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Book Synopsis
Not a single contemporary Byzantine source mentions the Christianization of Ethiopia in the fifth century, the Byzantine attempts to convert Persia at the end of the sixth, the creation of the Slavic alphabet in the ninth, or the baptism of Rus' in the tenth. These great achievements of Eastern Christianity left the Byzantines themselves perfectly indifferent. Byzantium produced a number of ardent and committed missionaries, but much more visible were the Greek intellectuals who believed that it was easier "to whitewash and Ethiopian" than to Christianize a barbarian. When Leo V acquainted the pagan Bulgars with the Christian sacraments, Theophanes Continuatus castigated him for "casting the pearls of faith before the swine". In the end, the missionary zeal of a few enthusiasts lost out to the haughty isolationism of Empire. "Pearls before the Swine" focuses on the complex relationship between the Christian pledge to "teach all nations" and Greek cultural snobbery.

Pearls before Swine : Missionary Work in

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    A Paperback / softback by S.A. Ivanov

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      Book details

      Publisher Amis du Centre d'histoire et de civilisation de Byzance
      Published 31 August 2015
      ISBN-13 9782916716534
      978-2916716534
      ISBN-10 291671653X
      Also in:
      History and Archaeology

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Not a single contemporary Byzantine source mentions the Christianization of Ethiopia in the fifth century, the Byzantine attempts to convert Persia at the end of the sixth, the creation of the Slavic alphabet in the ninth, or the baptism of Rus' in the tenth. These great achievements of Eastern Christianity left the Byzantines themselves perfectly indifferent. Byzantium produced a number of ardent and committed missionaries, but much more visible were the Greek intellectuals who believed that it was easier "to whitewash and Ethiopian" than to Christianize a barbarian. When Leo V acquainted the pagan Bulgars with the Christian sacraments, Theophanes Continuatus castigated him for "casting the pearls of faith before the swine". In the end, the missionary zeal of a few enthusiasts lost out to the haughty isolationism of Empire. "Pearls before the Swine" focuses on the complex relationship between the Christian pledge to "teach all nations" and Greek cultural snobbery.

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