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The Scriptural Universe of Ancient Christianity / Guy G. Stroumsa.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2017]Copyright date: ©2016Description: 1 online resource (170 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780674974883
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 208/.2 23
LOC classification:
  • BL71 .S77 2016eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: A Double Paradigm Shift -- 1. A Scriptural Galaxy -- 2. A Divine Palimpsest -- 3. Religious Revolution and Cultural Change -- 4. Scripture and Culture -- 5. The New Self and Reading Practices -- 6. Communities of Knowledge -- 7. Eastern Wisdoms -- 8. A World Full of Letters -- 9. Scriptural and Personal Authority -- Conclusion: Alexandria, Jerusalem, Baghdad -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index
Summary: The passage of texts from scroll to codex created a revolution in the religious life of late antiquity. It played a decisive role in the Roman Empire’s conversion to Christianity and eventually enabled the worldwide spread of Christian faith. The Scriptural Universe of Ancient Christianity describes how canonical scripture was established and how scriptural interpretation replaced blood sacrifice as the central element of religious ritual. Perhaps more than any other cause, Guy G. Stroumsa argues, the codex converted the Roman Empire from paganism to Christianity. The codex permitted a mode of religious transmission across vast geographical areas, as sacred texts and commentaries circulated in book translations within and beyond Roman borders. Although sacred books had existed in ancient societies, they were now invested with a new aura and a new role at the core of religious ceremony. Once the holy book became central to all aspects of religious experience, the floodgates were opened for Greek and Latin texts to be reimagined and repurposed as proto-Christian. Most early Christian theologians did not intend to erase Greek and Roman cultural traditions; they were content to selectively adopt the texts and traditions they deemed valuable and compatible with the new faith, such as Platonism. The new cultura christiana emerging in late antiquity would eventually become the backbone of European identity.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780674974883

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: A Double Paradigm Shift -- 1. A Scriptural Galaxy -- 2. A Divine Palimpsest -- 3. Religious Revolution and Cultural Change -- 4. Scripture and Culture -- 5. The New Self and Reading Practices -- 6. Communities of Knowledge -- 7. Eastern Wisdoms -- 8. A World Full of Letters -- 9. Scriptural and Personal Authority -- Conclusion: Alexandria, Jerusalem, Baghdad -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

The passage of texts from scroll to codex created a revolution in the religious life of late antiquity. It played a decisive role in the Roman Empire’s conversion to Christianity and eventually enabled the worldwide spread of Christian faith. The Scriptural Universe of Ancient Christianity describes how canonical scripture was established and how scriptural interpretation replaced blood sacrifice as the central element of religious ritual. Perhaps more than any other cause, Guy G. Stroumsa argues, the codex converted the Roman Empire from paganism to Christianity. The codex permitted a mode of religious transmission across vast geographical areas, as sacred texts and commentaries circulated in book translations within and beyond Roman borders. Although sacred books had existed in ancient societies, they were now invested with a new aura and a new role at the core of religious ceremony. Once the holy book became central to all aspects of religious experience, the floodgates were opened for Greek and Latin texts to be reimagined and repurposed as proto-Christian. Most early Christian theologians did not intend to erase Greek and Roman cultural traditions; they were content to selectively adopt the texts and traditions they deemed valuable and compatible with the new faith, such as Platonism. The new cultura christiana emerging in late antiquity would eventually become the backbone of European identity.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Aug 2021)