̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Christianity

‘Altar tent’ discovery puts Islamic art at the heart of medieval Christianity

ta385 — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +0000

A 13th-century fresco rediscovered in Ferrara provides unique evidence of medieval churches using Islamic tents to conceal their high altars. Dr Federica Gigante believes the 700-year-old fresco could be the only surviving image of its kind, offering precious evidence of a little-known Christian practice.

Trumpington Cross goes on display for the first time

sjr81 — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 11:57:35 +0000

Read more about the unusual burial of one of England's earliest converts to Christianity.

Extremely rare, early Christian gold cross, gifted to Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

̽��ֱ��skeleton of the teenage girl, and the remnants of her burial, as discovered by Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� archaeologists in 2011.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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̽��ֱ��Reformation is remembered

amb206 — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 09:53:27 +0000

On 31 October 1517, almost 500 years ago, an event occurred that sparked a religious schism across Europe, one that was to see Catholicism challenged not by outsiders but by insiders unhappy with what they perceived as the abuses and corruption of the medieval church.

̽��ֱ��nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to a church door in the small German town of Wittenberg is embedded in legend. Scholars now question whether this episode actually occurred. But there is no doubt that a movement took hold that changed the face of Christian belief and has left lasting legacies in our culture.

To mark the anniversary of the Reformation, a team of historians from Cambridge and York Universities has been looking afresh at the ways in which the fragmentation of Christendom has been framed over the centuries –and the way belief intertwined with gender, politics and much more.

̽��ֱ��cross-curricular project brought together historians Professor Alex Walsham and Dr Ceri Law from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and literary scholars Professor Brian Cummings and Dr Bronwyn Wallace from the ̽��ֱ�� of York. ̽��ֱ��researchers were able to draw on the remarkable archives and libraries of the two institutions plus Lambeth Palace Library.

Both York and Cambridge are cities deeply affected by the Reformation. In Cambridge, events staged at Great St Mary's church this weekend will tell the shocking story of two foreign Protestant theologians who held academic posts in Cambridge during the reign of Edward VI. ̽��ֱ��disinterred bodies of Martin Bucer and Peter Phagius were publically burnt in Cambridge market square in 1557.

̽��ֱ��creation of an outstanding online exhibition, hosted by Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library, makes the pioneering work by the team’s scholars accessible to all. ̽��ֱ��exhibition breaks what is often regarded as a hard-to-grasp topic into accessible themes and, with the aid of stunning images, creates a vivid portrait of life, love and death in the 16th century and beyond.

Walsham says: “Our exhibition explores how the Reformation transformed traditional modes of remembering and involved concerted attempts at forgetting, as well as the ways in which it created a rich and vibrant memory culture of its own.”

̽��ֱ��Reformation was complex and far-reaching, taking the form of many Reformations. In simplest terms, it was an upheaval that shattered Catholic Europe and paved the way for separate movements and responses to orthodoxy.

Luther was a university professor and preacher. His theses challenged a system called the sale of indulgences whereby people could reduce punishment after death for their sins and spend a shorter period in purgatory – a sort of ‘clearing house’ for heaven.

Luther’s followers – Protestants – hit out at many of the rituals of medieval Christianity. Religion before the Reformation has been described as ‘a religion of the body’. At the mass, all five senses came into play. ̽��ֱ��priest conveyed the mystery of the rite through a combination of different manual and bodily actions, including kissing the book and raising the host.

For the laity, this visual experience was compounded by the sound of bells, the smell of incense, the sight of candles, the touching of hands, the taste of offerings, in a synaesthesia of devotion. Prayer was centred on bodily actions, whether of prostration or of counting prayers on a rosary.

̽��ֱ��Reformation called many of these actions into question by labelling them forms of ‘superstition’ and ‘idolatry’. ̽��ֱ��Reformed liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer in 1549 abolished many aspects of bodily ritual such as the elevation of the host. And yet, the Protestant liturgy provided for scriptural ritual such as washing with water in baptism and laying on of hands in ordination.

Protestantism also accepted kneeling as a sign of devotion or of penitence as well as signing with the cross as a sign of God’s covenant with his people. These actions continued to cause controversy and dissent throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. ̽��ֱ��1549 Book of Common Prayer still included an exorcism in baptism; but in 1552 it was removed.

Religious change impacted profoundly not only on collective and national ways of viewing the past, but on the ways that individual men and women saw their own narratives and the ways in which they recorded the lives of their families and friends. Numerous real voices find a platform in the Remembering the Reformation exhibition.

Family life was changing as Protestant clergy were allowed to marry. Among the voices that come through are those of Tobie Matthew and his wife Frances. An 18^th century copy of a diary kept by Tobie Matthew records his preaching from 1583, when he became dean of Durham, to 1622. In this time he gave 1,992 sermons.

̽��ֱ��diary offers a rare and valuable insight into patterns and selections of sermon topics from the court to parishes. It contains glimpses of the personal as Matthew notes his movements, career and the illnesses and misfortunes that befell him. On 24 March 1603 he heads his entry with ‘Eheu! Eheu!’ – an expression of despair at the death of Elizabeth I.

A document in the hand of Tobie’s wife Frances (1550/1-1629) reflects a deeply personal aspect of their lives. She lists for posterity ‘ ̽��ֱ��birthe of all my children’, including the place, date and time of birth, and details of godparents. She decided later to add the details of the deaths of the four out of six children who died before adulthood.

In doing so, Frances created a poignant record of loss. Of her son, Samuell Matthew, she notes: “This Samuell Matthew, my most Deerly-Beloved sonne, departed this life of Christianity the 15 of June 1601, and is buryed in Peeter-house in cambridge.” ̽��ֱ��phrase ‘this life of Christianity’ is telling: belief was not just an adjunct to life but its central purpose.

̽��ֱ��document also bears testament to a phenomenon created by the Reformation: the clerical family. Frances was the daughter of a bishop and married into two episcopal families. Her first husband was son of Matthew Parker, the first Elizabethan archbishop of Canterbury. After he died, she married Tobie Matthew.

Reformers celebrated the ideal of such ‘godly’ families. But even such a strong Protestant pedigree as Frances’s brought no guarantees. Her son Toby (1577-1655) converted to Catholicism, much to the distress of both his parents. Religious differences were destined to continue to divide as well as unite.

Walsham says: “People were deeply divided by faith as a result of the Reformation and memory was at the heart of the ways in which it fragmented society and challenged the ties of affection that bound families together. But remembering the medieval and Protestant past was also a mechanism for cementing powerful identities.”

‘Remembering the Reformation’, an interdisciplinary and collaborative research project, is generously funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (http://rememberingthereformation.org.uk/).

̽��ֱ��Reformation is famously traced to an event that took place in Germany 500 years ago and reverberated across Europe. An online exhibition paints a vivid portrait of a society undergoing profound change – and free events this weekend commemorate an episode of corpse burning in Cambridge.

Our exhibition explores how the Reformation transformed traditional modes of remembering and involved concerted attempts at forgetting, as well as the ways in which it created a rich and vibrant memory culture of its own.

Alex Walsham

Wikimedia Commons

̽��ֱ��bodies of two Protestants, Martin Bucer and Peter Phagius, are burnt in Cambridge's market place, 1557

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̽��ֱ��last Muslim King in Spain

sjr81 — Thu, 18 May 2017 08:21:48 +0000

Based on original research, and drawing attention to the connections between the medieval Moorish king Boabdil, and current social and political concerns in Europe today, Drayson presents the first full account in any language of the Moorish sultan of Granada, and head of the Nasrid dynasty.

̽��ֱ��academic’s research has also uncovered a potential mystery regarding the final resting place of the last Muslim king in Spain. Long thought to have died in Algeria in 1494, experts are now hoping to exhume and DNA test what they believe to be the remains of the sultan beneath a derelict mausoleum in Fez, Morocco.

In the ten years before Boabdil’s fall in 1492, his kingdom of Granada was the theatre of one of the most significant wars in European history. ̽��ֱ��sultan’s territory was the last Spanish stronghold of a Muslim empire that had once stretched to the Pyrenees and beyond – including the cities of Barcelona, Pamplona and Cordoba, which had been home to paved roads, street lighting and more than 70 libraries at a time when London and other European cities were backwaters of disease, violence and illiteracy.

“How did Boabdil change the course of Spanish history? Does he now represent what he stood for in the past? And how significant is he as a figure of resistance to the forces of western Christendom?” asked Drayson, who spent three years working on her new book – ̽��ֱ��Moor’s Last Stand: ̽��ֱ��life of Boabdil, Muslim King of Granada.

