Candida Moss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199739875
- eISBN:
- 9780199777259
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199739875.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Early Christian Studies
This book uses the martyrs’ imitation of Jesus in the acts of the martyrs as a window into the history of ideas. It argues, first, that the presentations of the deaths of the martyrs are modeled on ...
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This book uses the martyrs’ imitation of Jesus in the acts of the martyrs as a window into the history of ideas. It argues, first, that the presentations of the deaths of the martyrs are modeled on portrayals of the death of Jesus in early Christian literature and practice. Given that the martyrs are presented as Christ figures, they serve as narrative reinterpretations of the death of Jesus and can serve as valuable, early sources for the reception history of the New Testament. It also argues that the assimilation of the martyrs to Christ goes further than the narrative contours and stylistic features of their deaths. In the depiction of the salvific value of the martyr’s death, the postmortem functions of martyrs in heaven, and the martyrs’ status vis-à-vis Christ in the afterlife, the martyrs continue to be presented as Christly figures. As a result, the martyr acts can also contribute to our understanding of the development of ideas about Jesus (Christology) and the way in which human beings are saved (soteriology) in the early church in the pre-Constantinian period.Less
This book uses the martyrs’ imitation of Jesus in the acts of the martyrs as a window into the history of ideas. It argues, first, that the presentations of the deaths of the martyrs are modeled on portrayals of the death of Jesus in early Christian literature and practice. Given that the martyrs are presented as Christ figures, they serve as narrative reinterpretations of the death of Jesus and can serve as valuable, early sources for the reception history of the New Testament. It also argues that the assimilation of the martyrs to Christ goes further than the narrative contours and stylistic features of their deaths. In the depiction of the salvific value of the martyr’s death, the postmortem functions of martyrs in heaven, and the martyrs’ status vis-à-vis Christ in the afterlife, the martyrs continue to be presented as Christly figures. As a result, the martyr acts can also contribute to our understanding of the development of ideas about Jesus (Christology) and the way in which human beings are saved (soteriology) in the early church in the pre-Constantinian period.
Vasiliki M. Limberis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730889
- eISBN:
- 9780199895229
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730889.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This book examines the cult of the martyrs in the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Chapter 1 analyzes the complex rituals of the ...
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This book examines the cult of the martyrs in the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Chapter 1 analyzes the complex rituals of the panegyris, the martyr festival, as a transformative event by which the faithful experience the martyr’s holiness. How they employ the martyrs in preaching, in organizational protocols, in Scriptural exegesis, and in their call to Christian morality all show their own profound devotion to martyr piety and their evangelical zeal in promoting the cult of the martyrs. Chapter 2 examines the Cappadocians’ deployment of rhetorical description, ekphrasis, to advance the cult of the martyrs ritually, spiritually, and materially. Gregory of Nyssa’s ekphrasis for St. Theodore incited the faithful to participate in ritual transformation. Such materiality is brought to bear in Nyssen’s other ekphrasis describing difficulties in building a martyrium. The chapter compares Nyssen’s martyrium to the extant ruins of the martyrium of St. Philip in Hierapolis, giving an imaginative glimpse at the spectacular structures the Cappadocians funded. Chapter 3 introduces the Cappadocians and their families through a discussion of the ways kinship occurred in fourth-century Cappadocia: marriage and birth, monasticism, and martyr piety. Kinship obligations provided the means for the Cappadocians to successfully claim certain martyrs as their ancestral kin and to turn some of their family members into martyrs within a few years of their deaths. Chapter 4 deals with the Cappadocians’ utilization, manipulation, and preaching about both genders in their martyr panegyrics that contrasts sharply with their articulation of gender in their family panegyrics.Less
This book examines the cult of the martyrs in the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Chapter 1 analyzes the complex rituals of the panegyris, the martyr festival, as a transformative event by which the faithful experience the martyr’s holiness. How they employ the martyrs in preaching, in organizational protocols, in Scriptural exegesis, and in their call to Christian morality all show their own profound devotion to martyr piety and their evangelical zeal in promoting the cult of the martyrs. Chapter 2 examines the Cappadocians’ deployment of rhetorical description, ekphrasis, to advance the cult of the martyrs ritually, spiritually, and materially. Gregory of Nyssa’s ekphrasis for St. Theodore incited the faithful to participate in ritual transformation. Such materiality is brought to bear in Nyssen’s other ekphrasis describing difficulties in building a martyrium. The chapter compares Nyssen’s martyrium to the extant ruins of the martyrium of St. Philip in Hierapolis, giving an imaginative glimpse at the spectacular structures the Cappadocians funded. Chapter 3 introduces the Cappadocians and their families through a discussion of the ways kinship occurred in fourth-century Cappadocia: marriage and birth, monasticism, and martyr piety. Kinship obligations provided the means for the Cappadocians to successfully claim certain martyrs as their ancestral kin and to turn some of their family members into martyrs within a few years of their deaths. Chapter 4 deals with the Cappadocians’ utilization, manipulation, and preaching about both genders in their martyr panegyrics that contrasts sharply with their articulation of gender in their family panegyrics.
