Isaac, Iphigeneia, Ignatius: Martyrdom and Human Sacrifice

262 Pages·2017·3.577 MB·English

by  Monika Pesthy-Simon

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
ISAAC,
AABBOOUUTT TTHHEE AAUUTTHHOORR Whatisthemeaningofthemartyr'ssacrifice?Isittrue I
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that the martyr imitates Christ? After the “one and
A IPHIGENEIA,
MMoonniikkaa PPeesstthhyy--SSiimmoonn is an independent eternal”sacrificeofJesuswhyarefromtimetotime
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scholar,DoctoroftheHungarianAcademy new(andoftenquitenumerous)sacrificesnecessary?
of Sciences. Her main fields of research What is the underlying concept concerning the divinity? C
IGNATIUS
are early Judaism and early Christianity, Howdotheseideassurviveinpresenttimes? ,

apocrifs and intertestamental literature. MI
These are the kind of questions behind the inquiries P
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in this monograph. The author investigates martyr- rH
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dom as a (voluntary) human sacrifice and wishes to yI
demonstrate how human sacrifice has been turned rG
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into martyrdom. The two emblematic figures of this
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transformationareIphigeneiaandIsaac.Pesthyargues m
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that all the peoples in the environment in which
aE
Christianity came into being are characterized by
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a very ambiguous and hypocritical attitude toward dI
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human sacrifice: while in theory they condemn it as H
,
barbarianandbelongingtobygonetimes,inconcrete u
cases they accept, admire and practice it. The same mI
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attitude survives in Christianity in which martyrs re- a
placethehumansacrificeofoldendays:theyarereal nN

sacrifices,notsymbolicalones. SA
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Ourfeelingsaboutmartyrscanbeverydifferent:we r
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may admire their unbending courage and heroism or fU
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be irritated by their stubbornness, or even feel dis- c
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gusted at the fanaticism with which they strove for
death. But whatever our feelings may be, we must
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admitthataverystrongmotivationisneededtoaccept e
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voluntarily or even seek death (and, in the majority tn
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ofcases,averypainfuldeathatthat). yk
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Central European University Press o
n
Budapest–NewYork
Salesandinformation:[email protected]
Website:http://www.ceupress.com
Martyrdom
Cover design:Eva Szalay
ISBN9789633861639 and Human Sacrifice
Monika
9 789633 861639 90000
Pesthy-Simon
ISAAC, IPHIGENEIA, IGNATIUS
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ISAAC,
IPHIGENEIA,
IGNATIUS
Martyrdom and Human Sacrifice
Monika Pesthy-siMon
Central European University Press
Budapest–New York
i6 Pesthy 00 book.indb 3 2017.03.31. 10:29
Copyright © by Monika Pesthy-Simon, 2017
Published in 2017 by
Central European University Press
An imprint of the
Central European University Limited Liability Company
Nádor utca 11, H-1051 Budapest, Hungary
Tel: [phone] or 327-3000
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ceupress.com
224 West 57th Street, New York NY 10019, USA
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the permission of the Publisher.
ISBN 978-963-386-163-9 cloth
Library of Congress CataLoging-in-PubLiCation Data
Names: Pesthy-Simon, Monika, 1954- author.
Title: Isaac, Iphigeneia, Ignatius : martyrdom and human sacrifice / Monika Pesthy-Simon.
Description: New York : Central European University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographi-
cal references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016057670 (print) | LCCN 2016059917 (ebook) |
ISBN 9789633861639 | ISBN 9789633861646
Subjects: LCSH: Martyrdom—Christianity. | Voluntary human sacrifice.
Classification: LCC BR1601.3 .P47 2017 (print) | LCC BR1601.3 (ebook) | DDC 203/.42—
dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016057670
Printed in Hungary by
Prime Rate Kft.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments .................................................. vii
Abbreviations ....................................................... ix
Introduction ......................................................... 1
1. Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament ......................... 13
2. Greece, Rome and Carthage .................................... 31
3. Early Judaism ................................................... 73
4. The Death of Jesus .............................................. 99
5. The Martyr’s Sacrifice: Case Studies .......................... 117
6. The Models of the Martyr ...................................... 157
7. The Meaning of the Martyr’s Sacrifice ......................... 171
Epilogue: The Developments of Martyrology after
Constantine ......................................................... 207
Bibliography ......................................................... 213
Index ................................................................. 227
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Acknowledgments
A
uthors often fill several pages at the beginning of a book with the expres-
sion of their gratitude toward all those colleagues, students, professors,
friends, family members, universities, foundations, libraries and so on who
or which helped them during their work and contributed to the success of
their project. I am in a privileged position of having to write a very short list.
Thus, my thanks go
• to CEU Press, which accepted the manuscript for publication and took
all the trouble in editing it.
• To the two readers, Róbert Somos and the Unknown Reader, who took
the trouble to read the manuscript thoroughly and proposed it for publi-
cation; they criticized and commented on the text with great competence
and perspicacity; their remarks shed light on numerous shortcomings in
my argumentation and helped me to understand better my own topic.
I owe much to both of them.
• To Ivan Jóny and his wife Mary who graciously allowed me to make use
of their most original tabernaculum for the cover photo.
• To my husband Róbert Simon who encouraged me to write this book
and closely followed the progress of the work. He procured for me the
books I needed, was always willing to discuss the problems I encoun-
tered and read, corrected and commented the chapters one by one. With-
out him this book would never have been written.
• To my dog Cecily who participated in all the phases of the work as best
she could—mostly by sitting on my lap while I was reading or writing.
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Abbreviations
ANF A lexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and Arthur Cleveland Coxe,
eds. The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols. Reprint edition. Peabody,
Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994.
CCSL Corpus Christianorum. Series latina. Turnhout.
CPG Clavis Patrum Graecorum. Turnhout: Brepols.
CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium. Paris, later Lou-
vain and Washington, then Leuven, 1903–.
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Wien.
DBS Dictionnaire de la Bible. Supplément. Paris, 1928–.
DECA D ictionnaire Encyclopédique du Christianisme Ancien. 2 vols.
Paris: Cerf, 1990.
DS Dictionnaire de Spiritualité. Paris, later Chantilly, 1932–1995.
GCS Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller. Leipzig and Berlin.
GNO Gregorii Nysseni Opera. Leiden, 1960–1972.
LXX The Septuagint.
NRSV The Holy Bible with Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. New
Revised Standard Version. New York: American Bible Society,
1989.
PG J.-P. Migne. Patrologia. Series Graeca (161 volumes). Paris, 1857–
1868.
PGL G . W. H. Lampe. A Patristic Greek Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1968.
PL J.-P. Migne, Patrologia. Series Latina (221 volumes). Paris, 1844–
64.
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