Admiration

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From The Surprising Lives of Christian Saints (2023)

  13. Martín de Porres: Healer of Peru Being a man of practical mind (and the one who had to clean up infirmary messes), he strictly instructed them not to urinate indoors—and they obeyed. Martín’s Journey to Sainthood Martín’s asceticism, his humility, and his miraculous healing touch made him a highly respected figure in a society that was desperately seeking new holy models to help make sense of their world. Scholars have pointed out that Martín’s attraction as a saint and his characterization as a saint were very much molded by his blended identities. He was the kind of holy intermediary the Catholic Church and its laity were searching for, intimately connected with societies that were a fusion of old and new, of brutal oppression and growing faith communities. In 1639, having served El Rosario and the people of Lima for 40 years, Martín succumbed to typhoid fever. He was already considered a holy man, almost a living saint, and his community was acutely attuned to this fact as he lay dying. Martín asked his superiors for permission to die without being questioned about his mystical experiences and visions. This may have been from humility, or it may have been his order’s desire to spare Martín’s cult additional scrutiny from the Inquisition, which made a habit of examining mystics’ texts for signs of heretical beliefs. Testimony began to be gathered in 1660, but Martín’s process moved slowly through the Vatican. He was identified as a “venerable” a century later. The next phase came in step with the abolitionist movement. In 1837, he was beatified with his compatriot Juan Macias, 2 years before Gregory XVI condemned the transatlantic slave trade in his bull In supremo apostolatus. With the rise of the civil rights movement, the Vatican was moved to seek additional evidence of miracles attached to his cult that could be verified under the new requirements. He was canonized on May 6, 1962. John XXIII’s homily on the occasion portrayed him as the “vindication of all the oppressed of the world.” Martín de Porres’s feast day is November 3, and he is the patron saint of social justice, mixed-race peoples, barbers, and public health workers. 101 13. Martín de Porres: Healer of Peru Martín’s cult was always strong in Peru, where he is remembered by the sobriquet Fray Escoba (“the man of the broom”). Reading Cussen, Celia L. Black Saint of the Americas: The Life and Afterlife of Martín de Porres. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. 102

• From Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity (2024)

  The splendidly offensive behaviour of the vagrant Diogenes of Sinope in the late fifth and fourth centuries BCE was an enacted reminder that, although human beings were rational animals, they were still animals – he was nicknamed ‘the dog’, from which his school of admirers took the name Cynics (‘those like dogs’). His lifestyle later provided one model for Christian ascetics and ‘holy fools’ who likewise wished to demonstrate their rejection of worldly values (below, Chapter 7). [4] At the other extreme from Diogenes, philosophers might enter practical politics. During the late sixth and the fifth centuries, followers of the mystical mathematician Pythagoras seized power in various Greek cities in south Italy, but generally Pythagoreans do not seem to have made a great success of their activism, which included an alarming tendency to live by intricate, binding rules – fellow citizens who did not share their obsessions briskly ended Pythagorean ambitions. [5] Most philosophers instead restricted themselves to commenting on the society around them. In the fifth and fourth centuries, three philosophers successively taught in Athens: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. This trio are foundational to the Western philosophical tradition, Christian as much as Greek or Roman. As Socrates wrote nothing himself, we hear his voice mediated through writings of his pupil and admirer Plato, mostly in dialogue form: insisting on the necessity of constant questioning in human affairs. In Athens, Socrates’ questions included searching criticism of the democracy which was then only a few decades old. In the midst of a dire political crisis for the city, his teaching goaded the Athenians into putting him on public trial and executing him for what was termed impiety and corrupting the young; Plato portrays Socrates as insisting in his speech of defence that ‘[t]he unexamined life is not worth living.’ [6] Western religion and philosophy have remained in the shadow of these events and their consequences. Successor-cultures have repeatedly turned to the insistence of Socrates that priority should be given to logical argument and rational procession of thought, over received wisdom. The Western version of the Christian tradition is especially prone to this Socratic principle, which is one aspect of how Western Christians approach the sexual revolution of our own time. The injustice of Socrates’ fate shaped Plato’s own contempt for the results of Athenian democracy when he explored for himself how human society should be shaped, and how politics links to justice and divine purpose: all in a very different style from the parallel discussions that were accumulating in the Judaic tradition. His dialogue on the character of the polis (known in Anglicized Latin as The Republic ) presents an elite-dominated, authoritarian society. He directly confronts, indeed subverts, the Athenian democracy which he had contemptuously observed authorizing the execution of Socrates. No one sane has sought to replicate Plato’s picture of government in the real world; one hopes that Plato did not intend it to be more than a mirror for earthly societies, including his own, to contemplate.

• From Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity (2024)

  [83] The mother of Jesus needed a more assertive earthly spouse than Joseph had been through most of Christian history. He needed rescuing from the frailty or comedy of old age, from being identified with the caricature of Jewishness, or even from being portrayed as angrily considering himself a cuckolded husband; all these themes can be found in plays in popular drama. [84] A major figure in rehabilitating him was the fifteenth-century French theologian Jean Gerson, long-term Rector of the University of Paris, who was particularly concerned to promote or construct a devotion for the Holy Family and composed Reflections on St Joseph (1413/14); moreover, when a major Council of the Western Church convened in Konstanz invited Gerson to preach in 1416, he devoted his sermon to commending Joseph, hoping to establish a feast day for him. That proposal was for the time being defeated, only coming to fruition in 1487, by which time Joseph had emerged, with the aid of Gerson’s reassessment, as a good deal more noble and caring as husband and father than he had ever been before, and rather less geriatric. Gerson did hasten to say that Joseph was ‘immune to womanly touch’ and, along with the undeniably Jewish character of family life in Nazareth, Joseph’s chastity would always remain a problem in constructing a Holy Family analogous with the everyday families that the Church was doing its best to regulate. Yet Joseph undoubtedly became a success with the devout public; by the early sixteenth century, artists could even portray him in cheerfully indulgent play with his infant divine stepson, and parents began naming their sons after him. His stock rose still higher through the Counter-Reformation, especially in the Spanish Empire, where he became patron saint of Mexico in 1555 and in 1679 the official protector of the realm of Spain (see Plate 23): an inconceivable role for him before the late medieval period. [85] Even a nuclear family needs a wider reference than the parental trio, so added to the mix was a grandmother for Jesus, Mary’s mother, conveniently provided with a name by the Protevangelium of James : St Anne. Perhaps as the cult of Mary became ever more elevated, some of those wishing to approach her or her Son might have felt that that was best done via a doting granny. Anne’s sudden arrival on the devotional scene in the fifteenth century is remarkable: a study of a single late medieval English county, Devon, reveals at least a dozen dedications of new chapels in that and the next century (she had arrived too late to insinuate herself in the dedications of the parish church network).

• From Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity (2024)

  WEST The imaginative hold that the post-Gregorian Papacy and its focused authority enjoyed over Europe was based on its custodianship of the body of the Apostle Peter in Rome in the monumental basilica built by Constantine I, but also on the Church’s custodianship of the memory of Rome and its Empire. A genuinely Roman Emperor still ruled in the known world, but his throne was in the New Rome of Constantinople, and the language of his Church was Greek. The West was united by its use of the Latin language, all the more powerful and all-embracing because nowhere was it now anyone’s birth-tongue. It had to be taught, or absorbed through the Church’s conduct of worship, as much a common language overcoming cultural barriers as English is in modern India. Just because Latin was a language to be learned did not mean that it was not lively and creative, with a range of registers from liturgical to cheerfully scatological and lewd. It was hugely useful, but also hugely entertaining. Possession of it liberated the speaker into joining a wider world of shared experience and memory, which must be one reason why it was embraced with such enthusiasm by both Irish and Anglo-Saxons, whose own languages bore very little relation to its grammar and vocabulary. Fuelling this continent-wide conversation was the increasing circulation and range of ancient Latin texts and Latin translations of Greek texts, throwing European society open to the culture of a Mediterranean world centuries older than Christendom or Christianity itself. Like Carolingian society before it, twelfth-century Europe has been painted in colours borrowed from later centuries, as fostering a ‘Renaissance’ of Classical literature. There was no extensive equivalent in the Greek East, where, at precisely the same time, insecure imperial and ecclesiastical authorities reacted with hostility and repression towards scholars seeking to explore afresh the legacy of Aristotle and Plato in efforts to renew Byzantine society. The contrast between Western and Eastern Christianity thus deepened still further. [38] Western Latin culture was imparted through surprisingly risky teaching materials. Impressionable schoolchildren learned their Latin through that most erotic of Roman poets, Ovid: already in the tenth century the reforming Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury Dunstan relaxed from his ecclesiastical labours by annotating his ancient manuscript copy of Ovid’s verse in his own distinctive hand. From the early thirteenth century, one of the most popular school texts in Europe (to judge by surviving manuscripts and vernacular translations) was a brief, newly written, pseudo-Ovidian comedy effectively about rape, entitled Pamphilus, de Amore : were texts like this intended to teach boys how to be men, and girls to be aware of male charm turning into male violence? [39] From an early age, therefore, those exploring literature were exposed to ancient assumptions some of which were familiar from Christian redeployment of them (such as monogamous marriage), but some very different (such as life-stage same-sex love).

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  188 Lecture 26: Benedictine Monasticism and Its Influence Benedictine Monasticism and Its Influence Lecture 26 I n the last lecture, we saw the importance of the Frankish conquests and the consolidation of Frankish rule under Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor, which involved, as well, a commitment to Catholicism and to the bishop of Rome. We have also sketched the basics of feudalism as the political-cultural context for medieval Christianity, and we saw briefly how monasteries both fit and caused some tension within this cultural system. Monasteries established cells of Christian life throughout Europe that contributed to the agricultural economy and served as examples of Augustine’s “city of God.” In this lecture, we’ll look in particular at Benedictine monasticism, highlighting the key role it played in shaping medieval Christianity in the West. Benedict of Nursia • The true founder of Western monasticism is Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–c. 550), often called the patriarch of Western monasticism because of the widespread influence of his Rule for monks (also called the Benedictine Rule). • The few details of Benedict’s life are known from the brief biography provided shortly after his death by Pope Gregory I (Dialogues 2). The account is highly laudatory and contains a considerable amount of legendary material. Gregory sought to portray Benedict and his sister Scholastica along the lines of biblical saints. o Born in Nursia in the region of Umbria, Benedict was educated in Rome, but for reasons unknown— The great achievement of Benedict, his Rule for monks, sought to describe a life that anyone of good will could live; his work represents a “school of the Lord’s service” for what we might call “beginners” to the religious life. © Hemera/Thinkstock.

• From The Surprising Lives of Christian Saints (2023)

  20 Josephine Butler: Victorian Feminist J osephine Butler faced down angry mobs, arson attempts, and overwhelming political opposition in her campaigns for women’s rights. Born to a wealthy, progressive family, her faith and her supportive husband, George, led her to work on behalf of women’s access to education and employment. After the traumatic death of her young daughter, she turned to working on behalf of the poor and then on behalf of sick prostitutes. Her campaigns for the rights of so-called fallen women and later against child prostitution and human trafficking made her famous across Europe. Butler’s charisma made her whirlwind speaking tours an enormous success. But it was her deep faith and daily contemplative prayer that enabled her to withstand vicious opposition and hostile governments. 151 20. Josephine Butler: Victorian Feminist Josephine’s Early Years Josephine Butler was born in 1828 into the height of the British Empire— one of the most powerful nations on earth, but one in which women were essentially powerless. Married women had little control over anything—not their wages, their property, their children, or even their own bodies. They had only limited access to divorce, and even if successful, they would have little hope of seeing their children or gaining custody afterward. It was also considered unfeminine for women to pursue hobbies or interests outside the home, including higher education. Josephine was the seventh child of 10 and the fourth daughter. Her parents, John and Hannah Grey, made sure their daughters were as well educated as their sons. Their home was always open to friends from a wide variety of backgrounds, and young Josephine and her siblings would have been privy to discussions among American abolitionists, activists, agricultural experts, and staunch feminists. When Josephine was 5 years old, her father began working as manager of the vast estates of Greenwich Hospital. His children often accompanied him there to visit the dozens of farms and tenant families, where they saw the realities of rural poverty. By the time Josephine was 17, this exposure to the extremes of social inequality and its consequent human suffering brought her to a crisis point: How could a loving God permit such misery? She seems to have resolved the crisis somewhat, and her deep faith in God never faltered. Josephine’s Marriage and Early Activism In 1850, at the age of 22, Josephine met George Butler, a Classics master at Durham University. Like the Greys, the Butlers were upper-class progressives who moved in elite circles. After marrying, the young couple moved to Oxford, where George hoped to be appointed to a chair in Classics. The move was something of a comedown for Josephine. The Butlers’ social life consisted largely of unmarried male intellectuals, convinced of the importance of their own views and of the unimportance of women’s 152

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  93 • In March 297, Diocletian issued a decree against the Manichaeans (a Gnostic religion that combined Zoroastrian and Christian elements) as a new religion that broke the tradition of the Roman nation: “It is criminal to throw doubts on what has been established from ancient times.” • Between February 303 and March 304, Diocletian issued four decrees against Christians, first attacking worship and banning books and culminating with the demand that all inhabitants of the empire must offer sacrifice to the gods on pain of deportation or death. Historical evidence suggests that these edicts were vigorously pursued and that many Christians lost property, position, and life itself during the persecution. • Diocletian resigned the position of Augustus in 305, and his successors, Galerius and Maximinus Daia, waged a more ferocious persecution until the spring of 313. It was not uniformly imposed, but the pressure was continuous for a period of more than 10 years. The Reign of Constantine • In most respects, Constantine adhered to the same premise as Diocletian concerning imperial rule and religion. • First, he sought to establish a unified rule by making himself the sole Augustus. At one point at the beginning of 310, the empire had seven rival The real privileging of Christianity by the emperor Constantine became apparent with the practice of donating formerly pagan temples for use in Christian worship. © Photos.com/Thinkstock.

