Jan Heilmann, Lesen in Antike und frühem Christentum: Kulturgeschichtliche, philologische sowie kognitionswissenschaftliche Perspektiven und deren Bedeutung für die neutestamentliche Exegese. Texte und Arbeiten zum neutestamentlichen Zeitalter, 66. Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto, 2020. Pp. 640. ISBN 9783772087295
Review by
Bart Koet, Tilburg School of Catholic Theology. b.j.koet@tilburguniversity.edu... The author combats the all too easy presupposition in scholarly literature that in the early Church there was systematic reading from Scripture in liturgical meetings. He deconstructs all sorts of presuppositions underlying that assumption, as well as others, by raising important methodological and hermeneutical questions about prior research and the questions to be answered. He provides new answers based on a thorough examination of the relevant primary and secondary literature.
The book is worthwhile for those scholars concerned with other cultures of the Mediterranean, such as the Greco-Roman traditions. The Jewish sources receive somewhat less attention, but are certainly not left undiscussed.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.