Nathan J Ristuccia | University of Notre Dame (original) (raw)

Books by Nathan J Ristuccia

Oxford University Press, 2018

Christianization and Commonwealth in Early Medieval Europe re-examines the alterations in Western... more Christianization and Commonwealth in Early Medieval Europe re-examines the alterations in Western European life that followed widespread conversion to Christianity-the phenomena traditionally termed "Christianization". It refocuses scholarly paradigms for Christianization around the development of mandatory rituals. One prominent ritual, Rogationtide supplies an ideal case study demonstrating a new paradigm of "Christianization without religion." Christianization in the Middle Ages was not a slow process through which a Christian system of religious beliefs and practices replaced an earlier pagan system. In the Middle Ages, religion did not exist in the sense of a fixed system of belief bounded off from other spheres of life. Rather, Christianization was primarily ritual performance. Being a Christian meant joining a local church community.

After the fall of Rome, mandatory rituals such as Rogationtide arose to separate a Christian commonwealth from the pagans, heretics, and Jews outside it. A Latin West between the polis and the parish had its own institution-the Rogation procession-for organizing local communities. For medieval people, sectarian borders were often flexible and rituals served to demarcate these borders. Rogationtide is an ideal case study of this demarcation, because it was an emotionally powerful feast, which combined pageantry with doctrinal instruction, community formation, social ranking, devotional exercises, and bodily mortification. As a result, rival groups quarrelled over the holiday's meaning and procedure, sometimes violently, in order to reshape the local order and ban people and practices as non-Christian.

Articles by Nathan J Ristuccia

Regent University Law Review 36:2, 2024

Originalism is just fundamentalism—at least according to many of its opponents. Yet, despite abu... more Originalism is just fundamentalism—at least according to many of its
opponents. Yet, despite abundant research into the roots of originalism, no
historian has studied the theological views of the one early originalist
writer who unquestionably was shaped by Protestant fundamentalism:
Arthur W. Machen, Jr. Machen was not only a prominent legal scholar; he was also an active combatant in the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy and elder brother to the most famous fundamentalist theologian of the era: J. Gresham Machen. This Article, thus, examines the writings of the two Machen brothers together to demonstrate how originalist and fundamentalist thought interacted. The Article argues, however, that Protestant confessionalism--not fundamentalism--was the dominant theological influence on early originalism. It also observes that the Machen brothers' progressive foes borrowed from modernist theology in much the same way. On all sides of the American political spectrum, constitutional interpretation and scriptural hermeneutics intertwined.

Journal of Free Speech Law 4:1, 2023

Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often feared that secret assembly threatened... more Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often feared that secret assembly threatened republican government. Oath-bound secret societies were allegedly elitist cabals that would establish an imperium in imperio oppressive to ordinary citizens. Yet despite this hostility, many early Americans also insisted that freedom of assembly included the right to gather anonymously. According to this view, laws could not prohibit or excessively burden secrecy. This article, therefore, examines the dis-course around secret societies both at America’s founding and at the time the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. It demonstrates that—although there were voices on both sides of the debate—the weight of the evidence indicates that the First Amendment’s Assembly Clause originally protected the right to assemble in secret.

Mississippi Law Journal 93:2, 2023

Priest-penitent privilege did not exist in the English common law. Yet, only a few decades after ... more Priest-penitent privilege did not exist in the English common law. Yet, only a few decades after independence, American states began recognizing a narrow privilege for sacramental confession, because without such a privilege the substantive equality of Roman Catholics seemed impossible. During the twentieth century, a broad therapeutic version of penitent privilege replaced this older sacramental privilege, so much so that most scholars no longer distinguish them.

This paper, however, argues that these two privileges share little in common. They diverge in their scopes, their rationales, their history, and their empirical results. Nineteenth-century jurists did not think therapy and spiritual advice were especially valuable. They protected Roman Catholic confession because the sacrament was something more than just counsel. Ironically, the rise of broad penitent privilege is part of the larger process of secularization, removing the church from the public sphere while translating theological doctrines into political ideals. Resolving the theoretical and practical problems that trouble penitent privilege today requires returning to the narrow older privilege and its substantive vision of equality.

