existing arsenal of polemic, but also extended the boundaries of the “hired hands” who might nonetheless be included in the Kingdom of God. Christians thus ended up granting a measure of credibility to Muslims through the connection they made with Jews. And in an ironic twist, Muslims used Christian supersessionist arguments against Jews against the Christians themselves.

Charles Haberl and I presented on the depiction of Jesus in the Mandaean Book of John. In this work, John uses parabolic language in insulting Jesus, and rather like the interlocutors of Jesus in the Gospel of John, Jesus himself proves uncomprehending, remaining at the literal level and missing the symbolic point. The details often reflect detailed knowledge of the Christian tradition, such as when Jesus’ solution to John’s riddle involves the building of a house on sand. The analysis of the section that follows demonstrated to Haberl that there is no puzzling reference to “Christ-Paul,” but rather the claim that the diabolical Ruha (Spirit) has turned Mandaean ritual elements into “blanks” that are then used to fabricate Christian rituals that are similar to but departures from the Mandaean ones. An important result of this is that scholars of Mandaeism who spoke disparagingly about Mandaeans supposedly failing to get details about Christianity correct prove to have failed to understand the Mandaean texts themselves. Parody often distorts its focus, but in ways that are intentional and often reflect actual knowledge of their target.

Yoseob Song presented about the oldest Arabic Christian commentaries found at the St. Catherine’s Monastery on Sinai. This covered Bar Koni’s Scholion, a commentary in question and answer form, the writings of Isho’dad of Merv, and then asked about the relationship of a previously unpublished commentary, Arabic MS 151, to these previously known works. They converge, for instance, in arguing against those who view Jesus as like Moses rather than as God. Isho’dad did not use the terms “Jews” or “new Jews” in anti-Islamic polemic. The bishop’s use of Allah to denote the Christian God was interesting, as was his commentary on 1 Cor.8:6, emphasizing that there are not two gods and two lords. The use of the bismillah at the start of Christian letters was also striking.

Tina Shepardson acted as respondent, and highlighted how biases of familiarity and historical circumstance can lead us to sympathize more with history’s winners, and/or to neglect or undervalue marginalized groups. Nuance is important in an era of increased bigotry and discrimination, and is not just a matter of abstract scholarship. Often as a result of the mere fact of where we focus our attention, the more marginalized the community, the more they are disadvantaged in scholarly treatment, regardless whether they are the source or the target of the polemic being studies.

American Academy of Religion

Previous Post

December 8, 2018

Recap of Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity and Digital Humanities Session at #SBLAAR18

Next Post

December 10, 2018 Doctor Who: The Battle of Ranskoor av Kolos

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy academia Acts of the Apostles afterlife Akhaten Alcatraz American Academy of Religion Amos Anglican Arabic Aramaic archaeology art artificial intelligence astronomy atheism atonement Babylon 5 Baptists Battlestar Galactica Bible Biblical Studies Carnival biblioblogging Black Mirror Blade Runner Book of Job book review Buddhism Call for Papers China Christianity Christmas Christology Chronicles Coptic creation Daniel Deuteronomy Doctor Who Dune Easter Ecclesiastes economics education Eldad Keynan Enoch Seminar Ephesians eschatology Esther Evangelicals evolution Exodus Expanse Ezekiel Ezra fantasy Fringe fundamentalism Galatians games Ge'ez genealogy Genesis Gnosticism Gospel of Jesus' Wife Gospel of John Gospel of Judas Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Peter Gospel of Thomas Greek Harry Potter Hebrew Hebrews Hinduism historical Jesus history Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Holidays horror Hosea humor incarnation India inerrancy information literacy inspirational Intelligent Design Ireland Isaiah Islam Israel Italy James Jeremiah John the Baptist Jonah Joshua Judaism Jude Judges Judith Lamentations languages Latin Leviticus libraries literature Lord of the Rings LOST Mandaeans Mandaic memes Methodism Micah monotheism morality Mormons movies music mythicism NASSCAL Nehemiah new perspective New Testament news Numbers Orthodox paganism panentheism pantheism Patheos Paul and his letters Pentecostals Philippians Philippians 2:6-11 philosophy physics Planet of the Apes podcast politics Progressive Christianity Protestantism Proverbs Psalms pseudoscience racism religion Revelation Roman Catholicism Romania Romans Ruth scams science science fiction Secret Gospel of Mark Society of Biblical Literature Song of Songs Star Trek Star Wars Stargate Swahili Syriac Taoism technology Terminator The Handmaid's Tale The Hobbit The Matrix theodicy theology theory Timeless Titus tomb Torchwood travel TRON Uncategorized United Kingdom Westworld X-Files young-earth creationism Zechariah

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 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 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 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 February 2007 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz