Ancient Christian Martyrdom: Diverse Practices, Theologies, and Traditions

by Candida R. Moss

Publisher:

Yale University Press

, 2012

Overview

In this innovative new study, Candida Moss offers a radically new history of martyrdom in the first and second centuries that challenges traditional perspectives on the spread of Christianity and rethinks the nature of Christian martyrdom. Martyrdom, Moss shows, was not a single idea, theology, or practice: there were diverse perspectives and understandings of what it meant to die for Christ.

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Key Features

• Offers a radically new history of martyrdom in the first and second centuries
• Challenges traditional perspectives on the spread of Christianity
• Rethinks the nature of Christian martyrdom

Contents

• The Documentary Hypothesis
• Asia Minor: Imitating Christ
• Rome: Contesting Philosophy
• Gaul: The Victors of Vienne and Lyons
• Roman North Africa: Apocalyptic Ascent
• Alexandria: Clement and the True Martyr

Praise for the Print Edition

Candida Moss’ well written book puts the study of ancient martyrdom on a completely new footing by her questioning of received datings and persuasive insistence on the diversity of the sources, practices, and ideologies of martyrdom. It is a milestone in the field.

—Jan N. Bremmer, professor of religious studies, University of Groningen

This is a valuable study on a very important topic . . . by a brilliant young scholar who has taken the trouble to gain mastery of the scholarship in both English and German going back to the early modern period, and who is not afraid to go back to the first principles to re-assess the date and context of the sources.

—Kate Cooper, professor of ancient history, University of Manchester

Moss successfully overturns longstanding assumptions in reconfiguring our picture of pre-Decian Christian martyrdom, combining erudite awareness of divergent contexts with sophisticated analysis of important texts. Ancient Christian Martyrdom shows that we didn’t know what we thought we knew—but we now know more and see with fresh insight, thanks to her striking illumination of the vibrant, varied discourses of martyrdom in relationship to ancient Mediterranean attitudes about death, suffering, power, and order.

—Brad S. Gregory, author, Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe

Product Details

• Title: Ancient Christian Martyrdom: Diverse Practices, Theologies, and Traditions
• Author: Candida R. Moss
• Series: Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2014
• Pages: 272
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Martyrdom › Christianity--History; Persecution › History--Early church, ca. 30-600; Church history › Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
• ISBNs: 9780300154658, 0300154658
• Resource ID: LLS:ANCCHRSTNMRTYRDM
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:06:38Z

About Candida R. Moss

Candida R. Moss (born 26 November 1978) is an English academic who is the Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham. A graduate of Oxford and Yale universities, Moss specializes in the study of the New Testament and martyrdom in early Christianity.