Anne Marie Oliver and Paul F. Steinberg
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195305593
- eISBN:
- 9780199850815
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305593.003.0028
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The audiocassette Marj az–Zahur begins with the words, “Blood, blood, blood”, and thereafter manages to repeat the word about forty times. Everyone talked about blood during the intifada. There was ...
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The audiocassette Marj az–Zahur begins with the words, “Blood, blood, blood”, and thereafter manages to repeat the word about forty times. Everyone talked about blood during the intifada. There was blood everywhere. Demonstrators were shot every other day; collaborators were killed, their tortured bodies dumped in the street in front of mosques. The blood and wounds of martyrs were commonly displayed and photographed. It was also blood that prevented negotiations, compromise of any sort, as in the Hamas message, “The blood of martyrs will not be wasted on the negotiation table”. The zeal was such that some actively invited their own bloodletting.Less
The audiocassette Marj az–Zahur begins with the words, “Blood, blood, blood”, and thereafter manages to repeat the word about forty times. Everyone talked about blood during the intifada. There was blood everywhere. Demonstrators were shot every other day; collaborators were killed, their tortured bodies dumped in the street in front of mosques. The blood and wounds of martyrs were commonly displayed and photographed. It was also blood that prevented negotiations, compromise of any sort, as in the Hamas message, “The blood of martyrs will not be wasted on the negotiation table”. The zeal was such that some actively invited their own bloodletting.
Anne Marie Oliver and Paul F. Steinberg
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195305593
- eISBN:
- 9780199850815
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305593.003.0048
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The family home of Muhammad Rushdi is located in al–'Arub, a little village not far from Bethlehem. After Muhammad's death, his brother said, the family had been besieged with visitors wanting to ...
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The family home of Muhammad Rushdi is located in al–'Arub, a little village not far from Bethlehem. After Muhammad's death, his brother said, the family had been besieged with visitors wanting to offer their condolences. Everyone had heard of Muhammad 'Aziz Rushdi and they printed as many as twenty thousand martyr cards as mementoes for the mourners. For Muslims, the greatest thing that one can wish for is to be in Paradise. Rushdi wanted this all the time. It was also a common charge made by Islamists that the Jews and Christians had changed their scriptures to hold back the advance of Islam.Less
The family home of Muhammad Rushdi is located in al–'Arub, a little village not far from Bethlehem. After Muhammad's death, his brother said, the family had been besieged with visitors wanting to offer their condolences. Everyone had heard of Muhammad 'Aziz Rushdi and they printed as many as twenty thousand martyr cards as mementoes for the mourners. For Muslims, the greatest thing that one can wish for is to be in Paradise. Rushdi wanted this all the time. It was also a common charge made by Islamists that the Jews and Christians had changed their scriptures to hold back the advance of Islam.
Candida R. Moss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199739875
- eISBN:
- 9780199777259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199739875.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Early Christian Studies
This chapter uses the acts of the martyrs as a window into the reception history of the passion narrative. It begins with a discussion of the ways in which martyrdom was presented as grounded in ...
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This chapter uses the acts of the martyrs as a window into the reception history of the passion narrative. It begins with a discussion of the ways in which martyrdom was presented as grounded in scripture and an interpretation of various commands and instructions given by Jesus in the New Testament. From here it proceeds to analyze in detail the various ways in which narrative elements of the death of Jesus — prayer, crucifixion, overturning tables in the temple, forgiving executioners, the citation of psalmody, the conversion of bystanders, and so forth — were interpreted in the acts of the martyrs for liturgical, rhetorical, and theological effect.Less
This chapter uses the acts of the martyrs as a window into the reception history of the passion narrative. It begins with a discussion of the ways in which martyrdom was presented as grounded in scripture and an interpretation of various commands and instructions given by Jesus in the New Testament. From here it proceeds to analyze in detail the various ways in which narrative elements of the death of Jesus — prayer, crucifixion, overturning tables in the temple, forgiving executioners, the citation of psalmody, the conversion of bystanders, and so forth — were interpreted in the acts of the martyrs for liturgical, rhetorical, and theological effect.
