Divination and philosophy in the letters of Paul

Biblical texts and early Christian figures have traditionally been studied from the vantage point of theological categories (such as “revelation”) that isolate early Christianity from its historical context in the Graeco-Roman world. This book restores the Apostle Paul to his ancient context by re-reading his claims to receive divine knowledge from within, not against, the context of ancient divination. Each chapter studies a particular aspect of divination in Paul’s letters in comparison with similar phenomena in the Graeco-Roman world. These include ancient philosophical discussions of the mechanics (or ontology) of divination, visionary experiences, prophecy and divine speech, the divinatory use of written texts, and the interpretation of signs. Through analysing these topics, the book illuminates the coherence and connections both between Paul and his historical context and between diverse topics of Paul’s letters that have usually been studied in isolation from each other. As such, the book forms an in-depth study of the topic of divine communication in Paul’s letters, which integrates this theme with the broader topics of ancient cosmology, anthropology, eschatology, and theology.