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  146 tseW nitaL eht fo seussI evitcnitsiD ehT :02 erutceL • The theological issue that locked Pelagius and Augustine in debate over many years concerned the absolute need for God’s grace in every circumstance and for any good deed. The sharpness and strength of Augustine’s polemic on this point had a profound— and perhaps not entirely positive—effect on all later theology in the West. Doctors of the Church • Augustine was one of three leaders of Latin Christianity in the 4th and 5th centuries who were later designated as “doctors” (that is, teachers) of the church. Each contributed in an important way to the eventual shape of Christianity in the West. • Ambrose of Milan (337/40–397) came from a noble family. He was trained in rhetoric and was governor of the region. While still a catechumen—that is, not yet a baptized Christian but only a seeker—he was elected by the clergy and people of Milan to be their ecclesiastical leader. He was baptized and ordained a priest and bishop in 374. Adopting an ascetic lifestyle, Ambrose gave away all his o goods to the poor and enjoyed great popular favor. He was a mentor for the young Augustine, playing a pivotal role in his conversion from Manichaeism to Christianity. As a bishop, Ambrose was a fierce defender of Trinitarian orthodoxy. Ambrose wore power comfortably and was adept in the play o of politics. When the emperor Theodosius I slaughtered 7,000 people in retaliation for a revolt in Thessalonica, Ambrose stood up to him and demanded of the emperor a public repentance. • The second critical figure for the shaping of Christianity in the West was Jerome (347–419/20). He was born into a Christian family, studied classical Latin language and literature in Rome, was baptized at 20, then dedicated himself to the monastic life. Jerome lived as a hermit for a time in Syria, where his gift o for language led to his learning both Greek and Hebrew, the original biblical languages.

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  148 tseW nitaL eht fo seussI evitcnitsiD ehT :02 erutceL Strongly influenced by Ambrose in Milan, Augustine converted o to Christianity in 386 and, despite his protests that he was ill- prepared, was ordained a priest in the North African city of Hippo in 391; he was elected bishop in 395. After a lifetime of prodigious pastoral and literary effort, he o died in 430 as the Vandals laid siege to the city of Hippo. If Ambrose provided the political posture and Jerome the o biblical learning that shaped the subsequent West, Augustine was the supreme source of its intellectual vision. Augustine’s Influence • Augustine’s Confessions is not only a classic account of conversion, but it also introduced a sense of interiority, of “self,” that was distinctive. His remarkable self-awareness is revealed, as well, in his Retractions, written shortly before his death, in which he reviewed, criticized, and amended each of his voluminous writings. • Augustine’s polemical and doctrinal works provided fundamental guidance for subsequent theology. His anti-Manichaean works established a sense of the church o and of the material order as positive. Despite his attraction to the ascetical life, he developed a principled defense of the created order: the goodness of the body, food, marriage, and children. His work on the Trinity introduced a profound “psychological” o model for understanding the inner life of the Christian God, suggesting that the path of introspection by one created in the image of God might plumb something of God’s inner life. His writings against Donatism and Pelagianism asserted, on o one side, the importance of the church as an inclusive body of sinners and, on the other side, the necessity of divine grace for any human goodness. On both sides, he emphasized the frailty of humans and the sovereignty and mercy of God. • Augustine’s sermons and biblical commentaries brought both literal and allegorical methods into creative harmony, while his tractate On Christian Doctrine provided a framework for all subsequent medieval interpretation of the Bible. • His City of God, begun in 413 in response to the Visigoth sacking of Rome in 410 and the pagan charge that Christianity was responsible for the fall of the empire, provided a political theology that had a profound impact on medieval church and society. His vision of a society on earth that sought to embody and foreshadow the “city of God” in heaven was a vision that was distinctively Christian, owing little or nothing to classical antecedents. Suggested Reading Brown, Augustine of Hippo. Von Campenhausen (Hoffman, trans.), The Fathers of the Latin Church. Questions to Consider 1. How did the characteristic problems of Latin Christianity in the 4th and 5th centuries differ from controversies in the East? 2. Discuss the distinctive political, literary, and theological contributions made respectively by the three doctors, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine. 149

• From The Master and Margarita (1966)

