Between Pagan and Christian /
Jones, C. P. 1940-
Between Pagan and Christian / Christopher P. Jones. - 1 online resource (xvi, 207 pages)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
The perception of paganism -- Constantine -- After Constantine: indifference and intolerance -- God and other divinities -- Idolatry -- Sacrifice, blood, and prayer -- Debate -- Conversion -- The West -- The East -- Conclusion. The persistence of paganism -- Appendix. Was Macrobius a Christian?
For the early Christians, "pagan" referred to a multitude of unbelievers: Greek and Roman devotees of the Olympian gods, and "barbarians" such as Arabs and Germans with their own array of deities. But while these groups were clearly outsiders or idolaters, who and what was pagan depended on the outlook of the observer, as Christopher Jones shows in this fresh and penetrating analysis. Treating paganism as a historical construct rather than a fixed entity, Between Pagan and Christian uncovers the ideas, rituals, and beliefs that Christians and pagans shared in Late Antiquity. While the emperor Constantine's conversion in 312 was a momentous event in the history of Christianity, the new religion had been gradually forming in the Roman Empire for centuries, as it moved away from its Jewish origins and adapted to the dominant pagan culture. Early Christians drew on pagan practices and claimed important pagans as their harbingers--asserting that Plato, Virgil, and others had glimpsed Christian truths. At the same time, Greeks and Romans had encountered in Judaism observances and beliefs shared by Christians such as the Sabbath and the idea of a single, creator God. Polytheism was the most obvious feature separating paganism and Christianity, but pagans could be monotheists, and Christians could be accused of polytheism and branded as pagans. In the diverse religious communities of the Roman Empire, as Jones makes clear, concepts of divinity, conversion, sacrifice, and prayer were much more fluid than traditional accounts of early Christianity have led us to believe.
In English.
9780674369511 0674369513 0674725204 9780674725201
9780674725201 10.4159/9780674369511 doi
22573/ctt65v63c JSTOR
2013027065
30-600
Church history--Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600.
Christianity and other religions--Paganism--History--Early church, ca. 30-600.
Paganism--Relations--Christianity.
Église--Histoire--ca 30-600 (Église primitive)
Paganisme--Relations--Christianisme.
RELIGION--Christian Church--History.
RELIGION--Christianity--History.
Christianity
Church history--Primitive and early church
Interfaith relations
Paganism
Frühchristentum
Heidentum
Spätantike
Église--Histoire--Église--30-600 (Église primitive)
Paganisme--Christianisme--Relations.
Hedendom.
Fornkyrkan.
Kyrkohistoria.
Kristendom och andra religioner--historia.
History
BR162.3 / .J66 2014eb
270.1
Between Pagan and Christian / Christopher P. Jones. - 1 online resource (xvi, 207 pages)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
The perception of paganism -- Constantine -- After Constantine: indifference and intolerance -- God and other divinities -- Idolatry -- Sacrifice, blood, and prayer -- Debate -- Conversion -- The West -- The East -- Conclusion. The persistence of paganism -- Appendix. Was Macrobius a Christian?
For the early Christians, "pagan" referred to a multitude of unbelievers: Greek and Roman devotees of the Olympian gods, and "barbarians" such as Arabs and Germans with their own array of deities. But while these groups were clearly outsiders or idolaters, who and what was pagan depended on the outlook of the observer, as Christopher Jones shows in this fresh and penetrating analysis. Treating paganism as a historical construct rather than a fixed entity, Between Pagan and Christian uncovers the ideas, rituals, and beliefs that Christians and pagans shared in Late Antiquity. While the emperor Constantine's conversion in 312 was a momentous event in the history of Christianity, the new religion had been gradually forming in the Roman Empire for centuries, as it moved away from its Jewish origins and adapted to the dominant pagan culture. Early Christians drew on pagan practices and claimed important pagans as their harbingers--asserting that Plato, Virgil, and others had glimpsed Christian truths. At the same time, Greeks and Romans had encountered in Judaism observances and beliefs shared by Christians such as the Sabbath and the idea of a single, creator God. Polytheism was the most obvious feature separating paganism and Christianity, but pagans could be monotheists, and Christians could be accused of polytheism and branded as pagans. In the diverse religious communities of the Roman Empire, as Jones makes clear, concepts of divinity, conversion, sacrifice, and prayer were much more fluid than traditional accounts of early Christianity have led us to believe.
In English.
9780674369511 0674369513 0674725204 9780674725201
9780674725201 10.4159/9780674369511 doi
22573/ctt65v63c JSTOR
2013027065
30-600
Church history--Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600.
Christianity and other religions--Paganism--History--Early church, ca. 30-600.
Paganism--Relations--Christianity.
Église--Histoire--ca 30-600 (Église primitive)
Paganisme--Relations--Christianisme.
RELIGION--Christian Church--History.
RELIGION--Christianity--History.
Christianity
Church history--Primitive and early church
Interfaith relations
Paganism
Frühchristentum
Heidentum
Spätantike
Église--Histoire--Église--30-600 (Église primitive)
Paganisme--Christianisme--Relations.
Hedendom.
Fornkyrkan.
Kyrkohistoria.
Kristendom och andra religioner--historia.
History
BR162.3 / .J66 2014eb
270.1