Candida R. Moss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199739875
- eISBN:
- 9780199777259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199739875.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Early Christian Studies
This chapter examines the interpretation of the martyrs’ deaths in the early church and the significance of this kind of death both for the martyrs and for other Christians. It focuses on the ...
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This chapter examines the interpretation of the martyrs’ deaths in the early church and the significance of this kind of death both for the martyrs and for other Christians. It focuses on the presentation of martyrs as savior figures and the contribution this depiction makes for the history of soteriology. Against the dominant scholarly view, it argues that the martyr’s death was rarely viewed as a sacrifice for sin. Instead, it was interpreted differently in different accounts and regions. While allowing for the interweaving of various soteriological models, the chapter argues that martyrdom was viewed primarily as a victory over Satan in the apocalyptic cosmic battle and a moral example for imitation by the audiences of the account.Less
This chapter examines the interpretation of the martyrs’ deaths in the early church and the significance of this kind of death both for the martyrs and for other Christians. It focuses on the presentation of martyrs as savior figures and the contribution this depiction makes for the history of soteriology. Against the dominant scholarly view, it argues that the martyr’s death was rarely viewed as a sacrifice for sin. Instead, it was interpreted differently in different accounts and regions. While allowing for the interweaving of various soteriological models, the chapter argues that martyrdom was viewed primarily as a victory over Satan in the apocalyptic cosmic battle and a moral example for imitation by the audiences of the account.
Ross Shepard Kraemer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199743186
- eISBN:
- 9780199894680
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199743186.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
Four case studies illustrate how ancient narratives of women’s religious practices are less about women’s religions and more about the deployment of gender for various purposes. Livy depicts women as ...
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Four case studies illustrate how ancient narratives of women’s religious practices are less about women’s religions and more about the deployment of gender for various purposes. Livy depicts women as major players in the importation of Bacchic rites to Rome in the second century B.C.E. to feminize and denigrate these foreign rites. A resurrected Christian woman in the apocryphal Acts of Thomas reports back on the torments in hell that await women and men who violate gender norms, thus serving as the guarantor of a divinely authorized gendered ethic. Rabbinic debates about teaching women Torah say much about rabbinic anxieties and fantasies and little if anything about real women studying Torah in antiquity. Justin Martyr’s account of an elite Roman matron whose husband opposed her efforts to live a life of self-disciplined Christian asceticism demonstrates how the Christian life can make everyone, even women—by their nature less rational and ill-suited to self-discipline—the truest exemplars of the righteous philosophical life.Less
Four case studies illustrate how ancient narratives of women’s religious practices are less about women’s religions and more about the deployment of gender for various purposes. Livy depicts women as major players in the importation of Bacchic rites to Rome in the second century B.C.E. to feminize and denigrate these foreign rites. A resurrected Christian woman in the apocryphal Acts of Thomas reports back on the torments in hell that await women and men who violate gender norms, thus serving as the guarantor of a divinely authorized gendered ethic. Rabbinic debates about teaching women Torah say much about rabbinic anxieties and fantasies and little if anything about real women studying Torah in antiquity. Justin Martyr’s account of an elite Roman matron whose husband opposed her efforts to live a life of self-disciplined Christian asceticism demonstrates how the Christian life can make everyone, even women—by their nature less rational and ill-suited to self-discipline—the truest exemplars of the righteous philosophical life.
Sean M. McDonough
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199576470
- eISBN:
- 9780191722585
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576470.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
After a brief summary, Christ's role in creation is explored in the works of six theologians (three from the early Church, three from the modern Church): Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Athanasius, Karl ...
