Passion and Compassion in Early Christianity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23174887 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susan Wessel (University of America, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Publication date | 2016-03-31 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | BOOK |
| Venue | Passion and Compassion in Early Christianity (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1017/cbo9781316408841 |
| OpenAlex | W2491154562 |
| Open Library | OL34737017M |
| ISBN | 9781316408841 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
This book examines how the early Christian elite articulated and cultivated the affective dimensions of compassion in a Roman world that promoted emotional tranquillity as the path to human flourishing. Drawing upon a wide range of early Christians from both east and west, Wessel situates each author in the broader cultural and intellectual context. The reader is introduced to the diverse conditions in which Christians felt and were urged to feel compassion in exemplary ways, and in which warnings were sounded against the possibilities for distortion and exploitation. Wessel argues that the early Christians developed literary methods and rhetorical techniques to bring about appropriate emotional responses to human suffering. Their success in this regard marks the beginning of affective compassion as a Christian virtue. Comparison with early modern and contemporary philosophers and ethicists further demonstrates the intrinsic worth of the early Christian understanding of compassion.
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Compassion · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Flourishing · Literature · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Theology · Virtue · Augustinian Studies and Theology · History · Medieval Philosophy and Theology · Philosophy · Psychology · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity · Social Psychology · Caring · Christianity · Church history · Church history, primitive and early church, ca. 30-600 · Church work · Example · History of doctrines · Jesus christ, example · Jesus christ, history of doctrines · Religious aspects · Suffering · Suffering, religious aspects
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,38 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2024 (7) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |