In this ground-breaking study, Robin Baker investigates the contribution ancient Mesopotamian theology made to the origins of Christianity. Drawing on a formidable range of primary sources, Baker's conclusions challenge the widely held opinion that the theological imprint of Babylonia and Assyria on the New Testament is minimal, and what Mesopotamian legacy it contains was mediated by the Hebrew Bible and ancient Jewish sources. After evaluating and substantially supplementing previous research on this mediation, Baker demonstrates significant direct Mesopotamian influence on the New Testament presentation of Jesus and particularly the character of his kingship. He also identifies likely channels of transmission. Baker documents substantial differences among New Testament authors in borrowing Mesopotamian conceptions to formulate their Christology. This monograph is an essential resource for specialists and students of the New Testament as well as for scholars interested in religious transmission in the ancient Near East and the afterlife of Mesopotamian culture.
Author(s): Robin Baker
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 503
City: Cambridge
Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Dedication
Epigraph
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Prolegomena
Beginnings
Methodology
On Avoiding Anachronisms, Defining 'Influence'
1 The Religious Landscape of the Near East at the Turn of the Era
The Mesopotamia-Palestine Nexus and the Jewish Diaspora
Mesopotamian Learning and Its Afterlife
Hellenism
'Sentiments of Affinity': Babylon and Israel
2 Channels of Transmission
Babylon and Jerusalem
Israel's God in Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon: Abandonment, Exile, Restoration
Judah in Babylonia
Josephus, Berossus and The Babyloniaca
The Significance of Matthew's Gospel for this Investigation
The Compositional Background of Matthew's Gospel
3 New Testament Epistemology: A Reappraisal
Omens, Parallel Worlds and Midrashic Reasoning: Introduction
Times and Signs
Double yet Opposite and the Ambiguity of the Cross Symbol
Time Conceived as Operating in Two Forms
Myth, History and the Flood as Cosmic Turning Point: Apkallus and Fishers of Men
Past as Parable
Analogic Interpretation of Data
Modes of Reasoning
Summary
4 Kingship Models and the Dying-Rising King
Kingship in the Ancient Near East
Kingship and Divinity
Kingship, Assyrian-Style
King of Kings, Lord of Lords
The Character of Jesus' Kingship and the bit sala' me
Istar-Inanna as Dying-Rising Goddess
Tammuz-Dumuzi, the Divine Shepherd-King, Fisher-King
Conclusions
5 Ninurta, Nimrod, Abimelech and Christ: A Case Study of Mediated Influence
Ninurta Redivivus
Abimelech ben-Jerubbaal
Babel, Nimrod and Intertextuality in the Gideon-Abimelech Series
The Ninurta Cult and Its Reach
Abimelech as Ninurta Parody
Evidence for Akkadian-Hebrew Bilingualism in the Abimelech Pericope
Antithesis and Simulacrum: Jesus and Abimelech/Ninurta Compared
The Tenacity of Literary Motifs and Devices
Ninurta's Legacy and the Colossians Hymn
6 Marduk, Istar and Nabû, and New Testament Christology
Marduk, Istar Lady of Babylon and the Figure of Babylon in the Book of Revelation
Enuma elis and the New Testament
The Cult of Nabu Compared with the New Testament Presentation of Christ
Father and Son: Jesus and the Father, Nabu and Marduk
Wisdom Personified and Glorious Bridegroom: Jesus, Solomon, Nabu
Summary
7 Bloodlines, Omens and Festivals
The Matthean Genealogy: Its Structure and Significance
King Uzziah
Josephus' Account of Uzziah's Sin
The Treatment of Omens in Ezekiel and Matthew
Jesus' Final Passover in light of the Babylonian Akitu Festival
8 Conclusions on the New Testament's Mesopotamian Legacy
Bibliography
Index of Biblical References
Index of Modern Authors
Index of Subjects