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After a brief summary, Christ's role in creation is explored in the works of six theologians (three from the early Church, three from the modern Church): Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Athanasius, Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, and Wolfhart Pannenberg. It is argued that the ancient writers' concerns to address Greek philosophy did not diminish their assertion of Christ's personal role in creating the world. For the moderns, meanwhile, Moltmann and Pannenberg both develop the doctrine in some interesting ways. But it is Barth who resonates most closely with the central themes of the book. While taking note of the proffered historical backgrounds, he affirms the unique theological vision of the New Testament writers who bore ‘the objective, shattering message of the kingdom of God drawn near’.Less
After a brief summary, Christ's role in creation is explored in the works of six theologians (three from the early Church, three from the modern Church): Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Athanasius, Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, and Wolfhart Pannenberg. It is argued that the ancient writers' concerns to address Greek philosophy did not diminish their assertion of Christ's personal role in creating the world. For the moderns, meanwhile, Moltmann and Pannenberg both develop the doctrine in some interesting ways. But it is Barth who resonates most closely with the central themes of the book. While taking note of the proffered historical backgrounds, he affirms the unique theological vision of the New Testament writers who bore ‘the objective, shattering message of the kingdom of God drawn near’.
Ann Jefferson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691160658
- eISBN:
- 9781400852598
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691160658.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter traces the emergence of a new poetry that presents its credentials as lying not with any preexisting literary or national tradition, but with the genius of the individual poet. Despite ...
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This chapter traces the emergence of a new poetry that presents its credentials as lying not with any preexisting literary or national tradition, but with the genius of the individual poet. Despite the real success of the volumes published in this spirit, the poet is portrayed, like Moses abandoned by his people, as having no public. The collective “other” that might afford him recognition is absent, and in the words of Victor Hugo, his was a voice crying in the wilderness, and singing to the deaf. The new poets thus enter the literary field announcing in advance that they will go unheard by a world that is fundamentally hostile.Less
This chapter traces the emergence of a new poetry that presents its credentials as lying not with any preexisting literary or national tradition, but with the genius of the individual poet. Despite the real success of the volumes published in this spirit, the poet is portrayed, like Moses abandoned by his people, as having no public. The collective “other” that might afford him recognition is absent, and in the words of Victor Hugo, his was a voice crying in the wilderness, and singing to the deaf. The new poets thus enter the literary field announcing in advance that they will go unheard by a world that is fundamentally hostile.
Isabel Moreira
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199736041
- eISBN:
- 9780199894628
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199736041.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter examines how the cult of martyrs and saints promoted ideal responses to corporeal affliction. It examines the purging miracles recorded at the shrine of St. Martin of Tours, where ...
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This chapter examines how the cult of martyrs and saints promoted ideal responses to corporeal affliction. It examines the purging miracles recorded at the shrine of St. Martin of Tours, where health-giving violence experienced by the body in vomiting and intestinal purging was viewed as a template for divine power to purge the soul of sin. The chapter focuses on the purgatorial theology of Gregory of Tours, which identified the potion made of dust and water obtained at the tomb of St. Martin as a “celestial purgative.” It examines Gregory’s personal fears about his fate on judgement day.Less
This chapter examines how the cult of martyrs and saints promoted ideal responses to corporeal affliction. It examines the purging miracles recorded at the shrine of St. Martin of Tours, where health-giving violence experienced by the body in vomiting and intestinal purging was viewed as a template for divine power to purge the soul of sin. The chapter focuses on the purgatorial theology of Gregory of Tours, which identified the potion made of dust and water obtained at the tomb of St. Martin as a “celestial purgative.” It examines Gregory’s personal fears about his fate on judgement day.
Andrew Radde‐Gallwitz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199574117
- eISBN:
- 9780191722110
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199574117.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Theology
Chapter 3 sets the stage for the subsequent discussion of Eunomius of Cyzicus and his opponents. It outlines the background to his view that ingeneracy, that is, having no cause, is the essential ...
