Abandoned to Lust
Subtitle: Sexual Slander and Ancient Christianity (Gender, Theory, and Religion)
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: October 17, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 304
ISBN-13: 9780231136624
Subjects: Christian moral & pastoral theology; Religion; Religion - Church History; Ancient - General; Christianity - History - General; Religion / Christianity; Christianity - General; Christianity; Early church, ca. 30-600; History; History of doctrines; Libel and slander; Religious aspects; Rome; Sex
Description: "Through careful, innovative readings, Jennifer Knust explores the writings of Paul, Justin Martyr, Irenacus 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.""--Jacket.