DOCSLIB.ORG

The Portrayal of Christian Heroism in the Psychomachia of Prudentius

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Portrayal of Christian Heroism in the Psychomachia of Prudentius THE PORTRAYAL OF CHRISTIAN HEROISM IN THE PSYCHOMACHIA OF PRUDENTIUS ANGELA JOAN FLINT 2017 UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PIETERMARITZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA Submitted in partial fulfilment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa ABSTRACT This study addresses a neglected area in Late Ancient literary scholarship, namely, the portrayal of Christian heroism in Prudentius’ Psychomachia. The research question advanced in this study investigates whether Prudentius’ didactic, literary portrayal of Christian heroism in the Psychomachia strengthened Christians’ requirement for a socially appropriate modality of heroic identity pertaining to the circumstances of their post-martyrdom context, in the early fifth century. This research has prioritised close reading of the text of the Psychomachia alongside consideration of relevant primary texts and the adoption of an interdisciplinary approach involving the disciplines of theology, classics and anthropology. The most significant conclusion of this study is that Prudentius’ portrayal of early fifth-century Christian heroism in the Psychomachia specifically responded to the socio-religious needs of early fifth-century Christian society regarding heroic identity, because this poet’s portrayal of Christian heroism in this epic poem negated the lingering social power existing in early fifth- century Roman Christianity regarding the heroic function of the body and the soul in a post- martyrdom context. More explicitly, this study finds that through the interiorization of early fifth-century Christian heroism in the Psychomachia, Prudentius sought to counteract enduring social perceptions that the epitome of Christian heroism and the locus of sanctity was embodied in the tortured body of the Christian martyr. This study has demonstrated how Prudentius’ literary expression of the interiorization of Christian heroism in the Psychomachia was influenced by Platonic philosophies as well as prevailing early fifth- century ascetic Christian ideologies regarding the dichotomy between the soul and the body. It is the argument of this dissertation that Prudentius reconceptualised Christian society’s perceptions of the nature of Christian heroism in a post-martyrdom context through his literary communication that early fifth-century Christian heroism was realised through heroically ridding the soul of pagan vice and transforming the Christian’s soul into an interiorized locus of Christian sanctity. Prudentius’ literary vision of heroism in the Psychomachia was orientated towards the future of Christianity, not the past. This dissertation has endeavoured to contribute to contemporary Prudentian scholarship by moving some ways towards explicating Prudentius’ portrayal of heroism in the Psychomachia. It is hoped that this study will encourage emerging Prudentian scholars to seek and explore under-researched areas of this complex and multidimensional Christian epic poem of Late Antiquity. i ii iii PLAGIARISM DECLARATION I, Angela Joan Flint, declare that 1. The research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated, is my original research. 2. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. 3. This thesis does not contain other persons’ data, pictures, graphs or other information, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other persons. 4. This thesis does not contain other persons' writing, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. Where other written sources have been quoted, then. their words have been re-written but the general information attributed to them has been referenced. b. Where their exact words have been used, then their writing has been placed in italics and inside quotation marks, and referenced. 5. This thesis does not contain text, graphics or tables copied and pasted from the Internet, unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the thesis and in the References sections. Signature of student Date: 25 September 2017 Signature of supervisor Date: 25 September 2017 Signature of second supervisor Date: 25 September 2017 Exact word count of thesis: 100697 words iv DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to My mother, Joan Ruth Doyle (1933-1993). I miss you every day. My daughter, Dr Margot Flint (1985-). You are an inspiration and you are awesome. My husband, Keith Flint (1954-). You are beloved. Three people who faced hardship heroically and with the utmost grace and dignity. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This PhD would never have come to fruition without the guidance, support and vision of my primary supervisor, Professor John Hilton of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. I owe Professor Hilton an immense debt of gratitude for not only taking this project on, but also allowing me to explore it in my own way. Thank you also to the co-supervisor of this dissertation, Professor Phillipe Denis (University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg) for his guidance on theological content and assistance at the completion of this dissertation. In this study, the research of South African scholars has been highlighted when applicable. Professor Chris De Wet (University of South Africa) was particularly helpful. Thank you. Thanks are also due to international scholars who gave their assistance. Thanks to the Swedish scholar, Dr Sigrid Schottenius Cullhed, who very kindly and unexpectedly sent me a copy of her 2012 book with her best wishes. Her book contributed towards opening new perspectives of research in the preliminary phase of this study. Professor Karla Pollmann (University of Saint Andrews) deserves thanks for her support and encouragement of this project. Dr Florian Böhlandt, formerly of the University of Stellenbosch, a man of prodigious intellect combined with a big heart, a rare combination indeed, very kindly translated relevant research articles from German and French into English for me, as well as provided many years of support in this project. Thank you, Florian. I would like to make special mention of the remarkable and persistently patient efforts of my editor, Dr Layla Cassim, who has coaxed me towards writing in an academic style and still cheerfully accepted my errors time after time. Your support has been so consistent and so valued. