Forbidden Oracles?
The Gospel of the Lots of Mary
by AnneMarie Luijendijk
Paperback (Published)
(August 2014)
ISBN: 9783161528590
6.06 x 9.06 inches
Price: $112.00
In stock
In this volume, AnneMarie Luijendijk presents for the first time a new early Christian divinatory text, preserved in a fifth-or sixth-century Coptic miniature codex, entitled The Gospel of the Lots of Mary, and places it within the context of practices of and debates about divination in the ancient Mediterranean world. Casting lots to obtain answers was applied in decision-making on all levels of ancient society. As a religious practice, lot divination was also highly contested, as access to these practices and thus to the divine meant control of powers, religiously and socially. The text, replete with biblical phrases but fundamentally materialistic in worldview, disrupts our concepts of what is religious in the ancient world. Luijendijk contributes to discussions in the study of religion that question the categories of religion and magic. She also contributes to scholarship on the production and use of books.
In this volume, Anne-Marie Luijendijk presents for the first time a new early Christian divinatory text, preserved in a fifth-or sixth-century Coptic miniature codex, entitled The Gospel of the Lots of Mary, and places it within the context of practices of and debates about divination in the ancient Mediterranean world. Casting lots to obtain answers was applied in decision-making on all levels of ancient society. As a religious practice, lot divination was also highly contested, as access to these practices and thus to the divine meant control of powers, religiously and socially. The text, replete with biblical phrases but fundamentally materialistic in worldview, disrupts our concepts of what is religious in the ancient world. Luijendijk contributes to discussions in the study of religion that question the categories of religion and magic. She also contributes to scholarship on the production and use of books.
- By (author) AnneMarie Luijendijk
"This book contains everything a scholarly reader could wish to have in a book: a hitherto unknown ancient text in its original language with an English translation, a short commentary, an extensive introduction, photos of the complete manuscript, a full list of the text's vocabulary, various indexes, and a bibliography. [...] The book is a welcome addition to the dossier of 'non-orthodox' Christian material from late antiquity. The author shows her competence in this field at every page. And the book is written in a lively and fluent style which makes it a pleasure to read. Every student interested in early Christian divination should read it." -- Pieter W. van der Horst, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
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Other Titles in this Series
Der Mensch als Gottes Bild im christlichen Agypten
Studien zu Gen 1,26 in zwei koptischen Quellen des 4.-5. Jahrhunderts
Volume 34
Scribal Traditions in Coptic Magical Texts
Edition and Materiality of the Berlin Magical Archive, the Unpublished Coptic Magical Texts of the Papyrussammlung of Heidelberg and the Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg
An Ancient Christian Hymn with Musical Notation
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1786: Text and Commentary
Volume 65
The Sermons on Joseph of Balai of Qenneshrin
Rhetoric and Interpretation in Fifth Century Syriac Literature
Volume 50
Die ‘Regula Pastoralis’ Gregors des Grossen
Studien zu Text, kirchenpolitischer Bedeutung und Rezeption in der Karolingerzeit
Volume 26
Augustins Trinitatslehre praktisch
Katechese, Liturgie, Predigt: Ritual und Unterweisung auf dem Weg zur Taufe
Volume 105
The Fate of the Dead in Early Third Century North African Christianity
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas and Tertullian
Volume 83
Christliche Populärmoral und Laienethik im spätantiken Ägypten
Neuedition der Gnomai des Konzils von Nizäa (clavis coptica 0021)
The Gospel of Judas
Coptic Text, Translation, and Historical Interpretation of 'the Betrayer's Gospel'
Volume 64
Augustins Trinitatsdenken
Bilanz, Kritik und Weiterfuhrung der modernen Forschung zu De trinitate
Volume 22
Philologos Kosmos
Kleine Schriften zur antiken Literatur, Naturwissenschaft, Philosophie und Religion
Volume 73
Visio mystica im Spannungsfeld fruhchristlicher Uberlieferungen
Die Lehre der sogenannten Antoniusbriefe von der Gottes- und Engelschau und das Problem unterschiedlicher spiritueller Traditionen im fruhen agyptischen Monchtum
Volume 52
Medizin und Christentum in Spatantike und fruhem Mittelalter
Christliche Arzte und ihr Wirken
Volume 27
Augustins Trinitatsdenken
Bilanz, Kritik und Weiterfuhrung der modernen Forschung zu 'De trinitate'
Volume 22
Die Vita Pauli des Hieronymus
Darstellung und Etablierung eines Heiligen im hagiographischen Diskurs der Spatantike
Volume 107
Ignatius of Antioch and the Second Sophistic
A Study of an Early Christian Transformation of Pagan Culture
Extracanonical Traditions and the Holy Land
Texts, Rituals, and Material Culture in Late Antique Palestine
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