Download or read book Heirs of Roman Persecution written by Éric Fournier and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-10-10 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The subject of this book is the discourse of persecution used by Christians in Late Antiquity (c. 300–700 CE). Through a series of detailed case studies covering the full chronological and geographical span of the period, this book investigates how the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity changed the way that Christians and para- Christians perceived the hostile treatments they received, either by fellow Christians or by people of other religions. A closely related second goal of this volume is to encourage scholars to think more precisely about the terminological difficulties related to the study of persecution. Indeed, despite sustained interest in the subject, few scholars have sought to distinguish between such closely related concepts as punishment, coercion, physical violence, and persecution. Often, these terms are used interchangeably. Although there are no easy answers, an emphatic conclusion of the studies assembled in this volume is that “persecution” was a malleable rhetorical label in late antique discourse, whose meaning shifted depending on the viewpoint of the authors who used it. This leads to our third objective: to analyze the role and function played by rhetoric and polemic in late antique claims to be persecuted. Late antique Christian writers who cast their present as a repetition of past persecutions often aimed to attack the legitimacy of the dominant Christian faction through a process of othering. This discourse also expressed a polarizing worldview in order to strengthen the group identity of the writers’ community in the midst of ideological conflicts and to encourage steadfastness against the temptation to collaborate with the other side. Chapters 15 and 16 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
Download or read book Christian Discourse in Late Antiquity written by Anders-Christian Jacobsen and published by Verlag Ferdinand Schoningh. This book was released on 2020-05-11 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of the volume is to explore how specific historical and socio-cultural conditions of late antiquity shaped the development of Christian thought.The authors of the volume analyse various aspects of these conditions, particularly those of a textual and institutional nature, as they are reflected in the hermeneutic and philosophical principles of Christian discourse. This focus sheds new light on unexplored features of Christian literature, such as the influence of manuscript culture, early church institutions and practices, exegetical techniques, and philosophical curricula.
Download or read book Heirs of the Fisherman written by John-Peter Pham and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-11-30 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The death of Pope John Paul II and consequent election of Pope Benedict XVI has shed light on a political process that the world has not been privy to for almost twenty-six years. People from around the world gathered in St. Peter's Square, wondering who the next Vatican leader would be and how the election process really worked, while everyone from international news correspondents to local priests added their own opinions to the debate. In Heirs of the Fisherman, former Vatican insider John-Peter Pham presents a candid portrait of the modern Vatican, the only account to reveal the striking changes to papal succession procedures made by John Paul II. Blending political and ecclesiastical history, Pham goes beyond a mere description of the complex rituals to offer rare insight into the dramatic shifts inside the College of Cardinals, whose 100 members now hail from 50 nations around the globe. He takes us into the secret conclave, where the electors were kept under lock and key, until they had selected a new pope. He also includes a chapter devoted to the intrigues of the 20th century where the first conclave had an emperor's veto and the last was won by the first non-Italian in four centuries becauase the Italians were bitterly divided. With a new Preface, Afterword, and appendices that include an English translation of the last will and testament of Pope John Paul II, Heirs of the Fisherman is an illuminating history and must-have guide to this vitally important world event. It will continue to be an indispensable reference to observers of future Catholic Church politics.
Download or read book Christian Persecution in Antiquity written by Wolfram Kinzig and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Blessed Victors written by Ruth Sutcliffe and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-07-25 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The late second through third centuries saw the remarkable confluence of the early church's developing identity, theological understanding and praxis, with a period of opposition and intermittent persecution from the world around it. Theology necessarily engaged with the persecution experience, as the church considered the goodness and providence of God, the Name to be confessed and the purposeful outcome of the antagonism they faced. Ruth Sutcliffe argues that the early fathers' theological understanding of the role of persecution in the Christian life informed their exhortations to individual and communal response, contributing to the church's remarkable survival and growth through this period. Four great thinkers of this era - Clement and Origen of Alexandria and Tertullian and Cyprian of Carthage - each have much to contribute to a theological understanding of Christian persecution, and Sutcliffe explores their widely different perspectives, intellectual milieu and experiences. She explains these differences and similarities in terms of their use of the Scriptures, in conversation with their own contexts and agendas; concluding that their differences in approach to persecution can be explained theologically, and that these differences offer a unique window into their respective thought. Despite such differences, Sutcliffe stresses that the early church did have a fundamentally coherent “theology of persecution” which speaks to the worldwide church today.
