Between Pagan and Christian - Rilegato

Jones, Christopher P.

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0674725204 ISBN 13: 9780674725201

Casa editrice: Harvard Univ Pr, 2014

Riassunto

For the early Christians, "pagan" referred to a multitude of unbelievers: Greek and Roman devotees of the Olympian gods, and "barbarians" such as Arabs and Germans with their own array of deities. But while these groups were clearly outsiders or idolaters, who and what was pagan depended on the outlook of the observer, as Christopher Jones shows in this fresh and penetrating analysis. Treating paganism as a historical construct rather than a fixed entity, Between Pagan and Christian uncovers the ideas, rituals, and beliefs that Christians and pagans shared in Late Antiquity.

While the emperor Constantine's conversion in 312 was a momentous event in the history of Christianity, the new religion had been gradually forming in the Roman Empire for centuries, as it moved away from its Jewish origins and adapted to the dominant pagan culture. Early Christians drew on pagan practices and claimed important pagans as their harbingers--asserting that Plato, Virgil, and others had glimpsed Christian truths. At the same time, Greeks and Romans had encountered in Judaism observances and beliefs shared by Christians such as the Sabbath and the idea of a single, creator God. Polytheism was the most obvious feature separating paganism and Christianity, but pagans could be monotheists, and Christians could be accused of polytheism and branded as pagans. In the diverse religious communities of the Roman Empire, as Jones makes clear, concepts of divinity, conversion, sacrifice, and prayer were much more fluid than traditional accounts of early Christianity have led us to believe.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

Jones has written a wonderful, clear, and lively book about a topic that has challenged scholars and non-scholars alike seemingly forever. Easy to read, full of minute insights and an excellent overarching theme the complexities which lie between pagans and Christians that show us how complicated the entire venture was. --Susanna Elm, University of California, Berkeley"

In Between Pagan and Christian, eminent classicist Christopher Jones set out to burst some idealist bubbles. He peeks behind the curtain of the mythology of the last pagans and asks [...] to what extent our understanding of pagans and paganism is a construction that is ultimately the product of Christian rhetoric. [...] What follows is a carefully plotted tour through late antique discourse about paganism [...] This is important subject matter and a worthwhile read, and Jones is peerless in his discussions of the 4th century and beyond. --Times Higher Education

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Harvard Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0674725204
• ISBN 13: 9780674725201
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 207