• 'What Has Rome to do with Bethlehem?' Cultural Capital(s) and Religious Imperialism in Late Ancient Christianity

    Author(s):
    Andrew Jacobs (see profile)
    Date:
    2011
    Group(s):
    Ancient Greece & Rome, Ancient Jew Review, Religious Studies
    Subject(s):
    History, Ancient, Classical literature, Education, Religion, History
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Classical receptions, Jerome, Late antiquity, Ancient history, History of religions
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M63P67
    Abstract:
    The re-evaluation of classical education (paideia) recurred throughout the Roman period, reaching a particularly fevered pitch during the late fourth century, as the empire became Christian. The political consequences of Christian learning become particularly clear in the debate between two learned, Latin-speaking Christians who translated Greek works: Jerome and Rufinus. In the course of their acrimonious conflict over the theological legacy of Origen, these two prominent intellectuals resorted to name-calling: Jerome accused Rufinus of being unlearned, and Rufinus claimed that Jerome’s erudition signalled impiety. These accusations over education, culture, and linguistic expertise convey a deeper anxiety over the nature of knowledge and power at the dawn of the Christian Roman Empire. To what extent can Christians appropriate and transform the knowledge of ‘others’? When is translation an act of piety and when it is an act of hubris? What kinds of cultural capital will be valued in a newly Christian world, where classical paideia is valued and held suspect at the same time?
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    doi.org/10.1093/crj/clq008
    Publisher:
    Oxford University Press (OUP)
    Pub. Date:
    2011-5-9
    Journal:
    Classical Receptions Journal
    Volume:
    3
    Issue:
    1
    Page Range:
    29 - 45
    ISSN:
    1759-5134,1759-5142
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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