Download or read book The Manichaeans of the Roman East written by Rea Matsangou and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-08-28 with total page 604 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Manichaeans of the Roman East is the first monograph that synthesizes an enormous body of primary material to reconstruct the history of East-Roman Manichaeans, from the time their first missionaries arrived in the territory of the Roman East until the disappearance of Manichaeism from the Eastern Roman Empire. Through her systematically comparative and intertextual investigation of the sources, Matsangou provides a number of original approaches to issues such as the classification of Manichaeism, the socio-religious profile and lifestyle of East Roman Manichaeans, the triggers of the severe anti-Manichaean persecutions. She thoroughly analyses the relationship between Manichaean and Christian ascetics for the first time, suggesting a possible Manichaean impact on the rise of ascetic manifestations among Christian ascetics, monks, and individuals in society. By considering the dimensions of the phenomenon of crypto-Manichaeism and using the concept of “entryism”—borrowed from politics—as a theoretical model, Matsangou makes intriguing hypotheses suggesting an alternative explanation for the disappearance of Manichaeism from the Roman East.
Download or read book The Toleration and Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire written by Dora Askowith and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Era of the Martyrs written by Aaltje Hidding and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2020-08-24 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most traumatic experiences of Late Antique Christians was the Great Persecution, begun by Emperor Diocletian and his Tetrarchic colleagues in 303 CE. Here Aaltje Hidding unites research of traditional memory studies with work done by cognitive scientists to examine how they remembered the Persecution. The resulting methodological framework, the ‘cognitive ecology’, systemically studies all what can be covered by this term - social surroundings, cognitive artefacts and the physical environment - and bridges the gap between individual and collective memory. The author analyses the remembrance of the Persecution in three different regions along the Nile river. In Oxyrhynchus, the thousands of papyrus fragments found at the city’s rubbish dump give a vivid image of the martyrs in the daily lives of the Oxyrhynchites. In Antinoopolis, known for the cult of the physician saint Colluthus, she zooms in on the rituals and practices at a martyr’s sanctuary. Finally, in Dandara, the rich hagiographical dossier of the anchorite Paphnutius shows how old memories of the Persecution became mixed with new monastic experiences. The Bohairic and Greek Passion of Paphnutius appear in their first complete English translations.
Download or read book Revelation written by Lynn R. Huber and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2023-11-23 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While feminist interpretations of the Book of Revelation often focus on the book’s use of feminine archetypes—mother, bride, and prostitute, this commentary explores how gender, sexuality, and other feminist concerns permeate the book in its entirety. By calling audience members to become victors, Revelation’s author, John, commends to them an identity that flows between masculine and feminine and challenges ancient gender norms. This identity befits an audience who follow the Lamb, a genderqueer savior, wherever he goes. In this commentary, Lynn R. Huber situates Revelation and its earliest audiences in the overlapping worlds of ancient Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and first-century Judaism. She also examines how interpreters from different generations living within other worlds have found meaning in this image-rich and meaning-full book.
Download or read book The Great Persecution written by Min Seok Shin and published by Brepols Publishers. This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Great Persecution under Diocletian and his imperial colleagues and successors is a foremost concern of modern scholarship on Roman persecution of Christians. This book is a systematic and comprehensive study of that persecution. Its focus is on events from 284 when Diocletian became emperor, to 313, when full religious liberty was granted to all religions by the so-called Edict of Milan. At least nine imperial orders were issued in 303 to 312 against Christianity. While Diocletian's orders were more concerned with the privileged upper classes of Christians, Maximinus Daia's orders were aimed at isolating all Christians from the Roman community. The enforcement of the imperial orders, and the sufferings of Christians under them, are examined on a diocese-by-diocese basis, comparing the situation in the West and in the East. In the late fourth century, Prudentius of Calahorra, poet and imperial official, complained about the loss of records on local martyrs, exclaiming, 'Alas for what is forgotten and lost to knowledge in the silence of the olden time! We are denied the facts about these matters, the very tradition is destroyed.' This book draws together the remains of what Prudentius feared was forgotten for ever.
Download or read book Sociological Studies in Roman History written by Keith Hopkins and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collected essays by Cambridge sociologist Keith Hopkins - one of the most radical, innovative and influential Roman historians of his generation.
