In this highly acclaimed work, Bruce Winter gathers for the first time all the available evidence on the first-century sophistic movement from two major centers of learning in the East. Together with
In this highly acclaimed work, Bruce Winter gathers for the first time all the available evidence on the first-century sophistic movement from two major centers of learning in the East. Together with the writings of the contemporary Hellenistic Jews, Philo and Paul, he discusses all the protagonists and antagonists of this movement in Alexandria and Corinth. This study provides important insights into the problems that this elitist movement created for Diaspora Jews in Alexandria and for Christians in Corinth. It also traces the origins of the Second Sophistic in the reign of Nero.
Substantially revised and including a new foreword by G. W. Bowersock, this volume is also supported by a web site —
www.s ophist.info — featuring additional archaeological evidence and photographs.
Journal of Jewish Studies
"A thoroughly engaging book. With masterful strokes, Winter proves that the Second Sophistic had roots which can be traced back to the first part of the first century. More dramatically, Winter also shows that Philo and Paul had similar responses to some of the spiritual challenges of their day."
Journal of Biblical Literature
"This is a remarkable and valuable study. . . Winter's sketch of first-century sophistry gives us a clearer picture of Paul's rhetorically adept opponents and provides further important historical context for the growing body of rhetorical studies of Paul's letters."
Catholic Biblical Quarterly
"Winter merits praise for his careful reconstruction of the context which led to significant themes in Philo's and Paul's oral and written work. He advances the interpretive strategy of reading Paul through the lens of Greco-Roman rhetoric."
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Bruce W. Winter is the former warden of Tyndale House, Cambridge, and a respected authority on the historical background to the New Testament.
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