PASSION AND COMPASSION IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY

PASSION AND COMPASSION IN EARLY CHRISTIANIT Y

Th is book examines how the early Christian elite articulated and cultivated the aff ective dimensions of compassion in a Roman world that promoted emotional tranquillity as the path to human fl our-ishing. Drawing upon a wide range of early Christians from both east and west, Wessel situates each author in the broader cultural and intellectual context. Th e reader is introduced to the diverse condi-tions in which Christians felt and were urged to feel compassion in exemplary ways, and in which warnings were sounded against the possibilities for distortion and exploitation. Wessel argues that the early Christians developed literary methods and rhetorical techniques to bring about appropriate emotional responses to human suff ering. Th eir success in this regard marks the beginning of aff ective com-passion as a Christian virtue. Comparison with early modern and contemporary philosophers and ethicists further demonstrates the intrinsic worth of the early Christian understanding of compassion.

Susan Wessel is Associate Professor of Th eology and Religious Studies at Th e Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

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Cambridge University Press978-1-107-12510-0 - Passion and Compassion in Early ChristianitySusan WesselFrontmatterMore information

http://www.cambridge.org/9781107125100

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PASSION AND COMPASSION IN EARLY

CHRISTIANIT Y

SUSAN WESSEL Th e Catholic University of America






32 Avenue of the Americas, New York NY 10013-2473, USA

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© Susan Wessel 2016

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permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2016

A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Names: Wessel, Susan. Title: Passion and compassion in early Christianity / Susan Wessel.

Description: New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Identifi ers: LCCN 2015040745 | ISBN 9781107125100 (hardback)

Subjects: LCSH: Church history – Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600. | Jesus Christ – Example – History of doctrines – Early church, ca. 30–600. |

Church work – History of doctrines – Early church, ca. 30–600. | Suff ering – Religious aspects – Christianity – History of doctrines – Early

church, ca. 30–600. | Compassion – Religious aspects – Christianity – History of doctrines – Early church, ca. 30–600.

Classifi cation: LCC BR163.W47 2016 | DDC 270.1–dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015040745

ISBN 978-1-107-12510-0 Hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URL s for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.






To Nicholas











vii

Contents

Preface and acknowledgments page ix Maps xi

1 Th e setting 1 Th e early Christian context 1 Th e New Testament and the ministry of Jesus 16 Defi nitions and method 21 Later trajectories 25

2 Suff ering 32 Building the leprosarium 36 Th e communal suff ering of the lepers 38 Leprosy as disease 48 Toward a moral psychology 56 Th e suff ering Christ 60

3 Disgust 65 Hands-on care by women 69 Contemporary theories of disgust 72 False boundaries between the self and the world 75 Mistaken notions of invulnerability 85 Suff ering and the ‘judicious spectator’ 92

4 Feelings 98 Grief as a virtue 100 Emotions at the theater 111 Th e problem with the wise man 115 Teaching compassion in sermons 121 Contemporary contexts 128






Contentsviii

5 Charity 130 Justice and the Roman see 135 Care of the poor 140 Christology and the exchange of attributes 146 Th e call for compassion in northern Italy and southern Gaul 149 Suff ering under the Lombards 154 Th e compassion of shared grief 160 Th e care of souls in the world 164 Alms for the poor 169

6 Love 172 Th e will to love 175 Love and the common ‘logos’ 181 Human equality 185 Individuality 187 Exchange of attributes 192 Tranquility and compassion 194 Further comparisons 197

7 Refl ections 200

Notes 205 Select bibliography 245 Index 269






ix

Preface and acknowledgments

While working on the sermons of Leo the Great nearly ten years ago, I was struck by the references to compassion, suff ering, and the emotions. I wondered how Leo’s observations about the human condition in the context of unsettling geopolitical changes related to the development of his christological views. Around the same time I began reading some of the many books on contemporary theories of the emotions. I wondered whether any connections could be drawn to the early Christian world.

Th is book has grown out of those initial refl ections. It began as an attempt to fi nd among the early Christians the compassionate emotional response that philosophers and ethicists have been discussing – namely, empathy. I was perhaps disappointed to learn that empathy, in the sense of feeling the same thing that another person feels, was not necessarily a priority for the early Christians. Th e commitment to empathy as an emo-tional response to human suff ering came later.

What I found was that the early Christians were interested in chal-lenging their listeners – the laity, churchmen, monks, and nuns – to see themselves in the suff ering of others. In vivid imagery, the early Christians described the conditions under which the outcasts of society were margin-alized and their suff ering went unnoticed. Listeners were asked to connect such misery with Jesus’ healing ministry to the poor, the sick, and the out-casts. Empathy, in the truest sense of the word, was reserved to describe the thorough identifi cation with the human condition that took place in the Incarnation, when God became a human being.

I also found that the early Christians were committed to combining this Incarnational model of compassion with the pagan philosophical model they had inherited. Among some of the early Christians, the diffi culty of such a synthesis is articulated and worked through, while among others it recedes into the background. What emerges generally from the authors I consider here is the developing sense that aff ective compassion – feeling






Preface and acknowledgmentsx

deep sympathy for the suff ering of others – is a virtue Christians should strive for.

When I talk about ‘the early Christians’ I mean three groups of people, depending on the context. First, the phrase may refer to the authors I have included in this study. Th e elite of the late Roman world, they were the privileged few who attained a level of rhetorical and literary excellence to earn them a place among the intelligentsia. Th eir literary output repre-sents the majority of our sources in the late Roman world. Second, ‘the early Christians’ may include everyone whom the elite addressed, such as the laity, churchmen, monks, and nuns. Th ese were the diverse peo-ple who listened to the sermons and whose hearts and minds the elite wished to shape. Finally, ‘the early Christians’ may embrace both groups to include all the Christians of the late Roman world. How the destitute outcasts, the poorest of the poor, fi t into this world is something that the early Christian authors refl ected upon and addressed.

In making my selections from the vast corpus of early Christian authors, I have surely omitted texts that could have been included. Others will fi ll in the inevitable gaps, ask novel questions, and fi nd new avenues for exploring what it meant to live as a Christian in the late Roman world.

While researching this book I have used the original sources in the original languages. I have also consulted translations of the sources when available and have often adapted the translations for my own use. I have tried to acknowledge all translations I have used in the footnotes and bib-liography. In an attempt to keep the footnotes short, I have given only the basic information needed to consult the original sources. When the nuance of a text is particularly relevant to the discussion, I have given a more precise reference.

Th is book was a long time in the making. It has grown out of my work on Leo the Great, as well as a number of research articles I have published over the years on moral psychology and the emotions. I am grateful to the graduate students who have taken my seminars and enriched my thinking with their insight and dedication. Two in particular deserve special mention. Paul Brazinski helped me with the footnotes and bibliography, and Robert Wenderski corrected and proofread the text. Without their help this book would have taken another couple of years to complete. I am also grateful to Alexander Alexakis for his suggestions and comments. Finally, I appreciate the help, insights, and corrections I received from the two anonymous read-ers for the Press. I assume full responsibility for the fi nished product.

I dedicate this book to my son, Nicholas, for what he has taught me about compassion.






xi

Maps

Th e following maps are taken from Th e Cambridge History of Early Christianity to c.600 , A. Casiday and F. W. Norris (eds.) (2007).






Mapsxii

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Maps xiii

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Mapsxiv

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Mapsxvi

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Map 3. Byzantium and the Near East c.600.






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PASSION AND COMPASSION IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY