Passion and Compassion in Early Christianity

Erscheinungsjahr 2016
ISBN: 978-1-107-12510-0
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 292 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 574 g

This book examines how the early Christian elite articulated and cultivated the affective dimensions of compassion in a Roman world that promoted emotional tranquillity as the path to human flourishing. Drawing upon a wide range of early Christians from both east and west, Wessel situates each author in the broader cultural and intellectual context. The reader is introduced to the diverse conditions in which Christians felt and were urged to feel compassion in exemplary ways, and in which warnings were sounded against the possibilities for distortion and exploitation. Wessel argues that the early Christians developed literary methods and rhetorical techniques to bring about appropriate emotional responses to human suffering. Their success in this regard marks the beginning of affective compassion as a Christian virtue. Comparison with early modern and contemporary philosophers and ethicists further demonstrates the intrinsic worth of the early Christian understanding of compassion.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wessel, Susan

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Sonstige Religionen: Theologie, Doktrine
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsethik, Weltethos
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Westliche Philosophie: 20./21. Jahrhundert
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Sonstige Religionen: Spiritualität, Mystik
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein Kirchliche Bildungseinrichtungen, Diakonie, Caritas

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The setting; 2. Suffering; 3. Disgust; 4. Feelings; 5. Charity; 6. Love; 7. Reflections.

Über Autor(innen)

Wessel, Susan
Susan Wessel is Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.