Michael Peppard
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300213997
- eISBN:
- 9780300216516
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300213997.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
In 1932, at an ancient military outpost on the Euphrates, excavators unearthed a series of wall paintings. A procession of veiled women, a soldier with sword drawn, a woman at a well. The space was ...
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In 1932, at an ancient military outpost on the Euphrates, excavators unearthed a series of wall paintings. A procession of veiled women, a soldier with sword drawn, a woman at a well. The space was designed for religious rituals, but whose? As a crossroads for travelers, the city of Dura-Europos had buildings honoring gods of Greece, Rome, Persia, and Judea. These archaeologists soon realized, though, that they were looking at the earliest preserved Christian building—a “house church” from about the year 250. The World’s Oldest Church shines a flashlight once again on the murals of the earliest Christian building. Michael Peppard’s research at the nexus of Bible, art, and ritual shows that many familiar interpretations of the church require historical and theological reevaluation. While updating scholarship on all aspects of the building, he advances bold re-identifications of the female figures on the church’s walls. What if the veiled women were going not to a tomb, but to a wedding? What if the woman at a well was not a repentant sinner, but a spotless virgin—the Virgin Mary herself? Contrary to commonly held assumptions about early Christian initiation, Peppard contends that the rituals here did not primarily embody notions of death and resurrection. Rather, the central motifs were victory, healing, incarnation, and especially marriage. He attends to how the presence of ritual in a given space affects our interpretation of its art. In other words, the meaning of what appears on these walls may become clear only when we imagine what happened between them.Less
In 1932, at an ancient military outpost on the Euphrates, excavators unearthed a series of wall paintings. A procession of veiled women, a soldier with sword drawn, a woman at a well. The space was designed for religious rituals, but whose? As a crossroads for travelers, the city of Dura-Europos had buildings honoring gods of Greece, Rome, Persia, and Judea. These archaeologists soon realized, though, that they were looking at the earliest preserved Christian building—a “house church” from about the year 250. The World’s Oldest Church shines a flashlight once again on the murals of the earliest Christian building. Michael Peppard’s research at the nexus of Bible, art, and ritual shows that many familiar interpretations of the church require historical and theological reevaluation. While updating scholarship on all aspects of the building, he advances bold re-identifications of the female figures on the church’s walls. What if the veiled women were going not to a tomb, but to a wedding? What if the woman at a well was not a repentant sinner, but a spotless virgin—the Virgin Mary herself? Contrary to commonly held assumptions about early Christian initiation, Peppard contends that the rituals here did not primarily embody notions of death and resurrection. Rather, the central motifs were victory, healing, incarnation, and especially marriage. He attends to how the presence of ritual in a given space affects our interpretation of its art. In other words, the meaning of what appears on these walls may become clear only when we imagine what happened between them.
Karla Pollmann
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198726487
- eISBN:
- 9780191793295
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198726487.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religion and Literature
With the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, increasing numbers of educated people converted to this new belief. As Christianity did not have its own educational institutions, the issue of how ...
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With the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, increasing numbers of educated people converted to this new belief. As Christianity did not have its own educational institutions, the issue of how to harmonize pagan education and Christian convictions became increasingly pressing. Especially classical poetry, the staple diet of pagan education, was considered morally corrupting (because of its deceitful mythological content) and damaging for the salvation of the soul (because of the false gods it advocated). But Christianity recoiled from an unqualified anti-intellectual attitude, while at the same time the experiment of creating an idiosyncratic form of genuinely Christian poetry failed (the sole exception being the poet Commodianus). This book argues that, instead, Christian poets made creative use of the classical literary tradition, and—in addition to blending it with Judaeo-Christian biblical exegesis—exploited poetry’s special ability of enhancing the effectiveness of communication through aesthetic means. It seeks to explore these strategies through a close analysis of a wide range of Christian, and for comparison partly also pagan, writers mainly from the fourth to sixth centuries. The book reveals that early Christianity was not a hermetically sealed uniform body, but displays a rich spectrum of possibilities in dealing with the past and a willingness to engage with and adapt the surrounding culture(s), thereby developing diverse and changing responses to historical challenges. By demonstrating throughout that authority is a key in understanding the long denigrated and misunderstood early Christian poets, this book reaches the ground-breaking conclusion that early Christian poetry is an art form that gains its justification by adding cultural authority to Christianity. Thus, in a wider sense this book engages with the recently emerged scholarly interest in aspects of religion as cultural phenomena.Less
With the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, increasing numbers of educated people converted to this new belief. As Christianity did not have its own educational institutions, the issue of how to harmonize pagan education and Christian convictions became increasingly pressing. Especially classical poetry, the staple diet of pagan education, was considered morally corrupting (because of its deceitful mythological content) and damaging for the salvation of the soul (because of the false gods it advocated). But Christianity recoiled from an unqualified anti-intellectual attitude, while at the same time the experiment of creating an idiosyncratic form of genuinely Christian poetry failed (the sole exception being the poet Commodianus). This book argues that, instead, Christian poets made creative use of the classical literary tradition, and—in addition to blending it with Judaeo-Christian biblical exegesis—exploited poetry’s special ability of enhancing the effectiveness of communication through aesthetic means. It seeks to explore these strategies through a close analysis of a wide range of Christian, and for comparison partly also pagan, writers mainly from the fourth to sixth centuries. The book reveals that early Christianity was not a hermetically sealed uniform body, but displays a rich spectrum of possibilities in dealing with the past and a willingness to engage with and adapt the surrounding culture(s), thereby developing diverse and changing responses to historical challenges. By demonstrating throughout that authority is a key in understanding the long denigrated and misunderstood early Christian poets, this book reaches the ground-breaking conclusion that early Christian poetry is an art form that gains its justification by adding cultural authority to Christianity. Thus, in a wider sense this book engages with the recently emerged scholarly interest in aspects of religion as cultural phenomena.
