Desiring Divinity

Self-Deification in Early Jewish and Christian Mythmaking
Erscheinungsjahr 2016
ISBN: 978-0-19-046716-6
Verlag: OXFORD UNIV PR

Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 546 g

Perhaps no declaration incites more theological and moral outrage than a human's claim to be divine. Those who make this claim in ancient Jewish and Christian mythology are typically represented as the most hubristic and dangerous tyrants. Their horrible punishments are predictable and still serve as morality tales in religious communities today.

But not all self-deifiers are saddled with pride and fated to fall. Some who claimed divinity stated a simple and direct truth. Though reviled on earth, misunderstood, and even killed, they received vindication and rose to the stars.

This book tells the stories of six self-deifiers in their historical, social, and ideological contexts. In the history of interpretation, the initial three figures have been demonized as cosmic rebels: the first human Adam, Lucifer (later identified with Satan), and Yaldabaoth in gnostic mythology. By contrast, the final three have served as positive models for deification and divine favor: Jesus in the gospel of John, Simon of Samaria, and Allogenes in the Nag Hammadi library.

In the end, the line separating demonization from deification is dangerously thin, drawn as it is by the unsteady hand of human valuation.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Litwa, M. David

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte Frühes Christentum, Patristik, Christliche Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction: Types of Self-deification Mythology

- PART I: The Self-deifying Rebel

- Chapter 1 "I am a God." The Primal Human as Primeval Self-deifier

- Chapter 2 "I Will Be Like the Most High!" The Self-deification of Helel

- Chapter 3 "I am God and there is No Other!" The Boast of Yaldabaoth

- PART II: The Self-deifying Hero

- Chapter 4 "I and the Father are One." The Self-deification of Jesus in John

- Chapter 5 "I and You are One." Simon of Samaria as Hero and Heretic

- Chapter 6 "I Became Divine." Allogenes and Gnostic Self-deification

- Conclusion The Many Myths of Self-deification

Über Autor(innen)

M. David Litwa earned his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia (2013). He has taught in the Classics departments of the University of Virginia and the College of William & Mary. His most recent books include Iesus Deus: The Early Christian Depiction of Jesus as a Mediterranean God (2014) and a new edition of the Refutation of all Heresies: Text, Translation, and Notes (2015).