Meals in the Greco-Roman World Research Papers (original) (raw)

2025

Handout for paper delivered at ISBL/EABS 2025 in Uppsala, Sweden

2025, Novum Testamentum

Berne 1) Th ere are no exceptions known to the author. 2) See the occurrence of the noun δικαιοσύνη in: Rom. (29), 1 Cor. (1), 2 Cor. (7), Gal. (4), Phil. (3), and the verb δικαιόω occurring in Rom. (14), 1 Cor. (2), and Gal. (6). 3) See Rom. (10), 1 Cor. (4), 2 Cor. (2), Gal. (3), Phil. (3), 1 Th ess. (3), Phlm. (1). 4) Compare χαρά in: Rom. (3), 2 Cor. (5), Phil. (5), 1 Th ess., (4), and χαίρω in Rom. (3), 1 Cor. (3), 2 Cor. (8), Phil. (7), 1 Th ess. (2).

2025, TEMPO DI DIO TEMPO DELL’UOMO Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum XLVI Incontro di Studiosi dell’Antichità Cristiana (Roma, 10-12 maggio 2018)

Suggests that a fragment of a dialogue attributed to Aristo (though the attribution has become more controversial since this paper was published) casts light on the transfer of the day of Christian gathering from the (second) eve of... more

2025, House Churches and Early Christians Worship A.D. 30 -A.D. 325

House Churches and Hellenistic-Roman Communal Meal Customs
End of Synagogue Worship, the Beginning of House Churches
The Acts Chapter 2 House Church
House Churches in the New Testament
Hellenistic-Roman Custom of Communal Meals

2025, Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft und Religionswissenschaft

Authors and revealers of holy scriptures represent themselves as subordinate to the divine and show themselves to be completely committed to it. They portray themselves as (authorized) witnesses and transmitters of events and messages. At the same time though, in their roles as creators of narrative they have control over their traditions, even if they are aware of their duties to maintain these traditions. Authors and revealers decide how to present each event and in which ways they retell it, in relation with their audiences. They portray their characters in the context of new narrated worlds and ascribe to them certain characteristics and attributes. This article shows how both sides of these roles are exemplified in two case studies on, first, the author of the Biblical Gospel of John at the end of the first century AD and, second, the twelfth-century Tibetan Buddhist named Nyangrel who revealed a biography of the Indian guru Padmasambhava.

2025, The Power of Parables Essays on the Comparative Study of Jewish and Christian Parables

In this article, I examine several rather late rabbinic parables (Midr. Ps. 4:11 and 25:9) and aim to show that their exegetical context is secondary to an ancient prototype that pre-existed their current exegetical context. I suggest a possible original context for this type of parable ("Dogs and Guests") and propose that these parables go back to eschatological speculations of the first centuries, shared by the parables in the Gospels. I aim to explore the contours of the hypothetical prototype of a parable.1 Besides typical Traditionsgeschichte inquiry, this article also aims to shed light on the genesis of the literary form known as the parable.

2025, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology

In the thinking of Paul in I Corinthians 11, the Eucharist may be described as a process of identification. As Christians participate in the Eucharist, differences of time and space between Christ's crucifix ion and the sacramental act disappear. In the latter, Christians iden tify with Christ and perceive themselves as dying with him on the cross.

2024, Roman Times

Scholars have developed various schemas to evaluate the wealth and social status of Pompeian residents based on the architectural features of their homes. These analyses combine quantitative and qualitative assessments, often taking... more

2024

Diplomatic meals are an integral part of official meetings in Byzantium, but their exact role deserves to be questioned. Often associated with incredible pomp, they also reflect geopolitical contexts. The placement of guests at imperial banquets is a clear indication of the imperial authorities’ political vision of the world. Furthermore, while they aim to establish or prolong peace, they are also ideal moments for highlighting tensions and echoing military conflicts.

2024

Anhand von Gesprächen über antike Texte über die Rollen, die Funktionen und Bedeutungen von Fasten sowie von Lektüren, Überlegungen der entsprechenden Stellen in der Bibel darüber, Meinungsaustauschen in Kleingruppen, Diskussionsrunden, Präsentationen sowie eines Gastvortrags über Fasten im frühen Christentum bietet dieses Seminar einen Überblick über Fasten im Neuen Testament.

