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Book
Emily Graham · 2023
A comprehensive course guidebook exploring the lives of Christian saints across history, examining how ordinary people became venerated figures and the role of communities in creating and maintaining saint cults. Graham presents saints as relatable historical figures rather than idealized legends, covering figures from early Christianity through the modern era.
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What this book knows
Saints were flawed, politically shrewd, and socially shaped — holiness is a human, contested, and often surprising achievement.
self-and-identity
Not all saints were pure and well behaved from birth. Saints had problems, sometimes major ones — infertility, domestic abuse, even embarrassment over a birth name.
SLCS-RC-005Joan of Arc was a peasant, a general, a visionary, a politician, and a heretic — it's difficult to peel back all those layers and get at the historical person.
SLCS-RC-095obedience-and-authority
Radegund stripped off her expensive clothes and jewelry at the altar — not only a charitable impulse but a clever political move to secure bishops' support.
SLCS-RC-035Jesuits came aware their presence was an implicit exchange of hostages; Mohawk leaders knew learning Christianity might provide tools for negotiating with European powers.
SLCS-RC-077faith-and-doubt
The Protestant Reformation was a significant backlash against Catholic practices and corruption, set against an explosion of new saints' cults and a booming spiritual economy.
SLCS-RC-064In the face of modern medicine and science, how should we understand, investigate, and verify miracles? The Catholic Church has grappled with this for centuries.
SLCS-RC-091Illuminates
6 published passages · book excerpt · research analysis
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