Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity
Roman world—i.e., “in the great cemeteries that lay outside the cities”—indicates that the cult was an alternative to what the past and present Roman culture offered: it was something distinct, new, unique and outside the main.[footnoteRef:4] This in its own right had a special allure, as journeying to the land of the dead was symbolic in itself of the spiritual pilgrimage the Christian believed himself to be on. It also encapsulated the paradoxical mystery of the faith—that among the dead there could be found the grace of life. [2: Peter… Continue Reading...
