Revelation and the Marble Economy of Roman Ephesus (eBook)

A People's History Approach

Anna M. V. Bowden (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2020
246 Seiten
Bloomsbury Publishing (USA) (Verlag)
978-1-9787-8390-4 (ISBN)

Infos

In an effort to bring the (im)practicalities of John's command for withdrawal from cultural participation in 18:4 to the forefront of scholarly discourse, this book reconstructs the marble economy of ancient Ephesus and proceeds to read Revelation by foregrounding the daily lives of its marble-workers. This book argues that Ephesus was a major center of the marble economy in the Roman world and that the infrastructure that went into creating, building, and sustaining such an enterprise generated the need for a large workforce. Anna M. V. Bowden further demonstrates that the majority of marble-workers endured poor working conditions and struggled on a daily basis to ensure subsistence. Finally, Bowden explores the ways marble-workers participated in empire "e;through the work of their hands"e; (9:20) and questions John's characterization of marble-workers as idolaters, sorcerers, murderers, fornicators, and thieves. Bowden concludes that the praxis Revelation requires from its audience of complete withdrawal is pragmatically not sustainable and is ultimately a manifesto leaving marble-workers jobless, hungry, and with a heightened risk for malnutrition, disease, injury, and even death.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 10.12.2020
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Kunstgeschichte / Kunststile
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Bibelausgaben / Bibelkommentare
• ISBN-10: 1-9787-8390-6 / 1978783906
• ISBN-13: 978-1-9787-8390-4 / 9781978783904