Examples of ritual combat can be found in Josephus as well as in other Jewish traditions and the Gospels. Ritual combat was part of an elaborate liturgy (including pilgrimage, holy war, and temple restoration) which was performed in Second Temple Judaism. The ideology associated with this rite and the recursive practices which it motivated can be called the Temple Restoration Gestalt. It was firmly embedded in the culture of the period. In order to reconstruct the TRG, a new method is required. This procedure is explained. Its application not only sheds new light on the problem of Christian origins, but also contributes to the sociology of early Christianity.
References
1.
Arenhoevel, D. (1967) Die Theocratie nach dem 1 und 11 Makkabderbuch. Mainz: Matthias Grünewald Verlag.
2.
Barnett, P.W. (1980/1981) “The Jewish Sign Prophets—A.D. 40-70: The Intentions and Origin”, New Testament Studies27: 679-697.
3.
Berger, Peter (1969) The Sacred Canopy. Garden City, NY: Anchor Doubleday.
4.
Birnbaum, Norman and Lenzer, Gertrud (1969) Sociology and Religion: A Book of Readings. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
5.
Brandon, S.G.F. (1967) Jesus and the Zealots. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
6.
Giddens, Anthony (1984) The Constitution of Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
7.
Gray, Rebecca (1993) Prophetic Figures in Late Second Temple Jewish Palestine: The Evidence from Josephus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8.
Habel, Norman C. (1964) Yahweh versus Baal: A Conflict of Religious Cultures. St. Louis: Concordia Seminary/Bookman Associates.
9.
Haulotte, E. (1966) Symbolique du Vêtement selon la Bible. Paris: Aubier.
10.
Hengel, Martin (1961) Die Zeloten. Leiden: Brill.
11.
Horsley, Richard A. (1981) “Ancient Banditry and the Revolt against Rome, A.D. 66-70”, Catholic Biblical Quarterly43: 409-432.
12.
Horsley, Richard A. (1984) “Popular Messianic Movements around the Time of Jesus”, Catholic Biblical Quarterly46: 471-495.
13.
Horsley, Richard A. (1985) “Like One of the Prophets of Old: Two Types of Prophets in the Time of Jesus”, Catholic Biblical Quarterly47: 435-463.
14.
Horsley, Richard A. and John S. Hanson (1985) Bandits. Prophets and Messiahs: Popular Movements at the Time of Jesus. Minneapolis, MN: Winston Press.
15.
Kapelrud, Arvid Schou (1963a) “Temple-Building: A Task for Gods and Kings”, Orientalia32: 56-62.
16.
Kapelrud, Arvid Schou (1963b) The Ras Shamra Discoveries and the Old Testament. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
17.
Riddle, Donald W. (1927) “From Apocalypse to Martyrology”, Anglican Theological Review9: 260-280.
18.
Riddle, Donald W. (1931) The Martyrs. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
19.
Segal, Judah B. (1963) The Hebrew Passover from the Earliest Times to A.D. 70. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
20.
Staples, Peter (1970) “The Greek Maccabean Books in the Early Church”, unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Nottingham.
21.
Staples, Peter (1993) “The Cultural Management of Space and Time in the Narrative of the Gospel of Mark”, Foundations & Facets Forum9 (112): 19-45.
22.
Staples, Peter (1996) “D.W. Riddle e la funzione sociale di apocalissi e martirologi: Un recupero critico”, Religioni e Societa24: 48-62.
23.
Talmon, Yonina (1962) “Pursuit of the Millennium: The Relation between Religious and Social Change”, Archives Européennes de Sociologie3: 125-148
24.
abridged in Norman Birnbaum and Gertrud Lenzer (eds) (1969) Sociology and Religion: A Book of Readings, pp. 238-254. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
25.
Yoder, John Howard (1973) The Politics of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans.
