Miriam, Isaiah, and Pagans?
Who is Miriam? (15)When Crossan references Isaiah, what is he referencing? And what is it in relation to the New or Old Testaments? ("A Virgin Shall Conceive,"18)
I don't really know what pagans' religious beliefs are, and -probably because of that - I wonder why pagans are always mentioned. I know that paganism is an old religion, so was it more popular than it is today? (Ch. 1)
Miriam is Moses' sister, who Crossan tells the story of.
ReplyDeleteIsaiah is in the Old Testament, he is seen as a prophet in the Bible. "A virgin shall conceive" is a prophecy that was made about the "Christ child"
Pagans are essentially people who aren't Jewish, or worship "false idols".
Jamien basically nails it; modern paganism and paganism as referenced in the Bible are two different things. In the Bible, it's a blanket term that refers to everybody who doesn't worship Yahweh, the god of the Bible (both christians and jews).
ReplyDeleteThanks, both of you; good clarifications. The word pagan is from the Latin 'pagus,' meaning peasant, so it was in the ancient world not only a distinguishing word, but (to the Retainer class) a calculated insult. Paganism is not a religion as such, but essentially the accusation that someone lacks any legitimate culture.
ReplyDeleteRead again, very carefully, Crossan's analysis of the way the Gospel writers Matthew and Luke appropriate the text of Isaiah to say something completely different from its original intention (see the section entitled "A Virgin Shall Conceive").
Thanks for the info! It is all very helpful & made the text make a lot more sense than when I first read it. :)
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