  And where it was spilled, grapevines are already growing.” ’) Until now, The Master and Margarita has been something of a cult classic. Maybe it’s the humor: America grew up on vaudeville and slapstick, more youthful and accessible forms, whereas Russian humor is winking and wry, at home between the lines; there’s a knowing beat before the laugh. If not that, then the many Russian names the author flings at the American reader. But the early effort is worth it—and, thanks to this luminous translation, newly revised for this edition and distinguished by not only the stylistic elegance that has become a hallmark of Pevear and Volokhonsky translations but also a supreme ear for the sound and meaning of Soviet life, there has never been better help along the way. In 2016, it’s time for The Master and Margarita to rise to its rightful place in the canon of great world literature. (As an aside, let it inspire American authors with its openness to sentiment, its unashamed passion, its dedication to the loftiest questions.) In the past fifty—no, seventy-five—years, it has, surely against its own wishes, proved its bitter prescience about the way of the world again and again. The twentieth century—which ended with Bulgakov’s homeland selecting a petty devil as its leader—may have made it too easy. May the twenty-first prove its political preoccupations obsolete. But as literature, it will live forever. BORIS FISHMAN Introduction, THE MASTER AND MARGARITA Introduction Mikhail Bulgakov worked on this luminous book throughout one of the darkest decades of the century. His last revisions were dictated to his wife a few weeks before his death in 1940 at the age of forty-nine. For him, there was never any question of publishing the novel. The mere existence of the manuscript, had it come to the knowledge of Stalin’s police, would almost certainly have led to the permanent disappearance of its author. Yet the book was of great importance to him, and he clearly believed that a time would come when it could be published. Another twenty-six years had to pass before events bore out that belief and The Master and Margarita , by what seems a surprising oversight in Soviet literary politics, finally appeared in print. The effect was electrifying. The monthly magazine Moskva , otherwise a rather cautious and quiet publication, carried the first part of The Master and Margarita in its November 1966 issue. The 150,000 copies sold out within hours. In the weeks that followed, group readings were held, people meeting each other would quote and compare favourite passages, there was talk of little else. Certain sentences from the novel immediately became proverbial.

• From The Surprising Lives of Christian Saints (2023)

  12. Saints and the Protestant Reformation Francis and Ignatius were ordained as priests and drew up plans for a new order. They quickly established a college to train potential missionaries. The order was soon recruited by the Portuguese crown to provide missionaries to India and Southeast Asia, where Portugal had recently established colonies. In 1540, Francis Xavier left for India, while Ignatius remained behind to manage and expand the order. He died in Rome in 1556. Francis, meanwhile, traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia. At first, he ministered to Portuguese sailors and soldiers. He worked in the hospital and founded a Jesuit headquarters in Goa. He soon turned to efforts to convert local tribes and high-ranking Hindu elites, expanding his efforts into Japan by 1549. He was awaiting passage to mainland China when he died of fever in 1552. The legacy of these founders and their order is difficult to parse. Jesuit missionaries were a powerful tool in the hands of European monarchs, who sought to occupy and often enslave indigenous peoples. They ministered to oppressed peoples with the aim of converting them and making them more accepting of the systemic abuse and erasure of their culture. At the same time, Jesuit scholars and missionaries are the reason that some religious texts and languages survived the European onslaught. They sought to understand the peoples they ministered to. These interactions produced new and evolving religious forms, revitalizing saints’ cults to meet the needs of different peoples. Benedict the Moor Benedict, also known as Benedict the Moor or Benedict of San Fratello, was born in 1526 in Sicily to enslaved parents. The earliest testimony on his life and reputation, from those who knew him, called him “Saint Slave,” but later hagiographies claimed that he was freed at birth for unspecified reasons, despite his siblings remaining enslaved. He worked for a time as a shepherd, which brought him into the ambit of Franciscan hermits living on a remote hillside. Benedict joined them, first as a cook and later as a lay brother. In his late 30s, the community was dissolved as part of the Tridentine reforms, and he joined the Franciscan 92 12. Saints and the Protestant Reformation convent in Palermo. Once more, he worked as their cook, later rising to trusted roles teaching young novices and even to leadership of the community. He remained humble throughout his life, even returning to the kitchens in his final years. Benedict died in 1589, but it took nearly 150 years for his beatification and more than 200 years until he was finally canonized in 1807. But well before that, Benedict was openly venerated as a saint in major cities in Spain, Mexico, and Brazil. Today, he, along with Martín de Porres, is venerated as patron saint of African Americans. Benedict’s brethren noted that the kitchens never ran out of food when he presided over them. He was also credited with healing abilities. 93