“That Boabdil was a key figure at a crucial moment in world history cannot be doubted: the current tensions between Islam and the West have their roots in his reign and in the kingdom he lost. Christian posterity has treated him with scorn and pity – viewed from the perspective of the victors. But my account presents the other side of the coin, revealing that issues of violence, tension and compromise between Muslims and Christians were as pressing then as they are now.”

Betrayed by his family and undermined by faction and internal conflict, Boabdil’s defeat at the hands of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (the parents of Catherine of Aragon) symbolised the epoch-changing transition of Granada from Islamic state to Christian territory – a moment which set Spain on course to becoming the greatest power in early modern Europe.

̽��ֱ��Christian victory marked the completion of the long Christian reconquest of Spain and ended seven centuries in which Christians, Jews and Muslims had for the most part lived peacefully and profitably together.

“Five centuries after his death, it’s timely to consider the impact of his defeat then and now,” added Drayson. “Boabdil was a man of culture and war: a schemer, rebel, father, husband and brother. He was a king, yet also the pawn of the Catholic monarchs. I wanted to show why his life matters – and the meanings it now has at this time of extreme tension between the west and the Islamic states.”

̽��ֱ��end of Muslim rule at the heart of Spain came to an end on January 2, 1492 when Boabdil relinquished the keys to the Moorish capital to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. “These are the keys to paradise,” he said before leaving the city with his mother Aixa.

Legend has it that as Boabdil retreated into exile, he turned around for one final, distant look at Granada – sighed, and burst into tears. His mother, betraying little sympathy for her vanquished son, is said to have told him: “You do well, my son, to cry like a woman for what you couldn’t defend like a man.”

̽��ֱ��‘last sigh’ has long been used by historians to belittle and diminish Boabdil’s legacy, ignoring – according to Drayson – the immense sacrifice he demonstrated in saving his people from certain slaughter at the hands of Ferdinand and Isabella’s irrepressible armies which encircled Granada.

“ ̽��ֱ��fall of Granada was of such magnitude that a mythical story was needed to explain, accept or legitimise the immense upheavals the conquest brought about,” said Drayson.

According to her, Boabdil’s heroism, long repudiated by most historical commentators, is evident in his ability to recognise the futility of further resistance, and the choice he made in rejecting the further suffering, starvation and slaughter of his people. Instead, he bargained for the best terms of surrender possible, rejecting martyrdom and willingly sacrificing his reputation for the greater good.

“ ̽��ֱ��loss of Granada is viewed by modern writers as a prelude to the repression of the Muslim world,” added Drayson. “At a time when Europe is seeking a way of addressing issues of racial and religious intolerance, equality and freedom, we might look closely at the Spanish Muslim society of which Boabdil was the final heir, which successfully tackled some of these problems.

“Today, Boabdil represents a last stand against religious intolerance, fanatical power, and cultural ignorance; his surrender of the city and kingdom of Granada symbolised the loss of the fertile cross-cultural creativity, renewal and coexistence born out of the Muslim conquest of Spain.”

Elizabeth Drayson appears at the Hay Festival as part of the Cambridge Series on Sunday, May 28 at 2.30pm on the Good Energy Stage.

̽��ֱ��history, myths and legends surrounding the last Muslim ruler in Spain – whose surrender ended seven centuries of Islam at the heart of Western Europe – is the subject of a new book and Hay Festival appearance by Cambridge academic Elizabeth Drayson.

I wanted to show why his life matters – and the meanings it now has at this time of extreme tension between the west and the Islamic states.

Elizabeth Drayson

̽��ֱ��Capitulation of Granada by Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz 1882: Boabdil surrenders to Ferdinand and Isabella

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Leading theologians urge the Church of England to celebrate same-sex relationships

tdk25 — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:03:33 +0000

A new book written by Cambridge theologians aims to set the agenda for sexuality conversations being held at the Church of England’s General Synod in July by urging the Church towards acceptance and affirmation of committed same-sex relationships. ̽��ֱ��study warns that a failure to adopt such a stance would be “suicidal”.

Amazing Love, edited by Andrew Davison, Starbridge Lecturer in Theology and Natural Sciences at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, sets out a case for the Church to bless stable gay and lesbian relationships, arguing that such a position is entirely consistent with the Christian tradition of ethical reflection.