Robert Knapp
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520231696
- eISBN:
- 9780520927902
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520231696.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
Since 1974 the University of California at Berkeley has been sponsoring extensive excavations at the Panhellenic athletic festival center of ancient Nemea in the modern Greek province of Korinthia. ...
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Since 1974 the University of California at Berkeley has been sponsoring extensive excavations at the Panhellenic athletic festival center of ancient Nemea in the modern Greek province of Korinthia. With its well-documented excavation and clear historical context, the site offers an excellent opportunity for investigation and analysis. This book, the third in a series of publications on Nemea, is a detailed presentation of the more than 3,000 legible coins from all over the ancient world that have been unearthed there. The coins, which are mostly bronze but show an unusually high proportion of silver, reflect the periods of greatest activity at the site—the late Archaic and Early Classical, the Early Hellenistic, the Early Christian, and the Byzantine. More than a compendium of data, the study breaks new ground with its analysis and contextualization of numismatic evidence in an archaeological setting.Less
Since 1974 the University of California at Berkeley has been sponsoring extensive excavations at the Panhellenic athletic festival center of ancient Nemea in the modern Greek province of Korinthia. With its well-documented excavation and clear historical context, the site offers an excellent opportunity for investigation and analysis. This book, the third in a series of publications on Nemea, is a detailed presentation of the more than 3,000 legible coins from all over the ancient world that have been unearthed there. The coins, which are mostly bronze but show an unusually high proportion of silver, reflect the periods of greatest activity at the site—the late Archaic and Early Classical, the Early Hellenistic, the Early Christian, and the Byzantine. More than a compendium of data, the study breaks new ground with its analysis and contextualization of numismatic evidence in an archaeological setting.
Patrick R. Crowley
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226648293
- eISBN:
- 9780226648323
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226648323.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine
This chapter examines the origins of the iconography of Doubting Thomas around the turn of the fifth century. By taking up the famous incredulity of the apostle who was uncertain whether he was ...
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This chapter examines the origins of the iconography of Doubting Thomas around the turn of the fifth century. By taking up the famous incredulity of the apostle who was uncertain whether he was seeing a mere ghost or the actual, resurrected body of Christ in the flesh, it considers how the imagery keys into broader theological and philosophical arguments about sense-perception, materiality, and embodiment.Less
This chapter examines the origins of the iconography of Doubting Thomas around the turn of the fifth century. By taking up the famous incredulity of the apostle who was uncertain whether he was seeing a mere ghost or the actual, resurrected body of Christ in the flesh, it considers how the imagery keys into broader theological and philosophical arguments about sense-perception, materiality, and embodiment.
Karla Pollmann
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198726487
- eISBN:
- 9780191793295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198726487.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religion and Literature
The Introduction offers a broad setting of the stage regarding the state of research in the still under-researched field of early Christian poetry. By challenging both classicists for whom this ...
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The Introduction offers a broad setting of the stage regarding the state of research in the still under-researched field of early Christian poetry. By challenging both classicists for whom this literature tends to be ‘too late’, and theologians for whom this literature does not bear sufficient relevance regarding exegetical and dogmatic issues it emphasizes the need for an unbiased look at late antiquity and its insufficient qualification as a period of ‘decline’. Inter- and transdisciplinary literary theories like reception aesthetics and intertextuality, littérature au second degré and the general blossoming of reception studies in classics in recent years enable the fruitful study of early Christian poetry from a fresh perspective. This will not only fill a considerable gap in our knowledge of the history of European literature, mentality, and thought, but will also enable a better understanding of later literature in this tradition, from Beowulf to Milton’s Paradise Lost.Less
The Introduction offers a broad setting of the stage regarding the state of research in the still under-researched field of early Christian poetry. By challenging both classicists for whom this literature tends to be ‘too late’, and theologians for whom this literature does not bear sufficient relevance regarding exegetical and dogmatic issues it emphasizes the need for an unbiased look at late antiquity and its insufficient qualification as a period of ‘decline’. Inter- and transdisciplinary literary theories like reception aesthetics and intertextuality, littérature au second degré and the general blossoming of reception studies in classics in recent years enable the fruitful study of early Christian poetry from a fresh perspective. This will not only fill a considerable gap in our knowledge of the history of European literature, mentality, and thought, but will also enable a better understanding of later literature in this tradition, from Beowulf to Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Risto Uro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199661176
- eISBN:
- 9780191793455
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199661176.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religious Studies
This chapter asks why ritual has been a largely neglected theme in the study of Christian beginnings. The chapter also surveys earlier studies in which ritual has been in focus, most importantly ...