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  56 Lecture 8: Forms of Witness—martyrdom and apologetic of being restored to life by him; but for you there will be no resurrection to life” (2 Macc. 7:14). • The Gospel of John and the book of Revelation depict Jesus as a witness to God in the face of death. o In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells Pontius Pilate, “For this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). And before his death, he tells his followers, “You must bear witness as well, for you have been with me from the beginning” (15:27). o The book of Revelation, in turn, calls Jesus the faithful witness in the shedding of his blood (1:5, 3:4), and his followers are also witnesses (19:10). • In the 2 nd century, martyrdom came to be regarded by many believers as the perfect form of discipleship. They saw themselves conforming completely to the pattern of suffering for others in witness to God’s truth that was established by Jesus. o Already Paul had spoken of believers “bearing in their body the death of Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:10), and if they are thus totally conformed to Christ in his death, they can hope to share in his Resurrection (Phil. 3:11). o Those who “confess Christ” in the face of persecution, torture, and the threat of death but fall short of actual death were accorded second rank of honor as witnesses and came to be called “confessors.” Notable and Anonymous Martyrs • The tradition of martyrdom in Christianity began with the apostles, especially Stephen, who was, according to Acts, put to death by stoning by the Jewish court, and Peter and Paul, who were killed in the persecution in Rome under Nero. The tradition continued in the 2 nd and 3rd centuries among both notable and anonymous believers. 57 • Three highly visible Christian leaders bore witness in a way that glorified martyrdom. o Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch, was arrested circa 107 and was carried to Rome as a captive for execution; in seven letters to churches in Asia Minor, he exalts in the death he faces under the emperor Trajan. He begs the Roman Christians not to intervene when he arrives, seeing martyrdom as the completion of his discipleship. o Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, collected the letters of Ignatius, and himself wrote a letter of exhortation to the Philippians. His execution in 155–156 was celebrated by The Martyrdom of Polycarp, which explicitly connects his witness to that of Jesus. o The Christian philosopher Justin was condemned as a Christian and suffered martyrdom under the emperor Marcus Aurelius During the reign of the emperor Trajan, Ignatius told the Romans: “I will not only be called a Christian but found to be one,” meaning, in his death. © Hemera/Thinkstock.

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  monasteries. A legend told of Boniface is that he tested the power of a pagan god by felling an oak dedicated to the deity; when a wind blew down the tree as he began cutting and no punishment came to the missionary, the crowd viewing the scene converted to the Christian God. Boniface worked under the protection of Charles Martel, and o in 732, Gregory III appointed him archbishop of all Germany. Martel divided Germany into four dioceses and made Boniface metropolitan (primate) over Germany east of the Rhine (Mainz). At the Concilium Germanicum o in 743, Boniface worked for the reform of the clergy—a constant preoccupation in an age when lack of learning and training often led to less-than- adequate ministers. Boniface then went to work again in Frisia, where he was killed in 754. His life was written by Willibald shortly after his death. Scholar Monks • The monasteries founded by such missionaries as Willibrord and Boniface served as centers of worship, as well as of civilization. The Venerable Bede, a Two monk-scholars of the era give classic scholar-monk, wrote evidence for impressive levels biblical commentaries; texts on computation, grammar, of knowledge and scholarship, and natural science; lives of illustrating the role of monasteries saints; and the monumental as centers of cultural diffusion. Ecclesiastical History of the English People. 199 .kcotsknihT/moc.sotohP ©

• From Austerlitz (2001)

  password three or four times, syllable by syllable, before I looked up and said: Excuse me, sir, but what does it mean? To which Penrith-Smith replied: I think you will find it is a small place in Moravia, site of a famous battle, you know. And sure enough, the Moravian village of Austerlitz was discussed at great length during the next school year, for the curriculum in the Lower Sixth included European history, generally regarded as a complicated and not entirely safe subject, so that as a rule it was confined to the period from 1789 to 1814 which ended with a great English victory. The master who was to teach us this period—both glorious and terrible, as he often emphasized—was one André Hilary, who had only just taken up his post at Stower Grange after being demobbed and who, as it soon turned out, was familiar with every detail of the Napoleonic era. André Hilary had studied at Oriel College, but had grown up surrounded by an enthusiasm for Napoleon going back through several generations of his family. His father, so he once told me, said Austerlitz, had him baptized André in memory of Marshal Masséna, Duke of Rivoli. Hilary could trace the orbit of the Corsican comet, as he put it, across the sky from its very beginning to its extinction in the South Atlantic Ocean, enumerating all the constellations through which it passed, and the events and characters on which it cast light at any point of its ascendancy or decline, speaking without any preparation and just as if he had been there himself. The Emperor’s childhood in Ajaccio, his studies at the military academy of Brienne, the siege of Toulon, the stresses and strains of the Egyptian expedition and his return over a sea full of enemy ships, the crossing of the Great St. Bernard, the battles of Marengo, Jena and Auerstedt, of Eylau and Friedland, of Wagram, Leipzig, and Waterloo— Hilary brought it all vividly to life for us, partly by recounting the course of these events, often passing from plain narrative to dramatic descriptions and then on to a kind of impromptu performance distributed among several different roles, from one to another of which he switched back and forth with astonishing virtuosity, and partly by studying the gambits of Napoleon and his opponents with the cold intelligence of a nonpartisan strategist, surveying the entire landscape of those years from above with an eagle eye, as he once and not without pride remarked. Most of us were deeply impressed by Hilary’s history lessons, not least, said Austerlitz, because very often, probably owing to his suffering from slipped disks, he gave them while lying on his back on the floor, nor did we find this at all comic, for it was at such times that Hilary spoke with particular clarity and authority. His undoubted piéce de résistance was the battle of Austerlitz. He spoke on it at length, describing the terrain, the highway leading east from Briinn to Olmiitz, with the hilly Moravian countryside on its left and the Pratzen heights on its right, the curious cone-shaped mountain which

