Text and Artifact in the Religions of Mediterranean Antiquity: Essays in Honour of Peter Richardson

24. Friendship and Second Temple Jewish Sectarianism

24 FRIENDSHIP AND SECOND TEMPLE JEWISH SECTARIANISM WAYNE O. MCCREADY Rodney Stark, in his book The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History (1996: 18­19), makes a telling observation about those who join modern new religious movements. When asked why they joined, initiates frequently cited friendships and personal associations made with members of the movement. When asked about reasons forconversion yearslater, however, responses had more to do with ideological and theological issues. Stark's point is that conversion to contemporary new religious movements (in contrast to ongoing membership) has as much, perhaps more, to do with social ties between people as with ideology. This essay will consider two proposals from Stark's analysis of the origins of Christianity and apply them to a particular context in Second Temple Judaism:conversion to a religious group isrealized when an initiate has greater allegiance to members than to non­members; and successful conversion movements actively cultivate social networks that promote intimate personal attachments such as friendship between standing members and would­beinitiates. With referenceto hispoint about the primacy of friendship for joining a religious movement, Stark cites records kept by a Mormon president: When [Mormon] missionaries make cold calls, knock on the doors of strangers, this eventually leads to a conversion once out ofa thousand calls. However, when missionaries make their first contact with a person in the home of a Mormon friend or relative of that person, this results in conversion 50 percent of the time (Stark and Bainbridge, 1985). A variation on the network proposition about conversion is that successful founders of new faiths typically turn first to those with whom they already have strong attachments. That is, they recruit their first followers from among their family and close friends. (1996: 18) FRIENDSHIP AND SECTARIANISM 403 Stark's proposal about the relationshipbetween friendship and conversion will be qualified below in light of research done by Lome Dawson (1996). In addition, David Konstan's thesis (1997: 6) that friendship at the turn of the common era should be thought of as something rather similar to our modern understanding of it will be used as a first principle for defining friendship in this essay. Friendship will be understood as an achieved relationship distinct from ascribed and obligatoryroles demanded byfamily, kin and class. It was based on mutual bonds involving intimacy, loyalty and affection. Initially,Iwasless than sympathetic to Konstan's thesis because I am not convinced humans have always held common views with reference to self­understanding (see Malina and Neyrey 1991; Malina 1993; 1996: 35­96; Brown 1987, for comments on first­century viewsof personhood and the self). Also, the assertion (indeed the scholarly consensus) that humans at the turn of the common era were profoundlydefined by the patron­client dynamic is rather overwhelming—and friendshipwas largely,if not exclusively,part and parcel ofthe Mediterranean patronage culture (see Boissevain 1974; Eisenstadt and Roniger 1984; Osiek and Balch 1997; Wallace­Hadrill 1989). Close reading ofKonstan's research, however,suggests that, based on his philological studies and social analysis,friendship as a mutualand affective bond should be given a much higher profile in assessing religious parties and sects in Second Temple Judaism—especially on mattersofentrance and maintenance. Analysis by the Society of Biblical Literature'sHellenistic Moral Philosophy and Early Christianity Group demonstrates the positive consequences of viewing friendship as an important principle for understanding religion in antiquity (Fitzgerald 1996; 1997). The primarypurpose of this essay is to assess the socio­historical context of earlyJudaism and the origins of Christianity. Although an attempt will be made to arrive at an assessment of conversion among Jewish sectarians based on the Qumran Community 'Rule that suggests that friendship can be productive for dealingwith religiousdefinition among parties and sectarians in Second Temple Judaism, the aim is not to be drawn into a discussion of the ideology offriendship, but to concentrate on friendship as the social contextfor the recruitment and retention of converts. 404 TEXT ANDARTIFACT 1. Sociological Analysis: Directives for Considering Parties and Sects 1.1 Proposals from Analysis of Modern New Religious Movements The publisher's praisefor Stark'sbook (HarperCollins edition), citing Publishers Weekly, provides the followingendorsement: "Stark usescontemporary social­ scientific data about why people join new religious movements and how religions recruit members to investigate the formativehistory of Christianity." My concern in this essayisnot with Stark's viewsof epidemics and conversion (1992), nor with the question about the mission to the Jews or...