Jesus and Addiction to Origins
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With an Afterword by William E. Arnal, University of Regina This collection of essays constitutes an extended argument for an anthropocentric, human-focused study of religious practices. Part I presents the basic premise of the argument, which is that there is nothing special or extraordinary about human behaviors and constructs that are claimed to have uniquely religious status and authority. Instead, they are fundamentally human, and so the scholar of religion is engaged in nothing more or less than studying humans across time and place in all their complex existence—which includes creating more-than-human beings and realities. As an extended and detailed example of such an approach, Part II addresses practices, rhetoric, and other data in early Christianities within Greco-Roman cultures and religions. The underlying aim is to insert studies of the New Testament and non-canonical texts, most often presented as “biblical studies,” into the anthropocentric study of religion proposed in Part I. How might we approach the study of “sacred texts” if they are nothing more or less than human documents deriving from situations that were themselves all too human? Braun’s Jesus and Addiction to Origins addresses that question with clarity and insight.
Published: Nov 5, 2020
Series
| Section | Chapter | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminaries | ||
| Editor's Foreword | Russell T. McCutcheon | |
| Preface | Willi Braun | |
| Sources | Willi Braun | |
| I. Generalities | ||
| 1. Religion: A Guide | Willi Braun | |
| 2. The Irony of Religion | Willi Braun | |
| 3. Introducing Religion | Willi Braun | |
| II. Particularities | ||
| 4. Jesus and Addiction to Origins | Willi Braun | |
| 5. Christian Origins and the Gospel of Mark: Fragments of a Story | Willi Braun | |
| 6. The Sayings Gospel Q and the Making of an Early Jesus Group | Willi Braun | |
| 7. In the Beginning was not the Word | Willi Braun | |
| 8. Sex, Gender and Empire: Virgins and Eunuchs in the Ancient Mediterranean World | Willi Braun | |
| 9. Physiotherapy of Femininity in Early Christianity: Ideology and Practice | Willi Braun | |
| 10. "Our Religion Compels us to make a Distinction": Prolegomena on Meals and Social Formation | Willi Braun | |
| III. Afterword | ||
| Reification, Religion and the Relics of the Past | William Arnal | |
| End Matter | ||
| Index | Willi Braun | |
Reviews
Author interview: "Comparing Methods in Christian Origins", Religious Studies Podcast, April 19, 2021
If the juxtaposition of ‘Jesus’ and ‘Origins’ suggests a re-run of New Testament biblical studies, think again. Braun is different, starting in a different place, with a different agenda, and offering fresh insight rather than traditional info, highlighting hazards and warnings rather than contentedly re-affirming the familiar. His laudable objective is to explore Religion as a normal human and universal experience in a purely secular, humanistic, scientific way, independent of specific religions (faiths, beliefs, or creeds), to take it off its pedestal and nurture its roots.
The Baptist Times
The purpose of this collection of essays is to show that the performances usually presented as religious are, in fact, human productions. The volume argues for an anthropocentric, human-focused study of religious practices. The result is a provocative and challenging proposal for anyone engaged in studying religion, but especially those concerned about ancient Christian rhetoric and practices.
Several characteristics make this volume an interesting project. First, it aims at presenting a clear anthropological approach to the study of religion, especially through the specific site of early Christianities within the larger Greek and Roman cultures and religions. Second, it demonstrates the possibility of studying the New Testament and other texts related to early Christianities in a thorough and sophisticated manner using tools both from sociology and anthropology.
Reading Religion
The benefit of this volume is that it provides a series of introductions to a variety of different topics in early Christianity and, as such, presents the student of early Christianity with a number of tools, by which they can understand their subject in a way that places human action at the forefront.
Religion
This book is a cogently argued work regarding the two main points I expressed as its twin assertions/projects. It presents concrete case studies to support its main points from Braun’s field of specialization (New Testament/Christian origins, although both terms are rightly problematized in the work). I learned a lot and updated my knowledge in significant ways, and I am in similar fields as Braun. This is to say, this work will be a valuable tool primarily for people in the field of religious studies who are situated in a secular context and/or who are trying to figure out the nature of religious studies as a discipline in the secular academy and how it is to be distinguished from theology. I may not recommend it to undergraduates, who are “uninitiated” unless they have a guide to walk them through the work’s more intricate points. But those with the requisite background who engage with it will find the work an informative, insightful, fascinating, and engrossing read.
Review of Biblical Literature