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….i Plagiarism declaration ......................................................................................................... …iii Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... ….v CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the research question ......................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Introduction to the life of Prudentius ..................................................................... 5 1.1.2 Introduction to the literary works of Prudentius ................................................... 8 1.1.3 Introduction to the socio-cultural and socio-historical circumstances of Roman Late Antiquity ................................................................................................................... 14 1.2 Introduction to Prudentius’ portrayal of heroism in the Psychomachia .................. 17 1.3 Research approaches ................................................................................................ 19 1.4 Research question .................................................................................................... 20 1.5 Problem statement .................................................................................................... 20 1.6 Research aims .......................................................................................................... 20 1.7 Research objectives .................................................................................................. 21 1.8 Limitations ............................................................................................................... 21 1.9 Significance of the study .......................................................................................... 26 1.10 Key terminology ...................................................................................................... 27 1.10.1 The emic approach ........................................................................................... 29 1.10.2 Saints, heroes and martyrs ............................................................................... 32 1.11 Brief chapter overview ............................................................................................. 34 1.12 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................... 36 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 36 2.2 Transmission of primary texts in scholarship .......................................................... 37 vii 2.3 Prudentius’ use of literary devices to communicate his vision of Christian heroism in the Psychomachia............................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • AMBROSE and JOHN CHRYSOSTOM This Page Intentionally Left Blank Ambrose and John Chrysostom Clerics Between Desert and Empire
    AMBROSE AND JOHN CHRYSOSTOM This page intentionally left blank Ambrose and John Chrysostom Clerics between Desert and Empire J. H. W. G. LIEBESCHUETZ 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With oYces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York # J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz 2011 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other
    [Show full text]
  • Epic and Autobiography in Dante's Inferno
    Sacred Heart University Review Volume 24 Issue 1 Sacred Heart University Review, Volume XXIV, Article 5 Numbers 1 & 2, Fall 2006/ Spring 2007 March 2010 The oP et in the Mirror: Epic and Autobiography in Dante’s Inferno Simone Marchesi Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/shureview Recommended Citation Marchesi, Simone (2010) "The oeP t in the Mirror: Epic and Autobiography in Dante’s Inferno," Sacred Heart University Review: Vol. 24 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/shureview/vol24/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the SHU Press Publications at DigitalCommons@SHU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sacred Heart University Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@SHU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The oP et in the Mirror: Epic and Autobiography in Dante’s Inferno Cover Page Footnote Simone Marchesi is Assistant Professor of French and Italian at Princeton University. This talk was delivered at Sacred Heart University on April 7, 2006, as part of the College of Arts & Sciences Lecture Series on “The Real and Fabled Worlds of Dante Alighieri.” All English translations in the text from Dante’s Divine Comedy are by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander, in their edition published by Doubleday/Anchor in 2000. This article is available in Sacred Heart University Review: http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/shureview/vol24/iss1/5 Marchesi: The Poet in the Mirror: Epic and Autobiography in Dante’s Inferno S IMONE M ARCHESI ____________________ The Poet in the Mirror: Epic and Autobiography in Dante’s Inferno Perché cotanto in noi ti specchi? [Why do you reflect yourself so long in us?] Inferno 32.54 Let me begin with an easy question: What is the Divine Comedy? Dante’s poem has been and is many things.
