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 3
... behavior is not given, natural, or obvious; these categories are produced and enacted within history. Definitions of sexual deviance change; there is no universal, generalizable category “the sexual”; and gender is not determined by ...
... behavior is not given, natural, or obvious; these categories are produced and enacted within history. Definitions of sexual deviance change; there is no universal, generalizable category “the sexual”; and gender is not determined by ...
Page 4
... behavior . But Christians were not the only group accused of an ad- diction to illicit sex and other moral or religious crimes during this period : Jews were said to worship the head of an ass , perform human sacrifice , and pursue lust ...
... behavior . But Christians were not the only group accused of an ad- diction to illicit sex and other moral or religious crimes during this period : Jews were said to worship the head of an ass , perform human sacrifice , and pursue lust ...
Page 5
... behavior of the pagan gods and those who worship them.23 Christian au- thors also turned these stereotypical charges against one another , arguing that the " heretics " -fellow Christians with whom they disagreed — were incapable of ...
... behavior of the pagan gods and those who worship them.23 Christian au- thors also turned these stereotypical charges against one another , arguing that the " heretics " -fellow Christians with whom they disagreed — were incapable of ...
Page 8
... behavior among " the saints . " 38 Aristides , Athenagoras , Justin Martyr , Tertul- lian , Tatian , Theophilus of Antioch , and numerous others asserted that the Christians are exceptionally chaste , especially the continent who never ...
... behavior among " the saints . " 38 Aristides , Athenagoras , Justin Martyr , Tertul- lian , Tatian , Theophilus of Antioch , and numerous others asserted that the Christians are exceptionally chaste , especially the continent who never ...
Page 9
... behavior of a target, such as those frequently put forward by early Christians, served to reinforce boundaries between those associated with the bad behavior and those who claimed that such behavior is abhorrent. Finding themselves in ...
... behavior of a target, such as those frequently put forward by early Christians, served to reinforce boundaries between those associated with the bad behavior and those who claimed that such behavior is abhorrent. Finding themselves in ...
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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 |
Common terms and phrases
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