Paganism and Christianity 100-425 CE: A Sourcebook

by Eugene N. Lane, Ramsay MacMullen (Editor)

This book is a collection of nearly 175 documentsfrom saints, emperors, philosophers, satirists, inscriptions, graffiti, and other interesting typesthat sheds light on the complex fabric of religious belief as it changed from a variety of non-Judeo-Christian movements to Christian in late antiquity. These texts illuminate and bring to life the bizarre and the banal of the social world of the Roman Empire, the world in which Christianity ultimately gained preeminence.

This treasury of texts leads the reader through the matrix of beliefs among which Christianity grew. It includes both Christian and non-Christian sources, avoiding a common but obscuring division between the two. The material is presented as one single flow that satisfies natural curiosity and whets the reader's appetite for more. Brief explanatory introductions to the documents are included.

Genres: Christianity, History, Religion

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Monty Milne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating collection of documents. The lengthy extract from Apuleius’s Golden Ass, recounting a conversion experience, was something I had read before as a teenager. It made a great and disturbing impression on me then, because it felt exactly like the kind of experience described to me by pious evangelical Christians – except that it was about the goddess Isis. As I no longer have a copy of Apuleius, it was good to read this again, and contemplate some of the similarities between religious experiences.

There was a professor at Durham many years ago who gave a course of lectures on the persecution endured by the early Christians. But, as a non believer himself, the lecture he most enjoyed giving was the final one in the series – which dealt with the persecution the triumphant Christians meted out to the pagans. It is of course melancholy to recollect the terrible sufferings inflicted on all sides. As a lifelong contrarian I have always felt a certain sympathy for the persecuted pagans, but the very first chapter of this book reminds us of a salutary fact: their beliefs and practices were mostly not very edifying. The material here goes from the superstitious repetition of abracadra nonsense words to mean minded cursings to trivial magic spells and pathetic attempts to make someone else fall in love with you.

There are a lot of court records relating to the church in North Africa. During a time of persecution some – including bishops – chose to cross their fingers and yield up their holy books or burn incense to Caesar, whereas others embraced martyrdom instead. Once the persecution was over, the church split over the extent to which the survivors should be re admitted. Some of these court records, although dry in parts, give an extraordinary glimpse into everyday life in fourth century North Africa. The fanaticism of the unyielding Donatists – which led to schism and violence – disappeared rapidly and completely within a few years of the Islamic conquest. That is beyond the scope of this book, although it prompts thoughts about the nature of fanaticism generally. Religious fanaticism did not, of course, disappear from that part of the world – far from it – but it assumed a very different form, with astonishing rapidity. This excellent collection prompts many such reflections – as well as giving a superbly atmospheric taste of the past.

[Tony Gualtieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, every scrap of writing that survives from the Classical era is precious. Reading through fragments such as those collected in this book is an active pleasure where one absorbs the text and reconstructs the dusty, tumultuous culture glimpsed between the lines: a piece on the interpretation of dreams illuminates the role of the Olympian gods in everyday life; a trial involving rival Christian factions in North Africa animates the perjuries and revelations of the Roman courthouse; a letter of the Emperor Julian captures the dying breath pagan culture.

The selections here do a wonderful job tracing the transitions of Late Antiquity and I can't imagine anyone with an interest in that time not finding something evocative and new in this excellent anthology.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good historic accounts and writings. The religious conversion to Isis on page 85 is just as moving as accounts that "believers" today would tell me lies only within their religion.

[Debbi]

Somewhat dry reading in places, but reading the words as they were originally written sheds a great deal of light on modern belief and interpretation.