A memory of violence : Syriac Christianity and the radicalization of religious difference in late antiquity / Christine Shepardson.
| Author/creator | Shepardson, Christine C., 1972- author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2025] |
| Copyright Date | ©2025 |
| Description | xxv, 299 pages : maps ; 24 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature. ^A512030 |
| Contents | Introduction : an imperial church in turmoil -- Historical foundations : social networks and regional diversity -- Genealogies of orthodoxy : remembering the saints -- Genealogies of heresy : remembering Nestorius and Chalcedon -- Victims of violence : narratives of suffering and persecution -- Suffering now or later : prophecy and the final judgment -- Ritual flash points : performing radical difference -- Give it up for God : John of Ephesus and the later sixth century -- Conclusion : apocalypse now : Christian identity and the rise of Islam. |
| Abstract | "A Memory of Violence traces the rhetorical strategies of religious radicalization that encouraged fifth- and sixth-century miaphysite Christians to be willing to suffer physical deprivation and harm rather than abandon the church that the late Roman Empire defined as heresy after the Council of Chalcedon in 451. These Syriac texts created genealogies of orthodoxy and heresy, represented their heroes as martyr saints, and reminded their followers of God's coming judgment. Later they gained renewed relevance when they were copied and translated under the emerging 'Umayyad caliphate of Islam. This book reshapes representations of late antiquity by centering Syriac Christianity in these complex and politicized doctrinal conflicts. Tracing these rhetorical strategies not only sheds light on early Christian history in the Middle East, but also provides a rich case study of religious schism, devotion, and survival that continues to resonate today"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-290) and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Shepardson, Christine C., 1972- Memory of violence Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2025] 9780520413542 |
| LCCN | 2024051513 |
| ISBN | 9780520413535 |
| ISBN | 0520413539 hardcover |
| ISBN | electronic book |
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