I would begin here :

The New Testament in Its Literary Environment

David Edward Aune

James Clarke & Co., 1988

(A study of the relationship between the New Testament writings and other literature of late antiquity. This comprehensive introduction identifies and describes the major literary genres and forms found in the New Testament and Early Christian non-canonical literature. Comparing them with those prevalent in Judaism and Hellenism, it sheds light on the conventions that the New Testament writers chose to follow.)

But mainly because it is on my shelves - there might be something newer around. And then proceed to this :

The Westminster Dictionary of New Testament and Early Christian Literature ...

By David Edward Aune

Westminster John Knox Press, 2003

(Which I, unfortunately, don’t have at hand)

Best Karen Schousboe

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On 19 Apr 2016, at 22:57, Kurt Sherry <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Luke-Acts would definitely be an exception for biblical literature, though, since the author was obviously hellenistic and had far better Greek than the other books (with the possible exception of Hebrews).

On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 7:33 PM, John Dillon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Anna Graham wrote:
"I think the consensus right now about similarities between biblical texts and classical literature is that apparent similarities in themes or images have more to do with similar mythological/religious themes common to the Hellenistic Mediterranean world..."

That does seem to be the consensus on that score. But there are recent or relatively recent books by Marianne Palmer Bonz (_The Past as Legacy: Luke-Acts and Ancient Epic_ [Fortress Press, 2000]) and Dennis R. MacDonald (_Luke and Vergil: Imitations of Classical Greek Literature_ [Rowman and Littlefield, 2014]) that are interested not in religious themes but instead in narrative similarities. With regard to Vergil, these are unpersuasive in their assumptions of widespread interest in the _Aeneid_ in essentially non-Latin areas of the Roman empire.

Best again,
John Dillon
________________________________________
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Anna Kirkwood Graham <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 9:19:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] connection between Revelation, the Aeneid and Dante?

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

I think the consensus right now about similarities between biblical
texts and classical literature is that apparent similarities in themes
or images have more to do with similar mythological/religious themes
common to the Hellenistic Mediterranean world -- I've been wondering
for years what Livy might have known about biblical literature, but
have been unable to find any evidence one way or another. There is
Vergil's messianic eclogue as well, which seems to blur the lines
between classical and Christian. But it would be interesting if
anyone out there knows of any other good sources on the subject ...
Anna Graham
Romance and Classical Languages

> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture
>
> I noticed the connections between Revelation and Dante are really
strong,
> especially when you get to Paradiso, back as an undergrad. As for
John
> having read Virgil, I haven't heard any speculation on that (doesn't
mean
> someone hasn't published a paper in a religious studies journal
somewhere,
> though). It strikes me as unlikely that there was any direct
connection.
> The author (whether the Apostle John or someone from eastern
Anatolia/upper
> Mesopotamia) almost certainly didn't know Latin and doesn't appear
to have
> been overly invested in Hellenistic cultural referencing.
Furthermore,
> there was a wealth of Jewish apocalyptic literature available for
him.
>
> On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 4:11 AM, Rosemary Hayes-Milligan and Andrew
> Milligan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture
>>
>> I hope you will forgive an idle query borne out of the fact that I
was
>> reading the second reading at Mass yesterday (Revelation 7:9-17)
>>
>> When I reached the bit that that begins 'who are those, robed in
white...'
>> it rang bells with the recent Radio 4 reading of Seamus Heaney's
>> translation of the Aeneid Book 6 (Aeneas's journey into the
underworld).
>> We know that Dante was inspired by Virgil. Was he also inspired by
>> Revelation and has anyone suggested that St John may have read
Virgil?
>>
>> Forgive me if this is something that has been much rehearsed, or is
>> totally silly. Does anyone have thoughts?
>>
>> Best,
>> Rosemary
>>
>> Dr RCE Hayes
>> 18 Murrayfield Drive
>> Edinburgh
>> EH12 6EB
>>
>> 0131 337 1385
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
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Anna Kirkwood Graham, J.D., Ph.D.
Romance and Classical Languages
B480 Wells Hall
Michigan State University

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