JANET E. SPITTLER Animals in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles The Wild Kingdom of Early Christian Literature [Tiere in den apokryphen Apostelakten. Das wilde Königreich in der frühchristlichen Literatur.] 2008. XI, 264 pages. WUNT II 247 ISBN 978-3-16-149731-5 sewn paper 64,00 € ISBN 978-3-16-151590-3 eBook PDF 64,00 € Published in English. Animals play prominent, often peculiar, roles in the highly entertaining ve major apocryphal acts of the apostles, the Acts of Andrew, Acts of John, Acts of Peter, Acts of Paul and Acts of Thomas . Lions, bears, dogs, bedbugs, asses and even seals appear in these narratives – some friendly, some vicious, some with the capacity for human speech. Janet E. Spittler argues that these animal episodes have a greater, more complex signi cance than has previously been recognized, reading these texts within the broad context of GrecoRoman literature and presenting new interpretations of each animal-related episode. The natural characteristics of these animals – known to ancient authors and audiences through natural historical compendia, historiography and biography, current philosophical debates, fables, and novelistic literature – are intentionally and cleverly evoked by the authors of the apocryphal acts, often serving to underscore key themes of the works. Janet E. Spittler contends that the often very positive presentation of animals in these texts o ers a counterbalance to the often negative depiction of animals in other early Christian literature, thus her book has broad implications for contemporary understandings of early Christian attitudes towards animals and the natural world. Janet E. Spittler Born 1976; 2007 MA, PhD; since 2007 Assistant Professor of Religion at Texas Christian University. Order now: [email protected] Phone: +49 (0)7071-923-17 Fax: +49 (0)7071-51104 Mohr Siebeck GmbH & Co. KG Postfach 2040 D-72010 Tübingen [email protected] www.mohr.de
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