Pagan Apologetics and Christian Intolerance in the Ages of Themistius and Augustine
This essay charts some trends in pagan-Christian dialogue in the fourth and early fifth centuries, particularly in light of recent attempts to foreground the intellectual achievement of post-Constantinian Christian apologetics and political thought. Many pagans consciously attempted to appeal to Chr...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
1996
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| In: |
Journal of early Christian studies
Year: 1996, Volume: 4, Issue: 2, Pages: 171-207 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | This essay charts some trends in pagan-Christian dialogue in the fourth and early fifth centuries, particularly in light of recent attempts to foreground the intellectual achievement of post-Constantinian Christian apologetics and political thought. Many pagans consciously attempted to appeal to Christians on their own terms through allusions to themes in contemporary Christian debate and, above all, through the adoption of Christian vocabulary; this rhetorical strategy is compared to the introduction into early Christian apologetic of currents in middle Platonic theological speculation. Contrasting Christian response to such appeals with Christian legislation on pagan ritual behaviors allows us to collapse a distinction traditional in both fourth-century attitudes and modern scholarship between literary defenses of paganism and "pagan survivals," and reveals a distinct lack of philosophical rigor among Christian legislators and bishops alike. |
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| ISSN: | 1086-3184 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/earl.1996.0021 |