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 ix
... Hodge , Al- ice Laffey , Frederick J. Murphy , and Joanne Pierce were particularly gen- erous to me personally . Professor Johnson Hodge kindly read one chapter of the book, Professor Ebbott helped me clarify and improve.
... Hodge , Al- ice Laffey , Frederick J. Murphy , and Joanne Pierce were particularly gen- erous to me personally . Professor Johnson Hodge kindly read one chapter of the book, Professor Ebbott helped me clarify and improve.
Page x
... chapter with me at great length, providing very helpful comments. Jeremy Galen, my Radcliffe research partner ... chapters composed for this book. His encourage- ment has meant a great deal to me. William V. Harris served on my dis ...
... chapter with me at great length, providing very helpful comments. Jeremy Galen, my Radcliffe research partner ... chapters composed for this book. His encourage- ment has meant a great deal to me. William V. Harris served on my dis ...
Page 13
... control insiders , shame outsiders , and , as I will argue , undermine anyone and everyone who would who would oppose their particular point of view.75 CHAPTER 1 Sexual Slander and Ancient Invective There are perhaps WHO'S ON TOP ? 13.
... control insiders , shame outsiders , and , as I will argue , undermine anyone and everyone who would who would oppose their particular point of view.75 CHAPTER 1 Sexual Slander and Ancient Invective There are perhaps WHO'S ON TOP ? 13.
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Sexual Slander and Ancient Christianity Jennifer Wright Knust. CHAPTER 1 Sexual Slander and Ancient Invective There are perhaps few characters in Roman history as devious , greedy , and full of lust as Antony and Cleopatra , if we ...
Sexual Slander and Ancient Christianity Jennifer Wright Knust. CHAPTER 1 Sexual Slander and Ancient Invective There are perhaps few characters in Roman history as devious , greedy , and full of lust as Antony and Cleopatra , if we ...
Page 17
... chapter illustrates the importance of claims regarding virtue and vice to the discourse of the imperial period ... chapters. SEX TALK AND ANCIENT RHETORICAL THEORY Success as an orator, Aristotle observed, demands three capabilities: the ...
... chapter illustrates the importance of claims regarding virtue and vice to the discourse of the imperial period ... chapters. SEX TALK AND ANCIENT RHETORICAL THEORY Success as an orator, Aristotle observed, demands three capabilities: the ...
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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