Antiquity studies

The emergence of new manuscripts often raises the question of whether they contain authentic sayings of Jesus. What criteria can we use to determine if the Gospel of Thomas includes similar logia? This paper argues that ancient authors considered reports authentic in ways different from our modern judgments. Methodologically, this article first attempts to filter out non-authentic sayings. Approximately half of the logia in the Gospel of Thomas are presumably authentic, paralleling sayings preserved in the Synoptic Gospels.

This study examines the Egyptian vision of resurrection, initially developed in the cults of the gods Isis and Osiris. In this belief system, the deceased could unite with Osiris and find eternal rest in him. Initiates of Isis could escape the cruel power of fate, and Serapis, a near-human deity, offered a connection to mortal man. The mysteries were relatively easy to join and accessible to all, which sometimes led to confusion in the early Christian churches. The cult of Isis and Osiris spread rapidly throughout the Mediterranean.

In the 19th century, the need to understand the past became increasingly prominent. However, archaeology as an independent science was not yet established. This is important to emphasise because the literature often describes Gábor Téglás as an “enthusiastic dilettante” in archaeology, as there was no such training available at Hungarian colleges, and it was still in its infancy at foreign academies. Flóris Rómer studied humanities, while Henrik Finály studied engineering, mathematics, physics, and ancient literature at the University of Vienna.

Many of the parallels between rabbinic and early Christian writings can be explained by their common heritage and their shared opposition to pagan society. Their attitude towards spectacles may be an exception because the Hebrew Bible does not provide any guidance in this regard, yet their arguments against pagan entertainments are often based on the same proof text (Ps 1:1). This may be the result of intensive academic communication, but it could also be traced back to a common oral tradition.

The Mishnah tractate Avodah Zarah (Idolatry) contains a list of items that are forbidden to be sold to pagans. This study discusses whether these items played such an important role in pagan cults as it was suggested by the rabbis, or they were special ingredients of magical recipes.

Did the Jews engage in missionary activities in the New Testament era? Since most of the first Christians were of Jewish background, with their centre in Jerusalem, and considering the relevance of missionary activity in early Christianity, this is a highly significant question. Before the ministry of Apostle Paul, Christians of (primarily) Jewish origin were those who defined the circle and practice of potential followers of Christ.

In his epigrams, Gregory of Nazianzus time and again speaks about the dead ones as sleepers. In this paper we examine the Greco-Roman and biblical background of this well-known ‘sleeping of death’-theme, and we conclude that the sleeping of death in Gregory’s usage is nothing more than an eschatologically neutral literary platitude.

In this paper we present almost twenty ancient greek funeral inscriptions from the period of 4th–3rd centuries BC and 3rd–4th centuries AD. Our aim is to set the eschatology of four Pauline letters (1Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians and Filippians) in the context of Hellenistic after-life concepts, and to establish the possible parallels and analogies.