History, Biblical studies, Religion, Apocalyptic Discourse, Bible, Critical Theory, Identity, Imperialism, and New Testament

The dissertation that follows pursues two complementary tracks: (1) a cultural critique of scholarship on earliest Christianity and (2) an original contribution regarding the social function of apocalyptic discourse in our earliest Christ-confessing texts. I situate early Christian scholarship as it relates to apocalyptic discourse and anti-imperialism. My thesis is that such scholarship is bound by return-to-origins strategies that make early Christ-groups exceptional from their social and cultural environments. These strategies provide avenues for progressive Christian scholars to legitimate their modern ideological perspectives. This dissertation provides insight into such operations in the field of apocalyptic discourse that has scarcely been explored and previously only in a sporadic manner. I use this occasion to argue that such operations belie the social complexities of early Christ-groups. I argue, then, that essentialist strategies to promote early Christian exceptionalism work to mask how embedded early Christ-confessing authors were within their ancient Mediterranean settings. I have targeted apocalyptic discourse because such discourse appears to suggest a starker, apparently more “sectarian” contrast between insiders and outsiders than potentially any other. It is even in the midst of such dualistic discourse that we see early Christ-confessing authors fully participating within their social world.I dedicate two chapters to unpacking our scholarly operations and another two chapters “zooming in” on two very different “case studies” in which such operations introduce challenges to our academic knowledge of Christian origins. In Chapter 1, I lay the groundwork for my critique of scholarly maneuvers vis-�-vis essentialist return-to-origins narratives and early Christian exceptionalism. I then turn my attention to “empire” and apocalyptic discourse in particular in Chapter 2. My third chapter targets issues of identity and empire that capture scholarly attention on First Thessalonians, while my fourth chapter underscores how Revelation scholars have reframed the apocalypse to fit anti-imperial paradigms and absolve the document’s disturbing elements. What these case studies and theoretical interventions demonstrate is that we must honestly accept the complexity of the earliest Christ-confessing texts. As historians, we must not simply bolster their subversiveness in hopes of authorizing our modern progressive ideologies, no matter how fundamental are our contemporary fights.

European history, Religious history, History, Bible Translations, Borderlands, Evangelicals, Habsburgs, Territorial Churches, and Tolerance

My dissertation focuses on the Austrian province of Krain, along the modern Croatian/Slovenian border, which acts as a case study for the rest of the Habsburg-Ottoman borderlands. The reformers in this region were in direct contact with Johannes Brenz in Wirtemberg, and sought to implement his "territorial church" model. Additionally, the Austrian Habsburgs long supported this model as a means to expand their hegemony over the region and keep the Ottomans out. A printing press was established outside Tübingen with the purpose of spreading Slavic translations of Biblical and evangelical texts into Crain. The Austrian Hapsburgs' confessional allegiance to Rome remained fluid until after the Council of Trent (1563), and they had few reservations about supporting this mission endeavor as long as it included loyalty towards Hapsburg supremacy. I have identified three individuals who were integral in establishing this movement: the reformer and Bible translator Primus Truber, the Austrian nobleman Hans Ungnad, and the Lutheran convert and diplomat Peter Paul Vergerio. In particular, Ungnad played a central role in transmitting through his personal network of translators, publishers, and booksellers. All three men established networks of support, mostly Lutheran but also including notable moderate Catholics and Swiss Reformed, and relied on their networks integrally to spread their faith and to support their endeavors financially. The use of the Lutheran "territorial church" model signifies an attempt to establish a Lutheran confession and church regulation in Slovenian and Croatian lands by making them loyal to the regional reformer (Primus Truber) responsible for instilling Godly virtue and the true faith.

Religious history, History, Bible, Christian, Incipit, and Magic

This dissertation examines the ritual use of scriptural incipits (i.e., opening lines of biblical books and texts) on apotropaic devices (e.g., amulets) from late antique Egypt. There are three primary objectives of this study. First, I develop a typology of the scriptural incipits. Through analyses of metonymy, scriptural usage in apotropaic contexts more generally, and ancient historiolae (i.e., narratives used for ritual power), I demonstrate that the scriptures were invoked in ritual practice as individual thematic units. Accordingly, I divide the scriptural incipits into two types: incipits of multiunit corpora (e.g., the Gospel incipits) and incipits of single-unit texts (e.g., LXX Ps 90:1). This two-fold distinction not only challenges the dominant assumption in scholarship that scriptural incipits should be treated as a uniform phenomenon, but it also orients the remaining two objectives. Second, I provide the first extensive survey of potential incipits from late antique Egypt. I divide this survey into two major parts, corresponding to the two types of incipits: incipits of multiunit corpora and incipits of single-unit texts. In addition to providing a preliminary corpus of scriptural incipits to assist with future work, this survey also highlights the diverse forms of scriptural incipits, exposes the difficulty in identifying an incipit, and offers a unique challenge to the assumed relationship between faithfulness to established protocols and ritual efficacy.Third, I propose the first sustained theory of scriptural incipits. I challenge the assumption that incipits operated uniformly according to the metonymic transfer pars pro toto ("part for whole"). Rather, incipits of multiunit corpora operated solely according to the metonymic transfer pars pro parte/partibus ("part for part/parts"), attaining the power associated with select narratives and sayings from their respective corpora (and possibly beyond). By contrast, incipits of single-unit texts invoked material either pars pro parte/partibus, focusing attention on particular words, phrases, or lines of the unit, or pars pro toto, attaining the power of the whole unit. A concluding analysis highlights the possible implications of the apotropaic use of scriptural incipits for two other areas of study: incipits as classificatory rubrics in late antique book culture and late antique relics.