Download or read book Blessed are the Persecuted written by Ivo Lesbaupin and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms written by Gerard Russell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-11-20 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite its reputation for religious intolerance, the Middle East has long sheltered many distinctive and strange faiths: one regards the Greek prophets as incarnations of God, another reveres Lucifer in the form of a peacock, and yet another believes that their followers are reincarnated beings who have existed in various forms for thousands of years. These religions represent the last vestiges of the magnificent civilizations in ancient history: Persia, Babylon, Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs. Their followers have learned how to survive foreign attacks and the perils of assimilation. But today, with the Middle East in turmoil, they face greater challenges than ever before. In Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms, former diplomat Gerard Russell ventures to the distant, nearly impassable regions where these mysterious religions still cling to survival. He lives alongside the Mandaeans and Ezidis of Iraq, the Zoroastrians of Iran, the Copts of Egypt, and others. He learns their histories, participates in their rituals, and comes to understand the threats to their communities. Historically a tolerant faith, Islam has, since the early 20th century, witnessed the rise of militant, extremist sects. This development, along with the rippling effects of Western invasion, now pose existential threats to these minority faiths. And as more and more of their youth flee to the West in search of greater freedoms and job prospects, these religions face the dire possibility of extinction. Drawing on his extensive travels and archival research, Russell provides an essential record of the past, present, and perilous future of these remarkable religions.
Download or read book Martyrdom and Rome written by G. W. Bowersock and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-10-03 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the historical context of the earliest Christian martyrs, and anchors their grisly and often wilful self-sacrifice to the everyday life and outlook of the cities of the Roman empire. Professor Bowersock begins by investigating both the time and the region in which martyrdom, as we know it, came into being. He also offers comparisons of the Graeco-Roman background with the martyrology of Jews and Muslims. A study of official protocols illuminates the bureaucratic institutions of the Roman state as they applied to the first martyrs; and the martyrdoms themselves are seen within the context of urban life (and public spectacle) in the great imperial cities. By considering martyrdom in relation to suicide, the author is also able to demonstrate the peculiarly Roman character of Christian self-sacrifice in relation to other forms of deadly resistance to authority.
Download or read book The Last Pagan Emperor written by H. C. Teitler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Flavius Claudius Julianus was the last pagan to sit on the Roman imperial throne (361-363). Born in Constantinople in 331 or 332, Julian was raised as a Christian, but apostatized, and during his short reign tried to revive paganism, which, after the conversion to Christianity of his uncle Constantine the Great early in the fourth century, began losing ground at an accelerating pace. Having become an orphan when he was still very young, Julian was taken care of by his cousin Constantius II, one of Constantine's sons, who permitted him to study rhetoric and philosophy and even made him co-emperor in 355. But the relations between Julian and Constantius were strained from the beginning, and it was only Constantius' sudden death in 361 which prevented an impending civil war. As sole emperor, Julian restored the worship of the traditional gods. He opened pagan temples again, reintroduced animal sacrifices, and propagated paganism through both the spoken and the written word. In his treatise Against the Galilaeans he sharply criticised the religion of the followers of Jesus whom he disparagingly called 'Galilaeans'. He put his words into action, and issued laws which were displeasing to Christians--the most notorious being his School Edict. This provoked the anger of the Christians, who reacted fiercely, and accused Julian of being a persecutor like his predecessors Nero, Decius, and Diocletian. Violent conflicts between pagans and Christians made themselves felt all over the empire. It is disputed whether or not Julian himself was behind such outbursts. Accusations against the Apostate continued to be uttered even after the emperor's early death. In this book, the feasibility of such charges is examined.
Download or read book Valeria the Martyr of the Catacombs A Tale of Early Christian Life in Rome written by W. H. Withrow and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2021-04-25 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reads like a fictional novel, as it begins by describing the journey of a Roman centurion and his Greek secretary on horseback, along the Appian Way. The author, however, has previously written a detailed study of the catacombs and wishes in this book to make the understanding of these places more accessible to everyday readers, while not straying from fact.
Download or read book Religious Identifications in Late Antique Papyri written by Mattias Brand and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-17 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides novel social-scientific and historical approaches to religious identifications in late antique (3rd–12th century) Egyptian papyri, bridging the gap between two academic fields that have been infrequently in full conversation: papyrology and the study of religion. Through eleven in-depth case studies of Christian, Islamic, “pagan,” Jewish, Manichaean, and Hermetic texts and objects, this book offers new interpretations on markers of religious identity in papyrus documents written in Coptic, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. Using papyri as a window into the lives of ordinary believers, it explores their religious behavior and choices in everyday life. Three valuable perspectives are outlined and explored in these documents: a critical reflection on the concept of identity and the role of religious groups, a situational reading of religious repertoire and symbols, and a focus on speech acts as performative and efficacious utterances. Religious Identifications in Late Antique Papyri offers a wide scope and comparative approach to this topic, suitable for students and scholars of late antiquity and Egypt, as well as those interested in late antique religion. A PDF version of this book is available for free in Open Access at www.taylorfrancis.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
