Christopher B. Zeichmann – författare

Paul the apostle is usually imagined as a man of prestige and power – comfortably conversing with philosophers, seeking an audience with the emperor, and composing compelling letters for Christians throughout the Mediterranean. Yet this portrait of a safe and conventional figure at the origins of Christianity airbrushes out many strange things about him. This volume repositions Paul as a man at the periphery of power. Recovering an Undomesticated Apostle explores the ways that Paul has been “domesticated” in both popular and scholarly imagination. By isolating selected crises of the apostle’s life and legacy and examining the social and material dimensions of his world, these essays collectively chip away at the received image of his strength and status. The result is a series of glimpses of Paul that frame the apostle as surprisingly marginal and weak within Roman society. Published in honour of New Testament scholar Leif E. Vaage, Recovering an Undomesticated Apostle presents Paul as a man operating from a position of desperation, making virtue out of necessity as he attempted to claw his way up in the dog-eat-dog world of the ancient Mediterranean.

This book presents the first-ever English-language book on the history of the Panthera legend– the idea that Jesus was conceived not by the Holy Spirit or even Joseph, but by a man named Panthera.

This book examines how the legend of Panthera is deeply implicated in both rape culture and anti-Judaism, examining examples from the ancient Levant to medieval Europe, Nazi Germany, and contemporary North America. It explores the history and original sources of the legend, tracing the question of Mary’s consent (or lack thereof) with respect to Panthera’s sexual advances, and arguing this has become inextricable from Jewish-Christian polemics. Although the Panthera legend has been long associated with Jewish polemic against Christianity, this legend is better understood as the product of Christian doubt – such that Christians were placing their own apprehensions in the mouths of ancient Jews.

Adding to the literature on the continued importance of Mary’s sexual history within religious traditions, the book will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students of early Christianity, Biblical studies, Jewish-Christian relations, and gender studies in antiquity.

This book presents the first-ever English-language book on the history of the Panthera legend– the idea that Jesus was conceived not by the Holy Spirit or even Joseph, but by a man named Panthera.

This book examines how the legend of Panthera is deeply implicated in both rape culture and anti-Judaism, examining examples from the ancient Levant to medieval Europe, Nazi Germany, and contemporary North America. It explores the history and original sources of the legend, tracing the question of Mary’s consent (or lack thereof) with respect to Panthera’s sexual advances, and arguing this has become inextricable from Jewish-Christian polemics. Although the Panthera legend has been long associated with Jewish polemic against Christianity, this legend is better understood as the product of Christian doubt – such that Christians were placing their own apprehensions in the mouths of ancient Jews.

Adding to the literature on the continued importance of Mary’s sexual history within religious traditions, the book will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students of early Christianity, Biblical studies, Jewish-Christian relations, and gender studies in antiquity.