Overview

Conflict between religion and politics often results in a paradigm shift in cultural history. In turn, such paradigm shifts in the history of religion invariably produce martyrs. As Christianity moves from the classical to the medieval world, from the medieval to the modern, and from the modern to the postmodern, Boethius, Thomas More, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer find themselves caught amidst competing claims upon their religious and political allegiances. Imprisoned and executed by the tyrants Theodoric, Henry VIII, and Adolf Hitler, these figures explore their religious and political marginalization in the prison writings, The Consolation of Philosophy, A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, and Letters and Papers from Prison. Using a variety of disciplinary methods, this study sheds new light on our understanding of martyrdom and the theory and practice of Christian testimony as both a literal act of self-sacrifice and a literary act of self-justification.

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9780820422749

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Reviews

A moving and provocative study of the literary/philosophical/theological anatomy of testimony in the writings of Boethius, Thomas More, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer... Scott's book will be both savored and contemplated by his readers. (Rebecca S. Chopp, Candler School of Theology, Emory University) Consistently insightful and readable, Jamie Scott's work contrasts Dietrich Bonhoeffer's prison writings with two other landmarks in the history of European Christian culture: Boethius and Thomas More. Scott's study of testimony as a literary genre brings out new dimensions of their texts to show us how each was a man for his season of abiding importance in Western religious thought. (C. Peter Slater, Trinity College and The University of Toronto) This erudite and original study crosses both cultures and periods to analyze these extraordinary figures. An exceptional book which helps any serious scholar rethink issues and thinkers illuminated by this dazzling comparative study. (David Tracy, The University of Chicago) He othe author! brings superb and extensive research to his study. As a comparative study alone, it sheds new light on the figures named as well as on a genre of theological literature that is still far too little examined. (H. Martin Rumscheidt, Studies in Religion)

Author Information

The Author: Jamie S. Scott is Coordinator of the Religious Studies Programme and an associate professor in the Division of Humanities at York University, Canada. He received his Ph.D. from The Divinity School of The University of Chicago. As well as publishing widely in scholarly journals, Dr. Scott is editor of And the Birds Began to Sing: Religion and Literature in Post/Neocolonial Cultures and coeditor of Cities of Gods: Faith, Politics and Pluralism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and Sacred Places and Profane Spaces: Essays in the Geographics of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

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