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
... Empire has sometimes been attributed to a rotting from within brought about by ex- cessive luxury and manifested in sexual degeneracy.11 The outrageous emperor Caligula—guilty of incest and orgiastic sexual romps and labeled an ...
... Empire has sometimes been attributed to a rotting from within brought about by ex- cessive luxury and manifested in sexual degeneracy.11 The outrageous emperor Caligula—guilty of incest and orgiastic sexual romps and labeled an ...
Page 7
... empire. Christians, as Minucius Felix and other apologists proudly proclaimed, refused to acknowledge or worship the gods of their ancestors, a practice that was interpreted as atheism and misanthropy by their neighbors. “Such people ...
... empire. Christians, as Minucius Felix and other apologists proudly proclaimed, refused to acknowledge or worship the gods of their ancestors, a practice that was interpreted as atheism and misanthropy by their neighbors. “Such people ...
Page 11
... empire well.62 Augustus, Nero, and Trajan were all, at one time or another, said to personify virtue, at least in theory.63 The ideal emperor “embodies in himself and ensures for all mankind [sic] the divine blessings of justice, peace ...
... empire well.62 Augustus, Nero, and Trajan were all, at one time or another, said to personify virtue, at least in theory.63 The ideal emperor “embodies in himself and ensures for all mankind [sic] the divine blessings of justice, peace ...
Page 17
... Empire's borders ... were eventually exposed to the dissemination of the virtutes Romanae, even if only through the odd coin or family epitaph.”15 It is perhaps naive, therefore, to take at face value the lurid representations offered ...
... Empire's borders ... were eventually exposed to the dissemination of the virtutes Romanae, even if only through the odd coin or family epitaph.”15 It is perhaps naive, therefore, to take at face value the lurid representations offered ...
Page 27
... empire; some were very wealthy and owned slaves themselves. One is tempted to ask, then, what precisely was the distinction between slave and free? Perhaps “thinking” of slaves in a stereotyped way was a necessary prop to the rather ...
... empire; some were very wealthy and owned slaves themselves. One is tempted to ask, then, what precisely was the distinction between slave and free? Perhaps “thinking” of slaves in a stereotyped way was a necessary prop to the rather ...
Other editions - View all
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 Acts adopted adultery ancient angels Apol argues argument associated become behavior biblical body called chapter charges Christ church claims Compare Corinthians corrupt cultural demons described desire discussion Early Christian elite emperor empire especially evidence example faith false father female flesh followers further gender gentiles God’s gods Greek Haer heresies heretics History honor important intercourse Irenaeus Israel Jewish Jews Jude Justin later letter licentiousness live lust male marriage masters means moral nature notes observed offered origin Oxford passions Paul Paul’s Persians Peter Philo philosophers Politics porneia position practices prophets prostitutes punishment refer regarding rejected remain rhetorical Roman Rome rulers sexual Shepherd similar slaves sought sources speech spirit status Studies suggests tradition translation true University Press vice virgins virtue woman women writings York