Holy Bishops in Late Antiquity - The Nature of Christian Leadership in an Age of Transition

1. Auflage 2005
ISBN: 978-0-520-24296-8
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 37, 520 Seiten, Cloth Over Boards, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 238 mm, Gewicht: 707 g

Reihe: Transformation of the Classical Heritage

Between 300 and 600, Christianity experienced a momentous change from persecuted cult to state religion. One of the consequences of this shift was the evolution of the role of the bishop—as the highest Church official in his city—from model Christian to model citizen. Claudia Rapp's exceptionally learned, innovative, and groundbreaking work traces this transition with a twofold aim: to deemphasize the reign of the emperor Constantine, which has traditionally been regarded as a watershed in the development of the Church as an institution, and to bring to the fore the continued importance of the religious underpinnings of the bishop's role as civic leader.

Rapp rejects Max Weber’s categories of “charismatic” versus “institutional” authority that have traditionally been used to distinguish the nature of episcopal authority from that of the ascetic and holy man. Instead she proposes a model of spiritual authority, ascetic authority and pragmatic authority, in which a bishop’s visible asceticism is taken as evidence of his spiritual powers and at the same time provides the justification for his public role. In clear and graceful prose, Rapp provides a wholly fresh analysis of the changing dynamics of social mobility as played out in episcopal appointments.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rapp, Claudia

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Spätantike
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte Frühes Christentum, Patristik, Christliche Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte Religionen der Antike

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments

PART ONE
1. The Nature of Leadership in Late Antiquity
2. Pragmatic Authority
3. Spiritual Authority
4. Ascetic Authority

PART TWO
5. Bishops in Action
6. Social Contexts
7. Cities
8. Empire
9. The Bishop as a New Urban Functionary
Epilogue

Bibliography
Primary Sources
Secondary Literature
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Rapp, Claudia
Claudia Rapp is Professor of Byzantine Studies at the University of Vienna and the author of Brother-Making in Byzantium: Monks, Laymen and Christian Ritual and numerous articles on the social and literary history of Byzantium.

Claudia Rapp is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the coeditor of Elites in Late Antiquity (2000) and Bosphorus: Essays in Honour of Cyril Mango (1995).