Counter-culture of Compassion. The Early Christian View of Roman Games and the Possibilities of its Application in the Contemporary Relationship of Church and Society

Filip Sedlák

doi:10.25167/so.5571

Counter-culture of Compassion. The Early Christian View of Roman Games and the Possibilities of its Application in the Contemporary Relationship of Church and Society

Filip Sedlák

a:1:{s:5:"pl_PL";s:54:"Charles University Prague, Hussite Theological Faculty";}

DOI: https://doi.org/10.25167/so.5571

Abstrakt

Chrześcijańskie męczeństwo może być postrzegane jako wyraz kontrkulturowej rzeczywistości Kościoła, jego konfliktowego napięcia między światem a nadchodzącym Królestwem Niebieskim. W tym kontekście jest to również problematyczna koncepcja, która w wielu przypadkach prowadzi do przemocy i wyklucza możliwość dialogu, jednak nierozerwalnie należy do istoty chrześcijaństwa. Z tego powodu należy myśleć o nim w nowy i owocny sposób. Niniejszy artykuł próbuje przemyśleć męczeństwo wczesnych chrześcijan w kontekście perspektywy ofiary i krytyki rzymskich igrzysk gladiatorów, koncentrując się na elemencie współczucia, który był czymś niespotykanym w imperium rzymskim pierwszych wieków po Chrystusie. Perspektywa współczucia jest czymś, co możemy uchwycić, podobnie jak istotę wczesnochrześcijańskiego męczeństwa. Ma ona również znaczenie w naszych czasach i w sytuacji, w której mamy do czynienia z relacjami Kościół – społeczeństwo. Pokazuje to krytyka gier chrześcijańskich w dziele O grach Tertuliana oraz przykłady trzech najstarszych męczeństw: Męczeństwo Polikarpa, Męczennicy z Lyonu i Vienne oraz Męka Perpetui i Felicyty. To odnajdowane współczucie możemy wykorzystać w nowych sytuacjach, w których w danej chwili, podobnie jak Rzymianie, nie widzimy potrzeby ani powodu do jego okazywania.

Słowa kluczowe:

Martyrdom, Early Christianity, Religious violence, Compassion, Roman Games, Church – Society relation

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2024-12-28

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Sedlák, F. (2024). Counter-culture of Compassion. The Early Christian View of Roman Games and the Possibilities of its Application in the Contemporary Relationship of Church and Society. Studia Oecumenica, 24, 369–388. https://doi.org/10.25167/so.5571