RT Article
T1 Notes on rehabilitating “magic” in the study of early Christian literature
JF Religion compass
VO 15
IS 10
SP 1
OP 12
A1 Patel, Shaily Shashikant
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1774440288
AB This article offers an introduction to the study of magic in early Christian literature. In the first part of the article, I discuss the types of evidence scholars of early Christian texts often use to “reconstruct” ancient magic, as well as the methodological problems associated with these scholarly reconstructions. In the second part, I argue for the rehabilitating “magic” as a critical category in the study of early Christian literature despite the problems outlined throughout this article. Ultimately, I claim that the modern conceptual baggage associated with magic has resistive potential in undermining dominant historiographical narratives of how Christianity developed as something wholly distinct from magic.
DO 10.1111/rec3.12415