Taylor O. Gray, Ethan R. Johnson, and Martina Vercesi, eds. Belief and Unbelief in the Ancient World

This edited volume contains eleven essays devoted to various aspects of religious belief in the ancient world. The origins of the book stem from a conference held at St. Andrews, organized by the editors who wanted to subject their understanding of belief to critical scrutiny. While the approaches and particular texts studies vary greatly, the editors hope the essays will address some of the following questions: “What does it mean to believe, and what is a belief? Is the act of belief representational or dispositional? Are beliefs finely structured propositions or loosely organized?” (pp. 1–2).In chapter 1, “Speaking of the Gods,” Edward Armstrong challenges the prevalent view that Thucydides is disinterested in or even critical of religion in his telling of the Peloponnesian War. By examining four of his speeches, Armstrong shows how Thucydides depicts his characters invoking religious beliefs to justify their actions. In chapter 2, “Αἶρε τοὺς ἀθέους (Mart. Pol. 9.2),” Stefano De Feo examines the charge of atheism against both the Epicureans and early Christians and shows how the early Christian ideas associated with eschatology led them to reject worship of the traditional gods. “From a Roman perspective, their lack of participation in the cult was viewed (especially by Roman authorities) as a threat to political stability, given the strong and nearly inseparable connection between religion and politics” (pp. 36–37). In chapter 3, “The Empiricism of the Apostle Paul,” Matthew T. Sharp contests the frequently made claim that Christians had faith, whereas Romans had empirical knowledge. He convincingly works through a variety of Pauline texts to establish that, regardless of what later Christian councils claimed, Paul’s letters depict worship of Christ as founded upon the empirical work of signs, healings, oracles, and the presence of the Spirit. In chapter 4, “The Relationship of Faith and Law Observance in Paul,” David J. Johnston challenges the view that the problem of the meal practices addressed in Rom 14–15 is oriented toward ethnic divisions. The lack of “faith” Paul speaks of in Rom 14 is not a critique of Jewish practices.In chapter 5, “Augustine on Faith,” Teresa Morgan argues that Augustine’s writings indicate that he uses the language of “faith” (fides /credere ) to speak of faith propositional faith and relational trust. This is due, in large part, to Augustine’s personal reflection upon his coming to faith. Morgan’s essay is a rich treatment focused on Augustine but also with helpful comparative analysis of Plato, Philo, and Clement of Alexandria. In chapter 6, “The Point of Belief(s),” Thomas Harrison questions the function of religious belief in antiquity. One of the more interesting functions of belief is its explanatory function, namely, by giving meaning to events in the world. Beliefs can also support rituals as well as reinforce human norms for behavior. In chapter 7, “From Bar Rakib to Cyrus,” Theodore J. Lewis uses visual and textual data in order to show the complexity of royal presentations of the divine and how a skilled politician can craft the representation to fit the intended purpose for different audiences. In chapter 8, “Bad Blood?,” Michael Anthony Fowler draws upon Greek art to look at the manner in which Polyxena’s sacrifice was viewed by some as legitimately placating the wrath of Achilles’s ghost, whereas other art attests to a more complicated view of human sacrifice.In chapter 9, “God Is Our King,” Camilla Recalcati shows how beliefs about the Ptolemiac monarchy influenced translational decisions regarding the divine and kings in the LXX. In chapter 10, “Is Belief (or Is It Faith?) an Ancient Israelite Notion?,” Brent Strawn contributes a fascinating essay that argues the too-oft-propagated claim that the Hebrew Bible makes a dichotomy between faith (something existential and relational) and belief (something cognitive) is problematic. He does his by setting forth a rich analysis of art and other material remains to show that “seeing” both contributes to faith/belief and is necessary for having faith/belief. In chapter 11, “(Be)li(e)ving in a Material World,” Erin Darby asks what material culture can contribute to our understanding of ancient belief by examining Judean pillar figurines.A perusal of my review will have already alerted the reader to the fact that this volume is highly eclectic in terms of the data it examines—Greek history and philosophy, the Apostle Paul, Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, and more in terms of texts, not to mention a wide array of visual and material remains. Hazarding a synthesis, then, of such diverse material is further complicated by the geographical and chronological diversity of each chapter’s use of particular texts/remains. While synthesis or even an answer to the question “What is belief in the ancient world” is hard to come by, virtually all of the essays captured my interest and the virtual “mini-book” offered by Brent Strawn (almost fifty pages) is one that I am certain to return to.