Robin Jensen - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Robin Jensen
Historians of early Christianity often assert that imperial court ceremonies were heavily influen... more Historians of early Christianity often assert that imperial court ceremonies were heavily influential on the development of Christian liturgy during the fourth and fifth centuries. For example, in his expansive history of Christian worship, Frank Senn asserts that one should seek the origins of the entrance rite, with its solemn procession of richly vested clergy, candle bearers, and acolytes wafting incense and singing psalms in the rituals of an imperial adventus. 1 The bishop's chair at the back of the apse has been
Baptismal Rites and Architecture
Late Ancient Christianity, 2010
Augustine’s concern about the influence of witnessing brutal spectacles upon the human soul is ex... more Augustine’s concern about the influence of witnessing brutal spectacles upon the human soul is expressed when he recounts his friend Alypius’s addiction to the arena in Confessions, Book 6. He elaborates this concern in several sermons and argues that the simple act of looking at certain kinds of images can have a deleterious effect on the beholder, asserting that, like Alypius, one can become enthralled to spiritually harmful sights and take perverse pleasure in others’ mental or physical pain. He adds that such pleasure makes viewers accessories to brutality and inures them to suffering, instead of developing their compassionate nature. Here he speaks of the “lust of the eyes” as a parallel to lust of the flesh, a lust that seeks novel experiences and is not repelled by observing violence. He acknowledges that for some listeners, the reading of martyrs’ acts could be an instance of this, but insists that those who hear the story and imagine the scenes with the right attitude are i...
Christianity in Roman Africa: The Development of Its Practices and Beliefs. By J. Patout Burns, Jr., and Robin M. Jensen. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2014. Pp. liii + 670; $55.00
Religious Studies Review, 2015
The Architecture of the Christian Holy Land: Reception from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance. By Kathryn Blair Moore. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017. xviii + 420 pp. 223 b/w illustrations and 32 color plates. $120.00
Church History
Reconsidering the Ancient Algerian Basilica of Chlef and its Mosaics
Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia
An early Christian basilica, discovered in the Algerian city of Al-Asnam and excavated and studie... more An early Christian basilica, discovered in the Algerian city of Al-Asnam and excavated and studied from the mid-nineteenth century until most of its remains were wither covered or lost by the last quarter of the twentieth century, provides some important evidence for the practice of Christianity in Mauretania Caesariensis in the fifth century. Among this evidence is a dedicatory inscription referring to the church’s foundation; a shrine to a local bishop, placed in a counter apse; a mosaic indicating the probable placement and design of the church’s altar; and two additional mosaics that may reflect aspects of the church’s situation within certain theological and political conflicts of the fourth through sixth centuries (i.e., between Donatists and Catholics, between Vandal Arians and Africans Nicenes, and between the Mauri (Berbers) and both Vandals and Romans). This brief essay summarizes and supplements existing publications on this basilica by exploring the connections between t...
Mary in Early Christian Faith and Devotion. By Stephen J. Shoemaker . New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2016. xi + 289 pp. $38.00 cloth
Church History
Book Review: Augustine and the CatechumenateAugustine and the Catechumenate. By HarmlessWilliam, S.J. Collegeville: Liturgical, 1995. Pp. xii + 406. $34.95
Theological Studies
Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations
Lander's study focuses on a particular region of the Roman Empire-North Africa-and a particular t... more Lander's study focuses on a particular region of the Roman Empire-North Africa-and a particular time-the fourth-sixth centuries. She chose to concentrate on this area because, in her words, it both has seldom been studied and was a place where narratives of spatial contestation were particularly rooted in intra-Christian strife and then applied to "paradigms of relations with non-Christians" (p. 2). Her selection not only anchors her arguments in a specific time and place but the choice makes good sense. During this time, this part of the world was especially embroiled in struggles for religious dominance. Some of the results of this were confiscation, destruction, desecration, and appropriation of temples, churches, altars, synagogues, and divine images. These acts not only targeted different religious communities but also rival Christian groups (e.g., Catholics vs. Donatists or Arian Vandals vs. African Nicenes). In some cases these incidents were less violent or frequent than one might gather from the propagandistic rhetoric of the victims or triumphalist claims of the perpetrators, but this actually makes the circumstances more fascinating. Furthermore, by concentrating on the ways that actual buildings came to symbolize ascendant power or political status, Lander provides concrete examples of both "architectural dispossession and spatial supersession" (p. 33). Her attention to the material evidence and fine use of archeological studies thus is not simply enrichment but is essential to her argument. After a brief introduction to her project ("Scaffolding"), the book opens with a chapter that lays out Lander's method, sources (both ancient and modern), and underlying theories of sacred space and religious violence. It continues very coherently, moving from a study of how Christians generally regarded their places of worship (Chapter 2) to a summary of the conflicts among African Christian communities in the fourth and fifth centuries (Chapter 3). Without getting too bogged down in a synopsis of the so-called Donatist controversy, Lander keeps her eye on the ways that buildings played a symbolic role in the struggle over legitimacy, property, and claims to be the true and holy church. The final two
Aniconism in the first centuries of Christianity
Religion
Robin Jensen and Patout Burns on Christianity in Roman Africa
Robin Jensen on Early Christian Baptism
Jewish Historiography and Iconography in Early and Medieval Christianity
Theological Studies, Dec 1, 1993
Page 1. Compendia Rerum ludaicarum ad Novum Testamentum Jewish Historiography and Iconography in ... more Page 1. Compendia Rerum ludaicarum ad Novum Testamentum Jewish Historiography and Iconography in Early and Medieval Christianity Heinz Schreckenberg Kurt Schubert Van Gorcum Fortress Press Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Page 5. ...
Those Who See God Receive Life : The Icon, the Idol, and the Invisible God
Worship, 2008
The Apocryphal Mary in Early Christian Art
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2015
Henry Maguire and Ann Terry, Dynamic Splendor: The Wall Mosaics in the Cathedral of Eufrasius at Poreč :Dynamic Splendor: The Wall Mosaics in the Cathedral of Eufrasius at Poreč
Journal of Religion, 2008
The Many Faces of Christ: Portraying the Holy in the East and West, 300–1300 by Michele Bacci
The Catholic Historical Review, 2015
Archaeology of Christian Initiation
Rüpke/A Companion to the Archaeology of Religion in the Ancient World, 2015
Historians of early Christianity often assert that imperial court ceremonies were heavily influen... more Historians of early Christianity often assert that imperial court ceremonies were heavily influential on the development of Christian liturgy during the fourth and fifth centuries. For example, in his expansive history of Christian worship, Frank Senn asserts that one should seek the origins of the entrance rite, with its solemn procession of richly vested clergy, candle bearers, and acolytes wafting incense and singing psalms in the rituals of an imperial adventus. 1 The bishop's chair at the back of the apse has been
Baptismal Rites and Architecture
Late Ancient Christianity, 2010
Augustine’s concern about the influence of witnessing brutal spectacles upon the human soul is ex... more Augustine’s concern about the influence of witnessing brutal spectacles upon the human soul is expressed when he recounts his friend Alypius’s addiction to the arena in Confessions, Book 6. He elaborates this concern in several sermons and argues that the simple act of looking at certain kinds of images can have a deleterious effect on the beholder, asserting that, like Alypius, one can become enthralled to spiritually harmful sights and take perverse pleasure in others’ mental or physical pain. He adds that such pleasure makes viewers accessories to brutality and inures them to suffering, instead of developing their compassionate nature. Here he speaks of the “lust of the eyes” as a parallel to lust of the flesh, a lust that seeks novel experiences and is not repelled by observing violence. He acknowledges that for some listeners, the reading of martyrs’ acts could be an instance of this, but insists that those who hear the story and imagine the scenes with the right attitude are i...
