A young Roman woman living in Africa in 203 CE was confronted with a dilemma. Should she renounce her faith and save her life? Or should she affirm it and endure a gruesome death, mauled by wild animals before a cheering crowd of thousands? This young woman, Perpetua, chose to persevere, and this book tells her story, much of it from her own remarkable prison diary. The account transports readers to another, much earlier age, but it also asks us to consider what we would die for - and indeed, what we are living for today.
One of the most widely read and studied texts composed in Late Antiquity is the prison diary of Vibia Perpetua, a young woman of the elite classes who was martyred in March of the year 202 or 203 C.E. in Carthage, as part of a civic celebration honoring Caesar Geta. She was well-married and had recently become the mother of a baby son, but despite her advantages, she refused to recant her faith when she was arrested with other recent converts to Christianity. Imprisoned with her was her pregnant slave Felicity. Perpetua's steadfastness in her belief led to her martyrdom in the amphitheater. A description of the heroic deaths of both women, and the autobiography of one of the leaders of the Christian community, Saturus, is woven into Perpetua's diary by an anonymous editor, who tells us that, as they died, Perpetua, Felicity, and the other condemned Christians bid farewell with a kiss of peace.This unique and precious text survives in one Greek and in nine Latin manuscript versions. Thomas Heffernan's new study contains much that has never been done before, including a prosopography of all the individuals mentioned in the Passion, a new English translation and the first detailed historical commentary in English on the entire narrative of the Passion. It also includes a newly edited version of the Latin text based on all the extant manuscripts and - rarer still - the Greek text. He concludes the book with a complete codicological description of all of the known manuscripts and thorough scholarly indices of the text itself. Perpetua's prison diary is a revered text of early Christianity, and Heffernan's new translation and commentary brings unprecedented scholarly resources to the much-loved Passion.
A collection of studies about the Passion of Perpetua, the diary written by the young Christian martyr Perpetua. This intriguing text is edited and translated before a team of distinguished scholars examine it from a wide range of perspectives: literary, narratological, historical, religious, psychological, and philosophical.
Perpetua, born in the 2nd century AD, was a martyr, a mystic and, interestingly enough, the first known woman Christian writer. She left behind a diary that outlined her personal experiences, feelings and visions as she languished in prison, awaiting her execution. Sometime after her death, a Christian eyewitness to these brutal events edited her journal and appended additional relevant materials such as a vision recorded by one of her companions and a 'blow by blow' account of the martyrs' final moments in the gladiatorial arena in Carthage AD 203. Here are the events of Perpetua and her companions' life and those of the larger historical period that weaves a believable back-story of ordinary men and women who are caught up in events that test their faith in God and their commitment to Christianity. This is a story of faith under fire, of courage in the face of terrible loss and deprivation and of the human will to hope, even when things are at their darkest. Featuring over 30 illustrations to assist in depicting this story.
Perpetua was a young African woman who fell in with an obscure religious sect that must have seemed to outsiders like a kind of death-cult. She was arrested around 203 CE along with several other practitioners on unspecified charges. Given the opportunity to renounce the group and walk free, Perpetua chose execution in the arena. Perpetua was a Christian. The Passi?, an account of her death, includes Perpetua's prison diary, in which the already-radicalized woman describes her progressive alienation from her family. Perpetua was a prophet and a leader in her sect, and her narrative describes a series of visions: a ladder rigged with lacerating blades and tearing hooks, the torment of a family member, and a final climactic vision in which she becomes a man and fights hand-to-hand against the devil. Transgressive, radical, and determined to face down a violent death: Perpetua is a formidable figure. This edition aims to enable intermediate-level students of Latin to read the text in its original language. A substantial introduction provides background on the woman, her text, and her times. The Latin text includes a running glossary and grammatical commentary on every page.
Utilising a wide range of early sources, this title identifies the roots of the concept of Christian martyrdom, as lloking at how it has been expressed in events such as the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999.
This book started life as an academic study for a seminar with C. G. Jung. It was first published in English translation in 1949, then published in German in 1951 as a supplement to Jung's volume Aion. St. Perpetua was an African Christian martyred in 203 A.D. She lived her truth to her last moment. Those not familiar with Perpetua's story will nevertheless appreciate this book because of the psychological understanding that von Franz brought to everything she focused on.
In this book, Rex D. Butler examines the Passion for evidence of Montanism and proposes that its three authors--Perpetua, Saturus, and the unnamed editor--were Montanists.
Augustine. Tertullian. Origen. For too many Christians such names are abstract, one-dimensional legends, innocuous voices from antiquity no longer relevant to modern needs and concerns. However, a closer look at these church fathers reveals writers whose reflections on the apostolic teachings edify all generations of believers. Bryan Liftin helps readers understand the fathers as individuals who cared deeply about preserving the core tenets of the Christian faith, and debunks misconceptions about their religious status and treatment of Scripture. An unveiling of these ten personalities demonstrates how much the fathers can teach us about the doctrines of our faith and the enduring community of which we are a part.
"Jesus never existed." "The Bible is a book of fairy tales." "Accounts of Christian persecution are fables." Christians of today face ridiculous claims of this type on a regular basis. These charges gain traction in the modern world because the average person has practically no knowledge of the Church's ancient past. I Am A Christian: Authentic Accounts of Christian Martyrdom and Persecution from the Ancient Sources aims to remedy this deficiency. The works collected in this book represent some of the most trustworthy first-hand accounts of the triumphs and travails of the early Church that have survived antiquity. These include several authentic transcripts of Roman legal proceedings against Christians, along with obscure but fascinating historical works that are unfamiliar to even the most informed Christians of today. In several cases, readers will be presented with the actual words of the martyrs themselves. In others, they will read accounts penned by eye-witnesses or authors writing within the living memory of the events themselves. Taken together, these works form a glorious record of early Christian zeal and fortitude in the face of aggressive state persecution. When reading them, one notices a common refrain: when questioned, the accused would cry out: “I am a Christian,” which was the equivalent of saying, “I am guilty as charged.” In an era when such an admission carried a death sentence, these authentic testimonies provide a convincing answer to modern skeptics who will find them as baffling as did the ancient Roman emperors, proconsuls and magistrates of nearly two millennia ago.
