Exorcism was one of the practices through which early Christians publicly distinguished their religious claims from surrounding ritual cultures. This article surveys Christian exorcistic discourse before Constantine, concentrating on Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen. It argues that exorcism functioned simultaneously as pastoral…
This article examines Christian political allegiance under the authority of Scripture in an age in which political identity can become a rival source of belonging, moral certainty, and quasi-religious devotion. It argues that the Bible neither authorises political withdrawal nor permits the Church…
When Christians call a gathering or movement a revival, they do more than report heightened religious activity. They attribute unusual agency to God, claim that this agency can be known, participate in shaping the movement through the act of naming it, and distribute…
This article examines the transformation of personified Death from the Late Bronze Age religious world of Ugarit to later Jewish, Islamic, European, and Mexican traditions. It does not argue for a direct genealogical line from the Ugaritic deity Mot to the later Angel…
Extreme ascetic practices among the Desert Fathers and Stylites have traditionally been interpreted through theological, spiritual, and historical frameworks. Solitude, fasting, repetitive prayer, sensory deprivation, prolonged standing, and bodily exposure are commonly understood as forms of renunciation, spiritual warfare, discipline, and devotion to…
The description of Pergamum as the place “where Satan’s throne is” in Revelation 2:13 has commonly been interpreted through the city’s imperial cult, monumental religious landscape, or association with Roman political authority. While these interpretations remain important, they can obscure the economic dimensions…
Religion in the Roman Empire was deeply intertwined with politics, social identity, and public life. Unlike modern distinctions between church and state, Roman religion functioned as an essential component of civic loyalty and imperial unity. Traditional worship of the Roman gods existed alongside…