    [Show full text]
  • Virtues and Vices: Examples of Medieval Knowledge Visualization
    2013 17th International Conference on Information Visualisation Virtues and Vices: Examples of Medieval Knowledge Visualization Francis T. Marchese Computer Science Department Pace University NY, NY 10038 USA e-mail: [email protected] Abstract — The concepts of virtues and vices have a long Republic [3], Plato (c. 427 – c. 347 BCE) puts forward the history. This paper discusses their medieval metaphorical and Allegory of the Cave, which communicates his belief that the allegorical representations as examples of knowledge world revealed by our senses is not the real world but rather visualizations, and compares them against the criteria put a poor replica of it, and that the real world can only be forward for the use of contemporary knowledge visualizations. apprehended intellectually. Martianus Capella (c. 410 – 439 It is found that these medieval visualizations exhibit all the CE) employs allegory to stage his encyclopedic work On the essential traits expected of knowledge visualizations, making Marriage of Philology and Mercury, that encompassed the them not only exemplars of a field, but also documentary seven liberal arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, evidence of early explorations (research) into visually geometry, astronomy, and music), and became a major representing and communicating complex knowledge. influence on medieval education. Macrobius Ambrosius Keywords - knowledge visualization, medieval art, medieval Theodosius (c. 395 – 423 CE), an early medieval information manuscripts, history. visualizer, utilized allegory in his Commentary on the Dream of Scipio (Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis) [4] to put I. INTRODUCTION forward a comprehensive philosophy of nature Educating religious and laity about the underlying moral encompassing arithmetic, astronomy, and cosmology. and theological concepts of virtues and vices was an Metaphor plays an important role in contemporary important part of Christian education during the High and knowledge visualization as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Bodies of Knowledge: the Presentation of Personified Figures in Engraved Allegorical Series Produced in the Netherlands, 1548-1600
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2015 Bodies of Knowledge: The Presentation of Personified Figures in Engraved Allegorical Series Produced in the Netherlands, 1548-1600 Geoffrey Shamos University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Shamos, Geoffrey, "Bodies of Knowledge: The Presentation of Personified Figures in Engraved Allegorical Series Produced in the Netherlands, 1548-1600" (2015). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1128. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1128 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1128 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bodies of Knowledge: The Presentation of Personified Figures in Engraved Allegorical Series Produced in the Netherlands, 1548-1600 Abstract During the second half of the sixteenth century, engraved series of allegorical subjects featuring personified figures flourished for several decades in the Low Countries before falling into disfavor. Designed by the Netherlandsâ?? leading artists and cut by professional engravers, such series were collected primarily by the urban intelligentsia, who appreciated the use of personification for the representation of immaterial concepts and for the transmission of knowledge, both in prints and in public spectacles. The pairing of embodied forms and serial format was particularly well suited to the portrayal of abstract themes with multiple components, such as the Four Elements, Four Seasons, Seven Planets, Five Senses, or Seven Virtues and Seven Vices. While many of the themes had existed prior to their adoption in Netherlandish graphics, their pictorial rendering had rarely been so pervasive or systematic.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poetry of Prudentius
    i Portraying the Female in Late Antiquity: The Poetry of Prudentius Lydia Michele Epple University of Florida Gainesville, Florida April 27th, 2011 ii Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful and indebted to so many people for the completion of this thesis that I fear that I could never name them all or begin to repay them. I would like to thank my family, friends and fellow students who have never ceased to offer input and their unwavering support in this endeavor. I would also like to thank my professor Andrea Sterk; without her guidance I never would of made it this far. iii Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Hamartigenia ...............................................................................8 The Vanity of a Woman’s Soul ............................................................................9 Vipers and Biblical Women ...............................................................................12 Chapter 2: The Psychomachia ............................................................................16 Greco Roman Virtues and Vices ........................................................................18 Christian Virtues and Vices ................................................................................20 Fusing traditions .................................................................................................22 Chapter 3: The Liber Peristephanon ..................................................................26
    [Show full text]
  • And the “Divine Comedy”
    LINGUA INDISCIPLINATA. A STUDY OF TRANSGRESSIVE SPEECH IN THE “ROMANCE OF THE ROSE” AND THE “DIVINE COMEDY” by Gabriella Ildiko Baika BA, “Babes-Bolyai-University,” Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 1991 MA, “Babes-Bolyai-University,” Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 1992 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Pittsburgh in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh, 2007 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Gabriella Ildiko Baika It was defended on December 1, 2006 and approved by Dissertation Advisor: Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Department of French and Italian Co-Advisor: Dennis Looney, Associate Professor, Department of French and Italian Diana Mériz, Associate Professor, Department of French and Italian Bruce Venarde, Associate Professor, Department of History ii Copyright © by Gabriella Ildiko Baika 2007 iii LINGUA INDISCIPLINATA. A STUDY OF TRANSGRESSIVE SPEECH IN THE “ROMANCE OF THE ROSE” AND THE “DIVINE COMEDY” Gabriella Baika, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2007 My dissertation is an investigation of the two masterpieces of medieval, allegorical literature from the perspective of the Latin moral tradition of their time. Discussing Jean de Meun and Dante’s obsessive concern with the sinfulness of speech, I relate the numerous verbal transgressions treated in the Romance of the Rose and the Divine Comedy to what historians of moral philosophy have called “the golden age of the sins of the tongue” (1190-1260), a time span during which moralists, theologians and canonists wrote a great number of Latin texts on peccata linguae. I argue that the radical inclusion of the sins of speech among the other classes of sins treated in the Romance of the Rose and the Divine Comedy is to be accounted for in light of the major thirteenth-century treatises on peccata linguae.
