The Complexity of Conversion: Intersectional Perspectives on Religious Change in Antiquity and Beyond(Studies in Ancient Religion and Culture)

Today, conversion is a contested religious, political, and personal phenomenon, and that was also the case in the ancient world. Using several primary sources (Jewish and Christian) and case studies, this volume discusses what this change could have meant for various individuals or groups of people in the ancient world and argues that conversion can best be understood through an intersectional perspective, an approach that includes gender, class, ethnicity, and age, as well as political and economic elements in its analysis of conversion. The volume also acknowledges that a discussion of conversion benefits from taking into account conversion's history of reception. Case studies from the reception history as well as contemporary examples of contested conversions (for example, from Christianity to Islam or vice versa) are also brought to the table. In sum, the book addresses the complexity of conversion, using a range of cases, texts and theories, and initiates a dialogue between ancient sources and present concepts or practices. Close readings of ancient texts play a central role in the project. Yet, the book also considers how sacred texts and their receptions have influenced the way we generally think about conversation as religious change.

Table of Contents:
1. What Is So Complex About Conversion? Marianne Bjelland Kartzow and Valérie Nicolet 2. Shedding Religious Skin: An Intersectional Analysis of the Claim that Male Circumcision Limits Religious Freedom Karin B. Neutel, University of Oslo 3. Complex Interactions: Conversion and Interreligious Dialogue in the Norwegian Context Anne Hege Grung, University of Oslo 4. Conversion in Mystery Religions? Theory Meets Mysteries and Conversion Gerhard van den Heever, University of South Africa 5. “Leap, Ye, Lame for Joy”: The Dynamics of Disability in Conversion Anna Rebecca Solevåg, VID Specialized University, Stavanger, Norway 6. Reading a Complex Identity in Conversion: Interpretations of the Ethiopian Eunuch Minna Heimola, Independent Scholar 7. Creating a New Sex: Women Bodies in Conversion Valérie Nicolet 8. Conversion in/to the Wilderness: The Case of the Egyptian Slave Girl Hagar in Early Christian and Jewish Texts Marianne Bjelland Kartzow 9. The Complexity of Aseneth’s Transformation Kirsten Marie Hartvigsen, University of Oslo 10. Leaving the Traditions of the Fathers: Perspectives on Conversion from a Christianity That Did Not Survive Kristine Toft Rosland, University of South-Eastern Norway / University of Oslo 11. Spatial Conversion and Christian Identity in Late Antiquity Anna Lampadaridi, Institut Protestant de Théologie (Paris) 12. Concluding Remarks Valérie Nicolet

About the Author :
Valerie Nicolet is "maitre de conferences" at the Institut protestant de theologie, faculte de Paris, where she teaches New Testament and Ancient Greek. Marianne Bjelland Kartzow is professor of New Testament Studies at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo, Norway.

Review :
Offers something new and worthwhile to scholarship on conversion in antiquity. Matthew Thiessen, McMaster University Makes a significant contribution not only to the discussion of ancient conversion experiences but also to the discursive framework in which we as modern scholars try to understand those experiences. Zeba A. Crook, Carleton University