Greek and Latin Letters in Late Antiquity: The Christianisation of a Literary Form. By Pauline Allen and Bronwen Neil
This slim volume provides a useful introduction to the Greek and Latin letters written by both Christians and non-Christians between 300 and 600 ce, a period of great importance when Christianity, continuing to spread through the population, was establishing itself as the official religion of the Ro...
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2021
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2021, Volume: 72, Issue: 2, Pages: 993-995 |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This slim volume provides a useful introduction to the Greek and Latin letters written by both Christians and non-Christians between 300 and 600 ce, a period of great importance when Christianity, continuing to spread through the population, was establishing itself as the official religion of the Roman empire. For this purpose the writing of letters was crucial, which helps to explain the great increase in the number of letters written, of which some 9,000 are thought to be extant (mainly from the fourth and fifth centuries), though the authors make it clear that many have been lost. Letters were needed for church administration, for doctrinal announcements in festal, synodal, and synodical letters, for pastoral and polemical purposes, and for sustaining friendships all over the empire. The authors suggest that the fluidity of the letter-writing genre, which includes anything sent with a message to someone else, whether a brief note or a theological treatise, makes it hard to categorize, and they demonstrate the frequent overlap between different types. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flab114 |