We investigate the cross-fertilisation between Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity and the political, cultural and economic structures of the empires under which they flourished. The topics discussed focus on how Hellenistic and Roman imperial rules contributed to the shaping of Jewish and Christian identities from the Seleucids to the age of Trajan. We host papers on such themes as Jewish and Christian reactions to emperor and ruler worship, the reception of Hellenistic and Roman socio-economic structures, and the interaction between Judaism and early Christianity and philosophical, literary and legal schools of the time.
Chair:
- Marco Settembrini (Facoltà Teologica dell’Emilia Romagna)
Panelists:
- Daniele Pevarello (Trinity College, Dublin) - “For We Observed his Star at its Rising” (Matt 2.2). Echoes of Empire in the Infancy Narratives?
- Federicomaria Muccioli (Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna) - The End of a Hellenistic King: 2 Maccabees 9 and the Death of Antiochus IV
- Eric Noffke (Facoltà Valdese) - 1Enoch: A Wall or a Bridge Between Judaism and Foreign Empires?
- Andrea Ravasco (Facoltà Teologica dell’Italia Settentrionale) - Qumran and Roman Empire: Archaeological and Literary Evidence
- Mariapaola Bergomi (Università degli Studi di Milano) - Jewish Mysticism and Middle Platonism in the Late Hellenistic Period
Language: English
