Between Pagan and Christian / Christopher P. Jones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jones, Christopher P.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

Church history.

Christianity and other religions--Paganism--History--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Christianity and other religions.

Paganism--Relations--Christianity.

Paganism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 p.)

Edition:

Pilot project,eBook available to selected US libraries only

Place of Publication:

London, England ; Cambridge, Massachusetts ; : Harvard University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Note on Authors

Preface

1. The Perception of Paganism

2. Constantine

3. After Constantine: Indifference and Intolerance

4. God and Other Divinities

5. Idolatry

6. Sacrifice, Blood, and Prayer

7. Debate

8. Conversion

9. The West

10. The East

11. Conclusion: The Persistence of Paganism

Appendix: Was Macrobius a Christian?

Timeline

Abbreviations

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674369528

0674369521

9780674369511

0674369513

OCLC:

1029827518