Narrating ‘Home’ in Early Christian Biography: Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i> and Its Literary Predecessors
In this paper, I provide a close examination of early Christian biographical sources through the heuristic lens of “home studies”, tracing a thread from the New Testament Gospels to martyrdom texts, the apocryphal Acts literature, Eusebius’ biography of Origen in his <i>Church History</i>...
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2024-11-01
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| author | Miriam De Cock |
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| description | In this paper, I provide a close examination of early Christian biographical sources through the heuristic lens of “home studies”, tracing a thread from the New Testament Gospels to martyrdom texts, the apocryphal Acts literature, Eusebius’ biography of Origen in his <i>Church History</i>, and finally, Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i>. I demonstrate that the lens of home allows us to see that in each of these discrete groups of texts, Christ’s call to discipleship is understood to redefine and reconstitute the meaning of home and relatedly, family: to be “home” required a great deal of displacement and mobility as one forsook one’s biological family and household for the sake of obedience to the call of Christ. I argue that three topics, typically examined separately, are fruitfully brought together through the lens of home: (1) the shaping of ancient Christian identity formation, as expressed by the characters’ use of familial language to identify other members of the early Christian movement; (2) the mobile nature of the person who joins the movement, providing insights about the mobility and travel of many of its members; and (3) ancient Christian eschatological thought concerning the final dwelling of Christ-believers in some form of otherworldly home after death. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-169e911fe70c4478846c1ab0e5f2b793 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
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| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj-art-169e911fe70c4478846c1ab0e5f2b7932025-08-20T02:05:01ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442024-11-011511137510.3390/rel15111375Narrating ‘Home’ in Early Christian Biography: Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i> and Its Literary PredecessorsMiriam De Cock0School of Theology, Philosophy and Music, Dublin City University, D09 PH2K Dublin, IrelandIn this paper, I provide a close examination of early Christian biographical sources through the heuristic lens of “home studies”, tracing a thread from the New Testament Gospels to martyrdom texts, the apocryphal Acts literature, Eusebius’ biography of Origen in his <i>Church History</i>, and finally, Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i>. I demonstrate that the lens of home allows us to see that in each of these discrete groups of texts, Christ’s call to discipleship is understood to redefine and reconstitute the meaning of home and relatedly, family: to be “home” required a great deal of displacement and mobility as one forsook one’s biological family and household for the sake of obedience to the call of Christ. I argue that three topics, typically examined separately, are fruitfully brought together through the lens of home: (1) the shaping of ancient Christian identity formation, as expressed by the characters’ use of familial language to identify other members of the early Christian movement; (2) the mobile nature of the person who joins the movement, providing insights about the mobility and travel of many of its members; and (3) ancient Christian eschatological thought concerning the final dwelling of Christ-believers in some form of otherworldly home after death.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/11/1375early Christian biographyhomelate antique travelAthanasius<i>Life of Antony</i>new testament gospels |
| spellingShingle | Miriam De Cock Narrating ‘Home’ in Early Christian Biography: Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i> and Its Literary Predecessors Religions early Christian biography home late antique travel Athanasius <i>Life of Antony</i> new testament gospels |
| title | Narrating ‘Home’ in Early Christian Biography: Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i> and Its Literary Predecessors |
| title_full | Narrating ‘Home’ in Early Christian Biography: Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i> and Its Literary Predecessors |
| title_fullStr | Narrating ‘Home’ in Early Christian Biography: Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i> and Its Literary Predecessors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Narrating ‘Home’ in Early Christian Biography: Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i> and Its Literary Predecessors |
| title_short | Narrating ‘Home’ in Early Christian Biography: Athanasius’ <i>Life of Antony</i> and Its Literary Predecessors |
| title_sort | narrating home in early christian biography athanasius i life of antony i and its literary predecessors |
| topic | early Christian biography home late antique travel Athanasius <i>Life of Antony</i> new testament gospels |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/11/1375 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT miriamdecock narratinghomeinearlychristianbiographyathanasiusilifeofantonyianditsliterarypredecessors |