It has been said that the only thing certain in life are death and taxes.  If that is the case, then Dr. Sarah Bond — assistant professor of history at Marquette University — has discovered a very interesting topic for research.  Prof. Bond examines the changes to the funeral industry that occured in the Late Antiquity portion of the Roman Empire resulting from Constantine’s Edict of Milan.  Through the course of this interview, we find out that workers in the “death industry” received some pretty sweet tax exemptions for their service.  And this wasn’t the only noteworthy item about the lives of what Sarah refers to as “disreputable workers.”

We begin with a discussion of Sarah’s general work on “disreputable professions” in ancient times, and she defines what this term means — careers in occupations that most people find distasteful and whose workers tend to remain “invisible,” yet critically important, to society.  Funeral workers are the classic example of such a profession given that their contact with the deceased (who often die in violent or vile ways) conveys a sense of “death pollution” on them.  Sarah notes that in pagan times, funeral workers were required to live outside of the city walls and would only be allowed into the city under the cover of dark to retrieve bodies.  We discuss several of the other traditions associated with death at the time, including the preference for cremation over inhumation (i.e., burial).

With the rise of Emperor Constantine (and his co-Emperor Licinius in the East), things begin to change.  The Edict of Milan puts Christianity on an equal footing as pagan religions, and soon thereafter the Church begins to see a flood of state financial support.  Being a bishop now conveys more political and economic power in the Empire, and with it come changes in how the funeral industry operates.  Sarah discusses how stronger patron-client relationships between bishops and funeral workers emerge, and how these funeral workers were often employed as personal “gangs” or “para-militaries” for the Church hierarchs.  Some of the stories are incredible!  Along the way, we also are given a sense for who is all involved in the funeral process, including paid mourners.  Sarah teaches Tony a number of very cool Latin words.  Prof. Bond also talks about the Cult of the Saints, and how the desire by wealthy people to be buried near a Christian saint, and the general lack of burial space (a scarce commodity), led to a great deal of corruption.  Tony, ever the political economists, points out that this is an excellent example of rent-seeking behavior wherein a small group with coercive power controls access to a scarce resource and can extract all sorts of additional income and favors in exchange for that access.

Dr. Bond concludes our podcast with her reflections on what the study of the death industry and other “disreputable professions” in Late Antiquity can teach us about our current conditions.  While the institutions of funeral services have changed over time, she notes that we still have certain cultural visions about people who provide these valuable services to society.  Tell your friends about this truly fascinating discussion as it has valuted upwards to become one of Tony’s favorite podcasts over the course of 170 other interviews.  Please connect with us via our Facebook Fan Page for regular updates.  Recorded: October 3, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

Sarah Bond’s webpage at Marquette University.

RELATED PODCASTS

Gary Laderman on Resting in Peace: The Death Industry in American History.

Jim Papandrea on the Church Fathers and Patristic Exegisis.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part I.

Brian O’Neel on Saint Who?

Jim starts us off by listing the seven great revolutions introduced by Christian thought, including how we look at: the person, the home (and gender roles), work (and the laborer), religion, community, death, and (finally) the state.  He also notes how Christianity promoted a “God of love” that opened the door to an inclusionary religion that shaped all of these critical areas.  We then look into the fourth revolution — religion — more closely and Jim notes that although based upon a Judaic foundation, Christianity opens the door to proselytizing and including all peoples into one single religion.  This has a major impact on how individuals and neighbors are conceived, and will impact the how early Christians opened the door to new thinking on government.  We cover the reaction to this new message amongst the Romans of the day, which wasn’t always welcoming.  Persecutions were common, yet Christianity kept growing culminating in its final acceptance under the Edict of Milan (313 CE).  Jim discusses the role that Constantine played in this process and notes that the Edict of Milan, contrary to the notion that it established Christianity as the official church, was really the world’s first document on religious liberty.  This springboards us into another one of Jim’s seven revolutions regarding the role of the state.  Here we spend some time talking about how Christianity changed the notion of sovereignty by not placing the “person at the top of the governing pyramid” as the ultimate authority, but rather noting that God is a separate authority.  Jim discusses how this translates into the role of citizen sovereignty and how it relates to the foundation of the US government some 230 years ago.  We also take time to cover the revolutions of community (“love thy neighbor”) as well as how Christianity developed the concept of human dignity for all and how this helped change views on labor and family roles, not to mention the topics of euthanasia, abortion, and infanticide (practices common in the Roman Empire).

Our conversation ends with some reflection on Christianity in the “post-Christian era.”  Jim qualifies that term by noting that there have been moments in history that have looked dire for the demise of the Christian faith, but he raises concern about a secular ethos that may be returning our culture towards the mindset of the pre-Christian era.  We ruminate about the role that violent sport and reality TV (a form of entertainment that relishes in humiliation) and what role Christianity can play in addressing the contemporary culture.  Jim ends on an optimistic note by asserting that Christianity is always primed for a revival and that by joining together across denominational lines, Christianity can remain highly relevant in the world.  Recorded: March 17, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

 Jim Papandrea’s bio at the Garrett-Evangelical Seminary.

Jim Papandrea’s personal website including a picture of him pointing at stuff in Rome and his YouTube channel (with music videos).

Seven Revolutions: How Christianity Changed the World and Can Change It Again, by Mike Aquilina and James Papandrea.

Reading the Early Church Fathers, by James Papandrea.

The Wedding of the Lamb, by James Papandrea.

Trinity 101: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, by James Papandrea.

