
Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire
The Development of Christian Discourse
Averil Cameron(Author)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Published on 2. December 1994
Book
Paperback/Softback
275 pages
978-0-520-08923-5 (ISBN)
Description
Many reasons can be given for the rise of Christianity in late antiquity and its flourishing in the medieval world. In asking how Christianity succeeded in becoming the dominant ideology in the unpromising circumstances of the Roman Empire, Averil Cameron turns to the development of Christian discourse over the first to sixth centuries A.D., investigating the discourse's essential characteristics, its effects on existing forms of communication, and its eventual preeminence. Scholars of late antiquity and general readers interested in this crucial historical period will be intrigued by her exploration of these influential changes in modes of communication. The emphasis that Christians placed on language - writing, talking, and preaching - made possible the formation of a powerful and indeed a totalizing discourse, argues the author. Christian discourse was sufficiently flexible to be used as a public and political instrument, yet at the same time to be used to express private feelings and emotion.
Embracing the two opposing poles of logic and mystery, it contributed powerfully to the gradual acceptance of Christianity and the faith's transformation from the enthusiasm of a small sect to an institutionalized world religion.
Embracing the two opposing poles of logic and mystery, it contributed powerfully to the gradual acceptance of Christianity and the faith's transformation from the enthusiasm of a small sect to an institutionalized world religion.
More details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
1 frontisp., 16 figs.
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
408 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-08923-5 (9780520089235)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2023
1st Edition
Naval Institute Press
€32.99
Available for download
Person
Averil Cameron is Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at the University of London, King's College. Her many publications include Images of Women in Antiquity, edited with Amelie Kuhrt (1983), Procopius and the Sixth Century (California, 1985), and History as Text (1989).