Inventing Synagogue Conversion

Abstract

Historians of the ancient synagogue often use the term “conversion” to describe any kind of adaptation of a building once designated as a synagogue into a church. This label oversimplifies and misconstrues complex processes, both rhetorical and architectural, that were at work in transforming the landscape of the late antique Mediterranean. I explore the dynamic of this triumphalist rhetoric and architectural strategy, showing that Christian writers meant something very specific by the term “conversion,” and that they invented the paradigm of synagogue conversion in order to interpret the changing landscape to their readers. The architectural program of replacement as a strategy for converting subject populations to Christianity emerged in the sixth century. By characterizing changes made to building structures and changes in religious belief as “conversion,” imperial policy concretized the association of sacred space transformation with the victory of Christianity over Judaism and paganism.