2024, “The pen fell from my hand when I was in my eighty-sixth year.” Revisiting the work of Martin P. Nilsson

2017 marked the 50th anniversary of both the death of Martin P. Nilsson, the eminent Swedish scholar of ancient Greek religion, and the publication of the third edition of his monumental Geschichte der griechischen Religion. Nilsson’s... more

2024, “The pen fell from my hand when I was in my eighty-sixth year.” Revisiting the work of Martin P. Nilsson

Full volume available with open access at https://doi.org/10.30549/actaath-8-24. 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of both the death of Martin P. Nilsson, the eminent Swedish scholar of ancient Greek religion, and the publication of the... more

2024, Journal of Gospels and Acts Research

One of the most iconic rituals in the Christian church throughout the millennia is the practice of the Lord’s supper. The practice is rooted in New Testament and the early Christian communities. As a shared ritual, it carries significant social identity forming power. This paper explores the social identity forming force of in the Lord’s Supper in the first few centuries of practice. While its effectiveness in forming social identity comes from a number of intersecting aspects, this paper explores the intersection of four key factors: (1) cultural memory sharing a story experienced as a (2) shared meal (3) practised as a ritual of a (4) dysphoric experience of both Christ and the participants. These elements combine to create a new social universe for the participant. This paper examines three primary streams of early eucharistic literature: The Gospel of Mark, 1 Corinthians, and The Didache.

2024, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Food Studies

Food rituals, whether articulated intentionally or performed unconsciously in our biologically necessary acts of eating, do nothing less than construct and maintain our fundamental relationships in the world, and define who or what we are... more

2024

The Didache originated when Christianity was still emerging from Judaism. It is one example of liturgy that existed early, with baptism and eucharistic features

2024, Blessed Hope Publishing

Fr. Jomin Joseph is a priest belonging to the Syro Malabar catholic diocese of Kanjirapally, India. He received his licentiate in Scripture (S.S.L.) from the Pontifical Biblical Institute (2009) and his doctorate in biblical theology (S.T.D.) from the Pontifical Gregorian University (2014), Rome. At present he is teaching in Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune.
In his dissertation he tries to explore the convivial aspects of the Lukan Last Supper narrative (Lk 22,1-38). In Luke’s Gospel, the salvation which Jesus brings is often associated with banquets, table fellowship and hospitality. In the Lukan Last Supper narrative (22,1-38), which is the last meal in a series of meal scenes before Jesus’ death, appears many important convivial and salvation-related terminologies and imageries. Among the NT authors, it is Luke who has shown more interest in food and meal motifs and has a distinctive banquet theology. The Lukan Jesus seeks and saves the lost through his inclusive meal ministry. The Lukan Last Supper enacts the salvation offered by God in Jesus in a unique way by joining the convivial and covenantal aspects in the self-donation of Jesus on behalf of his table companions. The sacrificial aspect of the Lukan Last Supper is essentially related to the convivial aspects and consists in Jesus’ free self-giving in the form of bread and wine out of love for his disciples and for all. Among the Synoptic Gospels, only Luke has an extended table talk (22,24-38) as part of the Last Supper narrative to exhort the reader about the consequences of this new Passover meal. In the Last Supper both Jesus as well as the Lukan narrator portray to the reader a model convivium with a theology of profound solidarity. The influence of the Biblical and Greco-Roman banquet traditions and the different literary genres viz., symposium, farewell discourse and type-scene subgenre are examined in order to understand the convivial aspects of the Lukan narration of the Last Supper.

2024

Religious texts are seen by their faithful readers as having the ability to connect them with the sacred. These texts are for the illumination and transformation of the community. The relationship between the divine and human within a written text is crucial for religious understanding. For this reason, this paper will focus on the sacred texture of Luke 22:14-27 to clarify the meaning of the Lukan remembrance meal in its context and the context of the church and humanity today. In socio-rhetorical hermeneutics, the sacred texture is important when it expresses the relevance of the text to its community. It implores the reader to be interested in the way the text deals with God and religious life. A Biblical text mediates words about God. It activates and prescribes a specific view of the deity to the audience. Exploring the sacred text enables the reader to perceive the written text as the word of God intended for teaching and educating the faith community, and at the same time, it provides a norm for the community. This paper will use socio-rhetorical interpretation to examine the text of Luke 22:19-27 within the context of the Church in Africa as revealed in the text. The Lukan Jesus expects the Church in Africa to perform its duties in its immediate context. This paper envisages that a text has a transforming and illuminating ability for the faith community (the church) in Africa.

