Reading Renunciation
Asceticism and Scripture in Early Christianity
1st Edition
Published on 19. July 1999
360 pages
978-1-4008-2318-5 (ISBN)
Description
A study of how asceticism was promoted through Biblical interpretation, Reading Renunciation uses contemporary literary theory to unravel the writing strategies of the early Christian authors. Not a general discussion of early Christian teachings on celibacy and marriage, the book is a close examination, in the author's words, of how "the Fathers' axiology of abstinence informed their interpretation of Scriptural texts and incited the production of ascetic meaning."
Elizabeth Clark begins with a survey of scholarship concerning early Christian asceticism that is designed to orient the nonspecialist. Section Two is organized around potentially troubling issues posed by Old Testament texts that demanded skillful handling by ascetically inclined Christian exegetes. The third section, "Reading Paul," focuses on the hermeneutical problems raised by I Corinthians 7, and the Deutero-Pauline and Pastoral Epistles.
Elizabeth Clark's remarkable work will be of interest to scholars of late antiquity, religion, literary theory, and history.
Elizabeth Clark begins with a survey of scholarship concerning early Christian asceticism that is designed to orient the nonspecialist. Section Two is organized around potentially troubling issues posed by Old Testament texts that demanded skillful handling by ascetically inclined Christian exegetes. The third section, "Reading Paul," focuses on the hermeneutical problems raised by I Corinthians 7, and the Deutero-Pauline and Pastoral Epistles.
Elizabeth Clark's remarkable work will be of interest to scholars of late antiquity, religion, literary theory, and history.
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Elizabeth A. Clark is John Carlisle Kilgo Professor of Religion at Duke University and the author of several books, including The Origenist Controversy (Princeton). She is the past president of the American Academy of Religion, the American Society of Church History, and the North American Patristics Society. She is the coeditor of the Journal of Early Christian Studies.
Content
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviation List xv
CHAPTER ONE Introduction 3
CHAPTER TWO Asceticism in Late Ancient Christianity 14
Reading for Asceticism
CHAPTER THREE Reading in the Early Christian World 45
CHAPTER FOUR The Profits and Perils of Figurative Exegesis 70
CHAPTER FIVE Exegetical and Rhetorical Strategies for Ascetic Reading 104
CHAPTER SIX Three Models of Reading Renunciation 153
Rejection and Recuperation: The Old Dispensation and the New
CHAPTER SEVEN From Reproduction to Defamilialization 177
CHAPTER EIGHT From Ritual to Askesis 204
CHAPTER NINE The Exegesis of Divorce 233
Reading Paul
CHAPTER TEN I Corinthians 7 in Early Christian Exegesis 259
CHAPTER ELEVEN From Paul to the Pastorals 330
Afterword 371
Bibliograpky 375
Select Index of Biblical Passages 401
Select General Index 409
Abbreviation List xv
CHAPTER ONE Introduction 3
CHAPTER TWO Asceticism in Late Ancient Christianity 14
Reading for Asceticism
CHAPTER THREE Reading in the Early Christian World 45
CHAPTER FOUR The Profits and Perils of Figurative Exegesis 70
CHAPTER FIVE Exegetical and Rhetorical Strategies for Ascetic Reading 104
CHAPTER SIX Three Models of Reading Renunciation 153
Rejection and Recuperation: The Old Dispensation and the New
CHAPTER SEVEN From Reproduction to Defamilialization 177
CHAPTER EIGHT From Ritual to Askesis 204
CHAPTER NINE The Exegesis of Divorce 233
Reading Paul
CHAPTER TEN I Corinthians 7 in Early Christian Exegesis 259
CHAPTER ELEVEN From Paul to the Pastorals 330
Afterword 371
Bibliograpky 375
Select Index of Biblical Passages 401
Select General Index 409
