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The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom Hardcover – March 5, 2013
In The Myth of Persecution, Candida Moss, a leading expert on early Christianity, reveals how the early church exaggerated, invented, and forged stories of Christian martyrs and how the dangerous legacy of a martyrdom complex is employed today to silence dissent and galvanize a new generation of culture warriors.
According to cherished church tradition and popular belief, before the Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in the fourth century, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. These saints, Christianity's inspirational heroes, are still venerated today.
Moss, however, exposes that the "Age of Martyrs" is a fiction—there was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches.
The traditional story of persecution is still taught in Sunday school classes, celebrated in sermons, and employed by church leaders, politicians, and media pundits who insist that Christians were—and always will be—persecuted by a hostile, secular world. While violence against Christians does occur in select parts of the world today, the rhetoric of persecution is both misleading and rooted in an inaccurate history of the early church. Moss urges modern Christians to abandon the conspiratorial assumption that the world is out to get Christians and, rather, embrace the consolation, moral instruction, and spiritual guidance that these martyrdom stories provide.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperOne
- Publication dateMarch 5, 2013
- Dimensions6 x 1.05 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100062104527
- ISBN-13978-0062104526
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Review
“Brilliant and provocative…Drawing on close readings of traditional martyr stories and on deep historical research, she convincingly demonstrates that little evidence exists for the widespread persecution of Christians by the Romans.” — ―Publisher's Weekly
“Compellingly argued and artfully written, Moss reveals how the popular misconception about martyrdom in the early church still creates real barriers to compassion and dialogue today. An important book and a fascinating read.” — ―Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“This is the best sort of history: delightfully accessible yet based on prodigious scholarship, deeply serious, yet entertaining and enlightening. Above all, it shows the reader the importance of sweeping away myth, in order that we do not behave badly in the present, using the past as our excuse.” — ―Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University and author of Christianity: the First Three Thousand Years
“A tour de force addition to the literature of sacred violence; a case study in how bold scholarship can dismantle it. Candida Moss’s religious history will change religion, and, if Christians heed it, history, too.” — ―James Carroll, Author of Jerusalem, Jerusalem
“Moss dismantles the wall of righteousness that some Christians erect in order to justify their conflict with others. Without this persecution narrative, we will be better equipped to work together in our complex and pluralistic world.” — ―Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director of NETWORK
“This is a timely and eye opening book. Moss’ carefully researched and readable account corrects and clarifies an important feature of a history that has been fictionalized for too long.” — ―Harvey Cox, Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard, and author of The Future of Faith
“In engaging prose and with scholarly acumen, Moss pulls back the curtain on one of Western history’s best-kept secrets-that Christians were never subjects of sustained persecution. Read this book and rejoice as Moss turns history on its head and points the way beyond religious violence.” — ―Diana Butler Bass, author of Christianity After Religion
“Not only has Candida Moss reminded us that much of what we accept uncritically is pious legend, but that such myths poison the religious and political rhetoric of our time. There is something here to offend everyone, which is the first sign of groundbreaking work.” — ―Rev. Dr. Robin R. Meyers, UCC Minister and author of The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus
“Historical argumentation at its most cogent.” — ―Booklist
“Fascinating…One of the most enlightening aspects of “The Myth of Persecution” is Moss’ ability to find contemporary analogies that make the ancient world more intelligible to the average reader.” — --Salon.com
“Like the ancient poets, Moss at once instructs and entertains. She also transgresses the boundary between historian and theologian and calls the church to repentance. She contends that the martyrdom narrative poses grave dangers, having contributed to everything from mild alienation to outright atrocity throughout the church’s history.” — Christian Century
“Fascinating….beyond simply recasting ancient stories in a new light, the book provides a hopeful outlook for a world in which modern Christians could drop the myth of their persecuted past.” — U.S. Catholic
“Exhaustively researched, yet accessible…Moss’ book lays bare that truth and presents us with the opportunity to, instead of retelling myth, begin to explore the actual history of this era.” — Portland Book Review
From the Back Cover
In The Myth of Persecution, Candida Moss, a leading expert on early Christianity, reveals how the early church exaggerated, invented, and forged stories of Christian martyrs and how the dangerous legacy of a martyrdom complex is employed today to silence dissent and galvanize a new generation of culture warriors.
According to cherished church tradition and popular belief, before the Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in the fourth century, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. These saints, Christianity's inspirational heroes, are still venerated today.
Moss, however, exposes that the "Age of Martyrs" is a fiction—there was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches.
The traditional story of persecution is still taught in Sunday school classes, celebrated in sermons, and employed by church leaders, politicians, and media pundits who insist that Christians were—and always will be—persecuted by a hostile, secular world. While violence against Christians does occur in select parts of the world today, the rhetoric of persecution is both misleading and rooted in an inaccurate history of the early church. Moss urges modern Christians to abandon the conspiratorial assumption that the world is out to get Christians and, rather, embrace the consolation, moral instruction, and spiritual guidance that these martyrdom stories provide.