2024, zenodo.org

The Apocalypse of the Church Has Already Begun

And We can Reverse it!

2024

This study is about giving a proper interpretation the word ἀναξίως as found in 1 Corinthians 11:27 aimed at enabling a proper theological evaluation of the practices surrounding the celebration of the Eucharist in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania-Ulanga Kilombero Diocese (ELCT-UKD). Since theological interpretations determine the different understandings and practices around this sacrament, a proper interpretation of the text, to which 1 Corinthians 11:27 belongs, namely, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 can lead people into a correct understanding on celebrating Eucharist worthily. The thesis tries to find a proper understanding of the Eucharistic

2024, HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

This article presents how Paul, in 1 Thessalonians, executes the process of the formation of the Thessalonian community. Using the sociological concept of symbolic boundaries, it is argued that the resources – (1) the kerygmatic narrative, (2) the local narratives, and (3) the ethical norms – that Paul incorporates into the letter take an essential role to promote the converts to derive a cooperative identity from the community to which they belong and to strengthen the distinction between them and the larger society. By providing internal consensus and external separation, the resources serve to construct and maintain the Thessalonian community that is internally united and externally distinct.

2024

The ancient mystery cults cannot be overestimated as a direct source of some central Christian ideas.

2024, Novum Testamentum

Luke's conservative approach to the law is generally seen to be incompatible with that of the apostle Paul. But an analysis of how Luke develops his theology of the law through the characters in his story shows that he saw an antithesis between pursuing righteousness by the law and being accepted by God through faith. By focusing on Luke's explicit statements regarding the law, previous studies have missed the significant points of overlap between Luke and Paul in their understanding of the law.

2024, Novum Testamentum

Luke’s conservative approach to the law is generally seen to be incompatible with that of the apostle Paul. But an analysis of how Luke develops his theology of the law through the characters in his story shows that he saw an antithesis between pursuing righteousness by the law and being accepted by God through faith. By focusing on Luke’s explicit statements regarding the law, previous studies have missed the significant points of overlap between Luke and Paul in their understanding of the law.

2023, Liturgy and the Living Text of the New Testament

Anyone who addresses this question, yet again, should heed the warnings that are clearly displayed on much of the scholarly packaging! In 1993 Bart Ehrman wrote: … since the publication of Westcott and Hort's New Testament in the Original Greek, no textual problem or Luke's entire two-volume work has generated more critical debate-or, one might add, occasioned more scholarly confusion. 1 Not only is there a vast array of solutions as to which is the 'original' text, but the fact that despite well over a century of ingenuity no solution has ever been able to claim dominance. This failure to find a compelling solution prompted Henry Chadwick to warn in 1957: The Lucan account [of the Last Supper] with its notorious difficulties of text and interpretation, the one being inextricably bound up with the other, has been the Waterloo of many investigators. 2 When we then consider that there are no less that six variant forms of these verses, 3 surely prudence dictates that we give this problem a wide birth and thus avoid adding to the confusion or meeting one's Waterloo! However, while such a policy might seem prudent we do have a set of facts-the various readings that have come to use within the tradition-whose existence, as

2023, MATEC web of conferences

The article presents and describes the conservation of masonry structures at archaeological site in Tanais near Rostov-on-Don in Russia. The authors' experiences presented in the article result from many years of cooperation between the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology and the Centre for Research on the Antiquity of Southeastern Europe at the University of Warsaw. Works on masonry structures located in the area of archaeological excavations are characterized by a unique specificity covering both formal issues, resulting from international standards and agreements regulating the conservation of historic buildings, as well as technical and environmental issues. The basic technical issues include ensuring the safety of further excavation works, protection of masonry structures against the destructive effects of atmospheric condition and preparing the structure for possible presentation in archaeological parks organized on the site of trenches. Environmental issues relate to local, social and economic conditions. The article presents the procedures that should be used in the maintenance of antique irregular masonry and presents the specific technological and material solutions used in the example objects.

