Papers by Jonathan Tallon
Power, Faith, and Reciprocity in a Slave Society
This study aims to establish the semantic range of ?????? (?faith?) in fourth century Christian d... more This study aims to establish the semantic range of ?????? (?faith?) in fourth century Christian discourse using the preaching of John Chrysostom as a source base. Against previous scholarship which sees ?????? as primarily a cognitive or propositional term referring to belief, this study uses a close examination of Chrysostom?s preaching to argue that the relational nature of the term was central to its significance for fourth century preaching as Christians considered their own faith and biblical texts. Chrysostom uses the reciprocal, relational character of ?????? to emphasise loyalty, trust and obedience to God through metaphors based upon the military, economic and household contexts of late antiquity. This study further shows that Chrysostom in turn uses these aspects of ?????? to seek to influence the everyday life of his congregation, whether to support existing behaviour (such as obedience to the emperor, or husbands, or the bishop) or to seek to transform behaviour (such as...
Chrysostom, Preaching and Jigsaws
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Papers by Jonathan Tallon