Another meme thingy started by Kevin Scull. I have been tagged by numero uno, Jim West.
According to Kevin’s rules:
1.) List the 5 primary sources that have most affected your scholarship, thoughts about antiquity, and/or understanding of the NT/OT.
2.) Books from the Bible are off limits unless you really want to list one, I certainly will not chastise you for it.
3.) Finally, choose individual works if you can. This will be more interesting than listing the entire corpus of Cicero as one of your choices.
I should first say that I am listing these primary sources as the most influential for my own current scholarship and not for our knowledge of the biblical world. And since I am still recovering from writing and publishing my Pulitzer Prize winning PhD dissertation, most works on this list are influential for that particular field in NT studies. Thus, my skewed list will naturally not list key works that I believe are (more?) essential for biblical studies.
1) Epictetus, Dissertationes and Encheiridion. This and #2 are very influential since I spent so much time reading and writing about them for my dissertation. Epictetus, a near contemporary of Paul, has been studied by scholars, but typically for his Stoicized philosophy. However, few have examined him as a social commentator on life in Rome and the Roman Greek East.
2) Valerius Maximus, Factorum et dictorum memorabilium. Virtually overlooked by scholars today. His work was very popular during the medieval period. Most scholarship on him are concerned with Quellenforschung and Quellenkritik, but not with Valerius as a social commentator on life in Rome in the early-first century CE.
3) Philo and Josephus. (I know I am cheating here.) Their works as a whole are important for our understanding of Judaism in the Graeco-Roman milieu.
4) Acts of Paul and Thecla. This work provided an entry into my growing interest in NT apocrypha. A fascinating text for understanding the reception of Paul, and for knowledge of the early church (e.g. women in the church).
5) Papyri and Epigraphical sources. Unfortunately a valuable source material that is still neglected by many in the NT guild. Too many focus solely on literary sources and not enough on non-literary sources (e.g. coins, graffito, statuary).
Since it is Independence Day, I will declare my independence and grant to others freedom from this meme. Thus, I tag no one!
July 4th, 2009 | Tags: 
