Divine Deliverance: Pain and Painlessness in Early Christian Martyr Texts
L. Stephanie Cobb
Abstract
Does martyrdom hurt? For a wide variety of reasons, the answer to this question may seem to be an obvious “yes.” Divine Deliverance, however, demonstrates that early Christian martyr texts answer this question with an emphatic “No!” Indeed, ancient discussions of Christian martyrdom reveal an abiding interest in the insensitivity of the Christian body during torture and martyrdom. These claims to painlessness work to (re-)define Christianity in the ancient world: while Christians could not deny the reality that they were subject to state violence, they could argue that they were not ultimately ... More
Keywords: Pain, Painlessness, Anesthesia, Analgesia, Martyrdom, Persecution, Torture, Martyr Texts, Miracle
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2016 | Print ISBN-13: 9780520293359 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: September 2017 | DOI:10.1525/california/9780520293359.001.0001 |
