| Encountering the Sacred: The Debate on Christian Pilgrimage in Late Antiquity Volume 38 Contributor(s): Bitton-Ashkelony, Brouria (Author) |
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ISBN: 0520241916 ISBN-13: 9780520241916 Publisher: University of California Press OUR PRICE: $84.15 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2005 Annotation: "This book is certainly the most important study of early Christian pilgrimage in decades. Lucidly written, far-reaching, and theoretically informed."--David Frankfurter, author of "Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Resistance |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Holidays - Christian - History | Ancient - General - Religion | Antiquities & Archaeology |
| Dewey: 263.042 |
| LCCN: 2004018179 |
| Series: Transformation of the Classical Heritage |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.68" W x 9.14" (1.10 lbs) 270 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) - Religious Orientation - Christian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This innovative study sheds new light on one of the most spectacular changes to occur in late antiquity-the rise of pilgrimage all over the Christian world-by setting the phenomenon against the wide background of the political and theological debates of the time. Asking how the emerging notion of a sacred geography challenged the leading intellectuals and ecclesiastical authorities, Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony deftly reshapes our understanding of early Christian mentalities by unraveling the process by which a territory of grace became a territory of power. Examining ancient writers' responses to the rising practice of pilgrimage, Bitton-Ashkelony offers a nuanced reading of their thinking on the merits and the demerits of pilgrimage, revealing theological and ecclesiastical motivations that have been overlooked, and questioning the long-held assumption of scholars that pilgrimage was only a popular, not an elite, religious practice. In addition to Greek and Latin sources, she includes Syriac material, which allows her to build a rich picture of the emerging theology of landscape that took shape over the fourth to sixth centuries. |