Acts of the Apostles—A Celebration of Uncertainty? Constructing a Dialogical Self for the Early Jesus Movement
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Pieter B. Hartog
Abstract
In the ancient world, travel was often a source of anxiety and uncertainty. This uncertainty pertained both to the practical aspects of traveling and to the experience of being away from one’s own land and culture. This chapter explores how the latter type of uncertainty can inspire new formulations of self and identity. Employing the modern-day psychological notion of the dialogical self and paying particular attention to the apostolic meeting in Acts 15, I aim to show how the development of the Way, as Acts of the Apostles describes it, evoked uncertainty among its members. As a response to this uncertainty, the book of Acts suggests overarching categories to describe the Way as a movement that is both familiar and new.
Abstract
In the ancient world, travel was often a source of anxiety and uncertainty. This uncertainty pertained both to the practical aspects of traveling and to the experience of being away from one’s own land and culture. This chapter explores how the latter type of uncertainty can inspire new formulations of self and identity. Employing the modern-day psychological notion of the dialogical self and paying particular attention to the apostolic meeting in Acts 15, I aim to show how the development of the Way, as Acts of the Apostles describes it, evoked uncertainty among its members. As a response to this uncertainty, the book of Acts suggests overarching categories to describe the Way as a movement that is both familiar and new.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Contributors VII
- Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Travel Experiences 1
- “And as They Travelled Eastward” (Gen 11:2): Travel in the Book of Genesis and the Anonymous Travelers in the Tower of Babel Account 11
- The Consolations of Travel: Reading Seneca’s Ad Marciam vis-à-vis Paul of Tarsus 33
- The (Missing) Motif of “Returning Home” from an Otherworldly Journey in Menippean Literature and the New Testament 55
- The Educational Aspect of the Lukan Travel Narrative: Jesus as a Πεπαιδευμένος 73
- Acts of the Apostles—A Celebration of Uncertainty? Constructing a Dialogical Self for the Early Jesus Movement 97
- “Today or Tomorrow We Will Go to Such and Such a City” (Jas 4:13): The Experience of Interconnectivity and the Mobility of Norms in the Ancient Globalized World 113
- Heavenly Journey and Divine Epistemology in the Fourth Gospel 145
- Following Vespasian in His Footsteps: Movement and (E)motion Management in Josephus’ Judean War 161
- Religion on the Road—Nehalennia Revisited: Voyagers Addressing a North Sea Deity in the Second Century CE 181
- Mapping Cosmological Space in the Apocalypse of Paul and the Visio Pauli: The Actualization of Virtual Spatiality in Two Pauline Apocalyptical Journeys based on 2 Cor 12:2–4 189
- The Travels of Barnabas: From the Acts of the Apostles to Late Antique Hagiographic Literature 229
- Rabbinic Geography: Between the Imaginary and Real 251
- The Journey of Zayd Ibn ʿAmr: In Search of True Worship 269
- Nautical Fiction of Late Antiquity: Jews and Christians Traveling by Sea 295
- Monasteries as Travel Loci for Muslims and Christians (500–1000 CE) 313
- Sachregister 337
- Stellenregister 341
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Contributors VII
- Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Travel Experiences 1
- “And as They Travelled Eastward” (Gen 11:2): Travel in the Book of Genesis and the Anonymous Travelers in the Tower of Babel Account 11
- The Consolations of Travel: Reading Seneca’s Ad Marciam vis-à-vis Paul of Tarsus 33
- The (Missing) Motif of “Returning Home” from an Otherworldly Journey in Menippean Literature and the New Testament 55
- The Educational Aspect of the Lukan Travel Narrative: Jesus as a Πεπαιδευμένος 73
- Acts of the Apostles—A Celebration of Uncertainty? Constructing a Dialogical Self for the Early Jesus Movement 97
- “Today or Tomorrow We Will Go to Such and Such a City” (Jas 4:13): The Experience of Interconnectivity and the Mobility of Norms in the Ancient Globalized World 113
- Heavenly Journey and Divine Epistemology in the Fourth Gospel 145
- Following Vespasian in His Footsteps: Movement and (E)motion Management in Josephus’ Judean War 161
- Religion on the Road—Nehalennia Revisited: Voyagers Addressing a North Sea Deity in the Second Century CE 181
- Mapping Cosmological Space in the Apocalypse of Paul and the Visio Pauli: The Actualization of Virtual Spatiality in Two Pauline Apocalyptical Journeys based on 2 Cor 12:2–4 189
- The Travels of Barnabas: From the Acts of the Apostles to Late Antique Hagiographic Literature 229
- Rabbinic Geography: Between the Imaginary and Real 251
- The Journey of Zayd Ibn ʿAmr: In Search of True Worship 269
- Nautical Fiction of Late Antiquity: Jews and Christians Traveling by Sea 295
- Monasteries as Travel Loci for Muslims and Christians (500–1000 CE) 313
- Sachregister 337
- Stellenregister 341
