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- Title
Éric Rebillard, The Early Martyr Narratives. Neither Authentic Accounts nor Forgeries. Philadelphia, PA, University of Pennsylvania Press 2020.
- Authors
Kinzig, Wolfram
- Abstract
In the book "The Early Martyr Narratives. Neither Authentic Accounts nor Forgeries" by Éric Rebillard, the historical and literary evaluation of ancient Christian martyr literature is discussed. There are two opposing positions on this topic. One position, represented by European scholars such as Timothy Barnes and Wolfgang Wischmeyer, assumes that a historical-critical method allows for important insights into the persecutions of Christians. The other position, represented by Elizabeth Castelli and Éric Rebillard, considers the martyr accounts as fictional and propagandistic. Rebillard argues that the search for authentic accounts is methodologically incorrect and that the literary-propagandistic purposes of the accounts take precedence. The book also examines the dating and context of the oldest martyr accounts. The text analyzes the dating and transmission of ancient martyr accounts. The author argues that the protocol form only became the standard format for martyr texts after the Great Persecution in the 4th century. He introduces the theory of the "living text," in which different versions of a text are independent representations of the narrated martyrdom. The author emphasizes that modern editions merely represent another "expression" of the work and that the search for the archetype is often not possible. He also argues that the recipients of the martyr accounts were not interested in historical accuracy but in the moral truth of the stories. The text concludes with the suggestion to present the texts synoptically in order to make the different editing and transmission stages more apparent.
- Subjects
BIBLICAL criticism; CHRISTIAN literature; MARTYRDOM; MARTYRS; FORGERY; PERSECUTION; PERSECUTION of Christians
- Publication
Historische Zeitschrift, 2024, Vol 318, Issue 2, p424
- ISSN
0018-2613
- Publication type
Book Review
- DOI
10.1515/hzhz-2024-1081