How superstitious are you? Even if you claim to be beyond the pull and pale of alluring sirens and ominous omens, it is hard to escape their influence altogether. Be honest: everybody takes note, whether or not they take seriously, Friday the 13th. Be honest: we notice black cats when they saunter in front of us — not so much the tabbies or calicos. Be honest: after two pieces of bad news, we brace ourselves for a third. Of course, it is just plain sensible not to walk underneath a ladder.

As little or as much as we may allow superstitions to nudge us this way or that, consider how the actions and attitudes of men and women in the first century would have been hemmed in and honed down by an absolute host of unseen, half-known forces. Pagan religion found deities behind every fence, and forc…