About the Author
Candida Moss is professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame. A regular contributor to The Daily Beast, Moss has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, CBS News, FOX News, the History Channel, National Geographic, and the Travel Channel, and has served as an expert commentator for the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other national media outlets.
Product details
- Publisher : HarperOne; First Edition (March 5, 2013)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062104527
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062104526
- Item Weight : 1.06 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.05 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,582,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,680 in Ancient Roman History (Books)
- #6,873 in History of Christianity (Books)
- #8,552 in Christian Church History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Candida Moss is the Cadbury Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham, UK. A graduate of Oxford University, she earned her doctorate from Yale University. Moss has received awards and fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the John Templeton Foundation. A columnist for The Daily Beast, Moss has written for The Atlantic, LA Times, Washington Post, CNN, and BBC, and is a frequent news commentator on CBS and CNN. She has previously taught at the University of Notre Dame and the university of Chicago.
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"This book is engaging. It should be required reading for Sunday school teachers." Read more
"This is an interesting book, with an original and eminently believable thesis...." Read more
"...What makes this book so wonderful to read is its balance of deep learning and accessible writing, its integration of ancient ideas and very..." Read more
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Customers find the book well-researched, easy to follow, and well-written. They also appreciate the author's honesty and integrity.
"...the rhetoric of suffering is also incredibly accessible since Moss writes very clearly, and uses lots of contemporary examples so that the history..." Read more
"...This is a schollarly book that is easily readable at the post High School level. Our legends become our Idols so the truth is often drowned out...." Read more
"This is an interesting book, with an original and eminently believable thesis...." Read more
"...book so wonderful to read is its balance of deep learning and accessible writing, its integration of ancient ideas and very contemporary rhetoric,..." Read more
Customers find the book's historical analysis cogent, fascinating, and an excellent source for study. They also say it distills empirical evidence from theological agenda and prompts reflection on the subject. Readers also mention that the book provides many examples of martyrdom stories and shows how the author borrowed from other stories.
"...This thoughtful and thought-provoking inquiry into martyrdom and the rhetoric of suffering is also incredibly accessible since Moss writes very..." Read more
"...It was a thoughtful, clearly laid out history of the early church and the stories that have circulated about some of the more famous of church..." Read more
"...Moss presents her case well, backed up with facts and cogent historical analysis...." Read more
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In particular, I appreciated that the book was very precise, and not at all sensationalistic, explaining that while early Christians were martyred, the scope and frequency of martyrdom is an unknown variable. In her discussion of what can be known about martyrdom, Moss shows the reader how and why early Christians drew upon martyrdom traditions from surrounding cultures, uncovering the way that martyrdom functioned in the ancient world so that we can later join her in her reflections on the contemporary impact of the idea of martyrdom.
As she engages in some of her "myth-busting" Moss is also sensitive to the fact that these are beloved traditions, thoughtfully asking what significance her conclusions will have for a broad audience of readers. When discussing the borrowing of ideas from other cultures, Moss reassures "Recognizing this fact should not unsettle the claims of Christians, ancient or modern. It is to be expected that, when early Christians sat down to write the stories of their own heroes and heroines, they did not start afresh...We moderns might see this as intellectual property theft or lying, but in an ancient context such borrowing doesn't have to have a negative valence" (81). What is more, while Moss is interested in separating myth from history, she does not leave the faithful reader bereft of a beloved tradition, but instead emphasizes the positive values that Christians can take away from martyrdom stories: "The recognition that this idea is based in myth and rhetoric, rather than history and truth, reveals that Christians are committed to conflict and opposition, but also that they don't have to be. We can choose to embrace the virtues that martyrs embody without embracing the false history and polemic that has grown up around them" (260).
This thoughtful and thought-provoking inquiry into martyrdom and the rhetoric of suffering is also incredibly accessible since Moss writes very clearly, and uses lots of contemporary examples so that the history becomes real for the reader. This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in human suffering, Christian ethics, or the history of Christianity.
But whether they liked it or not, and for what reason, it still never jived with the fact that I never saw anything that ever even closely resembled persecution against us! There were those who thought we were wrong because they thought their religion was right, but that hardly counts. I mean, sure we were persecuted, provided you disregard the definition of the word 'persecution.'
So anyway, when I discovered that this book existed, I knew I had to read it. It was too important. I had so many questions and the best I've ever been able to do is just hypothesize blindly a bit. And I'm happy to say the book didn't disappoint. It was a thoughtful, clearly laid out history of the early church and the stories that have circulated about some of the more famous of church fathers, as well as of the stories that helped to make Christianity the powerful stalwart of people's personal lives that it is today.
Not to give anything away (though I'm not worried, this point was part of the advertising for the book), but I was shocked to find out that there isn't even any credible evidence of the beginning of this long lineage of persecution, that it was all just a marketing ploy itself to get people to join their church. Just amazing!
I truly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to, well, everyone! Especially if you're Christian, because if you are, this should be some important information for you (should be, but might not actually be).