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Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society

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Giving Albert Schweitzer his due for his criticism of the "first wave" of scholarship attempting to find the Jesus of history, that criticism was largely confined to the schools of theology. However, starting with the Marxist critics, the "new left" historians in the nineteen seventies, and deconstructive literary criticism, it has become all too apparent to students of history that objectivity has suffered from the foundational biases and prejudices of the scholars writing history. This realization first effected the writing of modern history and has slowly filtered down into the writing of ancient history. Last to be effected by the demands of scientific historiography for objectivity has been religious history and particularly religious history having to do with the development of the three great confessional religions. Prejudice and bias still effect way too much of what passes for scholarship in these areas of study. It comes in a variety of forms and permutations with various disparate agendas which are often hidden behind bogus pretences of objectivity.

In a radical counterpoint to the above observations, Philip A. Harland in this book provides us with a monograph that is a model of proper methodological execution coupled with a scrupulous reading of all the available primary and secondary sources relating to his topic which is concerned with Roman Asia during the first few centuries of the common era. In addition to the available primary literary sources, Harland relies on a wealth of epigraphical evidence to paint a fully fleshed out picture of the interaction of religion, society and imperial and local government. His meticulous reconstruction of the evidence points to a substantial modification of many assumptions that have influenced our view of Roman imperial history and its interface with pagan religion including the imperial cults, Judaism, and formative Christianity. The prevailing scholarly consensus has favored the notions that Roman authority was opposed to associations both occupational and religious at this time, that Judaism and Christianity were both sects, and that the imperial cults were nothing more than empty political exercises without religious meaning. Furthermore, Harland broadly questions the conclusion that Christianity was persecuted as a matter of imperial policy under Domitian and his immediate successors in anything more than isolated form.

How successful is Harland's critique of scholarly conventional wisdom in the above matters? Extremely and persuasively is the short answer. Critical acclaim for this book in scholarly circles has been long and loud. Earlier work by T. D. Barnes on Tertullian indicated that persecution of Christians was not systematic under the Empire during the period under consideration. My reading of Eusebius's history leads to the same conclusion which I have pointed out elsewhere. And Ittai Gradel's significant book, "Emperor Worship and Roman Religion," written after this book comes to conclusions very similar to those of Harland. Admittedly Gradel's work deals with events on the Italian Peninsula, however, its conclusions strongly reinforce Harland's interpretations. Full consideration of all the NT literature pertinent to the topics at issue in this study including the Pastorals, Pauline epistles, 1 Peter and the Revelation of John is provided with incisive insight by Harland. This book constitutes a major step forward in our understanding of the history of Christian origins. The bibliography is stunningly complete. I most highly recommend this book to any person with a deep interest in early Church and Roman imperial history and the patience to read a closely reasoned and exhaustive monograph. Both Luke Timothy Johnson and Willian E. Arnal recommend this book most highly. That is an amazing endorsement from scholarly polar opposites.

Before I purchased this book I read some overviews about it and scanned it's contents online. It appeared to be disciplined and well researched work that would offer new or changed insight into a complex set of relationships (between Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations in the Ancient Mediterranean world). That appearance has certainly proven true. Dr. Harland does an excellent job investigating the relevant sources, utilizing them to recreate a vivid picture of life lived in the polis, within the larger Roman world, and presenting that picture in a logical and readable fashion. I had a hard time putting this book down and, now that I've finished it, I know that I will return to it often.