Texas Tech Law Review 55:4, 2023

During the last quarter of the eighteenth century, reformers in both England and America sough to... more During the last quarter of the eighteenth century, reformers in both England and America sough to abolish religious tests: laws that mandated sacramental participation or confession of doctrine as a prerequisite for office. The English reformers failed. But multiple American states banned tests at this time. And Article VI of the 1788 federal Constitution states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States"-a provision that has received minimal attention from American courts over the last two centuries.

This Article, therefore, examines eighteenth-century sources on religious tests in Britain and America, to consider both the historical import and the present-day legal impact of the Religious Test Clause. This Article argues that "religious test" was a term of art in the eighteenth century, referring to a narrow category of legislation. Eighteenth-century thinkers distinguished religion from society differently than most observers do today. As a result, test bans in their original meanings prevented governments from demanding confession or communion but allowed the imposition of burdensome oaths of allegiance that targeted disfavored sects. The Religious Test Clause does not ban religious discrimination; the clause authorizes it. Eighteenth-century test bans were not primarily a step towards secular governance. They were attempts to unite countries around a new symbol of the holy.

Full of Your Glory, Liturgy, Cosmos, Creation, ed. Terea Berger, 2019

The processional feast of Rogationtide embodied the medieval social imaginary. Over the last cent... more The processional feast of Rogationtide embodied the medieval social imaginary. Over the last century, liturgical reformers have tried, unsuccessfully, to restore Rogationtide to its medieval import. Modern attempts to revive the Rogation Days will continue to fail because the feast is alien to the secular imaginary of the modern world.

This chapter is part of an edited collection of papers, all originally given at the 2018 conference "Full of Your Glory: Liturgy, Cosmos, Creation," held at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Journal of Religious History 42:4, 2019

Medieval Christian authors frequently employed the Latin word lex (“law”) and its vernacular cogn... more Medieval Christian authors frequently employed the Latin word lex (“law”) and its vernacular cognates to mean something akin to the modern notion of “religion.” Like a religion, a lex was the collection of observances that marked a particular people‐group, such as Christians or Muslims. This article examines the category of lex in its historical context revealing both its similarities and differences from modern “religion.” It argues that the category of lex borrowed on Roman ethnography and Patristic exegesis and was inseparable from larger Christian ideas about society, human nature, and political order.

Revue Bénédictine 128:2, 2018

This article supplies an edition and translation to "The Clerk of Rome": an unpublished miracle o... more This article supplies an edition and translation to "The Clerk of Rome": an unpublished miracle of the Virgin which is one of the earliest such miracle accounts extant. Before providing this edition, the article also evaluates the three manuscript witnesses, compares "The Clerk of Rome" to related miracles, and discusses what can be known about the tale's origins and purpose. This article argues that the tale was written in the city of Rome around the turn of the millennium, probably in the course of some conflict over the expropriation of church property.

Parergon 35:1, 2018

Historians debate whether the late antique historian Jordanes employed oral traditions in his his... more Historians debate whether the late antique historian Jordanes employed oral traditions in his history of the Goths: the Getica. Close examination of one narrative in the Getica demonstrates that Jordanes almost certainly knew an etiological folktale related to the modern fairy tale type “The Frog King” (ATU 440). This folktale, however, was not of Gothic origins; it was a native East Roman legend. In context, this lost folklore was a miracle account, not a fairy tale. Jordanes’ legend shares motifs with other pagan, Jewish, and Christian stories from Late Antiquity, illustrating the common storytelling culture of the period.

Humanitas 29:1-2, 2016

Historians of political thought have long praised John of Salisbury for his moderation and humani... more Historians of political thought have long praised John of Salisbury for his moderation and humanism. But John’s masterpiece, the Policraticus, also has a dark, pessimistic side; it is deeply concerned with the non-rational foundations of political power. For John, the prince is, in the end, a public executioner, who binds the commonwealth together through ritual violence. John developed his concept of the prince as executioner out of a variety of classical and patristic sources. His vision may not be particularly moderate, but it is consistent with the larger political theology of the Policraticus.

