Early Christian Poetry

This collection of essays deals with the rise and development of early Christian poetry, discussing its techniques and its theoretical foundation. The individual papers concern specimens of Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Latin poetry and study the various and partly conflicting traditions from which it originated. The biblical examples, such as the Psalms, held great authority, but on the other hand it was impossible to break away from the models of classical Greco-Roman poetry, although these were deemed dangerous because of the pagan content and excessive cult of literary art. The book shows how the problems involved were solved in different ways, which justified the use of pagan literary accomplishments for singing the praises of the Lord.

Review:

'...The volume gets off to a good start with ancient Jewish metrical epitaphs... There is an excellent general essay... In almost every case they are successfull both in giving the individual poet and a general discussion on the nature of early Christan poetry and its relationship to the pagan poetry that it sought to emulate...the rich theological implications of the literary creativity of Christianity...' R.M. Rice, The Heythrop Journal, 1995. '...on ne peut qu'etre frappe par l'unite qui se degage de l'ensemble du recueil dans l'apprehension par les critiques du phenomene poetique dans le monde chretien ancien. ...tout le merite de ces etudes est de montrer l'extraordinaire activite poetique qui progressivement s'empare du monde chretien et y montre toute son inventivite.' B. Bureau, Revue des Etudes Latines '...a welcome collection of essays on an aspect of early Christian culture that is often neglected.' Robert L. Wilken, Religious Studies Review, 1995. '...the book reaches beyond the natural boundaries of this 'vast and varied domain' to take in some unexpected material...a useful acquisition for anyone working in the field, or interested in what Christian poets did with their dual heritage.' J.H.D. Scourfield, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1995.