1/ Reading canonical texts
One of the most important developments of the history of religion in the imperial Roman period is the substitution of sacrificial religious practices by reading practices, as argued by Guy Stroumsa in his book on the end of sacrifice. Christian cult, which had developed as other ritual towards miniaturization and towards replacing sacrifice by memory of sacrifice could only thus function by the possibility to refer to sacrifices in texts. This is not to argue for any previous unseen sacrificial interpretation on such a basis. There is enough of sacrifice in the Bible to render void such a claim. But there is much more going on in many texts than replacement, spiritualisation, or memory. Across religious boundaries—that appear to have been much less strong and clear as usually supposed—texts engaged with contemporary religious practices, cross-fertilizing different traditions and thus leading to surprising innovations.
By accepting the communis opinio of a Ro...