Jim Papandrea’s Amazon.com page with more books and a video of Jim.

Still Quiet Voice, a music CD by James Papandrea.

RELATED PODCASTS

Jim Papandrea on the Church Fathers & Patristic Exegesis.

Jim Papandrea on the End of the World and Revelation.

Tim Kelleher on the Nicene Creed and Hollywood.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part I.

Sarah Bond on the Church and Funerals in Late Antiquity.

We begin with a discussion of Sarah’s general work on “disreputable professions” in ancient times, and she defines what this term means — careers in occupations that most people find distasteful and whose workers tend to remain “invisible,” yet critically important, to society.  Funeral workers are the classic example of such a profession given that their contact with the deceased (who often die in violent or vile ways) conveys a sense of “death pollution” on them.  Sarah notes that in pagan times, funeral workers were required to live outside of the city walls and would only be allowed into the city under the cover of dark to retrieve bodies.  We discuss several of the other traditions associated with death at the time, including the preference for cremation over inhumation (i.e., burial).

With the rise of Emperor Constantine (and his co-Emperor Licinius in the East), things begin to change.  The Edict of Milan puts Christianity on an equal footing as pagan religions, and soon thereafter the Church begins to see a flood of state financial support.  Being a bishop now conveys more political and economic power in the Empire, and with it come changes in how the funeral industry operates.  Sarah discusses how stronger patron-client relationships between bishops and funeral workers emerge, and how these funeral workers were often employed as personal “gangs” or “para-militaries” for the Church hierarchs.  Some of the stories are incredible!  Along the way, we also are given a sense for who is all involved in the funeral process, including paid mourners.  Sarah teaches Tony a number of very cool Latin words.  Prof. Bond also talks about the Cult of the Saints, and how the desire by wealthy people to be buried near a Christian saint, and the general lack of burial space (a scarce commodity), led to a great deal of corruption.  Tony, ever the political economists, points out that this is an excellent example of rent-seeking behavior wherein a small group with coercive power controls access to a scarce resource and can extract all sorts of additional income and favors in exchange for that access.

Dr. Bond concludes our podcast with her reflections on what the study of the death industry and other “disreputable professions” in Late Antiquity can teach us about our current conditions.  While the institutions of funeral services have changed over time, she notes that we still have certain cultural visions about people who provide these valuable services to society.  Tell your friends about this truly fascinating discussion as it has valuted upwards to become one of Tony’s favorite podcasts over the course of 170 other interviews.  Please connect with us via our Facebook Fan Page for regular updates.  Recorded: October 3, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

Sarah Bond’s webpage at Marquette University.

RELATED PODCASTS

Jim Papandrea on the Church Fathers and Patristic Exegisis.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part I.

Brian O’Neel on Saint Who?

]]> http://www.researchonreligion.org/historical-topics/sarah-bond-on-the-church-and-funerals-in-late-antiquity/feed 2 http://www.researchonreligion.org/uncategorized/rodney-stark-on-the-triumph-of-christianity-part-ii http://www.researchonreligion.org/uncategorized/rodney-stark-on-the-triumph-of-christianity-part-ii#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:00:57 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=1459 What path did Christianity take following Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313?  We address this question with Prof. Rodney Stark, co-founder and co-director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.  This interview is the second in our three part series examining Prof. Stark’s book, The Triumph of Christianity.  We begin by looking at what effects the Edict of Milan had on Christianity, including both the benefits and drawbacks.  A discussion of the downside of becoming an official state religion brings us to a discussion about the Church of Power, where clerical offices were often held for personal gain, and the Church of Piety (e.g., monasticism) that pushed back against institutional corruption.  We also note how the level of religious practice among the European peasantry has been exaggerated during this period and what implications that holds for secularization theory. Both elements were in play during the medieval era.  We then examing whether or not the “Dark Ages” were really that “unenlightened” or merely a caricature imposed upon that time by thinkers such as Voltaire.  Rod argues that Europe actually flourished after the collapse of the Roman Empire and Christianity was a big part of economic and moral progress during the millenium stretching from the 5th century to the 15th century.  We discuss the Church’s role in ending slavery as well as its support for scientific inquiry.  Galileo becomes a topic for our discussion as Prof. Stark demonstrates why this renowned scientist was actually censured by the Church … and it wasn’t because of his scientific theories, but rather how he presented them.  We finish off by looking at religious dissent, touching briefly on witchcraft and the Protestant Reformation, which brings us to the topic of the Spanish Inquisition, which Prof. Stark also notes has been badly misrepresented in some academic circles.  Recorded: March 2, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Rodney Stark’s biography at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion, by Rodney Stark.

The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism and Western Success, by Rodney Stark.

One True God: The Historical Consequences of Monotheism, by Rodney Stark.

Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief, by Rodney Stark.

RELATED PODCASTS

Rodney Stark on The Triumph of Christianity, Part I.

Rodney Stark on The Crusades.

Steven Pfaff on the Protestant Reformation.

Jim Papandrea on the Church Fathers and Patristic Exegesis.

RELATED LINKS

 The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion, by Rodney Stark.

The Rise of Christianity, by Rodney Stark.

God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, by Rodney Stark.

The Victory of Reason: How Cristianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success, by Rodney Stark.

For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery, by Rodney Stark.

Discovering God: The Origin of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief, by Rodney Stark.

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

RELATED PODCASTS

Rodney Stark on the Crusades.

Jim Papandrea on the Church Fathers.

Brant Pitre on the Jewish Origins of the Eucharist.