Among the Gentiles

September 14, 2009
Defending the Christian religion against Greco-Roman paganism, the early Christian writer Tertullian once famously asked, “What indeed does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?” In his thoughtful, judicious and provocative new book, New Testament scholar Johnson answers, “Plenty.” Drawing deeply upon Greco-Roman literature, Johnson isolates four ways of being religious in the Greco-Roman world: the way of participation in divine benefits, the way of moral transformation, the way of transcending the world and the way of stabilizing the world. He illustrates each type of religiosity with a sketch of a Greco-Roman writer or text. Johnson then places this template of religiosity on the Christianity of the first through fourth centuries to illustrate how deeply embedded Greco-Roman patterns of religion influenced and contributed to the growth of Christianity. Johnson's careful and compelling approach avoids both the apologetic and the antagonistic tones that such conversations about early Christianity and Hellenistic religions often take.

October 15, 2009
"Is there any kinship between paganism and Christianity?" Johnson (New Testament & Christian origins, Candler Sch. of Theology) addresses this millennia-old question from a fresh perspective. Rather than concentrate on polemical critique, Johnson eschews demonizing Greco-Roman religions. He describes them not as a unified movement but as they were historically manifest while they were the primary religious expression of the Roman Empire. In this context, Johnson treats paganism as a quartet of ways through which one can be religious: participation in divine benefits, moral transformation, transcending the world, and stabilizing the world. From this framework, nascent Christianity initially found much in common with the first two ways. As the Christian religion gained acceptance (and eventual dominance) in the Roman Empire, the last two ways were increasingly evident in the new faith as well as the old ones. VERDICT While not for general readers, this book is highly recommended for audiences engaged in the study of ancient history, Christian origins, and/or comparative religions.Dann Wigner, Wayland Baptist Univ. Lib., Plainview, TX

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.