Sacris Erudiri 52, 2013

In 1563, the Swiss printer Johann Herwagen and the Flemish humanist Jacobus Pamelius published an... more In 1563, the Swiss printer Johann Herwagen and the Flemish humanist Jacobus Pamelius published an eight-volume edition of the Venerable Bede. Their edition preserves a twenty-two sermon homiliary from a lost twelfth-century manuscript. As this paper demonstrates, seventeen of these Pseudo-Bede sermons are the work of a single anonymous medieval cleric who lived in Hesse or Thuringia during the third quarter of the eleventh century. The Herwagen preacher’s collection represents one of the most coherent series of sanctoral and penitential sermons surviving from this period. The homilist draws an array of sources, including the Virtutes apostolorum, the Visio Pauli, the Passio Polychronii, and the Judas Cyriacus legend. These sermons provide a unique picture of the spiritual life of one congregation in the Holy Roman Empire, just before the disruptions of the Gregorian reform.

History of Religions 53:2, 2013

Between 1250 and 1350, in the aftermath of the Mongol conquests, Western travelers brought back n... more Between 1250 and 1350, in the aftermath of the Mongol conquests, Western travelers brought back new information on the Eastern religions of China, Tibet and India. By 1350, medieval views on religion were quite complex and nuanced; they did not just look at the East and group it all together as a vague “paganism.” This paper, then, examines what medieval authors thought they knew about Eastern religions in all their aspects (theological, ritual, institutional, material), and how these views relate to larger medieval ideas about the concept of religion itself. This paper will not seek either to determine the truthfulness of Western views of the East or to suggest what Eastern religious ideas or practices are being referenced. Instead, it will focus on the image of Eastern religions in the minds of Latin Christians.

Comitatus 44, 2013

Multiple scholars over the last two centuries have argued that Germanic pagans celebrated a solar... more Multiple scholars over the last two centuries have argued that Germanic pagans celebrated a solar festival in February, called the Spurcalia. While there is no consensus about the purpose of this festival (with everything from divination, to the changing of the seasons, to ritual purification suggested), scholars agree that the Spurcalia was a major holiday, which died out only over the course of the early Middle Ages. A closer examination of the medieval sources, however, reveals that this festival never actually existed. Instead, the legend of this holiday arose through a series of misunderstandings on the part of medieval writers, which modern scholarship only compounded. The corrected history of spurcalia makes Germanic polytheism even more mysterious, but it also illustrates how medieval descriptions of paganism reflected clerical ideas about Christianization and the nature of religious worship.

Revue bénédictine 123, 2013

This article presents an edition and translation of a previously unpublished Rogationtide sermon,... more This article presents an edition and translation of a previously unpublished Rogationtide sermon, which survives in a manuscript from eleventh-century Salisbury (London, BL, Cotton Tiberius C.i). The article also comments on the relationship between this sermon and the wider tradition of Rogationtide literature, in order to highlight the Salisbury sermon's indebtedness to and departures from the main tradition of Rogationtide preaching.

The Journal of Late Antiquity 4:1, 2011

Because Peter Chrysologus preached at the capital of Ravenna during the reign of Valentinian III,... more Because Peter Chrysologus preached at the capital of Ravenna during the reign of Valentinian III, his large corpus of extant sermons provides an intriguing look at ideas and attitudes widely known at the center of the empire. This study will examine just one group of images common in these sermons: the language of law and documentation. The bishop demonstrates a surprisingly accurate knowledge of Roman law, and uses this knowledge to make his sermons understandable and relevant to his congregation. Chrysologus’ imagery can be read as a commentary and critique on imperial legal culture at the time of promulgation of the Theodosian Code

American Benedictine Review 61:4, 2010

Throughout the tenth century, the Anglo-Saxon educators portrayed a largely uniform theology of e... more Throughout the tenth century, the Anglo-Saxon educators portrayed a largely uniform theology of education on the role of corporal punishment. While whippings were seen as at times necessary, Anglo-Saxons appear to have viewed corporal punishment (at least in theory) as a last resort. Anglo-Saxon authors described corporal punishment in terms of several biblical passages (most notably 2 Tim 4:2) and used God’s fatherhood as the primary example of correction.

