The Origin of Sin: Greece and Rome, Early Judaism and Christianity
Ebook
Where did the idea of sin arise from? In this meticulously argued book, David Konstan takes a close look at classical Greek and Roman texts, as well as the Bible and early Judaic and Christian writings, and argues that the fundamental idea of "sin" arose in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, although this original meaning was obscured in later Jewish and Christian interpretations.
Through close philological examination of the words for "sin," in particular the Hebrew hata' and the Greek hamartia, he traces their uses over the centuries in four chapters, and concludes that the common modern definition of sin as a violation of divine law indeed has antecedents in classical Greco-Roman conceptions, but acquired a wholly different sense in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.
By tracing the vocabulary around 'sin' in classical and biblical texts, Konstan argues for a new definition that was superseded by the later Christian traditions.
Thought-provoking new theory from an esteemed ancient historian and philologist
Goes back to the original texts to analyse the use of language in order to understand the way 'sin' is used before later codification
Points the way towards a new understanding of sin in the ancient world
Important reading for historians of ancient religion, the Bible and early Christianity
Preface and Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: The Greco-Roman World: The Unwritten Laws of the Gods
Chapter 2: The Hebrew Bible: Chasing after Foreign Gods
Chapter 3: The New Testament: Jesus' Sense of Sin
Chapter 4: The Church Fathers and the Rabbis: The Transformation of Sin
A Final Word
[A] book that should be read by anyone who is interested in Judaism and, above all, in ancient Christianity ... [An] essential book for the history of religions.
- Title: The Origin of Sin: Greece and Rome, Early Judaism and Christianity
- Author: David Konstan
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781350278615, 9781350278592, 1350278599, 1350278610
- Resource ID: LLS:9781350278615
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-11T00:30:16Z
David Konstan is Professor of Classics at New York University, USA. Among his books are Friendship in the Classical World (1997), Pity Transformed (2001), The Emotions of the Ancient Greeks (2006), Before Forgiveness: The Origins of a Moral Idea (2010) and In the Orbit of Love: Affection in Ancient Greece and Rome (2018). He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.