    [Show full text]
  • The Virtue of Charity
    Lehman College The Virtue of Charity Sharon Lee 6 November 2015 In Prudentius' epic poem, "Psychomachia," we witness a fierce struggle taking place between the vices and virtues of the human heart. The virtues ultimately triumph over their sinful counterparts, noble and righteous in the red-stained haze of the battle. If we fast forward from Prudenti us' time to the modern 21st century, we find a different set of circumstances. The world has taken on a guise of comfort, success and innovation in order to conceal the depravity of greed, pride, and unjustifiable malice hidden underneath. Yet. the virtues are still very much alive today; they manage to slip into the good deeds and compassionate and kind hearts of most men and women. While all are important and powerful, I hold charity dear to my heart beyond the others. Charity is not revered on a marble pedestal for all to bask in its glory, but exists in so modest and small a scale that I cannot help but feel affection and even admiration for such a noble virtue. The term charity often brings to mind the image of a few coins or a handful of crumpled green wads thrown into limp, bare hands. This is not entirely wrong; the act of giving is fundamental to the virtue of charity. Charity in Scripture, however, is not necessarily concerned with alms-giving, but rather, with love of a specific kind. There are four types of love which exist in the world today: philia, storge, eros, and agape. Philia is a heartfelt love: brotherly love that was displayed between Jesus and his closest disciple John.
    [Show full text]
  • Seven Deadly Sins Sin 5: Seven Deadly Sins
    Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Sin 5: Seven Deadly Sins Sin 5: Seven Deadly Sins Sin 5: Seven Deadly Sins good) the sufficiency and contentment that can be found only in God (an eternal, infinite good), and The seven deadly sins — known for most of their they depend on themselves to provide that good early history as the seven capital vices — constituted rather than trusting God to do so. The intensely de- an important schema of sins that was used by Chris- sirable ends of the seven vices spawn other sins that tians for self-examination, ® confession, ® preach- serve those ends or are the effects of one’s excessive ing, and spiritual formation for nearly a millen- pursuit of them. For example, the offspring of ava- nium. Popular treatments of the seven use “sin” and rice typically includes “fraud” and “insensibility to “vice” as synonymous terms. Technically, however, mercy.” “vice” is a more specific term than “sin,” since it re- The list of vices in its most typical form includes fers only to a character trait, rather than applying to pride. Alternately, on the basis of Sir. 10:15 (“Pride a general human condition (“original sin,” “sinful is the beginning of all sin,” DV), Gregory named nature”), a specific action (“sins of thought, word, seven other vices, including vainglory, offshoots of or deed”), or social structures (“institutional rac- pride. However, pride occasionally competed for ism, a structural sin”). status as the queen of the other vices with avarice, The seven vices can be traced back as far as given the apostle Paul’s statement that love of Evagrius Ponticus (346-99), in his practical guides money is the root of all evil (1 Tim.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Hagiography As an Evolved Rhetorical Genre in Late Antiquity
    Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications Summer 2021 Chreia and Lives of Saints: A Study of Hagiography as an Evolved Rhetorical Genre in Late Antiquity Seth Fisher Eastern Illinois University Follow this and additional works at: https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses Part of the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Fisher, Seth, "Chreia and Lives of Saints: A Study of Hagiography as an Evolved Rhetorical Genre in Late Antiquity" (2021). Masters Theses. 4873. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/4873 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Eastern Illinois University Chreia and Lives of Saints: A study of hagiography as an evolved rhetorical genre in Late Antiquity A Thesis Submitted to The Faculty of the College of Arts and Humanities In Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History By Seth Fisher Charleston, Illinois May 2021 2 Abstract: Hagiography has often confused historians over what practical application this genre of Christian literature has when read as primary sources. In this project I will show that hagiography can read as an evolution of an earlier pagan style rooted in the paideia of ancient scholars. Chreia exercises were performed by students of paideia in order to instruct them on how to write about figures worth emulating such as Diogenes or Alexander the Great. Christian authors did not participate in a hermetically sealed education system but took part in the same schooling as their pagan peers.