Comitatus 41, 2010

A number of Anglo-Saxon authors in both Old English and Latin demonstrate a strikingly unified co... more A number of Anglo-Saxon authors in both Old English and Latin demonstrate a strikingly unified conception of sacred space and ritual purification. By weaving together elements from sources as diverse as Roman paganism, Mosaic Law, and the rite of church dedication, these writers formulated an understanding of sacred space that had clear influence poetically. Much of the Anglo-Saxon conception of sacred space centers on the meaning of a particular Old English word (fælsian) and its relationship to a similar Latin term (lustrare). While neither of these words is common, they appear in a small number of important works in startling similar contexts. It is possible that this view of the Sacred also affected the actual process of Christianization, though this is more speculative.

Review Articles by Nathan J Ristuccia

Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 51:3, 2016

Peter Harrison's Gifford Lectures demonstrate that the modern concepts of “religion” and “science... more Peter Harrison's Gifford Lectures demonstrate that the modern concepts of “religion” and “science” do not correspond to any fixed sphere of life in the pre-modern world. Because these terms are incommensurate and ideological, they misconstrue the past. I examine the influence and affinities of Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy on Harrison's study in order to argue that Harrison's project approaches Wittgenstein's. Harrison's book is a therapeutic history, untying a knot in scholarly language. I encourage Harrison, however, to clarify how future scholars can progress in their study of phenomena once termed “scientific” or “religious” without succumbing to these same mistakes.

Book Reviews by Nathan J Ristuccia

The Christian Century, 2021

Oxford University Press, 2018

Christianization and Commonwealth in Early Medieval Europe re-examines the alterations in Western... more Christianization and Commonwealth in Early Medieval Europe re-examines the alterations in Western European life that followed widespread conversion to Christianity-the phenomena traditionally termed "Christianization". It refocuses scholarly paradigms for Christianization around the development of mandatory rituals. One prominent ritual, Rogationtide supplies an ideal case study demonstrating a new paradigm of "Christianization without religion." Christianization in the Middle Ages was not a slow process through which a Christian system of religious beliefs and practices replaced an earlier pagan system. In the Middle Ages, religion did not exist in the sense of a fixed system of belief bounded off from other spheres of life. Rather, Christianization was primarily ritual performance. Being a Christian meant joining a local church community.

After the fall of Rome, mandatory rituals such as Rogationtide arose to separate a Christian commonwealth from the pagans, heretics, and Jews outside it. A Latin West between the polis and the parish had its own institution-the Rogation procession-for organizing local communities. For medieval people, sectarian borders were often flexible and rituals served to demarcate these borders. Rogationtide is an ideal case study of this demarcation, because it was an emotionally powerful feast, which combined pageantry with doctrinal instruction, community formation, social ranking, devotional exercises, and bodily mortification. As a result, rival groups quarrelled over the holiday's meaning and procedure, sometimes violently, in order to reshape the local order and ban people and practices as non-Christian.

Regent University Law Review 36:2, 2024

Originalism is just fundamentalism—at least according to many of its opponents. Yet, despite abu... more Originalism is just fundamentalism—at least according to many of its
opponents. Yet, despite abundant research into the roots of originalism, no
historian has studied the theological views of the one early originalist
writer who unquestionably was shaped by Protestant fundamentalism:
Arthur W. Machen, Jr. Machen was not only a prominent legal scholar; he was also an active combatant in the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy and elder brother to the most famous fundamentalist theologian of the era: J. Gresham Machen. This Article, thus, examines the writings of the two Machen brothers together to demonstrate how originalist and fundamentalist thought interacted. The Article argues, however, that Protestant confessionalism--not fundamentalism--was the dominant theological influence on early originalism. It also observes that the Machen brothers' progressive foes borrowed from modernist theology in much the same way. On all sides of the American political spectrum, constitutional interpretation and scriptural hermeneutics intertwined.

