Cynicism and Christianity in Antiquity

296 Pages·2019·1.86 MB·English

by  Marie-Odile Goulet-Cazé

CYNICISM AND CHRISTIANITY IN ANTIQUITY

Cynicism and Christianity
in Antiquity
Marie- Odile Goulet- Cazé
Translated by Christopher R. Smith
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546
www.eerdmans.com

© 2019 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Published 2019
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

Originally published as Cynisme et christianisme dans l’Antiquité
© Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris, 2015.
http://ww.vrin.fr

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ISBN 978-0-8028-7555-6
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
CONTENTS
Foreword by John S. Kloppenborg xi
Abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
1. Cynicism in the Hellenistic Era and under the Roman Empire 4
The History of the Movement 6
The Context of Its Birth 6
The First Generations of Cynics 7
Diogenes of Sinope 10
Crates of Thebes 11
Hipparchia of Maroneia 13
Menippus of Gadara 14
Bion, Cercidas, Teles 15
An Eclipse? 16
Under the Roman Empire 17
Demetrius 19
Demonax 20
Peregrinus Proteus 21
Oenomaus of Gadara 23
Maximus Hero of Alexandria 24
v
CONTENTS
Salustius 26
The Cynicism of Diogenes 27
The Heritage of Antisthenes 27
The Name “Dog” 29
The Basis of the Cynic Movement 31
“Falsifying the Currency” or the Critique of Civilization 33
On the Sociopolitical Level 36
On the Religious Level 37
On the Literary Level 38
On the Philosophical Level 43
Cynic Asceticism, a “Shortcut to Virtue” 45
Cynic Happiness 50
Relationship with Others 51
Cynicism in the Imperial Era 53
Transmission and Reception 54
An Austere, Rigorous, Spartan Cynicism versus a Soft,
Hedonistic, Aristippean Cynicism? 59
At the Beginning, Diogenes and Crates:
Two Temperaments 60
Bion of Borysthenes and Adaptation to Circumstances 61
The “Softness” of Demonax and Dio Chrysostom 65
Witnesses to an Austere Asceticism under the Roman Empire 67
The Pseudepigraphal Letters 68
Cynicism as a School of Thought and as a Way of Life 71
A Literate Cynicism and a Popular Cynicism 77
Literate Cynicism 77
The Cynicism of the Disadvantaged Classes 78
Charlatan Cynics 81
The Literary Works of Literate Cynicism
and Popular Cynicism 84
Cynicism and Pagan Religion under the Roman Empire 88
vi
Contents
The Cynic Relationship to Power 93
The Complicated Relationship between Cynicism
and Stoicism 95
An Embarrassing Heritage 95
Stoics and Cynics under the Roman Empire 100
Conclusion 106
2. Contacts between Cynicism and Judaism
from the Septuagint to the Talmud 108
How Strongly Hellenized Was the Jewish World
in the Hellenistic and Roman Eras? 108
Attested Contacts between Cynicism
and Judaism in Antiquity 115
The Septuagint (Third Century BCE) 115
Meleager of Gadara (Second/First Century BCE) 116
Philo of Alexandria (First Century CE) 118
Flavius Josephus (First Century CE) 121
Oenomaus of Gadara (Second Century CE) 122
The κυνικός in the Talmud 124
The City of Gadara and Its Central Role
in the Relationship between Cynicism and Judaism 127
Literary Connections? 129
Conclusion 133
3. Cynicism and the Jesus Movement 134
Galilee in the Time of Jesus: “Greek Hypothesis”
or “Aramaic Hypothesis”? 134
Are There Connections between the Gospel Source Q
and Cynicism? 139
vii
CONTENTS
Are There Literary Connections between Q, the Collections
of Cynic Chreias, and the Hellenistic Cynic Bios? 140
Q as a Collection of Isolated Sayings 141
Λόγοι σοφῶν 142
Q and the Cynic Chreia 143
A Hellenistic βίος κυνικός 146
A Lost Gospel with Cynic Wisdom Aphorisms 148
Conclusion about the Literary Genre of Q 151
Could Jesus and His Companions Have Been Cynics? 161
Gerd Theissen’s “Wanderradikalismus” 161
The “Cynic Hypothesis,” from F. Gerald Downing
to the Jesus Seminar 163
John Dominic Crossan’s “Peasant Jewish Cynic” 165
Burton L. Mack’s “Lost Gospel” 166
Leif E. Vaage’s “Social Gadfly” 169
John S. Kloppenborg’s Clarification 174
Critical Reflections 176
The Advantages and Difficulties of the “Cynic Hypothesis” 177
The Problems with Bernhard Lang’s Position 185
The Case of Paul 189
4. The Relationship between Cynicism
and Christianity under the Roman Empire 197
Cynics and Christians Compared and Assimilated 197
By Pagans 197
By Christians 202
A Relationship of Mutual Opposition 203
In Actual Fact 203
The Martyrdom of Justin in 165 203
The Martyrdom of Apollo(nio)s Sakkeas in 180–185 206
A Cynic Persecuted by Christians in 359? 206
viii
Contents
Christians as Scapegoats in 362? 207
Were Cynics and Monks Rivals in Antioch in 387? 208
In Representations 209
The Christian Critique of Cynicism 209
Were These Severe Judgments Justified? 213
Ambivalent Attitudes 215
A Certain Admiration 215
Eusebius of Caesarea’s Appeal to Oenomaus of Gadara 218
The Sometimes- Ambivalent Attitude of Christians 219
Cynic and Christian at the Same Time 220
The Troubling Case of Peregrinus Proteus 220
The Christian Phase and the Break with Christianity 221
Peregrinus’s Titles and Functions 223
The Value of Lucian’s Testimony to Life
in the Christian Communities 230
Peregrinus: Christian and Cynic, Then Just a Cynic 231
The Cynic Christian Maximus Hero of Alexandria 234
Cynicism and Monasticism 238
Conclusion 244
Bibliography 249
Index of Authors 263
Index of Scripture References 266
Index of Other Ancient Texts 268
ix