Early Christian literature : Christ and culture in the second and third centuries / Helen Rhee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rhee, Helen.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and literature.

Christian literature, Early--History and criticism.

Christian literature, Early.

Fathers of the church.

Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles.

Apologetics--History--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Apologetics.

History.

Greek literature--Relation to the New Testament.

Greek literature.

Physical Description:

xiii, 266 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Routledge, 2005.

Summary:

Christians in the formative period of their religion, from the mid first to early third centuries, sought new ways of relating their lives to the dominant society that surrounded them. As doctrine and practice became established, hostility from the wider world was often extreme. Christians used many literary forms to strengthen their own self-definition. Prominent among these were the Apologies as well as the semi-fictional Apocryphal Acts and Martyr Acts. These forms used the existing literary patterns of Greco-Roman society to present distinctively Christian ideas, attitudes and adventures.

In this thoroughgoing study, Helen Rhee shows how the forms of classical literature were adapted to present the superiority of Christian monotheism; the superiority of Christian sexual morality; and Christian (dis)loyalty to the Empire. These propagandistic writings shaped the theological, moral and political trajectories of Christian faith and contributed largely to the definition of orthodoxy.

This outstanding work of scholarship explores issues of cultural identity in an area which has hitherto lacked definition. In clear prose the author presents arguments that will be of equal interest to the student of early Christianity and of Greco-Roman literary culture and civilization.

Contents:

1 Second-century Christian literature in its historical-cultural context 9

Christianity in the mid-second and the early third centuries 9

Christian interaction with Greco-Roman society 12

Literature of the second century: the Apologies, Apocryphal Acts, and Martyr Acts 20

Triangular relationship 47

2 The superiority of Christian monotheism 49

Apologies: Christianity as true philosophy 50

Apocryphal Acts: Christianity as true power 71

Martyr Acts: Christianity as true piety 88

3 The superiority of Christian sexual morality 106

Asceticism in general: the controlling paradigm 106

Asceticism: sexual chastity and renunciation 108

Chastity, marriage, and family in Greco-Roman society: ideology and practice 109

Marriage and celibacy in the New Testament 113

Apologies: harmony with the established social order 117

Tatian and encratism 123

Apocryphal Acts: antithesis of the social ideal and resistance to the social order 125

Martyr Acts: renunciation of social mores 143

4 Christian loyalty to the Empire 159

Imperial cult: unity of religion and politics 159

Apologies: Christian loyalty to the Empire 164

Apocryphal Acts: Christian subversiveness to the Empire 171

Martyr Acts: Christian resistance to the Empire 179.

ISBN:

0415354870 hbk

0415354889 pbk

OCLC:

60744633