̽��ֱ��book is deliberately timed to reach members of the General Synod, the “parliament” of the Church of England, who will take part in discussions about sexuality from 10-12 July. These conversations aim to build “good disagreement” on same-sex relationships and will set the framework for a debate in 2017 on changes to the Church’s stance.

To date, the Church of England has failed to comment positively on faithful and committed same-sex relationships and the book argues that the time has come for change.

Amazing Love is the result of a workshop held earlier in the year at St John’s College, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. It aims to show that the celebration of gay and lesbian relationships is consistent with authentic Christian belief by tackling the issues on a number of fronts.

Traditional arguments that reject same-sex relationships have often identified passages in the Bible which appear to prohibit homosexuality, but the book argues that there is no evidence that these passages refer to the strong, loving and stable same-sex relationships that are under discussion.

Duncan Dormor, Dean of Chapel at St John’s College, Cambridge, and a contributor to the book said: “ ̽��ֱ��story of Sodom and Gomorrah is often seen as a passage in the Bible which condemns homosexuality. ̽��ֱ��story is more likely to be about the abuse of hospitality, but if it does refer to sex, it is about an attempted sexually motivated attack by a mob rather than committed gay and lesbian relationships.”

“Whatever your view on these passages in the Bible, these are not the only sentences that matter in this conversation. Interpretation of the Bible can never be totally objective - different readings depend on factors such as the age, culture and experience of the reader. ̽��ֱ��big picture of the Bible’s Christian message should trump the details of interpretation.”

̽��ֱ��book cites examples of matters which at one time seemed to be supported by the Bible on which Christian teaching has now changed. For example, it can safely be assumed that modern Christians are overwhelmingly of the view that slavery is wrong, but in the Bible it is an accepted institution, with Job, the model of the righteous person, described as a “just” man because he treats his slaves fairly rather than setting them free.

During their campaign, 18th-Century Abolitionists faced strong opposition from fellow Christians on “Biblical” grounds and similar things can be said historically about issues like contraception and lending money with interest, demonstrating how new insights lead Christians to apply scripture to a particular issue in a new way.

̽��ֱ��second chapter of Amazing Love draws upon advances in science and how our scientific understanding of homosexuality has evolved. ̽��ֱ��book argues that grasping scientific facts should be important to members of the Synod and all Christians as they have a responsibility to examine the full range of information available and understand the issues that they are discussing from as rounded a perspective as possible.

Human sexuality is complex, but scientific evidence is conclusive on the following points: Sexuality occurs on a diverse spectrum, it is not consciously chosen and for the vast majority it is not easily changed. ̽��ֱ��book states that there is clear, robust evidence that for some people, same-sex attraction is “natural, inevitable and beyond their conscious control”.

“Pre-1973, homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness, but the scientific consensus has changed – we now know that being gay or lesbian is not damaging to people, it is the assumption that it is 'unhealthy' that damages them. New discoveries can and should shift the background against which well-informed ethical thinking takes place,” added Dormor.

A key premise of the book is that the most fundamental feature of Christian life is following Jesus and that “loving your neighbour” involves listening to others and their experiences. ̽��ֱ��book warns of the damaging consequences of a Christian culture in which gay and lesbian people do not feel welcome, or are not able to speak about themselves.

̽��ֱ��book also notes a shift in contemporary sexual ethics away from acts and on to thinking about people, relationships and emotional intimacy. “What should concern Christians is not what x does with Y – this mirrors a reductive, materialistic approach to sexuality which Christians would rightly object to in the secular world. There is much more to sexual relationships than particular acts and Christians should be more concerned with the nature and integrity of relationships and their impact on wellbeing.”

̽��ֱ��book concludes that taking a hard line on the issue of same-sex relationships would be “suicidal” for the Church and involve “shooting ourselves in the foot in the worst possible way”. It notes that young people care deeply about relationships and marriage and are increasingly “baffled” by the Church’s decision to excluded committed same sex couples from these aspects of life.

“We urge the Church to make a positive and joyful affirmation of same-sex relationships or risk alienating the younger generation. Maintaining the current silence on this issue will only build a barrier preventing us from reaching young people on other important issues surrounding sexual and social ethics,” said Dormor.

Copies of Amazing Love have been sent to all members of the General Synod.

