Writing and Holiness: The Practice of Authorship in the Early Christian East. By Derek Krueger. Pp. xii + 298. (Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion.) Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004. isbn 0 8122 3819 2. 59.95/£39

This book—at once illuminating and frustrating—draws on a close reading of a selection of ascetic texts through the prism of contemporary literary theory in order to tease out a series of observations on the ways in which early Christian authors understood the nature of writing and of authorship. Kr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Plested, Marcus (Author)
Format: Electronic Review
Language:English
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Published: Oxford University Press 2006
In: The journal of theological studies
Year: 2006, Volume: 57, Issue: 2, Pages: 716-718
Review of:Writing and holiness (Philadelphia, Pa. : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004) (Plested, Marcus)
Further subjects:B Book review
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Summary:This book—at once illuminating and frustrating—draws on a close reading of a selection of ascetic texts through the prism of contemporary literary theory in order to tease out a series of observations on the ways in which early Christian authors understood the nature of writing and of authorship. Krueger, in what constitutes the central thrust of book, gives us a string of examples of hagiography functioning as expressions of authorial devotion, humility, mimesis, and doxology—in other words of writing becoming in itself a form of ascetic practice. He offers a useful exploration of the influence of biblical models of authorship on the production of Christian sacred texts, making telling use of iconography in so doing.
ISSN:1477-4607
Contains:Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/jts/fll070