Christians and Their Many Identities in Late Antiquity, North Africa, 200–450 CE. By Éric Rebillard. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2012. ix + 134 pp. $49.95 cloth.

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)Christians and Their Many Identities in Late Antiquity, North Africa, 200-450 CE . By Eric Rebillard . Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press , 2012. ix + 134 pp. $49.95 cloth.Book Reviews and NotesNorth African Christianity between 200 and 450 CE is well-trodden territory. Augustine and Tertullian penetrate the minds of theological students, not mention those in Classics, and Cyprian usually is not too far behind. However, new questions and new approaches continue make revisiting these old friends fruitful. Eric Rebillard's study is a case in point. His tapping into current sociological and literary theory assists him in creating a stimulating narrative, but it also distracts.His thesis is found late in the book: my goal was not show that enjoyed 'normal' day-to-day relations with non-Christians (a point conceded by scholars of early Christianity), but argue that Christianness was only one of a plurality of identities available be activated in a given situation (a point too often neglected in favor of the study of group or collective identity) (92, emphasis added). It would have been helpful have had this appear in the introduction as well as the conclusion. Methodologically, Rebillard proceeds with a deconstructive reading of the writings of the three luminaries mentioned above along with a selection of other relevant literature. Where he offers his own translations, he produces attractive and lucid texts (22).One of the primary strengths of Rebillard's study is his reaching through the work of the literati gain insight into the lives of the masses of contemporary Christians--I am less interested in Tertullian's view than I am concerned with what he reveals about the different and sometimes contradictory attitudes of other Christians (25), and most scholars have simply adopted the criteria of the . . . and have given too little consideration the arguments used by when they challenged their bishops (70). The relationships among the led and the leaders are always symbiotic and complicated. The concerns of the people rise decision-makers and shape their agendas, negatively or positively, and Rebillard's work makes that very clear regarding the era and the places he is studying. The people are found in the rhetoric of their superiors.A second strength is Rebillard's foregrounding of diversity. As elsewhere, the story of Christianity at these times and places often reads flat or two-dimensional. Rebillard has found ways provide depth. He magnifies the texture of the story. Anyone who has had anything do with a church, or a history department for that matter, knows that the texture was rough, but that reality typically is overlooked. Rebillard argues that Emperor Decius issued an edict in 250 in an effort to restore the pax deorum in a very troubled period (48). Commenting the variety of Christians' responses the edict, he says on the one hand the majority of did not consider the sacrifice relevant their membership [as Christians] and accordingly performed it freely and willingly; the other, a number of did not want sacrifice because of their membership. …