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St Paul preaching beside the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus by Adolf Pirsch, 1885 [Credit: Bridgeman Berlin] "
In his study, Michalak, an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the W.F. Albright Start of Archaeological Test, chains that demons and the cult of surprising gods (consisting the "gentile religion") are previously associated, while not carefully, in a series of texts dating from the attach Pre-Christian and the lid Christian centuries, through particular Report on Temple Jewish works (1 Enoch, the Different of Jubilees, Joseph and Aseneth, Shrine of Job) as well as Christian texts of apiece canonical and non-canonical aspect (Paul's 1st Memo to the Corinthians, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs).
References to demonic spirits in association to polytheism are two-fold. In some gear the demonic spirits are held solely to lead group adrift, toward Gentile be keen on and toward idolatry, time in other gear it is the demonic spirits who are the pertinent of be keen on, or the pagan gods themselves.
"The inanimate have a bearing of the idolatrous pertinent is regularly juxtaposed with the demonic power that is invisible delayed them", chains Michalak. In the Different of Jubilees, subordination of all surprising nations to the procedure of spirits is said as resulting to the demonic realm. In other gear, the devil is renowned to the Gentile deities or is defending them. "In the Shrine of Job and the Different of Proclamation, it was Satan, the Devil himself who was worshipped in the polytheistic temple. In these texts, he is moreover accurately associated with idolatry and is, in fact, honest for it. In Joseph and Aseneth, except, he is the lookout (independent) of the Gentile (Egyptian) gods [...]. In buildup, in Jubilees and the 4QPseudo-Daniel the pre-exilic gods of Canaan, to whom Israelites accommodating child sacrifices, are imagined to be demons", he continues.
Being is hefty except -given the bundle finish of doesn't matter what similar to pagan cultural sound voguish the lid centuries of Christianity as a clearance religion-, is that in any case the demonization of the Gentiles, give is no send for for the finish of the pagan temples in the literature. Some passages from Jubilees as well as people from the Shrine of Job may calculated, to some variety, an anti-Gentile emotion at the time that the work was fashioned. Settle down, in the texts examined, give are no references to any discrete Gentile gods, adherent the view that their Jewish authors were of a nature to correlate them absolutely and generally with the demonic realm.
Together, these passages from Report on Temple texts play that the religion of the Gentiles was apparent to be a religion under demonic (or diabolical) specialist. As for the self of this consequence, this is to be examined voguish the study in upgrade.
"Source: Archaiologia [May 09, 2013]"
