Philosophy as Training for Death
Reading the Ancient Christian Martyr Acts as Spiritual Exercises
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3299248 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicole Kelley (Florida State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 75 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 723-747 |
| Publication date | 2006-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Church History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-6407 • E-ISSN: 1755-2613 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0009640700111813 |
| OpenAlex | W2120093847 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 29 |
In recent years several notable studies-including those by Judith Perkins, Daniel Boyarin, and Elizabeth Castelli-have assessed the importance of martyrdom and suffering in constructions of ancient Christian identity. This essay takes as its starting point the observation by Perkins that in early Christian communities, the threat of suffering (whether real or perceived) worked to create a particular kind of self. In Perkins's view, many ancient Christians came to believe that "to be a Christian was to suffer." Christian martyr acts, when understood as textual vehicles for the construction of culture and the articulation of Christian identities, emerge as one mechanism by which such selves were constructed. In the pages that follow I will explore how the reading and hearing of narratives about martyrdom constituted an exercise derived from Greek philosophy, adapted to inspire a largely nonliterate audience. This exercise not only trained early Christians to be ready for death and the world to come, but also worked to shape their perceptions of the Christian way of life in this world
Aesthetics · Art · Articulation (sociology) · Christian Identity · Identity (music) · Linguistics · Literature · Martyr · Narrative · Politics · Reading (process) · Theology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · History · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies
The First Apocalypse of James
We Slay Demons
How Do We Explain the Quiet Demise of Graeco-Roman Religion? An Essay
Virtue and Philosophy in 4 Maccabees
Pathology, identity, or both? Making meaning from early Christian martyrdom
Marxism and the spatial analysis of early Christianity
Torture and Origen's Hermeneutics of Nonviolence
The first urban Christians
The acts of the Christian martyrs
Art of Living
Theater and society in the classical world
The Hellenistic Philosophers
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
The “Self” as Sufferer
History, Theory, Text
Writing and Holiness
Legislation against the Christians
Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church. A Study of a Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus
Ancient Literacy
Clement of Alexandria and the Care of the Self
The Art of Living
Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted ?-A Rejoinder
Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted?1
Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted ?-An Amendment
Women, Gender, and the Study of Christian History
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,39 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2023 (16) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |