Reading Asceticism: Exegetical Strategies in the Early Christian Rhetoric of Renunciation

1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-104
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Contemporary Theory ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
John Chrysostom ◽  
Contemporary Christian ◽  
Cultural Project ◽  
The Difference

AbstractWhen in early Christianity the ascetic body came to occupy a central discursive position, exegetes needed to find in Scripture ballast for their changing cultural project. This essay identifies three strategies by which patristic exegetes appropriated for their own purposes an apparently "underasceticized" Hebrew and early Christian past. The writings of John Chrysostom, Jerome, and Origen, respectively, provide the textual base. Chrysostom minimized the difference separating ancient Hebrew from contemporary Christian values: Hebrew patriarchs and Christian ascetics were not to be hierarchically positioned in relation to each other. Rather, "difference" and "distinction" were signalled through an exegetically established and maintained hierarchy of husband over wife. A second interpretive option, represented by Jerome, accentuated the difference between the "carnality" of the Hebrew past and the "spirituality" of the Christian ascetic present. Although Jerome rejected the charges of "Manicheanism" hurled against him, he nonetheless accorded "distinction" to the ascetics of his own day through ingenious intertextual readings of Scripture. A third exegetical model, represented by Origen, circumvented the debate over the "difference in times" by abandoning any chronological trajectory between Hebrew past and Christian present. Here it was not ascetic bodies that were distinguished from marital ones, but reason from sense, virtue from vice-a choice open to both the celibate and the married. The essay thus seeks to correlate modes of exegesis with the debates over asceticism that were prominent in early Christian writing. It also suggests the usefulness of contemporary theory for appreciating the rhetoric of these Fathers' exegesis.

scholarly journals Social Science Perspectives in Early Christian Studies in a Nordic Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Halvor Moxnes
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Early Christian Studies

This homage to Bruce Malina describes his visit to Norway in 1986, and reviews Nordic scholarship using social science criticism in New Testament and Early Christian studies in the last 40 years. Based on a common history and collaboration in academic politics, the Nordic countries make up a unity that has made it possible to establish Nordic studies in Early Christianity as a central player in international scholarship. Nordic scholars have especially been active in the second phase of social science criticism with its focus on social identities and ritual. Their most significant contribution has been in the exploration of socio-cognitive perspectives, where Helsinki University has had a leading role. A major discussion has been the relation between social-science criticism emphasizing the difference between antiquity and the modern world, and cognitive studies that focus on similarity. However, instead of absolute contrasts they may be regarded as supplementary approaches in historical studies of Early Christianity.

Early Christianity

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard A. van den Heever
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Church History ◽  
Subsequent Formation ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Historical Phenomenon ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Early Christian Studies

The study of early Christianity overlaps with closely related fields of study such as New Testament canonical literature, Historical Jesus studies, and early Christian history (or church history/patristics). This survey will concentrate on the broader conceptualization of the formation of the religio-historical phenomenon named Christianity, the religio-historical contexts that formed the matrix for the emergence of Christianity, Christianity as the taxonomizer for a number of cultural practices or as a subset of the broader Greco-Roman Mediterranean culture including its cultural production, and the history of scholarship on early Christianity. Broadly speaking, early Christianity as a historical phenomenon is framed by two “events,” namely, at the one end, the career of Jesus of Nazareth and the subsequent formation of Jesus- or Christ-groups in the 1st century ce, and at the other end, in the 4th century ce, the Constantinian revolution which signaled the Christianization of the Roman Empire (or which goes by the shorthand of “Nicaea”—after the Council called in 325 ce). These are not hard and fast boundaries as there are good reasons to include subsequent developments beyond the Council of Chalcedon, into the 6th century ce, in the purview. Beyond that, the study of early Christianity also encompasses the newly emerged field of “Christian origins,” by which is specifically referred to the interdisciplinary, non-theological theorizing of the origins of Christianity. All in all, this bibliographic overview assumes, in line with new directions in scholarship on early Christianity, that the study of early Christianity is best approached from the perspective of the newly defined study field of early Christian studies. The difference between early Christian studies and disciplines such as early church history and patristics is constituted by the fact that early Christian studies is informed by theories of history and of religion and is practiced as a kind of cultural studies.