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  118 ytinaitsirhC lacidaR sa msicitsanom :61 erutceL Among the notable figures on whom Palladius reports are o wealthy patronesses, such as Macrina, a Roman matron who used her massive fortune to establish and support monastic foundations and meet the practical needs of the monks. Here, we see the practice of patronage in yet another form. The Influence of Monasticism • Monasticism found a permanent place within Christianity and exercised enormous influence from the first. • It was important to the imperial church of the 4th to the 6th centuries. Many bishops of those centuries were drawn from monastic o ranks and were, thus, leaders who were ascetical, celibate, and often scholarly, shaped by the discipline and sharing the outlook of monastic life. Monks served as “foot soldiers” in the fierce doctrinal wars o of these centuries. They were the most activist, mobile, and militant Christians; it was not unknown for them to riot in patriarchal cities in support of one doctrine or another. • The role of monasticism in the long run was equally important. Through the ages, monasteries provided a constant “alternative o lifestyle” that enabled Christians to express their discipleship in more radical fashion. They were an outlet for those with reforming impulses, and while not always approved by more enculturated Christians, they were always admired. At some times and places, monasteries provided centers o for reform through knowledge and practice. In the early medieval period of the West, monasteries preserved and copied manuscripts and taught the techniques of agriculture. Suggested Reading Chitty, The Desert a City. Harmless, Desert Christians. Questions to Consider 1. What characteristics of early monasticism justify calling it a “white martyrdom”? 2. Discuss the symbiotic relationship between desert monks and their urban patrons and admirers. 119

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  191 Scholastica was abbess over female Benedictines, who also lived by the Rule. • The system of governance for the monastery outlined by Benedict is widely admired for its careful checks and balances. o The abbot is elected by the monks and serves for life or until he retires; monks are to be obedient to the abbot, but the abbot also is to be obedient to the Rule. o The abbot is not only checked from tyrannical behavior by the Rule but must also consult with the chapter of monks and get their counsel on important decisions. The monks can appeal to the abbots of other monasteries should their abbot prove tyrannical. Indeed, monasteries have regular outside visitations to check on the state of the community as a whole. o The abbot appoints a prior and subprior as administrators, and the Rule specifies a number of important positions that are filled by capable monks appointed by the abbot: porter, novice master, cellarer, and perhaps most significant, guest master. Benedictines make hospitality the most important expression of Christ’s love, especially the welcoming of the poor, who “are to be received as Christ.” • The “school of the Lord’s service” is organized according to the broad categories of work (labora) and prayer (ora). o Work involves all the tasks required of the common life (cooking, washing, tailoring, baking, receiving guests), as well as the tasks of supporting the community through farming and herding. Work is as essential as prayer: The cellarer is to regard the implements for work as though they were “the vessels of the altar.” o In some monasteries, especially at founding or in difficult circumstances, all the monks performed manual labor. In better established monasteries, where division of labor was possible, the “choir monks” devoted themselves to the full life of prayer

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  188 ecneuflnI stI dna msicitsanoM enitcideneB :62 erutceL Benedictine Monasticism and Its Influence Lecture 26 In the last lecture, we saw the importance of the Frankish conquests and the consolidation of Frankish rule under Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor, which involved, as well, a commitment to Catholicism and to the bishop of Rome. We have also sketched the basics of feudalism as the political-cultural context for medieval Christianity, and we saw briefly how monasteries both fit and caused some tension within this cultural system. Monasteries established cells of Christian life throughout Europe that contributed to the agricultural economy and served as examples of Augustine’s “city of God.” In this lecture, we’ll look in particular at Benedictine monasticism, highlighting the key role it played in shaping medieval Christianity in the West. Benedict of Nursia • The true founder of Western monasticism is Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–c. 550), often called the patriarch of Western monasticism because of the widespread influence of his Rule for monks (also called the Benedictine Rule). • The few details of Benedict’s life are known from the brief biography provided shortly after his death by Pope Gregory I (Dialogues 2). The The great achievement account is highly laudatory and contains of Benedict, his Rule a considerable amount of legendary for monks, sought to describe a life that material. Gregory sought to portray anyone of good will Benedict and his sister Scholastica along could live; his work the lines of biblical saints. represents a “school Born in Nursia in the region of of the Lord’s service” o for what we might call Umbria, Benedict was educated in “beginners” to the Rome, but for reasons unknown— religious life. .kcotsknihT/aremeH ©