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This chapter asks why ritual has been a largely neglected theme in the study of Christian beginnings. The chapter also surveys earlier studies in which ritual has been in focus, most importantly among the members of the so-called History of Religion School and historians of early Christian liturgy. The chapter gives an account of the impact now being made by the field of Ritual Studies in the study of early Christianity and in the study of the Bible, and makes a case for the view that the emerging new approach employing ritual theory can be fruitfully extended toward the use of cognitive theories of ritual.Less
This chapter asks why ritual has been a largely neglected theme in the study of Christian beginnings. The chapter also surveys earlier studies in which ritual has been in focus, most importantly among the members of the so-called History of Religion School and historians of early Christian liturgy. The chapter gives an account of the impact now being made by the field of Ritual Studies in the study of early Christianity and in the study of the Bible, and makes a case for the view that the emerging new approach employing ritual theory can be fruitfully extended toward the use of cognitive theories of ritual.
Carlos R. Galvão-Sobrinho
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780520257399
- eISBN:
- 9780520954663
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520257399.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
During the fourth century AD, theological controversy divided Christian communities throughout the eastern half of the Roman Empire. At stake in these disputes was not only the truth about God but ...
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During the fourth century AD, theological controversy divided Christian communities throughout the eastern half of the Roman Empire. At stake in these disputes was not only the truth about God but also the authority of church leaders whose legitimacy rested on their willingness to validate that truth. Because that truth could not be fixed, however, nor that willingness secured, the dispute constantly threatened prelates' claims to authority. In this book, Galvão-Sobrinho argues that churchmen's response to that challenge gave birth to a new style of church leadership that contributed to the affirmation of episcopal power. The author shows how prelates engaged in the dispute embarked on quests to assert their orthodoxy and legitimacy—tasks that called for organized, sustained, and effective action, and that demanded prelates and their congregations to be constantly mobilized. Galvão-Sobrinho argues that the dispute produced new modes of behavior—dispositions and tendencies to act in particular ways—that continuously channeled powers. While these novelties were largely the work of prelates in the first half of the fourth century, the style of command they inaugurated was incorporated into a dynamic model of ecclesiastical leadership that came to define the episcopal office in late antiquity.Less
During the fourth century AD, theological controversy divided Christian communities throughout the eastern half of the Roman Empire. At stake in these disputes was not only the truth about God but also the authority of church leaders whose legitimacy rested on their willingness to validate that truth. Because that truth could not be fixed, however, nor that willingness secured, the dispute constantly threatened prelates' claims to authority. In this book, Galvão-Sobrinho argues that churchmen's response to that challenge gave birth to a new style of church leadership that contributed to the affirmation of episcopal power. The author shows how prelates engaged in the dispute embarked on quests to assert their orthodoxy and legitimacy—tasks that called for organized, sustained, and effective action, and that demanded prelates and their congregations to be constantly mobilized. Galvão-Sobrinho argues that the dispute produced new modes of behavior—dispositions and tendencies to act in particular ways—that continuously channeled powers. While these novelties were largely the work of prelates in the first half of the fourth century, the style of command they inaugurated was incorporated into a dynamic model of ecclesiastical leadership that came to define the episcopal office in late antiquity.
J. Andrew Dearman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190246488
- eISBN:
- 9780190246525
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190246488.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Reception history provides examples of how characters in Old Testament narratives are interpreted in the New Testament, post-biblical Judaism, and Islam. The examples provided are drawn from those ...
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Reception history provides examples of how characters in Old Testament narratives are interpreted in the New Testament, post-biblical Judaism, and Islam. The examples provided are drawn from those discussed in previous chapters and include Abraham, Isaac, Hagar, Ishmael, Ruth, Boaz, and Orpah. Various communities of faith have interpreted their lives in light of these canonical characters. Historically these communities of faith made the OT narratives not only formative for their identity, but often the stories became classical texts for the larger communities in which they lived. The chapter concludes with the question of how modern, secular readings of these canonical characters and stories should proceed, given the increasing cultural distance between past and present.Less
Reception history provides examples of how characters in Old Testament narratives are interpreted in the New Testament, post-biblical Judaism, and Islam. The examples provided are drawn from those discussed in previous chapters and include Abraham, Isaac, Hagar, Ishmael, Ruth, Boaz, and Orpah. Various communities of faith have interpreted their lives in light of these canonical characters. Historically these communities of faith made the OT narratives not only formative for their identity, but often the stories became classical texts for the larger communities in which they lived. The chapter concludes with the question of how modern, secular readings of these canonical characters and stories should proceed, given the increasing cultural distance between past and present.
