403 BETWEEN AMBITION QUIETISM AND their allegiance to the Empire was to actively participate in the Cult of the Emperor. 3. Hostility Caused by the Adoption of an Exclusive Cult 43 The cult of foreign gods was perceived as a threat to the natural order of things, and thus to the State itself 44. Already Traditionally, New Testament scholars have manifested a certain interest 43 in exploring the Cult of the Roman Emperor in connection and in competition with the political imagery laid out in the book of Revelation. However the im- portance of the Imperial Cult as a pervasive and prominent reality in Greek cities, Asia Minor and even Palestine has often been downplayed in discourses about the historical Jesus and Paul of Tarsus, e.g. H. KOESTER, Introduction to the New Testament (Philadelphia, PA 1982) I, 366-371. More recently, never- theless, there has been a better assessment of the Imperial Cult in all its forms (festivals, games, rituals, patronage system, etc) as the “web of power that formed the fabric of society”, so S.R.F. PRICE, Rituals and Powers. The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (Cambridge 1985) 274. An increasing number of scholars recognize the need of seriously read Jesus’ and Paul’s claims and mis- sion against the backdrop of Roman imperial ideology: see for example R.A. HORSLEY, Jesus and the Spiral of Violence. Popular Jewish Resistance in Roman Palestine (San Francisco, CA 1987); J.D. CROSSAN, The Historical Jesus. The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (San Francisco, CA 1991); D. GEORGI, Theocracy in Paul’s Praxis and Theology (Minneapolis, MN 1991) ; R.A. HORSLEY (ed.), Paul and Empire. Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society (Harrisburg, PA 1997). However, some scholars are still skep- tical about the presence of a subversive, anti-Imperial language especially, but not only, in Pauline writings, and therefore attach little importance (if any) to the relevance of the Cult of the Emperor for early Christian studies. Cf. PRICE, Rituals and Powers; P. ZANKER, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor, MI 1988); J. SCHEID, La religion des Romains (Paris 1998); M. CLAUSS, Kaiser und Gott. Herrscherkult im römischen Reich (Stuttgart – Leipzig 1999); J. SCHEID, Religion et piété à Rome (Sciences des religions; Paris 2001); I. GRADEL, Emperor Worship and Roman Religion (Oxford Clas- sical Monographs; Oxford 2002); D. FISHWICK, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West. Studies in the Ruler Cult of the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire (Leiden 2004) 4 vols.; J. SCHEID, Quand faire c’est croire. Les rites sacri- ficiels des Romains (Collection historique; Paris 2007). Of special interest is J. WHITE, “Anti-Imperial Subtexts in Paul: An Attempt at Building o Firmer Foundation ”, Bib 90 (2009) 305-333, where the subversive anti-Imperial char- acter of Pauline texts is maintained, but on the grounds of second Temple Jewish-apocalyptic discourse. G.W. BOWERSOCK, Studies on the Eastern Roman Empire. Social, Eco- 44 nomic and Administrative History Religion Historiography (Bibliotheca Erod-