Timeline
c. 30 Christ crucified
c. 64 Peter and Paul in Rome
70 Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by Romans
c.90 John writes final Gospel and Revelations
98-180 Reigns of the five "Good Emperors", when Roman
Empire reaches peak
c. 190 decoration of Catacombs in Rome begun at Callistus
c. 236 Dura Europos (Syria) baptistery built
200-290: Roman problems: invasion by Germans, economic inflation,
too many emperors, many others
251 First general persecution of Christians
in Empure under Emperor Decius
184-205: Emperor Diocletian reforms much, persecutes Christians
as scapegoats, divides Empire east & west and establishes the tetrarchy
or set of four rulers (two in each half)
313: New Emperor Constantine legalizes Christian Church (Edict of
Milan): "Peace of the Church"
c.317: St Peter's basilica in Rome begun
324: Constantine becomes sole emperor and soon begins building new
capital at Constantinople (Istanbul)
Introduction
As I mentioned in class last Monday, this is not the easiest work to
get through, but I believe it is worth the effort. As I suggested, begin
by reading the short pieces by Tertullian and Minucius Felix in the syllabus/handout.
These are two of the works to which Finney refers time and again. Then
begin with Chapter 2. When reading Finney, do note that he pauses several
times each chapter to summarize his main points, and some chapters end
with summaries: so even if his main points may remain unclear as you are
reading them, they will be clarified. Also, note that USUALLY, when using
Greek or Latin terms of phrases, you can get the neaning from the context,
or from a definition he provides later in the paragraph. For those that
I feel he has not dealt with adequately, I will provide a brief glossary
below. For high-falutin' words that are not technical, you may well want
to keep a dictionary at hand.
Chapters Two and Three deal with a basic question in the study of early Christian art: what did early Christian writers mean when they wrote AGAINST the presence or use of art in worship or religious life? Tertullian (c.160-220), Minucius Felix (c.150-230), Tatian (c. 130-200), Clement of Alexandria (c. 145-220) and Origen (c. 185-253) all wrote works in which they seem to attack the use of images, even though during their lifetimes Christians were developing an iconography in places like Dura Europos and the Roman Catacombs. The works they wrote are in a genre known as "apologetics", which is a branch of rhetoric ("persuasive use of speech or writing") that seeks to explain and defend one's position (in this case, Christian beliefs and practices).
In Chapter Two Finney examines this literature, and concludes
several things:
1) its audience is a sophisticated, philosophical crowd that despises
the popular pagan practices as well as what they understand of Christianity;
2) Christian authors want to present themselves as being like the philosophers
(and their followers), to get things and curry favor (WHY??); by presenting
themselves as having the same feelings about popular pagan religion as
the philosophers, they could get sympathy or understanding from them (or
so they believed);
3) the Christian attack on images is not so much against the Christian
use of images, as it is against pagan belief and practice: it is essentially
a rhetorical attack on paganism, which was persecuting Christianity.
a) What conclusions can
we reasonably make about Roman actions against Christians from Trajan (AD
98) to Decius
(AD 251)?
b) Who were the apologists,
why did they write, and what did they seek to achieve?
c) What were the main goals
or parts of apologetic?
d) What literary characteristics
were common to apologetic literature?
e) Why was it important
to play to Greco-Roman intellectuals' prejudices about pagan popular
religion?
In Chapter Three Finney looks at three criticisms or attacks
that the pagans made against the Christians: atheism, superstition and
sexual immorality. He then shows how Christian apologetical literature
both defended Christainity against these charges, and showed how the popular
pagan religion was the truly "atheistic, superstitious and immoral" religion.
All of these have to do with the use of imagery or art.
How (specifically) did the
apologists counter the pagan attacks on themselves?
Atheism (5 arguments)
Superstition (1 main argument)
Sexual immorality (a couple of arguments)
Chapter Four deals with the omnipresent image of the Roman Emperor, who, until the conversion of Constantine in 313 (or so) were all pagans. How did Jews and Christians deal with the image of the man responsible for their persecution, and who called himself a god? Did the failure to develop early Christian portraiture stem from disgust with imperial portraits being everywhere? Finney looks at several sources: a story in the Bible's Gospel of Mark, several accounts of the Apocalypse, the apologetical literature, the use of the emperor's image in judicial trials (see the famous account by Pliny of his persecution of Christians and the questions it raised for him. Note his summary and conclusion on pp. 84-86.
Chapter Five asks the question: Why was there no specifically Christian art before the year 200? What were the old theories? Were they correct? What is Finney's view? How do Christians compare with Jews of the time in this regard? Any ideas why? What kinds of images does Clement find acceptable? How does this fit in with Finney's argument? What specific images on lamps were possibly of interest to Christians: why? It is, I think, a fairly straight forward chapter. Do not bother with the Appendix.
Chapter Six presents a picture of the catacomb art produced in Rome between AD 200 and 220. In fact, art in the catacombs would go on developing until after 350.Before reading this chapter, visit my website on the Catacombs for general information. In Callistus, what are the main patterns found, and why does Finney think they were chosen? Some think that the men who dug the galleries were also those who painted them: does Finney agree? What figural ("peopled") scenes appear and what did they mean to the people of the time? What are the main sources of these scenes? Note (on paper) some of the meanings given to specific figures: fish, dolfins, philosophers, birds... These occur throughout the catacombs and having a handle on these meanings will help in later work. What is the "attitude" of the work in Callistus to Greco-Roman art of the period or before?
SOME TERMS
Consensus view: the notion that early Christians, following
the taboo against graven images in Genesis, were against any use of religious
art.
Apostates: Christians who gave up their faith and membership
in the Church.
Martyr: From the Greek "witness"; one who was killed for defend
the Faith.
LXX: The Septuagint Bible: the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures
(Old Testament) tranlated by Jews for Jews.
Pentateuch: The forst five book of the old Testament, said to
have been written by Moses.
"niedere glaube": Literally, "low belief": the religious
beliefs or practices of vulgar or low class people, esp. pagans.
Hypogea: catacomb or underground burial place.
Simulacrum (-cra): image.
Mimesis: imitation.
Martyrology: Writings about the lives and deaths of Christian
martyrs.
Ur- (as in Urchristentum): very early or primeval something.
Aniconic: lacking or failing to use images.
kriophoros: one who is carrying a sheep or ram: see Good Shepherd.
hapax: an uniquely surviving example of what is probably a type
in a particular medium or form
disiecta membra: "scattered pieces"
subdial: under the surface
lunette: and area bounded by a half circle, as a half-moon.
register: a distinct horizontal band of decoration in a wall
or panel painting or relief sculpture.
refrigium meal: a meal eaten in honor of the dead person, either
at the funeral or on an anniversary of the death