Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy [Hardcover]

the late Geoffrey de Ste. Croix (Author), Michael Whitby (Editor), Joseph Streeter (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0199278121 | ISBN-13: 978-0199278121 | Publication Date: November 23, 2006

This volume brings together seven seminal papers by the great radical historian Geoffrey de Ste. Croix, who died in 2000, on early Christian topics, with a special focus on persecution and martyrdom. Christian martyrdom is a topic which conjures up ready images of inhumane persecutors confronted by Christian heroes who perish for the instant but win the long-term battle for reputation. In five of these essays Ste. Croix scrutinizes the evidence to reveal the significant role of Christians themselves, first as volunteer martyrs and later, after the triumph of Christianity in the early fourth century, as organizers of much more effective persecutions. A sixth essay pursues the question of the control of Christianity through a comprehensive study of the context for one of the Church's most important and divisive doctrinal decisions, at the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451); the key role of the emperor and his senior secular officials is revealed, contrary to the prevailing interpretation of Church historians. Finally the attitudes of the early Church towards property and slavery are reviewed, to show the divide between the Gospel message and actual practice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`Review from previous edition an unusual book on every level ... Here then are missing pieces of two interconnected jigsaws: one, that of the intellectual biography of one of the most striking figures in classical scholarship in the second half of the twentieth-century; the other, that of his contributions to 'Athenian Democratic Origins' and other problems in Greek history ... anyone with a serious interest in either or both of these fields will rejoice in this volume and be grateful to its editors for allowing us to hear again the inimitable scholarly voice of Geoffrey Ernest Maurice de Ste. Croix.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

`no serious reader, converted or not, could emerge unimpressed by the sheer command of evidence and calibre of argument on display here [in Chapter 1]. The jewel of the volume.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

About the Author

Geoffrey de Ste. Croix was Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at New College, Oxford from 1953 until 1977. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1972. He published Origins of the Peloponnesian War in 1972 and The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World in 1981; the latter book was translated into Spanish and Greek, and won the Isaac Deutscher Memorial prize for 1982.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 23, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199278121
• ISBN-13: 978-0199278121
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,446,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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