Saints: A Very Short Introduction

Description

Considers the origins of sainthood and saints Offers insight into relics, reliquaries and related sacred objects in cultural contexts, and reflects upon relic veneration in the modern world Introduces the concept of how gender informs our understanding of saints Considers how saints are interpreted by different faiths The idea of saints and sainthood are familiar to all, irrelevant of religious faith. In this Very Short Introduction, Simon Yarrow looks at the origins, ideas, and definitions of sainthood, sanctity, and saints in the early Church, tracing their development in history and explaining the social roles saints played in the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds. Along the way, Yarrow considers the treatment of saints as objects of literary and artistic expression and interpretation, and as examples of idealized male and female heroism, and compares Christian saints and holy figures to venerated figures in other religious cultures, including Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. He concludes by considering the experiences of devotees to saints, and looking at how saints continue to be a powerful presence in our modern world. (First published in hardback as The Saints: A Short History 2016) 1: Introduction 2: Inventing the saints 3: Sainthood in the Middle Ages 4: Early modern sainthood 5: Gendering the saints 6: Writing the saints 7: Globalizing the saints 8: Sainthood in a secular world 9: Experiencing the saints Further reading Index