The Origin of Sin
Greece and Rome, Early Judaism and Christianity
1st Edition
Published on 10. February 2022
216 pages
978-1-350-27861-5 (ISBN)
Description
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.
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.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN-13
978-1-350-27861-5 (9781350278615)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
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Person
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.
Content
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
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
