Description
- Abstract:
- For decades, the “urban thesis” of early Christianity has posited that the church in the first few centuries of its existence was based primarily in cities, which has resulted in a preponderance of scholarly interest in urban Christians at the expense of rural ones. Despite recent scholarship that has begun to push back on this notion, there also remains a lingering view of the countryside as a last holdout of polytheism. Rural Late Antique Christianity remains little understood in general, for reasons partly to do with evidence. Many literary sources speak primarily to urban audiences about urban concerns and were written by bishops of metropolitan areas whose names and epithets are inextricable from these urban settings. When rurality is featured in literature, it is largely in the context of monasticism and asceticism. Despite estimates that place the proportion of rural inhabitants hovering between 80 to 90% of the Roman Empire’s total population, the lived experiences and particularly the religious experiences of rural people are often overlooked. This project therefore places the lived religious experiences of rural Christians in Late Antique (c. 400-700 CE) Asia Minor at the forefront to better understand how Christianity operated in rural space. Ultimately, I argue that although urban church leaders displayed an awareness of and interest in rural congregations, the relationship between urban and rural was often complex and even tense at times. However, on the local level, adherence to Christianity functioned as a means to manage risk for rural people, who were often living in precarious and uncertain conditions. Rural holy men and bishops of rural origins were uniquely positioned to provide assistance, even though urban ecclesiastical and civic leaders were not always able or willing to. Through a close reading of textual sources, the lived religious experiences of rural Christians can be better understood, especially those that may have been previously considered heterodox or vernacular.
- Notes:
- Thesis (A. M.)--Brown University, 2025
Citation
Davis, Elizabeth Rae,
"Lived religion in rural Asia Minor, 400-700 CE"
(2025).
Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:xd4mcqu4/
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Collection:
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Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations for the Religious Studies department....