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM AS A RHETORICAL CRITIC: THE HERMENEUTICS OF AN EARLY FATHER

2001 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauri Thurén
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Rhetorical Education ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
John Chrysostom ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
Technical Details ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Natural Way

AbstractModern rhetorical investigations of the New Testament are based on either ancient or modern rhetorical textbooks, but pursued without due consideration of the way in which the early Christian writers, who were trained in rhetoric, studied the texts of the New Testament. Thus it is useful to ask, how did John Chrysostom understand the biblical rhetoric, and how did he utilize his own rhetorical education in the exegesis? He was well trained in rhetoric and thus probably had a natural way of reading the texts, without misinterpreting the persuasive elements. This provides us with a critical perspective on modern rhetorical and theological analyses. Do they match with the reading of Chrysostom? If not, it is important to lay bare the reasons for the difference. It turns out that Chrysostom sees the text as a means of persuading the addressees more than just displaying static dogmatic ideas. The theology must be sought through comprehension of the devices and tactics. Surprisingly, Chrysostom provides a strictly text-based interpretation. For example, he emphasizes Paul's sharp message condemning any positive use of the Law. Moreover, Chrysostom utilizes his knowledge in order to clarify the interactive functions of the author's expressions, instead of focussing on technical details. Compared with most exegetes of the past millennium, Chrysostom's comments on the communicative aspect in Galatians display a fresh perspective on the text.

The Missing Rhetorical History Between Quintilian and Augustine

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-376
Author(s):  
Mike Duncan
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Classical Rhetoric ◽  
Rhetorical History ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
Rhetorical Force ◽  
Apostolic Church

Current histories of rhetoric neglect the early Christian period (ca. 30–430 CE) in several crucial ways–Augustine is overemphasized and made to serve as a summary of Christian thought rather than an endpoint, the texts of church fathers before 300 CE are neglected or lumped together, and the texts of the New Testament are left unexamined. An alternative outline of early Christian rhetoric is offered, explored through the angles of political self-invention, doctrinal ghostwriting, apologetics, and fractured sermonization. Early Christianity was not a monolithic religion that eventually made peace with classical rhetoric, but as a rhetorical force in its own right, and comprised of more factions early on than just the apostolic church.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Otto
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Philo Of Alexandria ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Text Production ◽  
Church Father ◽  
Intellectual Formation ◽  
The Relationship

Between the second and the sixteenth centuries CE, references to the Jewish exegete Philo of Alexandria occur exclusively in texts written by Christians. David T. Runia has described this phenomenon as the adoption of Philo by Christians as an “honorary Church Father.” Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith and recent investigations of the “Parting of the Ways” of early Christianity and Judaism, this study argues that early Christian invocations of Philo reveal ongoing efforts to define the relationship between Jewishness and Christianness, their areas of overlap and points of divergence. The introduction situates invocations of Philo within the wider context of early Christian writing about Jews and Jewishness. It considers how Philo and his early Christian readers participated in the larger world of Greco-Roman philosophical schools, text production, and the ethical and intellectual formation (paideia) of elite young men in the Roman Empire.

Influence on Early Christian Worship

2020 ◽  
pp. 377-391
Author(s):  
Paul F. Bradshaw
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Hebrew Scriptures ◽  
Christian Worship ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Ritual Practices

This chapter traces the various ways in which the cultic language and imagery of the Hebrew Scriptures influenced and shaped the liturgical thought and ritual practices of early Christianity, from the first to the fourth century ce. At first, this was primarily through the metaphorical or spiritual application of such concepts as priesthood and sacrifice, but eventually there are indications of the beginnings of the adoption of a more literal correspondence between some elements of the Temple cult and aspects of Christian worship. Both corporate and individual practices of prayer are covered, including the use of the canonical psalms, as well as the appropriation of traditional ritual gestures and the emergence of Christian holy days out of biblical festivals.

