Appropriation: A New Approach to Religious Transformation in Late Antiquity

Abstract

In this article, I propose the concept of “appropriation,” widely used in cross-cultural contexts, as a new approach to the process of religious transformation in Late Antiquity. This approach has the advantage that it encompasses the entire spectrum of individual responses to the impact of Christianity that characterizes the period. It is thus a particularly dynamic concept, as it accurately takes into account the interactive nature of the process and views it “from the bottom-up,” highlighting human agency. The variety of responses is illustrated by three case studies from Egypt — literature, monumental architecture (temples and churches), and magic — which can be regarded as exemplary for studying similar aspects of the religious transformation process in other areas of the (Eastern) Roman Empire. In each of these cases, the topic has until quite recently been viewed in terms of a “pagan” vs. Christianity framework, which has now been replaced by a more complex picture that exposes to the fullest extent the different forms of appropriation.

The Demise, Dissolution and Elimination of Religions

“…The violent destruction of pre-Christian sanctuaries is a trope in triumphalist Christian narratives, but Bull points to a case where such a story is corroborated by a non-Christian source, so these reports should not be dismissed as pure fantasy. Given the importance of the idea of the centrality of the temple for Egyptian religion, Bull suggests that the abandonment and destruction of temples might have paved the way for the appropriation of popular pre-Christian practices, which were no longer tied to the templereligion, by Egyptian Christians (Bull 2021; for the concept of appropriation as an alternative to Christianization, see Dijkstra 2021).…”

Prophesying the Demise of Egyptian Religion in Late Antiquity: The Perfect Discourse and Antoninus in Canopus

“…In his latest monograph,Frankfurter (2018) eschews the perspective of struggle or pagan survivals, seeing instead practices with roots in traditional Egyptian religion as part of syncretistic Christianization. See further on the Christianization of 4th-century Egypt:Bagnall 1982Bagnall , 1988 Clarysse 2013, 2015;Dijkstra 2008Dijkstra , 2011Dijkstra , 2021Frankfurter 2014;Kakosy 1984;Medini 2015;Rémondon 1952;Thelamon 1981;Wipszycka 1986Wipszycka , 1988 Downloaded from Brill.com03/22/2021 02:44:24AM via free access…”