Blasphemy in the Christian World
A History
Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Church, Church History, History
| Author: | David Nash | ISBN: | 9780191614354 |
| Publisher: | OUP Oxford | Publication: | September 16, 2010 |
| Imprint: | OUP Oxford | Language: | English |
| Author: | David Nash |
| ISBN: | 9780191614354 |
| Publisher: | OUP Oxford |
| Publication: | September 16, 2010 |
| Imprint: | OUP Oxford |
| Language: | English |
Tracing the subject from the Middle Ages to the present, David Nash outlines the history of blasphemy as a concept - from a species of heresy to modern understandings of it as a crime against the sacred and individual religious identity. Investigating its appearance in speech, literature, popular publishing and the cinema, he disinters the likely motives and agendas of blasphemers themselves, as well as offering a glimpse of blasphemy's victims. In particular, he seeks to understand why this seemingly medieval offence has reappeared to become a distinctly modern presence in the West.
Tracing the subject from the Middle Ages to the present, David Nash outlines the history of blasphemy as a concept - from a species of heresy to modern understandings of it as a crime against the sacred and individual religious identity. Investigating its appearance in speech, literature, popular publishing and the cinema, he disinters the likely motives and agendas of blasphemers themselves, as well as offering a glimpse of blasphemy's victims. In particular, he seeks to understand why this seemingly medieval offence has reappeared to become a distinctly modern presence in the West.
