Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons^™

Naturalist Thomas Hardy's Inadvertent Support Of The Gospel Narrative When Portraying Sexual Abuse And Shame In Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Hannah Carmichael

Master of Arts in Classical Studies

In his novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the naturalist author Thomas Hardy attempts to critique the 19th-century Christian perspective on sexual abuse. Instead, he inadvertently critiques legalism, exposing it as the antithesis of true Christianity. Secular scholars believe that Hardy’s novel is blaming the Victorian era’s sexual ignorance for the stigma and shame surrounding sexual abuse. Christian scholars believe that Hardy’s naturalistic worldview simply lacks a moral standard. However, I believe that Hardy’s novel exposes an issue far deeper than sexual ignorance and lacks something far more substantive than a moral standard; his novel addresses the devastating consequences of …

Creating St. Dominic: A Demonstrative Case Of High Medieval Canonization Procedure, John D. Young

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Saints constituted an important part of medieval religion-both in the central, clerical church organization and in the popular religious elements of society. Medieval Christians, both lay and clerical, looked to saints as divine mediators between God and man by virtue of the deeds they had accomplished during their mortal lives (or that their remains had accomplished post mortem). To be labeled a saint and to be considered worthy of such adoration, one had to be shown to have fulfilled certain requirements, which varied from period to period and from place to place. During the High Middle Ages, this saint-making process …

Faith In Europe: De Gasperi, Adenauer And Their Visions Of Postwar Europe, Michael Griffitts

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

G ermany and Italy faced exceptional challenges after World War II. Their culpability in the outbreak of this devastating war made recovery an especially difficult task. Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) and Alcide De Gasperi (1881-1954) had the unenviable jobs of rebuilding their respective nations after Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini had fallen from power. Both were Chri~tian Democrats who believed that the Christian tradition could provide an important foundation for Europe's rebirth. For both, the ennobling principles of Christianity and the transnational solidarity promoted by the religious tradition offered a refreshing possibility for peace and stability. Their commitment to greater European …

Alexander The Great And The Rise Of Christianity, Stephen M. Girard

Honors Projects

Alexander the Great and the Rise of Christianity focuses on the political, mythical, and philosophical connection between Alexander the Great's life and the beginnings of early Christianity. The first chapter of the text focuses on an analysis of mythical conceptions of Alexander the Great as “Son of God” as well as cultural perceptions of him as “Philosopher King” and cosmopolitan, and how these portraits of Alexander were influential for Christianity. The second chapter analyzes Alexander’s relationship with the Jewish people, and his appearances in the Old Testament apocalyptic Book of Daniel. The last chapter discusses Alexander’s relationship with Christianity itself, …

Is It So Bad To Be Yourself?, Andrew S. Russell

Graduate Theses

Homosexuality has been a topic of recent controversial religious discourse, not only in America, but also world-wide. This begs the question: when did homosexuality become such a divisive issue in religious circles? The purpose of this thesis is to examine how ancient western cultures perceived homosexuality and treated homosexuals. Starting with the pagan civilizations of Greece and Rome, and then looking at how homosexuality was perceived in the ancient Judaic world and into the early Christian community, it seems that homosexuality only gradually became stigmatized as early Christians sought to distinguish themselves as unique in the ancient world.

A Living Faith: Christianity’S Pre-Constantine Survival, Derek Allen Seifert

Honors Bachelor of Arts

Précis

In my thesis, I argue that the beliefs and practices of Christianity helped it to not only coexist with but survive beyond the cults that were prevalent and more established. To demonstrate this, I compare Christianity with said cults. In my first chapter, I examine three mystery cults, looking at the factors that gave them their popularity. In the second chapter, I discuss Christianity. Citing authors such as Tacitus and Pliny, I reveal the ill reception given to Christianity. I then use sources, such as Saint Justin Martyr, Saint Cyprian, and Saint Dionysius, to explain what exactly Christians believed …

The Cumaean Sibyl: Controlling Her Voice At Rome From Tarquin To Constantine, Suzanne Motte Peronneau Jackson