Das frühe Christentum und die Bildung

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udo Schnelle
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Literary Production ◽  
Roman Religion ◽  
Literary Genres ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Urban Congregations ◽  
Intellectual Level

Early Christianity is often regarded as an entirely lower-class phenomenon, and thus characterised by a low educational and cultural level. This view is false for several reasons. (1) When dealing with the ancient world, inferences cannot be made from the social class to which one belongs to one's educational and cultural level. (2) We may confidently state that in the early Christian urban congregations more than 50 per cent of the members could read and write at an acceptable level. (3) Socialisation within the early congregations occurred mainly through education and literature. No religious figure before (or after) Jesus Christ became so quickly and comprehensively the subject of written texts! (4) The early Christians emerged as a creative and thoughtful literary movement. They read the Old Testament in a new context, they created new literary genres (gospels) and reformed existing genres (the Pauline letters, miracle stories, parables). (5) From the very beginning, the amazing literary production of early Christianity was based on a historic strategy that both made history and wrote history. (6) Moreover, early Christians were largely bilingual, and able to accept sophisticated texts, read them with understanding, and pass them along to others. (7) Even in its early stages, those who joined the new Christian movement entered an educated world of language and thought. (8) We should thus presuppose a relatively high intellectual level in the early Christian congregations, for a comparison with Greco-Roman religion, local cults, the mystery religions, and the Caesar cult indicates that early Christianity was a religion with a very high literary production that included critical reflection and refraction.

scholarly journals Chryzostomowa terminologia wychowania

Vox Patrum ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 337-391
Author(s):  
Ewa Osek
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria ◽  
John Chrysostom

This paper is the study of the Greek terms using by John Chrysostom on rea­ring, upbringing, training and teaching of children. The analyse of these terms and their use in all the John Chrysostom's writings shows as strong influence of the Atttic writers' vocabulary (especiallty Platoʼs), even in his commentaries on the Scriptural verses, as of the early Christian litera­ture (New Testament, Clement of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa).

scholarly journals Małe dzieci w chrześcijańskiej epigrafice miasta Rzymu i w nauczaniu Jana Chryzostoma

Vox Patrum ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 233-243
Author(s):  
Bożena Stawoska-Jundziłł
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
High Status ◽  
Small Children ◽  
Person Following ◽  
John Chrysostom ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Christian Families ◽  
The City ◽  
Full Maturity

The paper presents the results of studies of epitaphs for children up to almost eight years of age from the city of Rome (3rd-4th c. – B. Stawoska-Jundziłł, Vixit cum parentibus. Children aged under seven in Christian families from Rome of 3rd-4th c., Bydgoszcz 2008) in comparison with the views of John Chrysostom on the upbringing of small children. The content of over 2000 children from Rome demonstrates a high status of even the youngest offspring in the Christian families from this city. The founders cared for their religious „endowment”, bestowed their love on them and tried to remember them as members of the family even if they had died after a few days or months. It was unquestionably believed that small children are immediately saved, go to God and commune with the saints. Thanks to this the family could hope for their support and prayers. Whereas, John Chrysostom only casually mentions small children and, what is more, ambivalently: on one hand presenting them on the basis of thorough observations of their behavior and looking after them and on the other hand as mindless creatures, a harbinger of va­luable person following the Stoics e.g. Seneca. As far as the most important for me question of the death of small children is concerned he takes a stand similar to that of the Romans. The children are really without sins (they did not commit them consciously) so God shall accept them only through the hardships of illness and death. Now they are asleep (unlike in the studied epitaphs) but they will rise from the dead and join their parents. Thus, the despair after their death is pointless; God decided the best for them. The difference lies in the fact that the founders of epitaphs more decidedly see the perfection of posthumous existence of even the smallest children who there reach their full maturity whereas John does not seem to be interested in this issue since he directs his teaching mostly to maturing and mature Christians in the earthly life and not in the beyond.

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