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Chapter 3 sets the stage for the subsequent discussion of Eunomius of Cyzicus and his opponents. It outlines the background to his view that ingeneracy, that is, having no cause, is the essential characteristic of God. Two theologians are examined on this issue: Justin Martyr and Dionysius of Alexandria, the latter of whom comes closest to Eunomius' position, though in the context of a late third‐century argument about whether matter is also ingenerate. A second section investigates the background to Eunomius' view, labelled the ‘identity thesis’, that God's essence and God's attributes are identical. It is suggested that Athanasius of Alexandria, though far removed doctrinally from Eunomius, articulated a similar position in a text Eunomius likely knew. One common theme in the two is a concern to avoid construing the attributes of God as essential complements, that is as parts of God's essence. Clearly if God's essence has parts, it is not simple. Some background is given on essential complements, which Eunomius will accuse Basil of maintaining.Less
Chapter 3 sets the stage for the subsequent discussion of Eunomius of Cyzicus and his opponents. It outlines the background to his view that ingeneracy, that is, having no cause, is the essential characteristic of God. Two theologians are examined on this issue: Justin Martyr and Dionysius of Alexandria, the latter of whom comes closest to Eunomius' position, though in the context of a late third‐century argument about whether matter is also ingenerate. A second section investigates the background to Eunomius' view, labelled the ‘identity thesis’, that God's essence and God's attributes are identical. It is suggested that Athanasius of Alexandria, though far removed doctrinally from Eunomius, articulated a similar position in a text Eunomius likely knew. One common theme in the two is a concern to avoid construing the attributes of God as essential complements, that is as parts of God's essence. Clearly if God's essence has parts, it is not simple. Some background is given on essential complements, which Eunomius will accuse Basil of maintaining.
Terryl L. Givens
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195313901
- eISBN:
- 9780199871933
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313901.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Neoplatonism, under Plotinus, Proclus, Porphyry, and Iamblicus, developed and modified ideas about preexistence. Church Fathers were divided on the question of preexistence, but many were its ...
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Neoplatonism, under Plotinus, Proclus, Porphyry, and Iamblicus, developed and modified ideas about preexistence. Church Fathers were divided on the question of preexistence, but many were its advocates. The case of Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria is equivocal. Tertullian was the principal foe and Origen the principal defender of the idea.Less
Neoplatonism, under Plotinus, Proclus, Porphyry, and Iamblicus, developed and modified ideas about preexistence. Church Fathers were divided on the question of preexistence, but many were its advocates. The case of Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria is equivocal. Tertullian was the principal foe and Origen the principal defender of the idea.
Jeffrey A. Trumbower
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140996
- eISBN:
- 9780199834747
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140990.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book investigates a variety of traditions in early Christianity in which various Christians sought to secure salvation after death for non‐Christians. Sometimes the dead would appear in dreams ...
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This book investigates a variety of traditions in early Christianity in which various Christians sought to secure salvation after death for non‐Christians. Sometimes the dead would appear in dreams to request prayer for the dead; sometimes soon‐to‐be martyrs were thought to have special powers to rescue even the non‐Christian dead. Some Christians practiced a vicarious baptism for the dead. Others imagined Christ offering salvation to the dead during the harrowing of hell (his descent to the realm of the dead). Some Christians went so far as to posit an ultimate universal salvation for everyone who had ever lived. The book culminates with a study of Augustine, who strove to limit these practices and beliefs to prayer for the Christian dead with light sins only. In this process, western notions of purgatory began to develop as a place where baptized Christians could be purified for eternal life with God.Less
This book investigates a variety of traditions in early Christianity in which various Christians sought to secure salvation after death for non‐Christians. Sometimes the dead would appear in dreams to request prayer for the dead; sometimes soon‐to‐be martyrs were thought to have special powers to rescue even the non‐Christian dead. Some Christians practiced a vicarious baptism for the dead. Others imagined Christ offering salvation to the dead during the harrowing of hell (his descent to the realm of the dead). Some Christians went so far as to posit an ultimate universal salvation for everyone who had ever lived. The book culminates with a study of Augustine, who strove to limit these practices and beliefs to prayer for the Christian dead with light sins only. In this process, western notions of purgatory began to develop as a place where baptized Christians could be purified for eternal life with God.
G. E. M. De Ste. Croix
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199278121
- eISBN:
- 9780191707872
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278121.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter reprints Ste. Croix's 1954 Harvard Theological Review article on the ‘Great’ Persecution of the early 4th century, when Diocletian and his imperial colleagues issued four edicts of ...
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This chapter reprints Ste. Croix's 1954 Harvard Theological Review article on the ‘Great’ Persecution of the early 4th century, when Diocletian and his imperial colleagues issued four edicts of persecution between 303 and 304. The thrust of these edicts was to reverse a generation of toleration which the Church had enjoyed, but their enforcement was patchy and needs to be understood within the context of the operation of Roman imperial administration, which depended to an extent upon the preferences of individual governors for the implementation of imperial legislation. The contrasting implementation of the edicts between the eastern and western halves of the empire is investigated, with particular reference to the evidence from North Africa and Eusebius' account of the Palestinian martyrs.Less
This chapter reprints Ste. Croix's 1954 Harvard Theological Review article on the ‘Great’ Persecution of the early 4th century, when Diocletian and his imperial colleagues issued four edicts of persecution between 303 and 304. The thrust of these edicts was to reverse a generation of toleration which the Church had enjoyed, but their enforcement was patchy and needs to be understood within the context of the operation of Roman imperial administration, which depended to an extent upon the preferences of individual governors for the implementation of imperial legislation. The contrasting implementation of the edicts between the eastern and western halves of the empire is investigated, with particular reference to the evidence from North Africa and Eusebius' account of the Palestinian martyrs.
