Byzantine Christianity: A People's History of Christianity

A People's History of Christianity #3

by Derek Krueger (Editor)

This third volume in the pioneering A People's History of Christianity series focuses on the religious lives of ordinary people and introduces the religion of the Byzantine Christian laity by asking the What did ordinary Christians do in church, in their homes and their workshops? How were icons used? How did the people celebrate, marry, and mourn? Where did they go on pilgrimage? Contributors Derek Krueger, University of North Carolina at Greensboro Vasiliki Limberis, Temple University Georgia Frank, Colgate University James Skedros, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology Nicholas Constas, Harvard University Sharon Gerstel, University of Maryland Peter Hatlie, Univerity of Dallas at Rome Charles Barber, University of Notre Dame Brigitte Pitarakis, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris Alice-Mary Talbot, Dumbarton Oaks Jaclyn Maxwell, Ohio University

Genres: History, Religion, Christianity

252 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2006

Reviews

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is part of a series that is trying to uncover from history what the Christian life would have been like for the "average" Christian during the 1000 years of the Byzantine Empire. Unfortunately, as the book notes, there are really very few sources for this information. So more or less the authors try to glean from existing documents ideas of what the life of the laity was like. But this method colors the conclusion, for it turns to the same monastic literature and documents from the Byzantine imperial family, neither of which can really tell us what Christian life was like for most in the Byzantine Empire. Much of our imagery comes from cities, yet through its history (until reduced to nearly nothing by the Turks) the vast majority of Byzantine citizens lived in rural settings. We have little idea how much church they could even have possibly attended. From other historical documents, we know many Orthodox bishops rarely stayed in their rural dioceses and tended to flock to the cities. So we get from history a real skewed view of what Orthodox Christian life was like. This book is a good first attempt to try to glean some ideas about average Christian life, but the life still remains mostly obscured from our view.

[Brian Hutzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever been reading a series of books and come to a volume that you just didn’t want to read, but read it anyway just to get through it and on to the next book in the series? That was the case for me with Byzantine Christianity, which is the third volume in A People’s History of Christianity. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this book a lot. This series strikes a nice balance of scholarliness and readability.

[Caomhghain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers so many aspects of Byzantine Christianity which seldom get a look in. Excellent.

[Margie Dorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for some interesting details about this era and style of Christianity, particularly in terms of the spiritual practices of women and children.