Amazing Love is published on Thursday 30 June by Darton, Longman and Todd. More information can be found via: http://www.darton-longman-todd.co.uk/titles/2181-9780232532654-amazing-love

Leading theologians have called on the Church of England to recognise and celebrate same-sex relationships at its forthcoming General Synod, warning that to take a hard line on the subject would be “suicidal”.

We urge the Church to make a positive and joyful affirmation of same-sex relationships or risk alienating the younger generation. Maintaining the current silence on this issue will only build a barrier preventing us from reaching young people on other important issues surrounding sexual and social ethics

Duncan Dormor

Glenn Lascuna, via Flickr

̽��ֱ��book advises the church to recognise, celebrate and bless same-sex relationships that are faithful, stable and permanent

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Lines of Thought: Communicating Faith

sjr81 — Fri, 27 May 2016 14:43:49 +0000

As part of its 600th celebrations, the ̽��ֱ�� Library has made a series of six films – one for each of the six themes explored in Lines of Thought – with the latest film: Communicating Faith taking a close look at some iconic religious treasures across all the major faiths including Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

̽��ֱ��oldest item in Communicating Faith is a text for prayer, the so-called Nash Papyrus. Dating from the second century before Christ, the fragments on display in Cambridge contain the Ten Commandments and until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it was the oldest surviving manuscript of any part of the Hebrew Bible.

However, one of the oldest and perhaps the most valuable items in the Library’s collections – and perhaps one of the stars of Lines of Thought – is a recovered text called the Codex Zacynthius.

Codex Zacynthius is a parchment book where the leaves have been scraped and rewritten (a palimpsest). What they rewrote was an 11th or 12th century text from the gospels, but underneath it is a very early text of the gospel of St Luke. This very early undertext was first deciphered in the 19th century. It’s now possible, using modern imaging techniques, to get a much more precise image of what this book would have looked like when it was written in the 6th or 7th century. Work will continue on the codex when the exhibition comes to an end in September.

̽��ֱ��translation of religious texts has always been central to the transmission of faith across barriers of religion and culture, but could be a perilous activity. William Tyndale’s English translation of the New Testament ultimately cost him his life. His pioneering translation survived, however. In 1611, the team of Cambridge scholars and theologians tasked with helping to prepare the text of the authoritative King James Bible drew heavily on Tyndale’s work.

Will Hale, who curated Communicating Faith, said: “Our copy of Tyndale’s New Testament was printed in Antwerp in 1534. Translating the Bible was an act of heresy at the time according to the mainstream church who thought the one true translation was the Vulgate into Latin and only the church had the right to interpret it to the people. Tyndale felt that even the ploughboys at the plough should be able to recite scripture in their own language. And of course, for his pains, he was strangled and burnt as a heretic two years after this translation was published.

“Today’s academics are exploiting digital technology to unearth new secrets from documents penned in antiquity. Cutting-edge multispectral imaging allows us to read texts erased from a seventh-century manuscript of the Gospel of Saint Luke, whilst dispersed collections of fragments of manuscripts from a Cairo synagogue are being painstakingly reunited in the digital realm.”

Some of the world’s most important religious texts are currently on display in Cambridge as part of Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition – Lines of Thought: Discoveries that Changed the World.

For his pains, Tyndale was strangled and burnt as a heretic two years after this translation was published.

Will Hale

Lines of Thought: Communicating Faith

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library

Detail from the Codex Zacynthius

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Global Christian attitudes towards transgenderism “softening”, study suggests

tdk25 — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 00:01:29 +0000

A growing number of Christian denominations, particularly within Protestant traditions, are softening their stance on transgenderism and embracing trans people as congregants and ministers, a new study suggests.

While the Church in general has a reputation for intransigence on questions of gender and sexuality, the research, which mapped the official positions of different denominations around the world, points to “a slow, sometimes grudging, but growing momentum for change among Christians within Protestantism especially.”

̽��ֱ��Church of England, Lutheran denominations in Scandinavia, and numerous Churches in the United States are described as leading the shift towards a state of broad-based acceptance in which trans people are able to minister, teach and marry in their affirmed gender.

At the same time, the study acknowledges that the Catholic and Orthodox Churches remain officially opposed to transgenderism. “ ̽��ֱ��overwhelming majority of the 2.1 billion Christians in the world belong to Churches which are officially unsympathetic to the claims of transgender people,” it observes.

