Abandoned to Lust: Sexual Slander and Ancient ChristianityEarly Christians used charges of adultery, incest, and lascivious behavior to demonize their opponents, police insiders, resist pagan rulers, and define what it meant to be a Christian. Christians frequently claimed that they, and they alone were sexually virtuous, comparing themselves to those marked as outsiders, especially non-believers and "heretics," who were said to be controlled by lust and unable to rein in their carnal desires. True or not, these charges allowed Christians to present themselves as different from and morally superior to those around them. Through careful, innovative readings, Jennifer Knust explores the writings of Paul, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, and other early Christian authors who argued that Christ alone made self-mastery possible. Rejection of Christ led to both immoral sexual behavior and, ultimately, alienation and punishment from God. Knust considers how Christian writers participated in a long tradition of rhetorical invective, a rhetoric that was often employed to defend status and difference. Christians borrowed, deployed, and reconfigured classical rhetorical techniques, turning them against their rulers to undercut their moral and political authority. Knust also examines the use of accusations of licentiousness in conflicts between rival groups of Christians. Portraying rival sects as depraved allowed accusers to claim their own group as representative of "true Christianity." Knust's book also reveals the ways in which sexual slurs and their use in early Christian writings reflected cultural and gendered assumptions about what constituted purity, morality, and truth. In doing so, Abandoned to Lust highlights the complex interrelationships between sex, gender, and sexuality within the classical, biblical, and early-Christian traditions. |
From inside the book
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Page 2
... According to the logic of such discourse , colonization and Christianization were not only justified , they were absolutely necessary for the “ good ” of native and European alike . Sexual slurs are not only excellent weapons when ...
... According to the logic of such discourse , colonization and Christianization were not only justified , they were absolutely necessary for the “ good ” of native and European alike . Sexual slurs are not only excellent weapons when ...
Page 5
... According to Paul , the rejection of ( his ) God leads to a predictable decline into immorality characterized , principally , by “ unnatural ” sexual excess . Second - century Christian apologists built upon and expanded this argument ...
... According to Paul , the rejection of ( his ) God leads to a predictable decline into immorality characterized , principally , by “ unnatural ” sexual excess . Second - century Christian apologists built upon and expanded this argument ...
Page 7
... According to Catharine Edwards, accusations of sexual immorality lodged by Romans against one another were central to the “agonistic rituals of Roman politi- cal life.”34 Designed to marginalize and exclude, moralizing accusations about ...
... According to Catharine Edwards, accusations of sexual immorality lodged by Romans against one another were central to the “agonistic rituals of Roman politi- cal life.”34 Designed to marginalize and exclude, moralizing accusations about ...
Page 10
... According to an ancient and venerable tradition , a tradition at least as old as Plato , only good men can truly be kings . " Though a bad man may seem to be king - he may be called king by his subjects , he may call himself king — in ...
... According to an ancient and venerable tradition , a tradition at least as old as Plato , only good men can truly be kings . " Though a bad man may seem to be king - he may be called king by his subjects , he may call himself king — in ...
Page 11
... according to their relative virtues;57 Roman rul- ers were similarly evaluated by how well they did (or did not) promote and display virtue during their reign.58 Trading on this logic, Octavian, soon to be “Augustus,”59 sought to ...
... according to their relative virtues;57 Roman rul- ers were similarly evaluated by how well they did (or did not) promote and display virtue during their reign.58 Trading on this logic, Octavian, soon to be “Augustus,”59 sought to ...
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Abandoned to Lust: Sexual Slander and Ancient Christianity Jennifer Wright Knust Limited preview - 2006 |
Abandoned to Lust: Sexual Slander and Ancient Christianity Jennifer Wright Knust No preview available - 2006 |
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According accused adultery Aeschines ancient angels Antony apostles argues argument Athenagoras Augustus Bauckham behavior biblical Caligula Cambridge Castelli charges Christ Christian authors church Cicero claims Commentary Corinthians corrupt defile demons Demosthenes depravity desire Dial discourse discussion Early Christian elite emperor empire Enoch enslaved Epistle Epistle of Jude example faith false Christians false prophets false teachers father female flesh followers fornication Fortress Press gender genos gentiles Gnostic God’s Greek Haer heresies Heresiology heretics Herm Homosexuality honor immorality intercourse invective Iren Irenaeus Isocrates Israel Jewish Jews Jude Judean Justin 1 Apol Justin Martyr letter licentiousness lust male Marcus marriage moral Musonius Rufus offered one’s opponents passions Paul Paul’s Peter Philo philosophers Plut Plutarch polemic porneia prostitutes punishment rhetorical Roman Rome rulers self-control self-mastery sexual slander Shepherd of Hermas Simon slavery slaves status Suetonius suggests Tatian Tertullian Testament tradition translation vice virgins virtue wicked woman women