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College

An Examination Of The Martyrdoms Of Lyon In Ad 177: A Critique Of The Theory Of The Trinqui, Timothy Yonts

Masters Theses

Historical research concerning the Christian persecution of Lyon in AD 177 has attempted to solve the question of relationship between the events in Lyon and the political and religious context of the Roman Empire. One such theory, the trinqui theory, posits that the Gallic aristocracy exploited Christians as sacrificial victims in an ancient Celtic ritual involving the use of criminals in gladiatorial entertainment. If true, the trinqui theory effectively shifts the responsibility for the killings from the imperial government under Marcus Aurelius to the provincial and aristocratic authorities in Gaul. This thesis will critique the trinqui theory by showing that …

From Daimon To Demon: The Evolution Of The Demon From Antiquity To Early Christianity, Hailey Marie Fuller

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One of the most fascinating entities of religious thought is the demon, which is still pervasive in both religious and popular culture today. The demon is something that is present not just in various religious texts, but is also a staple of the modern horror film. The question at hand in this thesis is whether or not the demon was always considered to be synonymous with evil. The demon itself has existed in religious culture and magic practice since antiquity, but most scholars tend to either ignore the entity, or conflate it with ghosts or minor gods. This thesis traces …

Historiography As Devotion, Suzanne Abrams Rebillard

School of Information Studies - Post-doc and Student Scholarship

This article locates Gregory of Nazianzus's Poemata de seipso in the Classical historiographical tradition by comparing their historical meta-narrative to Herodotus' and Thucydides'. It then embarks on a case study of Poem 34, On Silence During Lent, closely analyzing the poem in light of recent narratological work on Herodotus' project. Like the Herodotean text, Gregory's piece reveals a variety of hermeneutical possibilities while simultaneously making the audience aware of the histor's compositional processes. The histor who emerges is a salvific and cosmological presence that focalizes the divine, thereby serving as an example of proper human/ divine relations. The poem would …

Book Review: "Radical Christianity: A Reading Of Recovery" By Christopher Rowland, Vincent L. Wimbush

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Christopher Rowland, Lecturer in Divinity, Dean and Fellow of Jesus College, University of Cambridge, has written a fascinating and provocative book. Although drawing upon years of research on Christian origins, especially on apocalypticism in Judaism and early Christianity, this book goes far beyond antiquarian exegetical interests and questions. It is a most interesting attempt to determine the origins, then chart and account for major developments in the course of one type of Christian ethic and orientation-a type of "radical Christianity" rooted in apocalypticism.

4. Jerusalem: "The Blood Of The Martyrs Was The Seed Of The Church", Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section I: Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem: Background of Western Civilization

Sooner or later the Christians were bound to collide with the Roman government. This collision came not primarily on religious grounds, for the Romans had long tolerated Eastern faiths, even in Rome. It came simply because they could not understand as anything but subversive or treasonous some of the practices of the early Christians: their refusal to worship (even the nominal worship which would have satisfied the government completely) either living or deceased emperors or other gods of the state; their strong bent to pacifism; their withdrawal from significant aspects of community life, such as games or festivals; and, perhaps …

8. Jerusalem: Summary, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section I: Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem: Background of Western Civilization

In this section an attempt has been made to sketch some of the most important developments of the first five hundred years of Christian history. By the year 500 the Church had been for more than a century the only legal religious institution in what remained of the Western Roman Empire, whose subjects were thus, nominally at least, Christians. The Church was an essentially new institution in the Mediterranean World, one with which no previous tribe, polis, nation, or empire had had to come to terms. Because of the position which it enjoyed, the Church had called into existence a …

6. Jerusalem: The Development Of A Theology, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section I: Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem: Background of Western Civilization

Christianity began as a religion centering around the person of Jesus, and not as a philosophy. It was rooted in Judaism, likewise a religion, not a philosophy. The truths of both were held to have been revealed by God and hence the need for a rational inquiry into their nature was minimized. Many individuals to whom Christianity appealed were satisfied with the simple message of repentance and salvation, but there were many others whose minds were more inquiring and who could not rest until they had explored in a rational way the deep questions which Christianity posed. Most early Christians …