Heavenly Realms and Earthly Realities in Late Antique Religions

This book maps the patterns of unity and diversity within the religious landscape of Late Antiquity.

Ra'anan S. Boustan (Edited by), Annette Yoshiko Reed (Edited by)

9780521121774, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 October 2009

352 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

Review of the hardback: '… a sound and serious book.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

The idea of heaven held a special place in the late antique imagination, which was marked by a poignant sense of the relevance of otherworldly realities for earthly life. Such concerns can be found not only in Judaism and Christianity but also in the Greco-Roman religious, philosophical, scientific, and 'magical' traditions. Transcending social, regional and creedal boundaries, the preocupation with heaven in Late Antiquity serves as a focus for an interdisciplinary approach to understanding this formative era in Western culture and history. Drawing upon the expertise of scholars of Classics, Ancient History, Jewish Studies and Patristics, this volume explores the different functions of heavenly imagery in different texts and traditions in order to map the patterns of unity and diversity within the religious landscape of Late Antiquity.

Introduction: 'In Heaven as it is on Earth' Ra'anan S. Bouston and Annette Yoshiko Reed
Part I. Between Earth and Heaven: 1. The bridge and the ladder: narrow passages in late antique visions Fritz Graf
2. 'Heavenly Steps': Manilius 4.119-121 and its background Katharina Volk
3. Heavenly ascent, angelic descent, and the transmission of knowledge in 1 Enoch 6-16 Annette Yoshiko Reed
4. 'Connecting Heaven and Earth': the function of the hymns in Revelation 4-5 Gottfried Schimanowski
5. Working overtime in afterlife
or, no rest for the virtuous Sarah Iles Johnson
Part II. Institutionalising Heaven: 6. Earthly sacrifice and heavenly incense: the law of priesthood in Aramaic Levi and Jubilees Martha Himmelfarb
7. Who's on the throne?: revelation in the long year John W. Marshall
8. The earthly monastery and the transformation of the heavenly city in late antique Egypt Kirsti B. Copeland
9. Contextualising heaven in third-century North Africa Jan N. Bremmer
10. Bringing the heavenly academy down to earth: approaches to the imagery of divine pedagogy in the East-Syrian tradition Adam H. Becker
Part III. Tradition and Innovation: 11. Angels in the architecture: temple art and the poetics of praise in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice Ra'anan S. Bouston
12. The collapse of celestial and chthonic realms in late antique 'Appollonian Invocation' (PGMI 262-347) Christopher A. Faraone
13. In heaven as it is in hell: the cosmology of Seder Rabbah di-Bereshit Peter Schäfer
14. The faces of the moon: cosmology, genesis and the Mithras Liturgy Radcliffe G. Edmonds III
15. 'O Paradoxical Fusion!': Gregory of Nazianzus on baptism and cosmology (Orations 38-40) Susanna Elm.

Subject Areas: Judaism [HRJ], Christian theology [HRCM]