Krueger

Book Review Krueger, Derek, ed. Byzantine Christianity. Vol. 3. Fortress Press, 2006. 7 vols. Jacalyn Moffat Dr. Rangar Cline LTSD 5213

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Derek Krueger, editor of Byzantine Christianity, discerns an imbalance in histories of Christianity, stating they are usually centered on the West; he postures that a study of the Byzantine Christian laity and society can help correct this and reinscribe Byzantine Christians in a peoples history of Christianity (p. 13). To accomplish this he has collected a set of essays of scholars with expertise on Byzantine history. He admits the difficulty in researching the lives of ordinary citizens, as most of the written sources come from authoritative orthodox clergy. However, he asserts that careful interpretation of sermons, saints lives, hymns, canon law, and histories, together with architecture, icons, church decoration, and devotional objects, enables a rich description of lay religion among nonelites (p. 3). By observing the outward signs of these different sources, these scholars are able to ascertain certain aspects of the Byzantine Christianity of common people. Using Jaclyn Maxwell as an illustration, her essay Lay Piety in the Sermons of John Chrysostom,
demonstrates a facility to interpret beyond the written word, and extrapolate it to the lives of the

Byzantine laity. She explains, Although it is difficult to tell to what extent a congregation accepted or rejected advice from sermons, a preachers instructions can provide important insightsbecause they reveal aspect of the religious views of both the church leader and his more ordinary listeners (p. 20). She uses the sermons of John Chrysostom, an orthodox priest in Antioch (386-398 CE) whose hundreds of sermons werepreservedbecause of his eloquence, noting a preachers instructions can provide important insightsbecause they reveal aspects of the religious views of both the church leader and his more ordinary listeners (p. 19-20). Utilizing this approach, Maxwell uses Chrysostoms sermons to analyze different aspects of the laitys livessuch as the Christianization of habits, church attendance, and the debauchery which occurred during their celebrations and traditions. While it becomes clear Chrysostom had hoped his

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sermons would inspire his congregants to cultivate a truly Christian society, Maxwell perceives a difficulty Chrysostom failed to address: many Christians disagreed with his views because they simply had different ways of defining proper and improper Christian behavior (37). One of the more fascinating analyses of Byzantine laity is Nicholas Constas essay Death and Dying in Byzantium. Rather than relying on sermons, homilies or hagiography to look for outward signs, he refers to the abundance of documents available for interpreting funerary practices and attitudes, using sources of wills and testaments, epitaphs, rulings of civil and ecclesiastical law, along with more intriguing sources such as magical texts, literature of dream interpretation, hagiographical works, et al. In addition, there is a profusion of theological literature dealing with the souls departure from the body, its immediate postmortem experiences, and its prospects for torment or bliss in a life beyond the grave (124). While his descriptions of preparation of the body, such as washing anointing, clothing, and shrouding are interesting, it is his discourse and analysis of Byzantine views of life after death which is most absorbing to study. Because the Byzantine church didnt elicit any details of life after death other than being eternal, such a lacuna offered an irresistible opportunity for speculation, and many questions about death and the afterlife remained open for discussion (139). Constas placement of these discussions within the context and framework of philosophical and religious dualisms, in addition to the mystical and metaphysical aspects of Byzantine theology, documents the continuity of some of these beliefs, such as kindred recognition after death, throughout Byzantiums long history. Though he relates a few dramatic and colorful narratives of visions of nightmarish life after death, he asserts Byzantine meditation on deathwas not simply a species of medieval morbidity,

Page 4 inasmuch as a sober recognition of ones mortality was seen as the point of entry into a fully human life. In addition, when placed within the context of Byzantine, these concerns about life after death functioned as a kind of collective, societal epistemology, that is, a means of self-definition shaping and articulating the image that the community had of itself (144). Brigitte Pitarakis, author of the essay Objects of Devotion and Protection, demonstrates how objects, such as the abundance and variety of surviving Byzantine jewelry, can be used to elucidate some of the individual practices of the laypeople in a profoundly pious society. Noting ancient magic had been present throughout the history of the Byzantine Empire, she establishes the Byzantine Christian populations assignment of apotropaic powers to the imagery of devotional objects such as icons, amulets, reliquaries and crosses. Consideration of the objects and their iconography yields insight into the devotional lives of the persons who used them, providing perspective on the motivations for a range of pious practices in Byzantine society (164). At the dawn of imperial Christianity the Church Fathers had to deal with magical practices carried over from pagan society; even though the general makeup of the Byzantine populace converted to Christianity after imperial edict, they retained their need of protection from evil forces, heeding little to the Fathers instructions that belief in Christs redeeming power of His resurrection was sufficient. By discussing these devotional objects within their anthropologic context, Pitarakis demonstrates the inclination of Byzantine society to assign the apotropaic power of protection to objects illustrated with Christian imagery. She describes a group of sixth-century armbands and pendants containing Christological scenes merged with multiple magical images. The multiple layers of protective devices found onobject[s] display the Byzantines pressing need for various agents

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capable of engaging the benevolence of God against the forces of evil (170). The emerging cult of relics assigned this power to the relics of dead saints, which were then worn around the neck. She concludes the wearing of these pieces indicate that such devotional practices were collective practices engaged in widely. In addition, the use of devotional objects such as amulets, pectoral crosses, and enkolpia indicates these devices infused with apotropaic powers indicates that religious practices and sensibilities [were] shared by the whole spectrum of Byzantine society (180). This discussion of the articles of Maxwell, Constas and Pitirakis, is representative of the many essays available in Byzantine Christianity which elucidate how a wealth of knowledge of Byzantine culture and society, can be deduced from numerous preserved documents, manuscripts and devotional objects of Byzantium. All the articles in the book use this form of deduction to postulate different elements of Byzantine laity, such as Peter Hatlies use of hagiography, devotional imagery, sermons and homilies to adduce the religious lives of children and adolescents, or Alice-Marie Talbots creative use of new types of sources which appeared in the ninth centurymonastic typika and archives, acts of the synod of Constantinople, and womens last testamentsto characterize the devotional life of laywomen in Byzantium. The short biography of the individual authors demonstrates that each of them is eminently qualified to research and write on these subjects. Just as important are the authors non-verbal acknowledgements of the value of the history of mentalities in the modern historical paradigm. Each author provides a list of resources available for further study in the specific subject studied, with additional resources which can be found in the documentation found in the individual end notes.

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Byzantine Christianity, edited by Derek Krueger, achieves his goal to address Byzantine Christians and their society, and helps to correct the imbalance of Western and Eastern Christian histories. This book demonstrates that Byzantine society was a vibrant and vigorous culture with a population of Christian laity who developed their own distinct system of religious practice, devotion and piety, practiced not only publicly but privately.