Journal of Free Speech Law 4:1, 2023

Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often feared that secret assembly threatened... more Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often feared that secret assembly threatened republican government. Oath-bound secret societies were allegedly elitist cabals that would establish an imperium in imperio oppressive to ordinary citizens. Yet despite this hostility, many early Americans also insisted that freedom of assembly included the right to gather anonymously. According to this view, laws could not prohibit or excessively burden secrecy. This article, therefore, examines the dis-course around secret societies both at America’s founding and at the time the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. It demonstrates that—although there were voices on both sides of the debate—the weight of the evidence indicates that the First Amendment’s Assembly Clause originally protected the right to assemble in secret.

Mississippi Law Journal 93:2, 2023

Priest-penitent privilege did not exist in the English common law. Yet, only a few decades after ... more Priest-penitent privilege did not exist in the English common law. Yet, only a few decades after independence, American states began recognizing a narrow privilege for sacramental confession, because without such a privilege the substantive equality of Roman Catholics seemed impossible. During the twentieth century, a broad therapeutic version of penitent privilege replaced this older sacramental privilege, so much so that most scholars no longer distinguish them.

This paper, however, argues that these two privileges share little in common. They diverge in their scopes, their rationales, their history, and their empirical results. Nineteenth-century jurists did not think therapy and spiritual advice were especially valuable. They protected Roman Catholic confession because the sacrament was something more than just counsel. Ironically, the rise of broad penitent privilege is part of the larger process of secularization, removing the church from the public sphere while translating theological doctrines into political ideals. Resolving the theoretical and practical problems that trouble penitent privilege today requires returning to the narrow older privilege and its substantive vision of equality.

Texas Tech Law Review 55:4, 2023

During the last quarter of the eighteenth century, reformers in both England and America sough to... more During the last quarter of the eighteenth century, reformers in both England and America sough to abolish religious tests: laws that mandated sacramental participation or confession of doctrine as a prerequisite for office. The English reformers failed. But multiple American states banned tests at this time. And Article VI of the 1788 federal Constitution states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States"-a provision that has received minimal attention from American courts over the last two centuries.

This Article, therefore, examines eighteenth-century sources on religious tests in Britain and America, to consider both the historical import and the present-day legal impact of the Religious Test Clause. This Article argues that "religious test" was a term of art in the eighteenth century, referring to a narrow category of legislation. Eighteenth-century thinkers distinguished religion from society differently than most observers do today. As a result, test bans in their original meanings prevented governments from demanding confession or communion but allowed the imposition of burdensome oaths of allegiance that targeted disfavored sects. The Religious Test Clause does not ban religious discrimination; the clause authorizes it. Eighteenth-century test bans were not primarily a step towards secular governance. They were attempts to unite countries around a new symbol of the holy.

Full of Your Glory, Liturgy, Cosmos, Creation, ed. Terea Berger, 2019

The processional feast of Rogationtide embodied the medieval social imaginary. Over the last cent... more The processional feast of Rogationtide embodied the medieval social imaginary. Over the last century, liturgical reformers have tried, unsuccessfully, to restore Rogationtide to its medieval import. Modern attempts to revive the Rogation Days will continue to fail because the feast is alien to the secular imaginary of the modern world.

This chapter is part of an edited collection of papers, all originally given at the 2018 conference "Full of Your Glory: Liturgy, Cosmos, Creation," held at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Journal of Religious History 42:4, 2019

Medieval Christian authors frequently employed the Latin word lex (“law”) and its vernacular cogn... more Medieval Christian authors frequently employed the Latin word lex (“law”) and its vernacular cognates to mean something akin to the modern notion of “religion.” Like a religion, a lex was the collection of observances that marked a particular people‐group, such as Christians or Muslims. This article examines the category of lex in its historical context revealing both its similarities and differences from modern “religion.” It argues that the category of lex borrowed on Roman ethnography and Patristic exegesis and was inseparable from larger Christian ideas about society, human nature, and political order.

