Bourdieu and the Cult of the Saints as Cultural Theology
Despite advancements by social historians in early Christian studies, the narrative remains heavily influenced by the writings of bishops and theologians. Practices of non-elites are often dismissed as "popular religion," implicitly contrasting them with "proper" theology. This p...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Religion & theology
Year: 2025, Volume: 32, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 336-362 |
| Further subjects: | B
cultural theology
B Pierre Bourdieu B cult of the saints B Early Christianity B Patronage B Habitus |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Despite advancements by social historians in early Christian studies, the narrative remains heavily influenced by the writings of bishops and theologians. Practices of non-elites are often dismissed as "popular religion," implicitly contrasting them with "proper" theology. This paper employs Pierre Bourdieu’s habitus to analyze patron-client dynamics within the early Christian cult of the saints. Such an approach discursively reorients scholarly descriptions away from the pejorative "popular religion" toward a new nomenclature that I am proposing, "cultural theology," which more accurately reflects these practices as integral to the period’s working theology and cultural milieu. |
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| ISSN: | 1574-3012 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15743012-bja10098 |
