Resurrection and Reception in Early Christianity

219 Pages·2015·1.49 MB·English

by  Richard Miller

Resurrection and Reception in
Early Christianity
“This is a ground-breaking study of the literary antecedents for the resurrection
stories in the Gospels, with wide-ranging implications for Christian history and the-
ology. Never again can the resurrection stories be read and interpreted apart from
their ancient literary context.” —Dennis Smith, Phillips Theological Seminary, USA
“Early Christianity emerged in a world of intense interaction among the devotees of
different cults and religions. Narratives, images, ritual practices, and ideas continu-
ally crossed the boundaries of religious groups. With the interdependence of ancient
religions as his starting point, Richard Miller shows the close relation of the early
narratives of Jesus’ resurrection with pre-existing pagan and Jewish narratives of
divine translation. This study makes a signifi cant contribution to the study of Early
Christianity and the religious trends of the Roman Empire.” —Angelos Chaniotis,
Professor of Ancient History, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, US A
“Richard Miller’s reading of ancient Greco-Roman narratives concerning the disap-
pearance of heroes and demi-gods successfully challenges the traditional reconstruc-
tions of the formation of resurrection accounts in the Gospels. Miller moves with
theoretical sophistication through an impressive array of ancient texts and shows
how early Christian stories about Jesus were developed in the context of literary
imitation and emulation that characterized the Mediterranean world in antiquity.”
—Giovanni Bazzana, Harvard Divinity School, USA
This book offers an original interpretation of the origin and early reception of the
most fundamental claim of Christianity: Jesus’ resurrection. Richard Miller con-
tends that the earliest Christians would not have considered the New Testament
accounts of Jesus’ resurrection to be literal or historical, but instead would have
recognized this narrative as an instance of the trope of divine translation, common
within the Hellenistic and Roman mythic traditions. Given this framework, Miller
argues, early Christians would have understood the resurrection story as fi ctitious
rather than historical in nature. By drawing connections between the Gospels and
ancient Greek and Roman literature, Miller makes the case that the narratives of the
resurrection and ascension of Christ applied extensive and unmistakable structural
and symbolic language common to Mediterranean “translation fables,” stock story
patterns derived particularly from the archetypal myths of Heracles and Romulus.
In the course of his argument, the author applies a critical lens to the referential and
mimetic nature of the Gospel stories, and suggests that adapting the “translation
fable” trope to accounts of Jesus’ resurrection functioned to exalt him to the level
of the heroes, demigods, and emperors of the Hellenistic and Roman world. Miller’s
contentions have signifi cant implications for New Testament scholarship and will
provoke discussion among scholars of early Christianity and classical studies.
Richard C. Miller is an adjunct professor in the Department of Religious Studies at
Chapman University, USA.
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Resurrection and Reception
in Early Christianity
Richard C. Miller
First published 2015
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
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© 2015 Taylor & Francis
The right of Richard C. Miller to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miller, Richard C. (Adjunct Professor)
Resurrection and reception in early Christianity / by Richard C. Miller. —
1 [edition].
pages cm. — (Routledge studies in religion ; 44)
Includes index.
1. Jesus Christ—Resurrection—History of doctrines—Early church, ca.
30–600. I. Title.
BT482.M54 2015
232′.509015—dc23
2014033662
ISBN: 978-1-138-82270-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-74233-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
I dedicate this book to my three marvelous sons,
Riley, Owen, and Sebastian.
May you ever be
three true brothers and three fi ne gentlemen.
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
1 Justin’s Confession 1
1.1 Evil Demons 5
1.2 Zeus’s Other Sons 8
1.3 Proper Inference 13
2 Translation Fables in Hellenistic and Roman Antiquity 26
2.1 The Hellenic Roots of Translation 26
2.2 Structure and Signification 32
2.3 Samples of the Translation Fable 39
2.4 Generic Modality 76
3 Critical Method and the Gospels 91
3.1 Semiotics and the Sociology of Inference 92
3.2 Cultural Patterns and Archetypal Mimesis 101
3.3 Mimicry in the Gospels as Transcendent Rivalry 129
4 Translation Fables and the Gospels 150
4.1 The “Resurrection” Polyseme in the Gospels 154
4.2 Translation Signals and the Gospels 160
4.3 Conclusion 177
4.4 Implications 180
Index 201