Ancient World Seminar: Arjen Bakker, ''Formation of the Self in Ancient Judaism''

Abstract

There has been a great deal of attention for asceticism in the Greco-Roman world, especially for pagan and Christian manifestations in late antiquity, and to a lesser extent for Jewish examples. One particularly influential perspective regards Hellenistic intellectual culture as a dominant factor that had a major impact on pagan, Christian and Jewish forms of ascetic behaviour. It is generally assumed that ascetic dimensions in ancient Judaism are restricted to Jewish sources in Greek and should be explained as the result of Hellenistic influence. In this talk, building on some recent contributions, I will argue to the contrary and demonstrate that perfectionist aspirations are deeply embedded in Jewish works from both Palestine and the diaspora, and across the Hebrew-Greek divide. I will discuss a number of Jewish texts in both Hebrew and Greek that build on Jewish interpretive traditions and develop a distinctive approach to formation of the self, in conversation with Hellenistic models.

About the speaker

Arjen Bakker (PhD Leuven, 2015) is Assistant Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of Groningen. His research focuses on the interaction of text and practice in ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Before coming to Groningen in 2020, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the universities of Haifa and Groningen, and a lecturer in biblical studies at Oriel College, Oxford. He was also programme coordinator and associate director of the Oriel Centre for the Study of the Bible, which aims to integrate the study of the Bible into the Humanities by organizing a broad range of interdisciplinary programmes and events. In his research, he is particularly interested in interdisciplinary conversation and collaboration across the Humanities. His first monograph The Secret of Time: Reconfiguring Wisdom in the Dead Sea Scrolls will appear this year with Brill publishers