The Greco-Roman Concept of Atonement
I am trying to find good resources on the Greco-Roman Concept of Atonement. How can I search for sources within Logos?
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This is how I searched. Maybe someone can help me with refining my search methodology. I also tried Wikipedia. 1. I read dictionaries and chapters on atonement throughout history. 2. Then I tried searching for Greco Roman sacrifical systems. I could not find much here but a little bit of sources. 3. Next I tried a search in Logos (Atonement NEAR "Greco Roman") and (Atonement NEAR Hellenism). I only got two hits. The Concept of Atonement in Hellenistic Thought and 1 John.” JGRChJ 2 (2001–2005): 100–116. Hengel, Martin, The Atonement: The Origins of the Doctrine in the New Testament. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1981.
What am I doing wrong?
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I tried a search in Logos (Atonement NEAR "Greco Roman") and (Atonement NEAR Hellenism).
(Atonement NEAR "Greco Roman") OR (Atonement NEAR Hellenism) should be tried with Match all forms, as you get "Hellenization" in Lexham Bible Dictionary. You might also try culture:Atonement NEAR (Hellenism OR "Greco-Roman") with Broad Reference Matching and Match all forms.
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament has an interesting comment:
"So far as I can see, the great seriousness of preaching about guilt and atonement is quite lacking in Hellenism … It was only as the first community linked the death of Jesus with this profound feeling of guilt and faith in the remission of even the heaviest fault, that the Christian σωτήρ doctrine acquired its distinctive and world-conquering force, so that its Hellenistic rivals could only prepare the way for it through a world which had again come to have a consciousness of sin.”
Quell, G., Bertram, G., Stählin, G., & Grundmann, W. (1964–). ἁμαρτάνω, ἁμάρτημα, ἁμαρτία.Dave
===Windows 11 & Android 13
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In line at the Costco, a simple search like 'atonement NEAR greek' is voluminouse but pulls in discussions by Heroditus, etc in greek practices.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Also try the spelling "Graeco-Roman". I have 59,575 hits on "Greco-Roman" in my Library and 17,927 hits on "Graeco-Roman".
Using Dave's search, but with my spelling variation insight, a search for (Atonement NEAR "Greco Roman") OR (Atonement NEAR "Graeco Roman") OR (Atonement NEAR Hellenism) in my Library gives 45 hits, including:
V. GREEK, GRECO-ROMAN, AND JEWISH PRECEDENT BEHIND VIOLENT ATONEMENT IN ROMANS [a short section]
Williams, Jarvis. “Violent Atonement in Romans: The Foundation of Paul’s Soteriology.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, vol. 53, no. 3, Evangelical Theological Society, 2010, p. 596.---------------------------------------
Jesus’s Atoning Sacrifice in Hebrews and Atonement of Sin in the Greco-Roman World [a 22-page chapter]
* Schnabel, Eckhard J. “Jesus’s Atoning Sacrifice in Hebrews and Atonement of Sin in the Greco-Roman World.” So Great a Salvation: A Dialogue on the Atonement in Hebrews, edited by Jon C. Laansma et al., vol. 516, T&T Clark, 2019, p. 65.---------------------------------------
The Greeks were familiar with legends of heroic figures who willingly offered their lives on behalf of others, often achieving godhood as a result. The plays of Euripides, Plato’s account of the death of Socrates, and Livy’s description of Decius’ death on behalf of Rome—to name a few examples—all offer praise to the devotio of human martyrs (Williams, Maccabean Martyr Traditions, 33–37; Hengel, Atonement, 4–6). What was unheard of in the Graeco-Roman world was the notion that heroic martyrdom could be achieved by a Jewish peasant on behalf of the entire universe. The very suggestion that God would initiate such an act, marking the advent of a new eschatological era, seemed to catch both the Jewish and Hellenistic worlds by surprise (see 1 Cor 1:23).
Brockway, D. “Atonement.” The Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Barry et al., Lexham Press, 2016.The Hengel Atonement referred to above is: Hengel, Martin. The Atonement: The Origins of the Doctrine in the New Testament. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981. (not available in Logos, but should be; I've added a request on the feedback site)
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A bibliographic entry:
Kim, Jintae. “The Concept of Atonement in Hellenistic Thought and 1 John.” JGRChJ 2 (2001–2005): 100–116.
JGRChJ = Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism
Jobes, Karen H. 1, 2, & 3 John. Edited by Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan, 2014, p. 34.I found the Jintae Kim article online and provided a link to it above.
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A section on Greek Sacrifice beginning with this paragraph:
At the heart of the message of the NT is a message about one whose death was an atoning sacrifice. This message was one that the Graeco–Roman world would clearly understand; they regularly employed sacrifice in their worship, and the theology of human sacrifice was common knowledge, but a distinction must be made between Olympian and Chthonian worship. The purpose of sacrifice to the Chthonians was to placate the evil spirits who caused disease, old age, and death, as well as to remove pollution and to appease the powers below. These malevolent powers were not welcome guests at the religious rituals. These rites were nocturnal and executed with dread, an obvious contrast to the joyous daytime sacrificial festivals held for the Olympians. The worship of the Chthonians is regarded as the most primitive aspect of Greek religion. [footnotes omitted]
McKnight, Scot. Introducing New Testament Interpretation. Baker Book House, 1989, pp. 45–46.---------------------------------------
(vi) The atoning death of Christ and the Graeco-Roman world [a 4-page section]
Hengel, Martin. The Cross of the Son of God. Translated by John Bowden, SCM Press Ltd, 1986, p. 216.I poked around some more in the chapter titled "Atonement" that this section appears in, and it seems to me that if you were to be able to get your hands on that one book, it would help you immensely. The ebook version of it is available to borrow for free for 1 hour at a time (you can borrow it again if nobody else is waiting for it) from the Internet Archive (you have to sign up for a free account): https://archive.org/details/crossofsonofgod0000heng
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There were more results in my Library than that, but that's all I have time to copy/paste for you. I'm sorry that I'm not a research Librarian getting paid to do this full-time for folks. It would give me pleasure if I had unlimited time to do it.
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