«Impulsore Chresto»: Opposition to Christianity in the Roman Empire c. 50-250 AD

by Jakob Engberg, Anders-Christian Jacobsen (Editor)

Overview

Impulsore Chresto reassesses opposition to Christianity AD 50-250. The Roman authorities‘ persecutions have caught the attention of both the public, intrigued by martyrs, and scholars, arguing that executions were relatively rare. This is not challenged, but the executions are placed in context as the most dramatic aspect of a spectrum of opposition including rumors, polemic, harassment and accusations. Such opposition was taken for granted and rarely described. When studying the preserved texts on trials against Christians, however, it appears that even here relatives, plaintiffs, spectators or local officials played crucial roles. There were as many reasons for opposition as opponents, but some motives reappear in clusters: Christians were perceived as superstitious and ungodly, as endangering peace with the gods and social order.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783631567784
Publisher:	Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Publication date:	07/20/2007
Series:	Early Christianity in the Context of Antiquity , #2
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.06(h) x (d)

About the Author

The Author: Jakob Engberg, Ph.D., is a historian working at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Aarhus (Denmark) teaching the History of Christianity and writing on the relations between pagans and Christians in the Roman Empire.

Table of Contents

Contents: Pagan, convert, Jew, Christian – Church: imagined community – Formalism, substantivism – Spectrum of opposition, opponents: persecution, plaintiff, harassment, polemic – Motives, realistic, xenophobic, chimerical hostility – Roman Empire – Early Christian texts, martyr-narratives, pagan authors on Christians, apologetics.

Preface

Click to read or download