Religious Identity in Late Antiquity: Greeks, Jews and Christians in Antioch

by Isabella Sandwell

• ISBN13: 9780521296915
• ISBN10: 0521296919
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-06-30
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Studies of religious interaction in the fourth century AD have often assumed that the categories of 'pagan', 'Christian' and 'Jew' can be straightforwardly applied, and that we can assess the extent of Christianization in the Graeco-Roman period. In contrast, in this 2007 text, Dr Sandwell tackles the fundamental question of attitudes to religious identity by exploring how the Christian preacher John Chrysostom and the Graeco-Roman orator Libanius wrote about and understood issues of religious allegiance. By comparing the approaches of these men, who were living and working in Antioch at approximately the same time, she strives to get inside the process of religious interaction in a way not normally possible due to the dominance of Christian sources. In so doing she develops approaches to the study of Libanius' religion, the impact of John Chrysostom's preaching on his audiences and the importance of religious identity to fourth-century individuals.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Understanding religious identity in fourth century Antioch

Imperial society, religion and literary culture in fourth century Antioch

Constructed and Strategic Religious Identities and Allegiances, an Introduction

Chrysostom and the construction of religious identities

Libanius and the strategic use of religious allegiance

Religious Identities and Other Forms of Social Identification, an Introduction

Religious identity and other social identities in Chrysostom

Religious allegiance and other social identities in Libanius

Religious Identities and Social Organization, an Introduction

Chrysostom and social structure among Christians in Antioch

Libanius, religious allegiance and social structure

Assessing the Impact of Constructions of Identity, an Introduction

Religious identity, religious allegiance and religious practice

Conclusion

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