Description
Book SynopsisEarly Christian martyr accounts were less about recounting history than about constructing theology. As such, many historians of late antique Christianity call them rhetorical. But what does this mean for early Christian theology of martyrdom? And what rhetorical techniques are actually being used for such theological construction? To answer these questions, Adam Ployd looks to Augustine of Hippo. He places Augustine''s martyr theology within its classical rhetorical context, drawing upon the theoretical foundations of Cicero, Quintilian, and others. Ployd investigates all of Augustine''s major controversies as well as his work as a bishop and preacher cultivating a particular vision of the Christian life. Ployd uncovers the rich rhetorical roots of Augustine''s martyr theology, roots that delve beyond ornamentation and into the depths of inventio and the techniques of rhetorical argumentation. What emerges from this investigation is a vision of Augustine''s martyr discourse that is co
Trade ReviewUsing an extensive literature and suggesting a re-visitation of the work of Saint Augustine, one of the most important Christian writers of all time, Adam Ployd's book entitled Augustine, Martyrdom and Classical Rhetoric,...succeeds not only as a work of theological research useful for scholars which suggests a new way of understanding his ideas, his influences and how he came to develop the preceding tradition of the Church, how he sought continuity with it, but is also useful reading for any reader aiming to find out more about the history of Christianity in its earliest centuries, to understand why martyrdom was so important for it and even created a specific rhetoric in the discourse, and how Saint Augustine managed to use this aspect of the life of the Church and to develop an original way of thinking based on it. * Iuliu-Marius Morariu, The Recensiones *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: The Context of the Martyrs Chapter 2: The Example of the Martyrs Chapter 3: The Time of the Martyrs Chapter 4: The Court of the Martyrs Chapter 5: The Rhetoric of the Martyrs Conclusion Bibliography
