| Description |
1 online resource (xiv, 347 pages) |
| Contents |
The Christian discourse of persecution in late antiquity: an introduction -- Breaking the apocalyptic frame: persecution and the rise of Constantine -- Begrudging the honor: Julian and Christian martyrdom -- A misunderstood emperor?: Valens as a persecuting ruler in late antique literature -- Theologies under persecution: Gregory of Nazianzus and the Syntagmation of Aetius -- For their own good: Augustine and the rhetoric of beneficial persecution -- In the footsteps of the Apostles of Light: persecution and the Manichaean discourse of suffering -- "To collect gold from hidden caves": Victor of Bita and the Vandal "persecution" of heretical barbarians in the late antique North Africa -- "You have made common cause with their persecutors": Gelasius, the language of persecution, and the Acacian schism -- Everyone but the kings: the rhetoric of (non- )persecution in Gregory of Tours' Histories -- Persecutio, seductio, and the limits of rhetorical intolerance in Visigoth's Iberia -- The city a palimpsest: rewriting Arian violence in fifth-century historiography -- The name of ill-omen: Basiliscus and the church in Constantinople -- Martyrs of exile: John of Ephesus and religious persecution -- Persecution and apostasy: Christian identity during the crises of the seventh century -- Heirs of Roman persecution: common threads in discursive strategies across late antiquity |
| Summary |
"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, it 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. While 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"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Éric Fournier is Professor of History at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Wendy Mayer is Associate Dean for Research and Professor at University of Divinity, Australian Lutheran College |
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Print version record |
| Subject |
Persecution -- History -- Early church, ca. 30-600.
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Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600.
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HISTORY -- General.
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Church history -- Primitive and early church
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Persecution -- Early church
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| Genre/Form |
History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Fournier, Éric, 1975- editor
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Mayer, Wendy, 1960- editor
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| LC no. |
2019024739 |
| ISBN |
9781351240697 |
|
1351240692 |
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9781351240673 |
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1351240676 |
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9781351240680 |
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1351240684 |
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9781351240666 |
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1351240668 |
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