Late Antique Christians and Their Multiple Identities. North Africa, 200–450 AD.
Beautiful Letters| N° d'inventaire | 18650 |
| Format | 15 x 21.5 |
| Détails | 235 p., paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 2014 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | |
For a long time, the study of religious life in Late Antiquity relied on the idea that Jews, pagans, and Christians were largely distinct groups, separated by explicit markers of belief, ritual, and social practice. In recent years, however, a growing body of scholarship has revealed the extent to which identities in the late Roman world were fluid, multiple, and blurred by ethnic, social, and sexual differences. For Christians in this period, Christianity was thus only one of many available identities. In this book, Eric Rebillard explores how Christians in North Africa, between the second and mid-fifth centuries, between the time of Tertullian and that of Augustine, chose the moments and contexts in which they identified as Christians. By shifting the focus from groups to individuals and placing the emphasis on the latter, the author calls into question the existence of cohesive, stable, and homogeneous groups based on Christianity more broadly. By showing that the intermittent nature of Christianity was a structurally coherent element in the daily lives of Christians in the period under consideration, this book opens up a whole new set of questions that will allow us to progress in our understanding of a crucial period in the history of Christianity.
For a long time, the study of religious life in Late Antiquity relied on the idea that Jews, pagans, and Christians were largely distinct groups, separated by explicit markers of belief, ritual, and social practice. In recent years, however, a growing body of scholarship has revealed the extent to which identities in the late Roman world were fluid, multiple, and blurred by ethnic, social, and sexual differences. For Christians in this period, Christianity was thus only one of many available identities. In this book, Eric Rebillard explores how Christians in North Africa, between the second and mid-fifth centuries, between the time of Tertullian and that of Augustine, chose the moments and contexts in which they identified as Christians. By shifting the focus from groups to individuals and placing the emphasis on the latter, the author calls into question the existence of cohesive, stable, and homogeneous groups based on Christianity more broadly. By showing that the intermittent nature of Christianity was a structurally coherent element in the daily lives of Christians in the period under consideration, this book opens up a whole new set of questions that will allow us to progress in our understanding of a crucial period in the history of Christianity.