Robert Malcolm Royalty, Jr
Wabash College (Crawfordsville, IN 47933-2484)
FB-51523-05
Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars
Research Programs
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[Grant products]
Totals:
$40,000 (approved)
$40,000 (awarded)
Grant period:
8/1/2005 – 7/31/2006
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The History of Heresy and the Origins of Christianity
This is a study of early Christian heresiology, or the rhetoric of heresy,from Jesus to Justin. Reading for social location and ideology in early Christian texts, I will examine how the communities formed socially and rhetorically around the construction of error and falsehood. This monograph will be comparative, juxtaposing early Christian writings in a historical-critical approach without regard to later canonical formations. In tracing the development of these rhetorical constructions, I am also considering the origins of Christianity itself as a social formation within the Greco-Roman world. A guiding question of the research will be, at what point can we call these communities "Christian" rather than Jewish?
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