Authority and the Sacred: Aspects of the Christianisation of the Roman World (Canto original series)
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Revised ed., 1/12/2008
EAN 9780521595575, ISBN10: 0521595576
Paperback, 108 pages, 21.6 x 14 x 0.7 cm
Language: English
The Christianisation of the Roman world lies at the root of modern Europe, yet at the time it was a tentative and piecemeal process. Peter Brown's fascinating study examines the factors which proved decisive and the compromises which made the emergence of the Christian 'thought world' possible: how the the old gods of the Roman Empire could be reinterpreted as symbols to further the message of the Church. Peter Brown also shows how Christian holy men were less representative of a triumphant faith than negotiators of a working compromise between the new faith and traditional ways of dealing with the supernatural worlds.
Preface
1. Christianisation
narratives and process
2. The limits of intolerance
3. Arbiters of the Holy
the Christian holy man in late antiquity
Notes
Index.