Title:

Physiognomy as a Strategy of Persuasion in Early Christian Discourse

Department: Religion, Study of
Issue Date: Jun-2015
Abstract (summary): Abstract Ancient physiognomic thought held that the body and soul were intrinsically related, and that observation of a subject's physical appearance provided insight into his or her character. Beyond being a diagnostic tool, however, physiognomy was also used as a strategy of persuasion to bolster or malign an individual's character to an author or speaker's audience, and appears in a host of different ancient genres. However, with a few notable exceptions, the important role that physiognomic thought played in early Christian texts and discourse has not received the scholarly attention it warrants. The following addresses some of the different ways in which physiognomy was employed as a form of rhetoric by early Christians. It was utilized as a means of undermining or discrediting theological opponents or "heretics" on the one hand, but as a strategy for positive self-representation among their own detractors on the other. Some early Christians also used physiognomy to reinforce their understanding of Paul as a philosopher: the description of Paul's physical appearance in the Acts of Paul and Thecla is best understood as designed to evoke the image of the prototypical ancient philosopher in general, and Socrates in particular. Here the importance placed on "looking the part" of a given type of person in antiquity underlies this presentation. Related to this, this dissertation also addresses the phenomenon that arises when the opposite is the case, namely the conception of Jesus as being physically unattractive based on a literal interpretation of the suffering servant imagery in Isaiah. This dissertation demonstrates that physiognomic thought held important persuasive traction for early Christian authors negotiating boundaries and ideologies of group self-identity.
Content Type: Thesis

Permanent link

https://hdl.handle.net/1807/80185

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