    [Show full text]
  • Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation
    Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation Author(s): Roberston, J. C. Publisher: Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library Description: This very brief overview of Christian history is a condensation of Robertson©s multi- volume series on the same subject, The History of the Christian Church from the Apostolic Age to the Reformation. Though not possessing the same depth of the larger work, Sketches is masterfully written and struc- tured in its breadth of information, making it perfectly access- ible for interested laypersons and students looking to review. As a scholar of Christian history, Robertson selects informa- tion carefully and strategically as to maximize his readers© understanding without overwhelming them with copious amounts of detail. Kathleen O©Bannon CCEL Staff Subjects: Christianity History By period Early and medieval i Contents Title Page 1 Part I 2 Chapter 1. The Age of the Apostles (A.D. 33–100) 3 Chapter 2. St. Ignatius (AD 116 6 Chapter 3. St. Justin Martyr (AD 166) 9 Chapter 4. St. Polycarp (AD 166) 12 Chapter 5. The Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne (AD 177) 14 Chapter 6. Tertullian; Perpetua and Companions (AD 181–206 16 Chapter 7. Origen (AD 185–254) 19 Chapter 8. St. Cyprian, Part I (AD 200–253) 22 Chapter 9. From Gallienus to the End of the Last Persecution (AD 261–313) 27 Chapter 10. Constantine the Great (AD 313–337) 32 Chapter 11. The Council of Nicaea (AD 325) 36 Chapter 12. St. Athanasius 39 Chapter 13. The Monks. 47 Chapter 14. St. Basil and St.
    [Show full text]
  • Full Text of the Confessions Reading Guide
    WE’VE ALL HEARD ABOUT THE CLASSICS and assume they’re great. Some of us have even read them on our own. But for those of AUGUSTINE’S us who remain a bit intimidated or simply want to get more out of our reading, Crossway’s Christian Guides to the Classics are here to help. In these short guidebooks, popular professor, author, and literary CHRISTIAN GUIDES expert Leland Ryken takes you through some of the greatest CONFESSIONS TO THE CLASSICS literature in history while answering your questions along the way. EACH BOOK: • Includes an introduction to the • Contains discussion questions at author and work the end of each unit of the text • Explains the cultural context • Lists resources for further study • Incorporates published criticism • Evaluates the classic text from a • Defi nes key literary terms Christian worldview This volume guides readers through Augustine’s classic spiritual autobiography, the Confessions, exploring the book’s historical context, key themes, and overarching message. AUGUSTINE’S “I can’t help but think that these guides will give us more pleasure and CONFESSIONS satisfaction from our reading than we would otherwise have. And best of all, we will be better equipped to successfully engage with the ideas and worldviews we come across in our reading.” JONATHAN LEWIS, Editor, Home School Enrichment, Inc. “Reading these books along with the masterpieces they accompany is a literary education in itself, and there can be few better tutors than Ryken, a master Christian scholar and teacher.” GENE EDWARD VEITH JR., Provost and Professor of Literature, Patrick Henry College; Director, Cranach Institute, Concordia Theological Seminary RYKEN LELAND RYKEN (PhD, University of Oregon) served as professor of English at Wheaton College for over 45 years and has authored or edited nearly 40 books.
    [Show full text]
  • The Church in the Age of Constantine
    The Church in the Age of Constantine In the Age of Constantine, Christians experienced for the first time official recognition and support. The Roman Empire used religion not only as cement to unite its different populations, but as a means to win divine favour as well. When this mechanism was threatened by doctrinal dissensions or regional rivalries, the Emperor would intervene, contributing to the supremacy of one persuasion. In the twentieth century, European Christianity lost its dominant position. Critics, seeing dominance as foreign to the Gospel’s nature, blame the Constantinian Age as a time of error and fall. However, African and Asian Christians are fascinated by its successful inculturation. Such discussions demand examination, and in The Church in the Age of Constantine, Johannes Roldanus provides a refined theological screening of the doctrinal and ethical thinking during the fourth century. Roldanus uses the concept of ‘contextualisation’ to appreciate this process. He makes clear that, however much the winning positions were dependent on the interfering of the State, the theological reflection nevertheless followed its proper course, conditioned as it was by various understandings of Salvation in Christ. There was a natural concern to relate salvation to the most important elements of the existing culture. This study aims to help students and interested lay-people to focus on the essentials and to form an unprejudiced opinion on this crucial period of history. Johannes Roldanus is Professor Emeritus at the University of Groningen. The Church in the Age of Constantine The theological challenges Johannes Roldanus First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2006 Johannes Roldanus This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
    [Show full text]