A threat to public piety : Christians, Platonists, and the great persecution / Elizabeth DePalma Digeser.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Digeser, Elizabeth DePalma, 1959-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

Persecution.

History.

Persecution--Early church.

Church history--Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600.

Church history.

Church history--Primitive and early church.

Christianity--Philosophy--History.

Christianity.

Christianity--Philosophy.

Platonists.

Violence--Philosophy.

Violence.

Philosophy and religion.

Violence--Religious aspects.

Physical Description:

xv, 218 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2012.

Summary:

This work explores the rise of Christianity in the late Roman period with a focus on the Great Persecution of Christians in 300 AD. DePalma Digeser (history, U. of California) challenges the assumption of this period as a gradual and inevitable backlash, alternatively positing a sudden appearance after a period of relatively peaceful coexistence with pagan religious and philosophical powers of the time. She points to a feud between platonic philosophers regarding the influence of Christians as the spark that ignited the persecution and presents a new narrative of the period taking into account discoveries only recently dated to the time. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Introduction: from permeable circles to hardened boundaries

Ammonius Saccas and the philosophy without conflicts

Origen as a student of Ammonius

Plotinus, Porphyry, and philosophy in the public realm

Schism in the Ammonian community: Porphyry v. Iamblichus

Schism in the Ammonian community: Porphyry v. Methodius of Olympus

Conclusion: the Ammonian community and the great persecution.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-213) and index.

ISBN:

9780801441813

0801441811

OCLC:

754105622