Revue Bénédictine 128:2, 2018

This article supplies an edition and translation to "The Clerk of Rome": an unpublished miracle o... more This article supplies an edition and translation to "The Clerk of Rome": an unpublished miracle of the Virgin which is one of the earliest such miracle accounts extant. Before providing this edition, the article also evaluates the three manuscript witnesses, compares "The Clerk of Rome" to related miracles, and discusses what can be known about the tale's origins and purpose. This article argues that the tale was written in the city of Rome around the turn of the millennium, probably in the course of some conflict over the expropriation of church property.

Parergon 35:1, 2018

Historians debate whether the late antique historian Jordanes employed oral traditions in his his... more Historians debate whether the late antique historian Jordanes employed oral traditions in his history of the Goths: the Getica. Close examination of one narrative in the Getica demonstrates that Jordanes almost certainly knew an etiological folktale related to the modern fairy tale type “The Frog King” (ATU 440). This folktale, however, was not of Gothic origins; it was a native East Roman legend. In context, this lost folklore was a miracle account, not a fairy tale. Jordanes’ legend shares motifs with other pagan, Jewish, and Christian stories from Late Antiquity, illustrating the common storytelling culture of the period.

Humanitas 29:1-2, 2016

Historians of political thought have long praised John of Salisbury for his moderation and humani... more Historians of political thought have long praised John of Salisbury for his moderation and humanism. But John’s masterpiece, the Policraticus, also has a dark, pessimistic side; it is deeply concerned with the non-rational foundations of political power. For John, the prince is, in the end, a public executioner, who binds the commonwealth together through ritual violence. John developed his concept of the prince as executioner out of a variety of classical and patristic sources. His vision may not be particularly moderate, but it is consistent with the larger political theology of the Policraticus.

Sacris Erudiri 52, 2013

In 1563, the Swiss printer Johann Herwagen and the Flemish humanist Jacobus Pamelius published an... more In 1563, the Swiss printer Johann Herwagen and the Flemish humanist Jacobus Pamelius published an eight-volume edition of the Venerable Bede. Their edition preserves a twenty-two sermon homiliary from a lost twelfth-century manuscript. As this paper demonstrates, seventeen of these Pseudo-Bede sermons are the work of a single anonymous medieval cleric who lived in Hesse or Thuringia during the third quarter of the eleventh century. The Herwagen preacher’s collection represents one of the most coherent series of sanctoral and penitential sermons surviving from this period. The homilist draws an array of sources, including the Virtutes apostolorum, the Visio Pauli, the Passio Polychronii, and the Judas Cyriacus legend. These sermons provide a unique picture of the spiritual life of one congregation in the Holy Roman Empire, just before the disruptions of the Gregorian reform.

History of Religions 53:2, 2013

Between 1250 and 1350, in the aftermath of the Mongol conquests, Western travelers brought back n... more Between 1250 and 1350, in the aftermath of the Mongol conquests, Western travelers brought back new information on the Eastern religions of China, Tibet and India. By 1350, medieval views on religion were quite complex and nuanced; they did not just look at the East and group it all together as a vague “paganism.” This paper, then, examines what medieval authors thought they knew about Eastern religions in all their aspects (theological, ritual, institutional, material), and how these views relate to larger medieval ideas about the concept of religion itself. This paper will not seek either to determine the truthfulness of Western views of the East or to suggest what Eastern religious ideas or practices are being referenced. Instead, it will focus on the image of Eastern religions in the minds of Latin Christians.

Comitatus 44, 2013

Multiple scholars over the last two centuries have argued that Germanic pagans celebrated a solar... more Multiple scholars over the last two centuries have argued that Germanic pagans celebrated a solar festival in February, called the Spurcalia. While there is no consensus about the purpose of this festival (with everything from divination, to the changing of the seasons, to ritual purification suggested), scholars agree that the Spurcalia was a major holiday, which died out only over the course of the early Middle Ages. A closer examination of the medieval sources, however, reveals that this festival never actually existed. Instead, the legend of this holiday arose through a series of misunderstandings on the part of medieval writers, which modern scholarship only compounded. The corrected history of spurcalia makes Germanic polytheism even more mysterious, but it also illustrates how medieval descriptions of paganism reflected clerical ideas about Christianization and the nature of religious worship.

