The Secretary: Enslaved Workers, Stenography, and the Production of Early Christian Literature
This article examines the evidence for the role of enslaved and formerly enslaved secretaries in the production of the New Testament. While secretaries have formed part of the conversation around the authorship of the Pauline epistles, secretaries and ancient literary culture have not featured in co...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2023
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2023, Volume: 74, Issue: 1, Pages: 20-56 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
New Testament
/ Authorship
/ Slave
/ Secretary
/ Authorship
|
| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This article examines the evidence for the role of enslaved and formerly enslaved secretaries in the production of the New Testament. While secretaries have formed part of the conversation around the authorship of the Pauline epistles, secretaries and ancient literary culture have not featured in conversations about the composition of early Christian literature in general. Drawing upon recent scholarship in Classics (Reay, Blake, Howley, Johnson, and Geue), this paper traces the reasons why secretaries have been marginalized in ancient and modern conversations about authorship. It further suggests that, rather than unwittingly rehearsing ancient slaveholder discourses that seek to erase enslaved contributions, we should take seriously the ways in which a broader range of actors was involved in the production of ancient literature. Using the technologies of shorthand and theological abbreviations as examples, it tentatively suggests that enslaved workers contributed to the formation of early Christian texts and theology far beyond the mistakes that are sometimes attributed to them. The reasons for entertaining these possibilities, it argues, are both historical and ethical: the distribution of agency across a wider range of characters invites us to reflect upon the ethics of reading and the communities with whom we read. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flad001 |