2023, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean

The 2019 season in Metsamor confirmed the functioning of the settlement in the Urartian period. House II, discovered during the fieldwork, is the first architectural structure built at the beginning of the Early Iron Age period which, after some possible rearrangements, retained control over the Araxes valley during the Urartian kingdom. Pottery discovered there confirms that the already excavated part of the settlement was extensively used after the fall of Urartu. A pit grave dated to the 7th century BC yielded a late Urartian cylinder seal.

2023, Commensality As a Method of Spiritual Development

ABSTRACT
This phenomenological, qualitative study explores the lived commensality experiences of Christian women ages fifty to sixty-five who attend a multi-campus megachurch in the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex of Texas. The purpose of this study is to investigate and better understand the effect commensality has on spiritual development. The results of this study show three major findings through data collected regarding shared meals as a method of spiritual development. The first finding is that commensality affects spiritual development through togetherness, human connection, inclusivity, a sense of belonging, and value. The second finding is components of spiritual development found in the sharing of meals are calling, compassion, encouragement, identity, joy and laughter, and unity. The third major finding is believers and the church foster spiritual development in times of commensality through building relationships, community, table-fellowship, and hospitality.

2023, Breaking Bread

An attempt to discern the emergence of two species of Christian meal in the first four centuries

2023, Studia Liturgica

The late John A.T. Robinson claimed to have identified in St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (16:22) "the remains of the earliest Christian liturgical sequence we possess". While assessing his thesis, I also continue with my own parallel investigation into another possible liturgical sequence in chapter fourteen of First Corinthians. This second sequence has previously been overlooked for two reasons: first, because of the ambiguity in the meaning of the word eucharistia, and, second, because Paul's focus in the passage is on glossolalia, leaving the liturgical import of it somewhat opaque.

2023, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean

The conservation program of the Polish–Egyptian Conservation Mission in Marina el-Alamein in 2017 included restoration of wall structures and architectural decoration elements damaged as a result of unfavorable climate conditions (Houses H9/H9a and H21, Rooms 10 and 11 in the Roman baths). Wall paintings exposed to weather conditions in situ were treated as part of another conservation project. Minor metal finds were also treated using both chemical and mechanical means in order to identify the objects.

2023, Mainz Theologische Zeitschrift

2023

Matthew uses Hos. 6:6 in two scenes of conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees. He defines the differences between Jesus and the Pharisees in terms of adherence to the Law with focus on the mercy that God desires. Matthew depicts Jesus as one who teaches and enacts Hos. 6:6 in continuity with the original prophetic intention of this statement. Jesus teaches by example by enacting mercy towards the marginalized and people in need. He loves the way Hosea announces that God intends his people to love. Jesus Himself becomes the presence and source of mercy. Jesus forms the central focus and prototype of the Matthean community. The community should follow his example. 1.

2023, International journal for the Study of the Christian Church

2023

In this article, Paul's remarks about the Corinthian Lord's Supper in 1 Cor 11:17-34 are discussed from the perspective of ritual studies, speciically from the perspective of ritual failure and ritual negotiation. Ater outlining the appertaining analytical models, drawing on the thought of Roland Grimes and scholars working in his footsteps, it is argued that 1 Cor 11:17-34 can well be understood as an argument arising from (perceived) ritual failure on the part of the Corinthians that its a number of Grimesian categories. Next, it is argued that Paul seeks to correct, or rather "renegotiate, " the Corinthian ritual by drawing on the narrative that governs the ritual's signiicance. By analyzing 1 Cor 11:17-34 from this perspective, it is argued that it is highly likely that Paul's concerns, as he formulates them there, stem from a reconsideration of the meaning of the ritual of the Lord's Supper, prompted by ritual failure and given rise to a renewed formulation of the ritual's meaning and purpose. hus, this article ofers a more reined understanding of how the conlict over the Lord's Supper functions as a conlict over ritual and how Paul's remarks in 1 Cor 11:17-34 relate to speciically the ritual aspects of the Lord's Supper.

2023, New Testament Studies

In seiner Untersuchung ‘Heiden – Griechen – Gotteskinder’ schreibt J. Frey folgenden bemerkenswerten Satz über die Ironie der VV. Joh 11.49–50:Diese Hintergründigkeit gehört wesentlich zur johanneischen Darstellung, in der ihr neben einer polemischen Bedeutung vor allem eine ‘didaktische’ Funktion zukommt für die Leser und die Art, in der diese die erzählte Geschichte wahrnehmen.

