Title Sacred ritual, profane space : the Roman house as early Christian meeting place / Jenn Cianca

Published Montreal ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2018]

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 236 pages) : illustrations Series Studies in Christianity and Judaism ; 1 Studies in Christianity and Judaism ; 1. Contents The context of house-church Christianity -- Roman domestic space -- Roman domestic worship -- House-church Christianity and Roman domestic worship -- Placing ritual : Christians in the Roman house -- Sacred space and the house church -- Conclusion : towards a theory of sacred space in house-church Christianity Summary "This monograph examines the nature of the earliest Christian meeting places, with a special emphasis on the formation of sacred space. The use of domestic spaces by these early groups is widely accepted, but the spaces themselves are usually understood as having been neutral, rather than sacred. In this study, I propose not only that these domestic spaces were considered sacred space by the Christian communities that used them, but that they were also complex ritual loci in their own right. Mapping what is known from early Christian texts onto the archaeological data for Roman domestic space here provides a new lens through which to examine the relationship between early Christians and their meeting space. In many cases, this meeting space would have included the presence of the Roman domestic cult. Despite the fact that the domestic cult was a polytheistic one, at odds with monotheistic Christianity, I assert that its practices likely continued in those places used for worship by the Christians. I also argue that continued practice of the domestic cult in Roman domestic spaces did not preclude the house-church Christians from understanding their rituals or their meeting places as sacred. Theories of sacred space and ritual practice are engaged to demonstrate that the house-church Christians constructed temporary sacred space through ritual enactment. The exploration of meeting places as both inhabited and sacred space raises a host of questions about early Christian identity, ritual affiliation, and domestic practice."-- Provided by publisher Notes Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2013 Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on October 26, 2020) Subject House churches -- Rome Sacred space -- Rome Domestic space -- Rome Christianity -- Rome Rites and ceremonies -- Rome RELIGION -- Institutions & Organizations. RELIGION -- Christian Church -- History. Christianity Domestic space House churches Religion Rites and ceremonies Sacred space Urchristentum Ritual Identität SUBJECT Rome -- Religion. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh96009771 Subject Rome (Empire) Genre/Form Electronic books Form Electronic book LC no. 2018411076 ISBN 9780773554245 0773554246 9780773554252 0773554254

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