The End of Ancient Christianity

R A Markus

ISBN 10: 0521339499 / ISBN 13: 9780521339490

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1991

About this Item

This book is concerned with one central historical problem: the nature of the changes that transformed the intellectual and spiritual horizons of the Christian world from its establishment in the fourth century to the end of the sixth. The End of Ancient Christianity examines how Christians, who had formerly constituted a threatened and beleaguered minority, came to define their identity in a changed context of religious respectability in which their faith had become a source of privilege and power.

Seller Inventory # CIN0521339499A

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The End of Ancient Christianity
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521339499
• ISBN 13: 9780521339490
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Fair

About this title

Synopsis

This study is concerned with one, central historical problem: the nature of the changes that transformed the intellectual and spiritual horizons of the Christian world from its establishment in the fourth century to the end of the sixth. Why, for example, were the assumptions, attitudes and traditions of Gregory the Great so markedly different from those of Augustine? The End of Ancient Christianity examines how Christians, who had formerly constituted a threatened and beleaguered minority, came to define their identity in a changed context of religious respectability in which their faith had become a source of privilege, prestige and power. Professor Markus reassesses the cult of the martyrs and the creation of schemes of sacred time and sacred space, and analyzes the appeal of asceticism and its impact on the Church at large. These changes form part of a fundamental transition, perhaps best described as the shift from "Ancient" toward "Medieval" forms of Christianity; from an older and more diverse secular culture towards a religious culture with a firm Biblical basis.

From the Back Cover

This study is concerned with one central historical problem; the nature of the changes that transformed the intellectual and spiritual horizons of the Christian world from its establishment in the fourth century to the end of the sixth.