The Earliest Christian War

Second‐ and Third‐Century Martyrdom and the Creation of Cosmic Warriors

Bibliographic Data

ID14760419
AuthorsJonathan Koscheski, Jonathan J Koscheski (Florida International University, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume39
Issue1
Pages100-124
Publication date2011-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Religious Ethics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0384-9694 • E-ISSN: 1467-9795
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9795.2010.00467.x
OpenAlexW1902317959
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited7

Many Christian historians and theologians hold the opinion that the early church condemned wholesale an active involvement in bloodshed. However, in light of evidence drawn from early Christian texts, most notably literature dealing with martyrdom, one finds that stance overly simplified. In fact, forms of early Christianity not only glorified war and violence in certain contexts but actively sought it out. This article enters into this conversation by applying a theory championed by Mark Juergensmeyer's Terror in the Mind of God . While this theory deals with modern examples of religious cultures of violence, his “stages of symbolic empowerment” apply surprisingly well to certain communities within the early orthodox church. The cosmic war complex that leads to nefarious figures such as the fanatic suicide bomber can be seen at work within the nascent matrix of the Church, which produced victims and warriors in the form of the voluntary martyrs

Art · Christianity · Conversation · Literature · Historical and Architectural Studies · History · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies · Violence, Religion, and Philosophy

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