Revue bénédictine 123, 2013

This article presents an edition and translation of a previously unpublished Rogationtide sermon,... more This article presents an edition and translation of a previously unpublished Rogationtide sermon, which survives in a manuscript from eleventh-century Salisbury (London, BL, Cotton Tiberius C.i). The article also comments on the relationship between this sermon and the wider tradition of Rogationtide literature, in order to highlight the Salisbury sermon's indebtedness to and departures from the main tradition of Rogationtide preaching.

The Journal of Late Antiquity 4:1, 2011

Because Peter Chrysologus preached at the capital of Ravenna during the reign of Valentinian III,... more Because Peter Chrysologus preached at the capital of Ravenna during the reign of Valentinian III, his large corpus of extant sermons provides an intriguing look at ideas and attitudes widely known at the center of the empire. This study will examine just one group of images common in these sermons: the language of law and documentation. The bishop demonstrates a surprisingly accurate knowledge of Roman law, and uses this knowledge to make his sermons understandable and relevant to his congregation. Chrysologus’ imagery can be read as a commentary and critique on imperial legal culture at the time of promulgation of the Theodosian Code

American Benedictine Review 61:4, 2010

Throughout the tenth century, the Anglo-Saxon educators portrayed a largely uniform theology of e... more Throughout the tenth century, the Anglo-Saxon educators portrayed a largely uniform theology of education on the role of corporal punishment. While whippings were seen as at times necessary, Anglo-Saxons appear to have viewed corporal punishment (at least in theory) as a last resort. Anglo-Saxon authors described corporal punishment in terms of several biblical passages (most notably 2 Tim 4:2) and used God’s fatherhood as the primary example of correction.

Comitatus 41, 2010

A number of Anglo-Saxon authors in both Old English and Latin demonstrate a strikingly unified co... more A number of Anglo-Saxon authors in both Old English and Latin demonstrate a strikingly unified conception of sacred space and ritual purification. By weaving together elements from sources as diverse as Roman paganism, Mosaic Law, and the rite of church dedication, these writers formulated an understanding of sacred space that had clear influence poetically. Much of the Anglo-Saxon conception of sacred space centers on the meaning of a particular Old English word (fælsian) and its relationship to a similar Latin term (lustrare). While neither of these words is common, they appear in a small number of important works in startling similar contexts. It is possible that this view of the Sacred also affected the actual process of Christianization, though this is more speculative.

Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 51:3, 2016

Peter Harrison's Gifford Lectures demonstrate that the modern concepts of “religion” and “science... more Peter Harrison's Gifford Lectures demonstrate that the modern concepts of “religion” and “science” do not correspond to any fixed sphere of life in the pre-modern world. Because these terms are incommensurate and ideological, they misconstrue the past. I examine the influence and affinities of Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy on Harrison's study in order to argue that Harrison's project approaches Wittgenstein's. Harrison's book is a therapeutic history, untying a knot in scholarly language. I encourage Harrison, however, to clarify how future scholars can progress in their study of phenomena once termed “scientific” or “religious” without succumbing to these same mistakes.

The Christian Century, 2021

Fides et Historia 51:1, 2019

Rohmann argues--against the old consensus--that most works of ancient Latin literature were lost ... more Rohmann argues--against the old consensus--that most works of ancient Latin literature were lost before the sixth century, due to the hostility of late antique Christians.

The Christian Century, 2019

A Review of Broken Lives: How Ordinary Germans Experienced the 20th Century, by Konrad H. Jarausc... more A Review of Broken Lives: How Ordinary Germans Experienced the 20th Century, by Konrad H. Jarausch

A history of the 20th century told by ordinary Germans.

First Things, 2018

A Review of Mary and the Art of Prayer: The Hours of the Virgin in Medieval Christian Life and Th... more A Review of Mary and the Art of Prayer: The Hours of the Virgin in Medieval Christian Life and Thought, by Rachel Fulton Brown

Veneration of the Virgin is central to Catholic Christianity. But even those who recognize its importance often view miracle stories and other features of medieval Marian devotion as excesses. In “Mary and the Art of Prayer,” Rachel Fulton Brown argues that Marian devotion is apostolic, rather than a late, semi-pagan addition to Christianity.