2023

In the Wintersemester of 2022/23, my students and I not only learned about early Christian meals, but on the last day of the course we celebrated one. We invited friends, students, and professors from JGU Mainz to join us in celebrating... more

2023, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean

In 2014 and 2015, the Polish–Egyptian Conservation Mission to Marina el-Alamein undertook research, conservation and presentation of the area north of the central square of the ancient town. A major landmark in this part of the city are the public baths from the Hellenistic period, discovered in 1987. The work was focused on the main chambers of the bath: the central tholos with relics of hip-bathtubs, the neighboring room with an immersion bathtub, and a set of rooms in the southern area of the complex.

2023, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean

2023, Vigiliae Christianae

2022, Poverty in the Early Church and Today

Th is practice continued in subsequent centuries. For example, in the third century the church in Rome was known for its 'custom' (ἔθος ethos ; Eusebius,

2022, 89 s.

2022, Theology, Philosophy, Hermeneutics, and Mission: Essays in Honor of Kwabena Donkor On His Retirement

This paper discusses the hospitality in the teaching of Jesus s recorded in Luke 14:12-14. It argues that the kind of radical hospitality that Jesus advocates in the Lukan passage is still relevant for Christians to day and could enhance... more

2022

Proofs from recent book Death and Rebirth in Late Antiquity (ed. Jefferson)

2022

undertakes the rst encompassing study of New Testament eschatological meals and scenes of nutritional abundance. His study thus lls a large gap in current research. In terms of its main contributions and emphases, the study challenges the widespread assumption that the origin of the imagery of eschatological meal fellowship and nutritional abundance can be found in Isa 25:6-8 by showing how the images of meal fellowship and nutritional abundance played a signi cant role in the (utopian) thinking of the Ancient Near East as well as the Mediterranean world. Thus, the book helps to do away with widespread assumptions about these meals with its detailed studies of the individual texts. Furthermore, the typology of eschatological meals and scenes of nutritional abundance presented here will help to di erentiate between di erent kinds of traditions and their various functions and emphases. Through the integration of the various texts in their socio-historical context, the author shows how these texts, particularly the eschatological meals, interact with contemporary »symposiastic ideology.« At the same time, the book's synchronic backbone facilitates a demonstration of how the various eschatological meals and scenes of nutritional abundance interact with other meal scenes in the NT books discussed, and this leads to a better understanding of what kind of literary and theological interests the four canonical Gospels and the Apocalypse of John have in their use of these traditions and of banqueting scenes and scenes of nutritional abundance in general.

2022, Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture

In this paper the famous “hymn” in Philippians 2:5–11 is considered from the perspective of the study of ritual failure. It is argued that the crucifixion of Jesus, as it is mentioned in this text, can well be considered as a ritual that, on the one hand, fails, given that it leads to Jesus' exaltation rather than to his permanent death, while it is at the same time reinterpreted as a consequence of Jesus' obedience rather than of his disobedience, as one would expect. Using the body of theory as it has been developed concerning ritual and its failure, it is shown how this reinterpretation of a ritual is more than “just” about ritual, but serves to carve out a space for early Christianity and its self-understanding in the web of power relationships that made up Greco-Roman society.

2022

Master's thesis in theology, VID Specialized University, Stavanger, May 2018This study is about giving a proper interpretation the word ἀναξίως as found in 1 Corinthians 11:27 aimed at enabling a proper theological evaluation of the practices surrounding the celebration of the Eucharist in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania – Ulanga Kilombero Diocese (ELCT-UKD). Since theological interpretations determine the different understandings and practices around this sacrament, a proper interpretation of the text, to which 1 Corinthians 11:27 belongs, namely, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 can lead people into a correct understanding on celebrating Eucharist worthily. The thesis tries to find a proper understanding of the Eucharistic practices in 1 Corinthian 11: 17-34 with the emphasis on the meaning of the term ἀναξίως in verse 27, with the intention of influencing and re-correcting the meaning and practice of Eucharist that affects the Lutheran Church of Tanzania today. The thesis d...