The Fate of the Dead in Early Third Century North African Christianity: The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas and Tertullian

Description

The ideology and imagery in the Passion of Perpetua are mediated heavily by traditional Graeco-Roman culture; in particular, by traditional notions of the afterlife and of the ascent of the soul. This context for understanding the Passion of Perpetua aligns well with the available material evidence, and with the writings of Tertullian, with whose ideology the text of Perpetua is in an implicit polemical dialogue.Eliezer Gonzalez analyzes how the Passion of Perpetua provides us with early literary evidence of an environment in which the Graeco-Roman and Christian cults of the dead, including the cults of the martyrs and saints, appear to be very much aligned. He also shows that the text of the Passion of Perpetua and the writings of Tertullian provide insights into an early stage in the polemic between these two conceptualisations of the afterlife of the righteous. Preface ……………………………………………………………………. V II Chapter 1: Introduction – The Certainty and Uncertainty of Death ……………………........ 1 Chapter 2: Previous Scholarship on the Passion of Perpetua …… 5 A. Who Was Perpetua? ……………………………………………………… 5 B. The Latin and Greek Texts of the Passion of Perpetua …………………... 6 C. The Passion of Perpetua as a Popular Text …………………………….. 8 D. Genre and Literary Features …………………………………………… 10 E. The Authorial Authenticity of the Text …………………………………... 12 F. The Dating of the Text …………………………………………………... 18 G. The Identity of the Editor ……………………………………………….. 19 H. Is the Passion of Perpetua ‘Orthodox’ or ‘Montanist’? ……………….. 22 I. The Passion of Perpetua as Ideological Subversion: Social and Feminist Perspectives ………………………………………….. 26 J. Observations on the Concept of Mysticism ……………………………… 33 K. The Passion of Perpetua and the Afterlife ……………………………… 36 Chapter 3: The Afterlife of the Righteous in Early Christianity 39 A. Introduction ………………………………………………...…………… 39 B. Early Christian Material Evidence ………………………...…………… 39 C. The Afterlife Before Perpetua: Literary Evidence ……………………… 44 I. The New Testament ………………………………………………….. 44 1. The Soul …………………………………………………………... 44 2. Resurrection ………………………………………………………. 45 3. Ascent …………………………………………………………….. 48 4. Canonical Apocalyptic Literature ………………………………… 52 II. The Early Church Fathers …………………………………………… 54 1. The ‘Apostolic Fathers’ …………………………………………... 54 2. The Apologists of the Second Century …………………………… 59 III. Gnosticism ………………………………………………………….. 63 D. The Afterlife After Perpetua: Literary Evidence ………………………... 69 I. Cyprian ……………………………………………………………….. 69 II. Origen ……………………………………………………………….. 71 III. Augustine …………………………………………………………… 74 IV.Anthony of the Desert ………………………………………………. 75 E. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………. 78 Chapter 4: Perpetua’s Ascent – Contexts and Sources …………. 79 A. Introduction ……………………………………………………………... 79 B. Canonical Biblical Sources …………………………………………….. 80 C. The Ladder and the Dragon: Where Do They Come From? …………… 84 D. The Passion of Perpetua Within the Context of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature ……………………………………………. 89 I. Background …………………………………………………………… 89 II. Jewish Apocalyptic Influences ………………………………………. 90 E. Broader Background Considerations: The Motif of Ascent in Philo and Clement …………………………………. 93 I. Judaeo-Hellenistic Ascent in Philo …………………………………… 94 II. Clement of Alexandria ………………………………………………. 97 F. The Ascent Motif in the Broader Graeco-Roman World ……………….. 99 G. Perpetua’s Education …………………………………………………. 103 Chapter 5: The Afterlife in the Passion of Perpetua and in the Works of Tertullian ……………………………… 109 A. Introduction: Perpetua and Tertullian ………………………………… 109 B. Eschatology and the Afterlife in the Passion of Perpetua ……………... 109 I. The Afterlife in the Passion of Perpetua and the Judaeo-Christian Apocalyptic Tradition …………………………… 114 C. Eschatology and the Afterlife in the Writings of Tertullian …………… 117 I. Did Tertullian Change His Views? ………………………………….. 123 D. Conclusions ……………………………………………………………. 126 Chapter 6: Refrigerium and the Roman Cult of the Dead in the Passion of Perpetua ………………………………….. 129 A. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 129 B. The Archaeological Context: What the Literary Evidence May Not Tell Us ……………………………. 130 C. Refrigerium: The State of Play ………………………………………… 139 D. Refrigerium in the Passion of Perpetua …………………………………… 141 I. Cheese/Milk ………………………………………………………………… 141 II. Roses ……………………………………………………………….. 144 III. The Nourishment of the Dead …………………………………….. 147 IV. The Ideology of Refrigerium in the Passion of Perpetua …………. 148 V. The Social Functions of Refrigerium ………………………………. 153 E. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………... 161 Chapter 7: The Passion of Perpetua, Tertullian, and Ideological Conflict in Carthage ……………………….. 163 A. Textual Perspectives ………………………………………………………….. 163 B. Ideological Polemic About the Afterlife of the Righteous ……………… 164 C. Ideological Polemic About the Cult of the Dead ………………………. 169 D. Conclusion …………………………………………………………….. 175 Chapter 8: The Interim State in the Passion of Perpetua and in the Works of Tertullian ……………………………… 177 A. Introduction ……………………………………………………………. 177 B. The Interim State in the ‘Apostolic Fathers …………………………… 177 C. Early Christian Apocalyptic Texts Dealing with the Afterlife …………. 179 I. The Apocalypse of Peter …………………………………………….. 179 II. The Ascension of Isaiah ……………………………………………. 182 III. The Shepherd of Hermas ………………………………………….. 182 D. The Interim State in the Works of Tertullian ………………………….. 186 E. The ‘Interim State’ in the Passion of Perpetua? ………………………. 190 F. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………... 194 Chapter 9: The Body, the Soul, and Continuity in Early Third-Century Carthaginian Christianity ………….. 197 A. Introduction ……………………………………………………………. 197 B. The Importance of the Body in Early Christianity …………………….. 197 C. The Body and Material Continuity in the Writings of Tertullian ……… 199 D. Platonic Versus Aristotelian Dualism ………………………………… 202 E. The Body and Material Continuity in the Passion of Perpetua ……….. 204 F. Conclusion …………………………………………………………….. 207 Chapter 10: Conclusion – Death in Transition ………………... 209 A. Review …………………………………………………………………. 209 B. Synthesis and Further Reflections …………………………………….. 212 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………… 215 Index of Primary References ……………………………………………… 243 Index of Modern Authors ………………………………………………… 247 Index of Subjects …………………………………………………………. 251