City of Demons : Violence, Ritual, and Christian Power in Late Antiquity.

Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. The City in Late Antiquity: Where Have All the Demons Gone? -- PART ONE. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM AND ANTIOCH -- 1. A City of Religious Pluralism and Spiritual Ambiguity -- 2. The Devil Is in the Ritual -- 3. The Spectacle of Exorcism -- PART TWO. CYRIL AND JERUSALEM -- 4. Jerusalem to Aelia, Aelia to Jerusalem: Monumental Transformations -- 5. The Devil in the Word, the Demons in the Image -- 6. Apocalyptic Prophets and the Cross: Revealing Jerusalem's Demons from the Crucifixion to the End of Days -- PART THREE. AMBROSE AND MILAN -- 7. Ambrose and Nicene Demoniacs: Charismatic Christianity inside and outside Milan -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Ancient Language Editions by Series -- Translations of Ancient Sources -- Selected Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Z.

Although it would appear in studies of late antique ecclesiastical authority and power that scholars have covered everything, an important aspect of the urban bishop has long been neglected: his role as demonologist and exorcist. When the emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the realm, bishops and priests everywhere struggled  to "Christianize" the urban spaces still dominated by Greco-Roman monuments and festivals. During this period of upheaval, when congregants seemingly attended everything but their own "orthodox" church, many ecclesiastical leaders began simultaneously to promote aggressive and insidious depictions of the demonic. In City of Demons, Dayna S. Kalleres investigates this developing discourse and the church-sponsored rituals that went along with it, showing how shifting ecclesiastical demonologies and evolving practices of exorcism profoundly shaped Christian life in the fourth century.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.