G. E. M. De Ste. Croix
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199278121
- eISBN:
- 9780191707872
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278121.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Ste. Croix's published studies of the early Church advanced the thesis that volunteers for martyrdom constituted a significant element in the evidence for the persecution of Christians by Roman ...
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Ste. Croix's published studies of the early Church advanced the thesis that volunteers for martyrdom constituted a significant element in the evidence for the persecution of Christians by Roman imperial governors. To underpin this thesis, Ste. Croix collected and analysed the evidence for volunteers in order to demonstrate the prevalence of such individuals among the wider body of martyrs, and to suggest that these enthusiasts actually contributed to the wider implementation of persecution by antagonizing Roman governors, most of whom were predisposed to be tolerant, and local populations who had clearly been able to co-exist with Christians before being disrupted by the antics of a minority of perfectionists. The largest single body of evidence concerns persecution in Palestine and was composed by the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea.Less
Ste. Croix's published studies of the early Church advanced the thesis that volunteers for martyrdom constituted a significant element in the evidence for the persecution of Christians by Roman imperial governors. To underpin this thesis, Ste. Croix collected and analysed the evidence for volunteers in order to demonstrate the prevalence of such individuals among the wider body of martyrs, and to suggest that these enthusiasts actually contributed to the wider implementation of persecution by antagonizing Roman governors, most of whom were predisposed to be tolerant, and local populations who had clearly been able to co-exist with Christians before being disrupted by the antics of a minority of perfectionists. The largest single body of evidence concerns persecution in Palestine and was composed by the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea.
Vasiliki M. Limberis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730889
- eISBN:
- 9780199895229
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730889.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter presents an overview of the centrality of the cult of the martyrs in the Christianity of the Cappadocian Fathers. Regardless of social status, all Christians were enthusiastic for the ...
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This chapter presents an overview of the centrality of the cult of the martyrs in the Christianity of the Cappadocian Fathers. Regardless of social status, all Christians were enthusiastic for the frequent celebrations of the local martyrs, even after the Constantinian settlement. The chapter gives a detailed analysis of the ways in which the Cappadocian Fathers not only were personally devoted to the martyrs but also regularized the cults through close attention to the the panegyris, the festival for the martyr. Their writings reveal the rituals of the martyr panegyris and the laity’s behavior, expectations, and attitudes. The chapter examines how rudimentary the cult of the martyrs was for the Cappadocians as bishops: as organizational principle, as a dominant hermeneutic of Scripture, as promoter of doctrine, as catechetical example for liturgy. The chapter ends with the analysis of the most popular martyrs of Cappadocia and Pontus and their calendrical cycle.Less
This chapter presents an overview of the centrality of the cult of the martyrs in the Christianity of the Cappadocian Fathers. Regardless of social status, all Christians were enthusiastic for the frequent celebrations of the local martyrs, even after the Constantinian settlement. The chapter gives a detailed analysis of the ways in which the Cappadocian Fathers not only were personally devoted to the martyrs but also regularized the cults through close attention to the the panegyris, the festival for the martyr. Their writings reveal the rituals of the martyr panegyris and the laity’s behavior, expectations, and attitudes. The chapter examines how rudimentary the cult of the martyrs was for the Cappadocians as bishops: as organizational principle, as a dominant hermeneutic of Scripture, as promoter of doctrine, as catechetical example for liturgy. The chapter ends with the analysis of the most popular martyrs of Cappadocia and Pontus and their calendrical cycle.
Frank Graziano
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195136401
- eISBN:
- 9780199835164
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195136403.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Discusses how Rose of Lima, on the model of Christ, offered herself as a sacrificial victim to expiate the sins of natives, Spaniards, and Creoles in the New World. Rose of Lima’s patronage is ...