̽��ֱ��research was carried out by the Reverend Duncan Dormor, who is Dean of Chapel and Director of Studies for Theology at St John’s College, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. He undertook the study having been asked to outline Christian attitudes towards transgenderism for a book, ̽��ֱ��Legal Status of Transsexual and Transgender Persons.

̽��ֱ��mapping exercise assessed the official positions of as many major Christian denominations as possible, drawing in particular on any formal statements that these Churches had issued. These were then grouped together by type, in order to provide a sense of which dominant viewpoints currently define Christianity as a whole.

̽��ֱ��results suggest that many Churches have, within the last few years, become far less conservative on transgender issues than is traditionally assumed.

̽��ֱ��study adds: “ ̽��ֱ��ministry and marriage of transgender Christians has as often been grudgingly accepted as positively embraced, mostly within the last decade, and frequently in the face of significant unease of internal opposition. Nevertheless, there is growing momentum for change; for acceptance and welcoming of transgender Christians.”

̽��ֱ��challenge transgenderism poses to some Christian denominations is rooted in “theological anthropology” - in simple terms a faith-based understanding of the human condition and what the difference between the sexes means. Many conservative Christians believe that God created two distinct forms of human - male and female - and that these sexed differences are an essential characteristic of what it means to be human.

In response, during the latter half of 20th Century, various groups emerged on the fringes of mainstream Christianity that not only welcome and affirm transgender Christians, but actively campaign for their rights. These developed into pan-Christian activist groups.

̽��ֱ��new study suggests that ideas from these groups are now percolating through to moderate, mainstream Christianity as well. In particular, Protestant Churches, which focus heavily on pastoral responsibilities in the community and emphasise toleration of difference, are becoming increasingly open-minded towards trans people.

Much of the progress has taken place in the United States, where in 1996 the Presbyterian Church of Atlanta became the first mainstream Christian denomination to allow a religious leader, Erin (previously Eric) Svenson, to remain in post following surgery to change gender. Since then groups such as the Presbyterian Church USA (in 2010) and the Episcopal Church (in 2012) have followed suit, by welcoming the ordination of transgender clergy.

In Europe, change has come about not only from inside Christianity, but also from external legislation changes recognising transgender people, which has obliged Churches to adapt. Scandinavia, which incorporates some of the most progressive nations in the world in terms of the inclusion of LGBT people, also has some of the most inclusive churches, the study says.

̽��ֱ��research also singles out progress made within the Church of England. Even though a clear position on transgenderism has yet to be drawn up by its governing body, the General Synod, there are currently at least eight transgender priests serving within the Church, of whom six were ordained prior to transition.

Equally, while the Church secured an exemption under the Gender Recognition Act of 2004 for clergy who did not wish to solemnise the marriage of transgender people, the survey points out that it also protected the rights of transsexual parishioners to use their parish church.

Further, when the Act was debated in the House of Lords, a number of bishops from the Church of England played a vital role in preventing the progress of an amendment that would have given religious bodies greater power and autonomy to restrict the participation of transgender people in the Church.

“ ̽��ֱ��developing positions of these Churches illustrates that religion’s perspective on transgenderism is less monolithic than is sometimes believed,” Dormor said. “It is important to remember that it is plural and accommodates a diversity of views. It seems highly likely that the developments we have seen over the last decade or so will continue.”

̽��ֱ��report acknowledges that similar developments are unlikely to take place in the Catholic Church, which remains formally opposed to transgenderism. It does, however, suggest that unofficially the Church’s attitude towards trans people may soften under Pope Francis, compared with his two predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

“Gender is one area in which Pope Francis to some extent represents intellectual continuity with the previous two Popes, but unlike them he does not see gender in exclusively ideological terms,” Dormor added.

“People or communities who are marginalised or suffering are a priority for him. That means that while the Catholic Church will continue to fight the EU on gender legislation, it may simultaneously become more responsive to groups of people and individuals who need to be supported because of their marginalised status.”

̽��ֱ��study appears in ̽��ֱ��Legal Status of Transsexual and Transgender Persons, published by Intersentia.

A mapping exercise examining the positions of major Christian denominations on transgender identities suggests that a growing number of Churches around the world are taking an inclusive approach towards trans people and communities.

̽��ֱ��ministry and marriage of transgender Christians has as often been grudgingly accepted as positively embraced, mostly within the last decade, and frequently in the face of significant unease of internal opposition. Nevertheless, there is growing momentum for change.

