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
Results 1-5 of 31
Page x
... spirits and colleagues since our Columbia days. I thank them for sharing their insights with me. I am grateful to Columbia University Press for the professionalism and enthusiasm with which this project has been greeted. It has been a ...
... spirits and colleagues since our Columbia days. I thank them for sharing their insights with me. I am grateful to Columbia University Press for the professionalism and enthusiasm with which this project has been greeted. It has been a ...
Page 26
... spirit weakened by soft living , and having beside a dull and torpid disposition " and the other , unaccustomed to luxury , “ practiced in self - restraint , and ready to listen to sound reasoning . ” The latter model was clearly to be ...
... spirit weakened by soft living , and having beside a dull and torpid disposition " and the other , unaccustomed to luxury , “ practiced in self - restraint , and ready to listen to sound reasoning . ” The latter model was clearly to be ...
Page 63
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
Page 65
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
Page 70
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
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 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