Among the gentiles : Greco-Roman religion and Christianity /

Johnson (Emory Univ.) identifies and examines four ways of being religious in early Christianity and Greco-Roman religion. Each of the four ways has a distinctive emphasis: (1) divine power is at work in the human world, and humans can participate in its benefits; (2) humans can undergo moral transformation via their participation in divine power; (3) humans can save their souls through escape from their material bodies; and (4) human piety can stabilize the world through religious leadership and practices. Early Christianity, according to Johnson, increasingly manifested the four ways of being religious that are found in Greco-Roman religion. The book's 16 accessible chapters document this historical diagnosis. The book consistently avoids theological assessment until the epilogue, which suggests two lessons for theology. First, the book's approach to ways of being religious can contribute to internal Christian ecumenism by explaining how some deep divisions rest on different ways of being religious. Second, the book's approach can illuminate the relation of Christianity to other world religions by explaining how they all share some ways of being religious, despite their undeniable differences. Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries supporting religious studies and the history of religion; lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. P. K. Moser Loyola University Chicago

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. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

"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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.