Language:
English
Year of publication:
1999
Titel der Quelle:
Church History
Angaben zur Quelle:
68,4 (1999) 775-823
Keywords:
Mary
;
Christianity and antisemitism History To 1500
Abstract:
6th-century Eastern Christian literature about the death ("dormition") of Mary reflects political as well as religious conflicts between Christianity and Judaism, and their changing status in the Roman Empire. This literature had both an internal aim - to define Christian beliefs, and an external aim - to define itself socially in opposition to the Jewish "other." Jewish skepticism about Mary's virginity challenged basic Christian beliefs about "the mother of God" and her son. This engendered severe anti-Jewish reactions, which were expressed in Christian legends (e.g. about a Jewish attempt to burn Mary's body, which led to punishment and/or conversion of Jews). Christianity felt challenged both by Jewish proselytism and by Christian Judaizers. Jewish taboos about contact with the dead also emphasized Jewish distance from Christian veneration for Mary and relics related to her. Mary was perceived by Jews, as well as by Christians, as a symbol of the Christian state. Hence, Jews were seen as dangerous enemies of the empire. Dormition literature retrojected this enmity to the 1st century: the Jews thus appeared to be enemies of society even before Christianity became the state religion, transformed from a persecuted into a persecuting religion.
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