Worshipping a Crucified Man

By the mid-second century Christian writerswere engaging in debates with educated audiences from non-Jewish Graeco-Romancultural backgrounds. A remarkable feature of some of these texts is howextensively they refer to the Jewish scriptures, even though those scriptureswere unfamiliar to non-Jewish Graeco-Romans. In Worshipping a Crucified Man,Jeremy Hudson explores for the first time why this should have been so. As the basis for his argument, Hudsonexamines three works by Christian converts originally educated in Graeco-Romantraditions: Justin Martyr's First Apology, Tatian's Oratio andTheophilus of Antioch's Ad Autolycum. He considers their literarystrategies, their use of quotations and allusions and how they present theJewish scriptures, all against the background of the Graeco-Roman literaryculture familiar to both authors and audiences. The scriptures are presented asa critically defining feature of Christianity, instrumental in shaping the waythe new religion presented itself, as it strove to engage with, and challenge,the cultural traditions of the Graeco-Roman world.This book will engage scholars interestedin the very earliest centuries of Christianity and in the central role theJewish scriptures played in the new religion's self-presentation.