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Malina and Pilch on Religious Visions
Malina and Pilch are a couple of Context Group scholars who have written a couple of dozen books between them about the social-historical context of the NT world. We've touched on the concept of the early Christians having visions in a couple of other threads here, so I wanted to quote at length from their Social-Science Commentary on the Book of Revelation.
I think those section's from Malina and Pilch's book are very helpful in understanding what was going on in the early Church in general. It is clear from Paul's letters that spiritual experiences and visions and prophesies were encouraged in his churches. And particularly important to notes is that Paul and these church groups believed they could learn information from such revelations:
As is being discussed in another thread, Paul comments that he learned of the Last Supper from Jesus:
Likewise the accounts in Acts of the early church, make it clear that when the Holy Spirit came upon them all there was a lot of prophesying and a lot of visions.
So in the biblical accounts, both Paul and Acts are clear that throughout the very early church, there was a great deal of activity involving prophesying, visions, interpretations, and a belief that true information could be learned from such activities. (It's also somewhat interesting, I think, how pervasive such activity seemed to be in the early church yet how lacking it generally seems to be in the gospels, but I'm not really sure what to make of that...?)
An important question then is: To what extent was the theology of the early church, and their beliefs about Jesus, and their accounts of his ministry, shaped by their visions and interpretations? Did Paul invent the idea of the Last Supper because it was revealed to him in a vision, and spread it around his churches so much it was later included in the gospels? What else that went into the gospels was learned by these early churches through visions and prophesies and revelations?
Malina and Pilch are a couple of Context Group scholars who have written a couple of dozen books between them about the social-historical context of the NT world. We've touched on the concept of the early Christians having visions in a couple of other threads here, so I wanted to quote at length from their Social-Science Commentary on the Book of Revelation.
Sky Visions (from preface and introduction)
From the period of the Roman Empire alone, the surviving astrological corpus matches in bulk the entire historical corpus... The authors of this commentary take the author of Revelation at his word. If he said he went into the sky, we believe that in his estimation, he went into the sky... The questions, then, are: How did people in antiquity go into the sky? What did they expect to see in the sky? ...The author of Revelation presents himself as John, an astral seer... How does his Israelite background and faith in Jesus undergird his understanding of his sky experiences, sky readings, and sky visions?....
In first-century perspectives, these celestial entities were not only angelic beings but also stars - the same stars visible to us today. For in the period of the New Testament, stars were considered to be personal, living beings.
...Babylonian astronomical/astrological knowledge (the two were identical at the time) spread throughout the Mediterranean world... Due to this new knowledge, this period saw the rise of the local production of astronomical and astrological lore as the Babylonian traditions were appropriated. And so secrets about deities rooted in the new knowledge could now be made known. It would seem that the newly appropriated Babylonian lore greatly stimulated awareness that the deities had very important secrets readily knowable by persons who could read the sky. Those who were adept read the sky to explain either what had happened in the past or what would happen rather soon...
Like other Mediterranean peoples of the period, people of the house of Israel used the newfound lore to learn about their God's activities just as other ethnic groups did (see, for example, the prophets Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel, as well as the authors of The Testament of Shem, The Books of Enoch, The Testament of Solomon...)
The Hellenistic age witnessed the emergence of specially Israelite revelations rooted in sky readings... it was common in the period to read the sky to find out information about the past celestial and social conditions that led to the present social conditions as well as to find out answers concerning what the sky holds in store for kingdom as a whole... and in general when to begin certain activities influenced by the sky... Such activities might include house building, land purchases, and travel. Thus the prophetic Paul claims that his second trip to Jerusalem after his conversion was dictated by revelation (Gal 2:2); he promises the Philippians that God would reveal to them the truth of competing opinions (3:15).
In this book [Revelation], John the prophet follows the path of his learned contemporaries and travels to the sky to read the sky.
From the period of the Roman Empire alone, the surviving astrological corpus matches in bulk the entire historical corpus... The authors of this commentary take the author of Revelation at his word. If he said he went into the sky, we believe that in his estimation, he went into the sky... The questions, then, are: How did people in antiquity go into the sky? What did they expect to see in the sky? ...The author of Revelation presents himself as John, an astral seer... How does his Israelite background and faith in Jesus undergird his understanding of his sky experiences, sky readings, and sky visions?....
In first-century perspectives, these celestial entities were not only angelic beings but also stars - the same stars visible to us today. For in the period of the New Testament, stars were considered to be personal, living beings.
...Babylonian astronomical/astrological knowledge (the two were identical at the time) spread throughout the Mediterranean world... Due to this new knowledge, this period saw the rise of the local production of astronomical and astrological lore as the Babylonian traditions were appropriated. And so secrets about deities rooted in the new knowledge could now be made known. It would seem that the newly appropriated Babylonian lore greatly stimulated awareness that the deities had very important secrets readily knowable by persons who could read the sky. Those who were adept read the sky to explain either what had happened in the past or what would happen rather soon...
Like other Mediterranean peoples of the period, people of the house of Israel used the newfound lore to learn about their God's activities just as other ethnic groups did (see, for example, the prophets Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel, as well as the authors of The Testament of Shem, The Books of Enoch, The Testament of Solomon...)
The Hellenistic age witnessed the emergence of specially Israelite revelations rooted in sky readings... it was common in the period to read the sky to find out information about the past celestial and social conditions that led to the present social conditions as well as to find out answers concerning what the sky holds in store for kingdom as a whole... and in general when to begin certain activities influenced by the sky... Such activities might include house building, land purchases, and travel. Thus the prophetic Paul claims that his second trip to Jerusalem after his conversion was dictated by revelation (Gal 2:2); he promises the Philippians that God would reveal to them the truth of competing opinions (3:15).
In this book [Revelation], John the prophet follows the path of his learned contemporaries and travels to the sky to read the sky.
Altered States of Consciousness (ASC)
I think those section's from Malina and Pilch's book are very helpful in understanding what was going on in the early Church in general. It is clear from Paul's letters that spiritual experiences and visions and prophesies were encouraged in his churches. And particularly important to notes is that Paul and these church groups believed they could learn information from such revelations:
1 Cor 14:26-40
When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret... Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to someone else sitting nearby, let the first person be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged...
Anyone who claims to be a prophet, or to have spiritual powers, must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord. Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized. So, my friends, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues
When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret... Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to someone else sitting nearby, let the first person be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged...
Anyone who claims to be a prophet, or to have spiritual powers, must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord. Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized. So, my friends, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues
As is being discussed in another thread, Paul comments that he learned of the Last Supper from Jesus:
1 Cor 11:23-35
For I received from the Lord
For I received from the Lord
Likewise the accounts in Acts of the early church, make it clear that when the Holy Spirit came upon them all there was a lot of prophesying and a lot of visions.
So in the biblical accounts, both Paul and Acts are clear that throughout the very early church, there was a great deal of activity involving prophesying, visions, interpretations, and a belief that true information could be learned from such activities. (It's also somewhat interesting, I think, how pervasive such activity seemed to be in the early church yet how lacking it generally seems to be in the gospels, but I'm not really sure what to make of that...?)
An important question then is: To what extent was the theology of the early church, and their beliefs about Jesus, and their accounts of his ministry, shaped by their visions and interpretations? Did Paul invent the idea of the Last Supper because it was revealed to him in a vision, and spread it around his churches so much it was later included in the gospels? What else that went into the gospels was learned by these early churches through visions and prophesies and revelations?
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