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Discusses how Rose of Lima, on the model of Christ, offered herself as a sacrificial victim to expiate the sins of natives, Spaniards, and Creoles in the New World. Rose of Lima’s patronage is explored in its relations to the Madonna of Mercy and other antecedents.Less
Discusses how Rose of Lima, on the model of Christ, offered herself as a sacrificial victim to expiate the sins of natives, Spaniards, and Creoles in the New World. Rose of Lima’s patronage is explored in its relations to the Madonna of Mercy and other antecedents.
Leonard B. Glick
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195176742
- eISBN:
- 9780199835621
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019517674X.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The earliest converts to Christianity were expected to accept circumcision; but in his sharply worded letter to the Galatians, Paul disdained the practice as spiritually worthless. Justin Martyr and ...
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The earliest converts to Christianity were expected to accept circumcision; but in his sharply worded letter to the Galatians, Paul disdained the practice as spiritually worthless. Justin Martyr and John Chrysostom extended the Christian critique, further laying the foundation for nearly two millennia of Christian rejection. Roman authorities legislated against circumcision of non-Jews, particularly slaves. In contrast, early rabbinic texts passionately defended the practice, arguing that it is a purifying experience pleasing to the Lord.Less
The earliest converts to Christianity were expected to accept circumcision; but in his sharply worded letter to the Galatians, Paul disdained the practice as spiritually worthless. Justin Martyr and John Chrysostom extended the Christian critique, further laying the foundation for nearly two millennia of Christian rejection. Roman authorities legislated against circumcision of non-Jews, particularly slaves. In contrast, early rabbinic texts passionately defended the practice, arguing that it is a purifying experience pleasing to the Lord.
David C. Steinmetz
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195130485
- eISBN:
- 9780199869008
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195130480.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Had Bishop John Hooper been born in the seventeenth century, he would have been regarded as a Low Church Anglican of a rather Puritan disposition. In the emerging Church of England of the sixteenth ...
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Had Bishop John Hooper been born in the seventeenth century, he would have been regarded as a Low Church Anglican of a rather Puritan disposition. In the emerging Church of England of the sixteenth century, he was deemed a strong supporter of the theology and practices of the Reformed churches on the continent. He was opposed to the wearing of clerical vestments, and he dismissed the notion of a legitimate place for adiaphora or “indifferent matters.” He was an effective bishop during the reign of Edward VI, but was later martyred by Queen Mary Tudor.Less
Had Bishop John Hooper been born in the seventeenth century, he would have been regarded as a Low Church Anglican of a rather Puritan disposition. In the emerging Church of England of the sixteenth century, he was deemed a strong supporter of the theology and practices of the Reformed churches on the continent. He was opposed to the wearing of clerical vestments, and he dismissed the notion of a legitimate place for adiaphora or “indifferent matters.” He was an effective bishop during the reign of Edward VI, but was later martyred by Queen Mary Tudor.
Torrance Kirby
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264683
- eISBN:
- 9780191734878
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264683.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter discusses the theological affinity between the Elizabethan church and Peter Martyr Vermigli, the Italian reformer who spent his later career in Zurich. Vermigli’s thought did not simply ...
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This chapter discusses the theological affinity between the Elizabethan church and Peter Martyr Vermigli, the Italian reformer who spent his later career in Zurich. Vermigli’s thought did not simply migrate from the continent to England. The discussion notes that Vermigli’s English experience as an exile was formative for the development of his political theology and that the English monarchy left an imprint on his subsequent Old Testament commentaries on the subject of kingship. Scottish Covenanters and English puritans in the early seventeenth century nonetheless continued to find the work of Zurich reformers useful for refuting episcopacy. If the political theology of Vermigli was agreeable to the Elizabethan church, conformists associated Calvinism with political sedition on the grounds that reformation in Geneva was born out of revolution.Less
This chapter discusses the theological affinity between the Elizabethan church and Peter Martyr Vermigli, the Italian reformer who spent his later career in Zurich. Vermigli’s thought did not simply migrate from the continent to England. The discussion notes that Vermigli’s English experience as an exile was formative for the development of his political theology and that the English monarchy left an imprint on his subsequent Old Testament commentaries on the subject of kingship. Scottish Covenanters and English puritans in the early seventeenth century nonetheless continued to find the work of Zurich reformers useful for refuting episcopacy. If the political theology of Vermigli was agreeable to the Elizabethan church, conformists associated Calvinism with political sedition on the grounds that reformation in Geneva was born out of revolution.
