Insanity And Sanctity In Byzantium: The Ambiguity Of Religious Experience
by Youval Rotman /
2016 / English / PDF
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In the Roman and Byzantine Near East, the holy fool emerged in
Christianity as a way of describing individuals whose apparent
madness allowed them to achieve a higher level of spirituality.
In the Roman and Byzantine Near East, the holy fool emerged in
Christianity as a way of describing individuals whose apparent
madness allowed them to achieve a higher level of spirituality.Insanity and Sanctity in Byzantium
Insanity and Sanctity in Byzantium examines how the figure
of the mad saint or mystic was used as a means of individual and
collective transformation in the period between the birth of
Christianity and the rise of Islam. It presents a novel
interpretation in revealing the central role that psychology
plays in social and historical development.
examines how the figure
of the mad saint or mystic was used as a means of individual and
collective transformation in the period between the birth of
Christianity and the rise of Islam. It presents a novel
interpretation in revealing the central role that psychology
plays in social and historical development.
Early Christians looked to figures who embodied extremes of
behavior―like the holy fool, the ascetic, the martyr―to redefine
their social, cultural, and mental settings by reading new values
in abnormal behavior. Comparing such forms of extreme behavior in
early Christian, pagan, and Jewish societies, and drawing on
theories of relational psychoanalysis, anthropology, and
sociology of religion, Youval Rotman explains how the
sanctification of figures of extreme behavior makes their
abnormality socially and psychologically functional. The
sanctification of abnormal mad behavior created a sphere of
ambiguity in the ambit of religious experience for early
Christians, which brought about a deep psychological shift,
necessary for the transition from paganism to Christianity.
Early Christians looked to figures who embodied extremes of
behavior―like the holy fool, the ascetic, the martyr―to redefine
their social, cultural, and mental settings by reading new values
in abnormal behavior. Comparing such forms of extreme behavior in
early Christian, pagan, and Jewish societies, and drawing on
theories of relational psychoanalysis, anthropology, and
sociology of religion, Youval Rotman explains how the
sanctification of figures of extreme behavior makes their
abnormality socially and psychologically functional. The
sanctification of abnormal mad behavior created a sphere of
ambiguity in the ambit of religious experience for early
Christians, which brought about a deep psychological shift,
necessary for the transition from paganism to Christianity.
A developing society leaves porous the border between what is
normal and abnormal, between sanity and insanity, in order to use
this ambiguity as a means of change. Rotman emphasizes the role
of religion in maintaining this ambiguity to effect a social and
psychological transformation.
A developing society leaves porous the border between what is
normal and abnormal, between sanity and insanity, in order to use
this ambiguity as a means of change. Rotman emphasizes the role
of religion in maintaining this ambiguity to effect a social and
psychological transformation.