IGNATIUS AND ODD EVANGELISTS: Tom Robinson’s Latest Writings

Ignatius of Antioch
No idea what he had against ochs.

My good friend Tom Robinson who teaches Early Christianity and common sense here at the University of Lethbridge has a new book on Ignatius of Antioch out, published by Hendrickson.

Tom actually doesn’t mind ocks so
long as they clean up after themselves.

THE NEW BOOK

Ignatius of Antioch and the Parting of the Ways:
Early Jewish-Christian Relations

Tom’s new baby. Click Here.

I really don’t know much about Ignatius, but I’ve been hearing about this book for years. Tom tackles a lot of issues in the scholarship surrounding the guy and his times, often stepping back from the fray and taking a long hard reality check, and then jumping right in again. Some might say some of his views and writing style are a bit “assertive”, but that’s probably a good thing. I can guarantee you that he has worked really really hard on it and he’s a nice guy so buy it. Or be fed to the lions.

And you thought Fred Flintstone had affectionate pets!

Tom is rather tickled pink that the book has already earned some excellent early comments from Mike Aquilina at Fathers of the Church, but, before we get to that:

The Blurb

How did the early Christian movement, which began among Jewish people and in close association with the Jewish temple and synagogues of the first century, develop into a predominantly Gentile movement by the end of the first century? Was this “parting of the ways” spurred by internal tensions within the Christian church, socio-political factors in the Roman city of Antioch, or growing hostility from the larger Jewish community? In Ignatius of Antioch and the Parting of the Ways, Thomas A. Robinson addresses this intriguing historical question by taking a careful look at the writings of one of the few Christian writers who wrote about this parting firsthand—Ignatius, the Bishop of Antioch, who was martyred in the early years of the second century. Through a careful examination of the historical and sociological setting of first-century Antioch, Robinson sifts the testimony of this church father on issues such as the nature of Christian conversion at Antioch, the sources of Jewish-Christian tensions in that city and in the broader Roman world, and the development of the terms “Christian” and “Christianity.” Assessing a number of current theories about the nature of the Jewish-Christian parting, Robinson stresses the importance of hearing the voice of Ignatius himself on these questions. This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the early days of Christianity and in Jewish-Christian relations.

Endorsements from the back cover might not say it all, but they say a lot.

A vigorous, impressively researched and incisive study of Ignatius, firmly rooting him in historical context. Robinson challenges effectively some fashionable ideas about Ignatius and early Christianity, e.g., multiple “Christianities” and “Judaisms,” and the supposedly late differentiation of Christianity from its Jewish matrix. This is an important work whose arguments must be reckoned with hereafter.

—Larry Hurtado, Head of the School of Divinity and Professor of New Testament Language, Literature & Theology, New College, University of Edinburgh.

Thomas Robinson succeeds in introducing readers to the multiple issues involved in interpreting Ignatius’ comments about Judaism with an accessible style alongside evident mastery of a wide range of recent discussion. Its detailed analysis of the social and historical setting of Jews and Christians in Antioch is a model of what is needed in exploring particular situations and writings, and will ensure that the book becomes a standard contribution to the ‘the Parting of the Ways debate’ as well as to the study of Ignatius himself.

—Judith Lieu, Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge

Aquilina’s quotes Tom and comments, in his post:

“IGNITING AN IGNATIUS EXPLOSION”

Along the way, Robinson takes aim at current fashions in early Christian studies, exposing them with rare common sense. … He’s just as good when he deals with the tiresome terminology of “Christianities” and “Judaisms.”

In recent years it has become fashionable to speak of Judaisms and Christianities and to discount any meaningful use of the singular forms of these terms. To complicate the debate even further, some scholars have challenged the adequacy of other “monolithic” terms, such as “early Christianity,” “Jewish,” “Gentile,” “pagan,” and “Greco-Oriental.”

Added to this is an overly careful policing of terms to prevent any anachronistic employment. What is inadequately appreciated is the fact that monolithic terms, by their nature, include ambiguities on the edges, whether of subject or of time. Such terms may well have a proper “anachronistic” use, in that the terms, by their nature as monolithic terms, can identify movements from their early stages, before the time a formal label was coined and applied.

… But such nuancing of the debate often fails to appreciate that the larger world in which Jews and Christians lived commonly employed such general and sweeping terms to identify Jews and Christians. The ancients almost entirely missed the diversity that many modern reconstructions see as the most distinctive aspect of these movements.

AN EXPLOSION???
Yes, it must be…

OK, sorry about that. I’m really very very sorry….

Tom is a bit of a workaholic. He is just finishing up a new book on the girl evangelist movement in the 1920s and 1930, a project he is working on with his niece. No idea when that will be in print. He has gone though digitized newpaper archives and has catalogued around ONE HUNDRED of these girls and tried to trace what happened to them and so forth. Some could sell out Madison Square Gardens, had their own magazines and so forth.

Tom also takes note of the media’s reporting of these revivalist events. Many times reporters would just adopt the promotional literature from the crusades to write their news stories. Other times, the papers would openly mock the proceedings, especially when young girls not even in their teens would preach on marriage and grown up things like that. Tom considers the phenomenon to be partly a rejection of the godless flapper movement, even though some of the girls did wear some flapper styles.

Is it easier for a man peek through the eye of a needle
than for a flapper girl to enter the kingdom of god?

I think his next project will be a return to some issues around the early church.

Tom wrote a good chunks of a text book World Religions: A Guide to the Essentials, also by Hendrickson  and virtually all of the work on the accompanying CD.

Most of the rest was written by our colleague Hillary Rodrigues with bits added by myself and John Harding.

Tom also contributed the Greek software to Hewett, Robbins and Johnson, New Testament Greek: A Beginning and Intermediate Grammar, Revised Edition with CD

And we have a reader for World Religions due out next year sometime. Tom did the lion’s share of work on that, too.

Anyway, buy his books and stuff. You’ll be glad you did.

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