Idea of Sainthood in Christianity (345-0-20)

Instructors

Sergey A. Ivanov

Meeting Info

University Library 4670: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

"The Ambiguity of the Undead: Saints in Byzantium and Russia"

This course explores the historical, cultural, and theological construction of sainthood in Christianity from antiquity to the modern period. Contrary to popular belief, neither Jesus nor the apostles defined saints as a special spiritual elite. Rather, sainthood emerged gradually as a social, literary, and institutional phenomenon, while the Church has never actually provided a definition of what a saint truly is.

Saints embody a paradox: they represent an immediate, personal relationship with the divine, while the Church functions as an institution that regulates, formalizes, and mediates access to the sacred. This tension—between charisma and bureaucracy, spontaneity and control—lies at the heart of Christian history.

The course examines how saints were invented, celebrated, regulated, and imitated, and how holiness functioned as a form of symbolic power. We will study stylites, holy fools, transvestites etc. as literary personae, as, as well as the genres, rituals, and institutions that shaped their memory. We will tell about the living who mortify themselves, and on the dead who are nevertheless alive.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Understand the historical development of Christian concepts of holiness
• Analyze sainthood as a social and cultural phenomenon
• Compare Eastern and Western Christian models of canonization
• Interpret hagiographic texts as literary and ideological constructions
• Evaluate the political and institutional uses of sanctity

Teaching Method

Class Materials (Required)

all necessary reading materials will be uploaded.

Class Attributes

Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci
Ethics & Values Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for Religion Majors & Minors, Jewish Studies Minors