The End of Ancient Christianity

Examines the nature of the changes that transformed the Christian world from the fourth to the end of the sixth century.

R. A. Markus (Author)

9780521339490, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 31 January 1991

280 pages
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.6 cm, 0.42 kg

'The appearance of this book, by one of the most distinguished scholars in the field, is an event to be welcomed …'. Journal of Religious History

This book is concerned with one central historical problem: the nature of the changes that transformed the intellectual and spiritual horizons of the Christian world from its establishment in the fourth century to the end of the sixth. The End of Ancient Christianity examines how Christians, who had formerly constituted a threatened and beleaguered minority, came to define their identity in a changed context of religious respectability in which their faith had become a source of privilege and power.

Preface
Abbreviations
Part I. The Crisis of Identity: 1. Introduction
2. A great multitude no man could number
3. Conversion and uncertainty
4. Augustine: a defence of Christian mediocrity
5. 'Be ye perfect'
Part II. Kairoi: Christian Times and the Past: 6. The last times
7. The martyrs and sacred time
8. Secular festivals in Christian times?
9. The christianisation of time
Part III. Topoi: Space and Community: 10. Holy places and holy people
11. City or Desert? Two models of community
12. Desert and City: a blurring of frontiers
13. The ascetic invasion
14. Within sight of the end: retrospect and prospect
Sources referred to
Secondary literature referred to
Index.

Subject Areas: Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], European history [HBJD]