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Keywords = Ignatius of Antioch

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14 pages, 348 KiB  
Article
Εντροπη: Shame and Identity Formation in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch
by Yi-Sang Patrick Chan
Religions 2024, 15(10), 1258; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15101258 - 16 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1525
Abstract
Since the 1980s, biblical scholars have started to employ the framework of “honor and shame” to study the culture of the ancient Mediterranean region. However, this application of the social–scientific honor–shame model has led to “massive generalizations of ‘honor’ and ‘shame’”. In particular, [...] Read more.
Since the 1980s, biblical scholars have started to employ the framework of “honor and shame” to study the culture of the ancient Mediterranean region. However, this application of the social–scientific honor–shame model has led to “massive generalizations of ‘honor’ and ‘shame’”. In particular, when focusing on the concept of honor/shame rather than its lexemes, the social–scientific school ignores the nuanced nature of each Greek word group related to shame. By studying classical Greek literature, Douglas Cairns further points out a puzzling situation that the word group αἰδώς contains polarized meanings of both “to shame” and “to respect”. In this paper, we examine the puzzling double meanings of “to shame/to respect” by focusing on the use of the word group ἐντροπή in the letters of Ignatius of Antioch. This paper argues that the word group ἐντροπὴ serves a rhetorical purpose of protecting the church’s identity by rejecting beliefs/customs that are unacceptable to Christianity and promoting unity in the churches through obedience to church authorities. This paper also explores the fundamental epistemological issue of understanding emotion words in its ancient context. It provides a provisional definition for ἐντροπή, that it is a self-inhibitory emotion of sensitivity to one’s proper place in social interaction to protect one’s self-image. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)
16 pages, 409 KiB  
Article
What Justification? Pauline Reception and the Interpretation of Phld. 8.2
by Jonathon Lookadoo
Religions 2024, 15(4), 405; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040405 - 26 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1415
Abstract
While studies of how Paul and the Pauline letters were received in early Christianity continue to appear at an ever-quickening rate, there are still corners of early Christian literature that remain underexplored with regard to Pauline reception. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch [...] Read more.
While studies of how Paul and the Pauline letters were received in early Christianity continue to appear at an ever-quickening rate, there are still corners of early Christian literature that remain underexplored with regard to Pauline reception. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch would not usually be included in the underexplored category, but this article argues that one statement within Ignatius’s letters is deserving of more careful attention vis-à-vis its relationship to Pauline themes and terminology. After showing that interpretations of Ignatius’s Philadelphians (Phld.) 8.2 have typically run along two opposing tracks, the article argues that both ways of interpreting Ignatius’s letter fail to do justice to his rhetoric in the letter. The article proposes an alternative way of reading Ignatius’s justification language in Phld. 8.2. Whereas Paul wrote about justification before God, Ignatius desires to be proven right in the eyes of his Philadelphian readers, with whom he has had a dispute. The article concludes by offering ways to account for the different meanings evidenced in the letters of Ignatius and Paul while also endeavouring to explain the purpose for which Ignatius employs terminology that is similar to that of Paul. In the final clause of Phld. 8.2, Pauline terminology provides Ignatius not with his doctrinal substance but rather with authoritative rhetoric that evokes the Apostle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)
13 pages, 3713 KiB  
Article
On Being Consumed: The Martyred Body as a Site of Divine—Human Encounter in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch
by Peter-Ben Smit
Religions 2020, 11(12), 637; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11120637 - 26 Nov 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3135
Abstract
The manner in which humans and the divine are brought into communion with each other, a key aspect of many religious traditions, is frequently, if not always, material (or sacramental) in character. Meals and food play an important role in this; such meals [...] Read more.
The manner in which humans and the divine are brought into communion with each other, a key aspect of many religious traditions, is frequently, if not always, material (or sacramental) in character. Meals and food play an important role in this; such meals can include the consumption of the deity (theophagy), as well as the consumption of the human being by the deity. This paper takes its cue from the discussion of constructions of divine–human communion and explores this subject in the letters of Ignatius of Antioch (early second century CE). It shows how in the literary heritage of this bishop, the body as the physical site of martyrdom is of key importance, in particular due to its consumption in the Roman arena. This martyrdom is the way in which Ignatius hopes to enter into perfect communion with the divine. The body thus becomes, in its annihilation, the instrument through which divine–human communion is established. As this all relates to a case of martyrdom, Ignatius’ ideas about the body are also subversive in character: the punishment of his body is, through his theological imagination, transformed into a means of achieving Ignatius’ goal in life: attaining to God. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Material Religion and Violent Conflict)
13 pages, 438 KiB  
Article
Almsgiving and Competing Soteriologies in Second-Century Christianity
by David J. Downs
Religions 2018, 9(7), 201; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9070201 - 26 Jun 2018
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5828
Abstract
While care for the poor was widely advocated and practiced in early Christianity, charity was not universally endorsed. The Gospel of Thomas (Gos. Thom.), for example, is notable for its rejection of almsgiving, along with other practices such as fasting and [...] Read more.
While care for the poor was widely advocated and practiced in early Christianity, charity was not universally endorsed. The Gospel of Thomas (Gos. Thom.), for example, is notable for its rejection of almsgiving, along with other practices such as fasting and prayer (Gos. Thom. 6, 14; see also Gos. Thom. 27, 104). Ignatius of Antioch accuses some of his opponents of neglecting almsgiving and Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius’ friend and fellow bishop, suggests that almsgiving, prayer, and fasting are practices that will help counter false teaching in Philippi. This paper explores the role of almsgiving in competing visions of soteriology in second-century Christianity, including consideration of texts such as 2 Clement (2 Clem), Ignatius’ Letter to the Smyrnaeans (Ign. Smyrn.), Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians (Pol. Phil.), and the Gospel of Thomas. Full article
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