The Power of Sacrifice: Roman and Christian Discourses in Conflict Book PDF, ePub eBook

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Book Descriptions:

The rhetoric and the ritual practices associated with sacrifice filled the ancient world. They were potent tools that maintained a balance between the powers of heaven and earth. They were also impressive vehicles used politically for establishing and maintaining social control. In short, the idea of sacrifice was itself a form of social discourse--a rhetorical means that generated and constituted social identity through the exercise of power.

In this work, George Heyman offers a fresh perspective on the similarities between pagan Roman and Christian thinking about the public role of sacrifice in the first two and a half centuries of the Christian era. He shows that both imperial Rome and early Christianity capitalized on the rhetoric of sacrifice as a discursive means to craft their location, their identity, and their social power within the cosmos.

Early Christian authors, like those responsible for the New Testament and other Christian literature, adopted this sacrificial discourse in order first to understand the death of Jesus and then later to valorize the deaths of the early martyrs. Heyman shows that such a discourse, however, was not unique to early Christianity. The sacrificial practices associated with the Roman imperial cult also established civic and national pride throughout the Empire. Because of their refusal to participate in the normal Roman civic sacrifices, Christians were perceived as a threat to the complex and fragile balance of power that existed between the gods and the state. The earliest Christians responded by crafting the death of Jesus in sacrificial rhetoric and exalting the spectacle of the martyr in imitation of the biblical Christ. Even though they refused to participate in Roman sacrifices, Christianity created its own social order through a novel formulation of sacrificial discourse.

While many scholars have researched the discourse of the Roman imperial cult, none has included a comprehensive analysis of the impact of this discourse on early Christianity. This book offers a synthesis of contemporary theory and historical data, a novel approach to the power of sacrifice and conflict between Rome and early Christianity.

George Heyman teaches biblical studies at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. He is the author of Martyrdom and Sacrifice: Roman and Christian Representations of Power.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

"Heyman's particular contribution is to show similar in structure pagan Roman and Christian thinking about the public role of sacrifice was in the first two and a half centuries of the Christian era. One of the great merits of this work is that it approaches the topic from outside the prevailing presuppositions and assumptions with which tradition-oriented Christian scholars come to it. Heyman paints reliably with a broad brush, bringing a fresh look and new enriched perspective. The Power of Sacrifice is likely to become a standard work."--Robert J. Daly, S.J., Professor Emeritus of Theology, Boston College

"Heyman's engaging book raises questions of interest to all who consider Christianity's relationship with the wider world in its earliest centuries.... I think Heyman works through his material with a sure hand and steady gaze to produce thought-provoking results. There is much here that will excite discussion and ongoing academic conversation.... This readable volume will be a welcome companion for interested members of the public, students, and scholars alike." -- Geoffrey Dunn, Journal of Early Christian Studies

"Heyman offers a useful contribution to the study of ancient sacrifice, particularly in the Roman world and among its Christian heirs, assembling an array of data--literary, artistic, and archaeological--in order to trace a cultural history of the rhetoric of sacrifice.... Heyman treats an impressive assemblage of primary texts and s

The Power of Sacrifice: Roman and Christian Discourses in Conflict by George Heyman

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