Christianity in Roman Africa: The Development of Its Practices and Beliefs. By J. Patout Burns, Jr., and Robin M. Jensen. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2014. Pp. liii + 670; $55.00
Religious Studies Review, 2015
The Architecture of the Christian Holy Land: Reception from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance. By Kathryn Blair Moore. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017. xviii + 420 pp. 223 b/w illustrations and 32 color plates. $120.00
Church History
Reconsidering the Ancient Algerian Basilica of Chlef and its Mosaics
Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia
An early Christian basilica, discovered in the Algerian city of Al-Asnam and excavated and studie... more An early Christian basilica, discovered in the Algerian city of Al-Asnam and excavated and studied from the mid-nineteenth century until most of its remains were wither covered or lost by the last quarter of the twentieth century, provides some important evidence for the practice of Christianity in Mauretania Caesariensis in the fifth century. Among this evidence is a dedicatory inscription referring to the church’s foundation; a shrine to a local bishop, placed in a counter apse; a mosaic indicating the probable placement and design of the church’s altar; and two additional mosaics that may reflect aspects of the church’s situation within certain theological and political conflicts of the fourth through sixth centuries (i.e., between Donatists and Catholics, between Vandal Arians and Africans Nicenes, and between the Mauri (Berbers) and both Vandals and Romans). This brief essay summarizes and supplements existing publications on this basilica by exploring the connections between t...
Mary in Early Christian Faith and Devotion. By Stephen J. Shoemaker . New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2016. xi + 289 pp. $38.00 cloth
Church History
Book Review: Augustine and the CatechumenateAugustine and the Catechumenate. By HarmlessWilliam, S.J. Collegeville: Liturgical, 1995. Pp. xii + 406. $34.95
Theological Studies
Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations
Lander's study focuses on a particular region of the Roman Empire-North Africa-and a particular t... more Lander's study focuses on a particular region of the Roman Empire-North Africa-and a particular time-the fourth-sixth centuries. She chose to concentrate on this area because, in her words, it both has seldom been studied and was a place where narratives of spatial contestation were particularly rooted in intra-Christian strife and then applied to "paradigms of relations with non-Christians" (p. 2). Her selection not only anchors her arguments in a specific time and place but the choice makes good sense. During this time, this part of the world was especially embroiled in struggles for religious dominance. Some of the results of this were confiscation, destruction, desecration, and appropriation of temples, churches, altars, synagogues, and divine images. These acts not only targeted different religious communities but also rival Christian groups (e.g., Catholics vs. Donatists or Arian Vandals vs. African Nicenes). In some cases these incidents were less violent or frequent than one might gather from the propagandistic rhetoric of the victims or triumphalist claims of the perpetrators, but this actually makes the circumstances more fascinating. Furthermore, by concentrating on the ways that actual buildings came to symbolize ascendant power or political status, Lander provides concrete examples of both "architectural dispossession and spatial supersession" (p. 33). Her attention to the material evidence and fine use of archeological studies thus is not simply enrichment but is essential to her argument. After a brief introduction to her project ("Scaffolding"), the book opens with a chapter that lays out Lander's method, sources (both ancient and modern), and underlying theories of sacred space and religious violence. It continues very coherently, moving from a study of how Christians generally regarded their places of worship (Chapter 2) to a summary of the conflicts among African Christian communities in the fourth and fifth centuries (Chapter 3). Without getting too bogged down in a synopsis of the so-called Donatist controversy, Lander keeps her eye on the ways that buildings played a symbolic role in the struggle over legitimacy, property, and claims to be the true and holy church. The final two
Aniconism in the first centuries of Christianity
Religion
Robin Jensen and Patout Burns on Christianity in Roman Africa
Robin Jensen on Early Christian Baptism
Jewish Historiography and Iconography in Early and Medieval Christianity
Theological Studies, Dec 1, 1993
Page 1. Compendia Rerum ludaicarum ad Novum Testamentum Jewish Historiography and Iconography in ... more Page 1. Compendia Rerum ludaicarum ad Novum Testamentum Jewish Historiography and Iconography in Early and Medieval Christianity Heinz Schreckenberg Kurt Schubert Van Gorcum Fortress Press Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Page 5. ...
Those Who See God Receive Life : The Icon, the Idol, and the Invisible God
Worship, 2008
The Apocryphal Mary in Early Christian Art
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2015
Henry Maguire and Ann Terry, Dynamic Splendor: The Wall Mosaics in the Cathedral of Eufrasius at Poreč :Dynamic Splendor: The Wall Mosaics in the Cathedral of Eufrasius at Poreč
Journal of Religion, 2008
The Many Faces of Christ: Portraying the Holy in the East and West, 300–1300 by Michele Bacci
The Catholic Historical Review, 2015
Archaeology of Christian Initiation
Rüpke/A Companion to the Archaeology of Religion in the Ancient World, 2015