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  118 Lecture 16: monasticism as Radical Christianity o Among the notable figures on whom Palladius reports are wealthy patronesses, such as Macrina, a Roman matron who used her massive fortune to establish and support monastic foundations and meet the practical needs of the monks. Here, we see the practice of patronage in yet another form. The Influence of Monasticism • Monasticism found a permanent place within Christianity and exercised enormous influence from the first. • It was important to the imperial church of the 4 th to the 6 th centuries. o Many bishops of those centuries were drawn from monastic ranks and were, thus, leaders who were ascetical, celibate, and often scholarly, shaped by the discipline and sharing the outlook of monastic life. o Monks served as “foot soldiers” in the fierce doctrinal wars of these centuries. They were the most activist, mobile, and militant Christians; it was not unknown for them to riot in patriarchal cities in support of one doctrine or another. • The role of monasticism in the long run was equally important. o Through the ages, monasteries provided a constant “alternative lifestyle” that enabled Christians to express their discipleship in more radical fashion. They were an outlet for those with reforming impulses, and while not always approved by more enculturated Christians, they were always admired. o At some times and places, monasteries provided centers for reform through knowledge and practice. In the early medieval period of the West, monasteries preserved and copied manuscripts and taught the techniques of agriculture. 119 Chitty, The Desert a City. Harmless, Desert Christians. 1. What characteristics of early monasticism justify calling it a “white martyrdom”? 2. Discuss the symbiotic relationship between desert monks and their urban patrons and admirers. Suggested Reading Questions to Consider

• From The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation (2012)

  237 Universities and Theology Lecture 33 O ne of the most impressive signs of a mature Christian culture in the High Middle Ages was the development of universities. As we have seen, the desire for higher learning within Christianity was never completely lost, even during the most chaotic periods of life in the West. Universities, though, were a new invention in the West; they emerged when they did because of the convergence of a number of factors. In a flash, over the span of some 80 years, four great universities were founded in Europe that quickly became important centers of learning and eventually contributed heavily to social change: Bologna in 1119, Paris in 1150, Oxford in 1167, and Cambridge in 1200. Context for the Emergence of Universities • The convergence of a number of factors set the stage for the emergence of universities in the 12 th and 13 th centuries. We have already noted the increased wealth and security in Europe based on predictably good weather, steady crops, and successful trade—all these, plus population growth in urban areas, set the context for leisure as the basis of culture. Of considerable significance also was the production of manuscripts in monastery scriptoria, which reached a point of sufficient dissemination to enable shared learning at a higher level. • The development of a professional clergy, as in the Franciscans and Dominicans, as well as the development of a professional diplomatic corps, demanded higher levels of education. The ordinary clergy would remain woefully undereducated within Catholicism until the Counter-Reformation of the 16 th century, but both monks and mendicants represented the most learned people of the medieval world.

• From From the Streets to the Sheets: Noire's Urban Erotic Quickies (2007)

  “Shit, I didn’t know I called you. Maybe I hit the wrong button. Sorry, ’bout that.” “Girl, stop lying. You hit up the right person, all right. The number showed up on my caller ID several times. No one makes a mistake that much. You gonna tell me your name now?” “Like I said, calling you was an accident. I made a mistake. My name is not perfect, it’s Yani.” “Well, I’m Life. I see you got some sass in your blood, Yani.” “Maybe. And what if I do?” I answered. After a few awkward moments we laughed and joked for hours. Soon, every time Smooth let me down, I began calling Life for my nightly fix. Life stimulated my mind and body with his dreams. He worked at a record shop, but was trying to negotiate and lease his beats to major rap labels, while shopping record deals for independent artists at the same time. Life was passionate about his craft, and I definitely was feeling that. “So why do they call you Life? I thought you were a straight thug when I met you. Is Life your real name?” I asked. “Nah, but life is what I’m all about. My biggest fear is becoming a statistic out here ’cause someone else is playing street games that don’t got nothing to do with me. I used to be in the drug game, but I left hustling a long time ago. I reevaluated a lot of shit after I lost my little brother to a senseless act of violence. That’s when I changed my name to Life. Through me, he lives—he still has life. Yo, my biggest wish is to put my bid in in the music game and have a queen standing right beside me when I make those millions. Shit is pointless if I ain’t got a wife and some kids to love. My dreams and goals are what keep my nose to the grind and help me stay on point. Ya feel me, Yani?” My heart fluttered. Life was so down-to-earth that I felt like I’d known him for ten years. He was about much more than Smooth. It finally hit me that Smooth had no dreams, except chasing dollars and poisoning our people. Smooth had a selfish, shallow streak that didn’t bother me when I was younger. But as I grew older, that shit grew stale. Life had goals and ambition. He never cut me off like Smooth often did when he had to leave to handle his business on the block. Hell, Life even helped me admit that I dabbled in poetry. When I did admit it, he asked me to read him some of my work. I dug in my closet and pulled out an overstuffed binder that Smooth Willie knew existed, but had never cared to inquire about. “Read somethin’ to me, Ma. Got anything wit hotness for me?” Life asked.