Duncan Dormor

Image by Robert Couse-Baker, via Flickr

Sacramento Pride Parade, supporting the LGBT community, June 15 2013. ̽��ֱ��new study highlights the leadership of many Churches in the United States in shifting the balance of Christian attitudes towards trans people.

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Understanding the ancient world through language

mjg209 — Fri, 22 May 2015 09:00:00 +0000

Language played a key role in state formation and the spread of Christianity, the construction of ethnicity and negotiating positions of social status and group membership in the ancient world. It could reinforce social norms and shed light on taboos. Yet it is often overlooked as a source for understanding ancient civilisations.

A new book by James Clackson, Reader in Comparative Philology in the Faculty of Classics, uses language as a lens for understanding the ancient world.

Language and Society in the Greek and Roman Worlds is about why some languages - Latin and Greek - grew and others shrank and what language can tell us about the way people lived. ̽��ֱ��principal focus is the Greek and Roman civilisations between around 800 BCE and 400 CE. ̽��ֱ��book also catalogues how different states in ancient times managed multilingual populations and it highlights the plethora of different languages that existed at the time. Indeed until the last century of the Roman Republic Latin was a minority language, even in Italy.

̽��ֱ��theme of multilingualism is one which has implications for our current preoccupation with immigration and one which Clackson will address in his forthcoming talk on 29th May at the Hay Festival where he is one of many academics speaking as part of the Cambridge Series.

He will draw parallels between current British anxiety about hearing other languages than English and fears about English being bastardised by other languages and concerns of the Romans about the influx of foreign people and foreign words into the Latin language. “I am interested in the impact of long-term migration on language. In the end, despite concerns, Latin was enriched by migration. Lots of basic Latin words are Greek words and this has translated into the Romance languages such as French where you can trace the impact of Greek in words such as bras, jambe and parler,” says Clackson.

He compares the approach of Greece and Rome to language. Greece had many many minor states, each with their own dialect and often their own alphabet. He says the Greeks were happy to let people speak in other dialects in public places like the courts and lecture rooms. Multilingualism was not an issue. “It was almost invisible. Ancient writers do not generally talk about interpreters or translations. They take it as natural, as something that doesn’t even need to be mentioned,” he says.

It was not until Roman times that something approaching an official language began to emerge. “Roman magistrates, for instance, spoke Latin, even if the audience was Greek-speaking and the speaker could speak Greek. There are documented instances of this,” says Clackson. “It was a way of letting people know who was boss.”

Those in the audience would have to wait for the translation to understand what was being said.

“You can track in Roman times the discussion about how not to sound Greek. In his public speeches, Cicero [pictured] avoids Greek words as much as possible, but in his private letters he is continually using Greek words and phrases. It’s like a different linguistic persona. He said he would never use Greek words in a Latin sentence, but there is evidence that, in private, he did.”

Clackson adds that there appears to have been a gender difference in how language was used, with women who did not have such a public voice, more likely to use native languages.

Despite these differences, there is no written evidence, says Clackson, that language was associated with political resistance to Roman imperialism. Partly this may be because local languages did not have a written system. “If the Romans conquered you, you had to speak Latin and if you wanted to be educated and get on you had to learn Latin,” he says.

People used language fairly pragmatically according to what would get them the best results, he says. “In Roman law, Latin had to be spoken for contracts to be valid so you would be excluded from the economy if you didn’t use Latin, but there was no centralisation of schooling and attempts to impose language in that way. It was not as associated with identity as it is now.”

Nevertheless, the ability to speak the highest form of Greek was also a signifier of status. Many Romans learnt Greek as they saw it as the language of literature and culture.

Clackson’s research is currently focused on whether the Romans treated Greek differently to other languages, whether they were more open to Greek culture and whether that openness was part of their success.

*James Clackson will be speaking at the Hay Festival at 1pm on 29th May on Migration and Language: Ancient Perspectives.

James Clackson's new book looks at what language use can tell us about ancient societies.

I am interested in the impact of long-term migration on language. In the end, despite concerns, Latin was enriched by migration. Lots of basic Latin words are Greek words and this has translated into the Romance languages such as French where you can trace the impact of Greek in words such as bras, jambe and parler.

James Clackson

Cesare Maccari

"Maccari-Cicero" by Cesare Maccari. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

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