Rachel Fulton Brown's response to the review and my reply to her response was published in the letters section of the August/September issue under the heading "Marian Controversies."

Reviews in Religion and Theology, 2017

Roubekas examines a theory of religion put forward by Euhemerus of Messene, and shows not only ho... more Roubekas examines a theory of religion put forward by Euhemerus of Messene, and shows not only how and why euhemerism came about but also how it was― and still is―used.

Reviews in Religion and Theology 23:4 , 2016

A fresh, holistic vision of the Christian life that sees God at work in all created things, inclu... more A fresh, holistic vision of the Christian life that sees God at work in all created things, including vineyards, the work of vintners, and the beauty of well-crafted wine.

Reviews in Religion and Theology 22:4, 2015

Buc connects the ancient past to the troubled present, showing how religious ideals of sacrifice ... more Buc connects the ancient past to the troubled present, showing how religious ideals of sacrifice and purification made violence meaningful throughout history.

Reviews in Religion and Theology 22:1 , 2015

Furry shows how philosophy and theology inevitably affect the understandings and practice of hist... more Furry shows how philosophy and theology inevitably affect the understandings and practice of historical writing, thereby making all history figural or allegorical.

Fides et Historia 46:1, 2014

Nongbri shows that the idea of religion as a sphere of life distinct from politics, economics, or... more Nongbri shows that the idea of religion as a sphere of life distinct from politics, economics, or science is a recent development in European history.

Reviews in Religion and Theology 21:2, 2014

A collection of extensively annotated and translated documents illustrating the transformation of... more A collection of extensively annotated and translated documents illustrating the transformation of the crusade movement in the thirteenth century.

Reviews in Religion and Theology 20:3, 2013

A study of Alcuin's intellectual legacy intended for the general reader as well as for those teac... more A study of Alcuin's intellectual legacy intended for the general reader as well as for those teaching or researching the early medieval West.

Fides et Historia 45:1, 2013

Wills uses the ancient baptistry in Milan to chronicle a pivotal chapter in the history of the Ch... more Wills uses the ancient baptistry in Milan to chronicle a pivotal chapter in the history of the Church and explore the mystery and meanings of the sacrament of baptism

Reviews in Religion and Theology 20:2, 2013

A biography of the great archbishop and theologian by one of the world's foremost experts on Anselm.

Reviews in Religion and Theology 19:3, 2012

Winn restores an undeservedly obscure fourth-century theologian to the more prominent place he is... more Winn restores an undeservedly obscure fourth-century theologian to the more prominent place he is due

A study of basic Christian instruction in the Latin West between 400 and 1000, focusing on the po... more A study of basic Christian instruction in the Latin West between 400 and 1000, focusing on the position that instruction had within larger liturgical seasons such as Lent and Rogationtide. This dissertation can be downloaded completely from ProQuest. I can also supply an electronic copy on request.

Mississippi Law Journal Online, 2023

A boy prays for a baseball card and finds seven massive boxes on his doorstep. A girl awakens Chr... more A boy prays for a baseball card and finds seven massive boxes on his doorstep. A girl awakens Christmas morning when the police arrive. A teddy bear climbs up the Christmas tree to search for his fellow toy's missing part. In this collection of five tales—one for each candle of an Advent wreath—characters encounter God Unexpected. For God arrived at Christmas, but most did not recognize him.

For thirty years, Pastor Matt Ristuccia read original Christmas stories aloud to the children of his church during the Christmas Eve service. Now, Matt and his son Nathan have gathered and rewritten five of the best tales, to set forth the meaning of Advent for children.

https://www.amazon.com/Advent-Lights-Five-Tales-Arrival/dp/B0DNDGWR48/.

This document supplies a table of incipits for two early collections of miracles of the Virgin in... more This document supplies a table of incipits for two early collections of miracles of the Virgin in Latin poetry.

This document supplies a table of feasts and incipits for the Bavarian Homiliary: a collection of... more This document supplies a table of feasts and incipits for the Bavarian Homiliary: a collection of sermons from mid-ninth-century Francia.