Persuasion and dissuasion in early christianity, ancient judaism, and hellenism

In 2001, scholars working in the fields of early Christianity, ancient Judaism, and Hellenism at the Faculty of Theology of Utrecht University and the Catholic Theological University in Utrecht started a new research program called 'Judaism, Christianity, and Hellenism in Interaction'. To mark its start, a small conference on religious propaganda in antiquity was organized in January 2002. The ten conference papers have been brought together in this volume. The terms 'persuasion' and 'dissuasion' cover both 'propaganda' and 'protreptics' as well as 'apologetics' and 'polemics,' and it is these four aspects of ancient religious discourse which are addressed.