Kirjahaku

Guilt by Association explores the creation, publication, and circulation of heresy catalogues by second- and early third-century Christians. Polemicists made use of these religious blacklists, which include the names of heretical teachers along with summaries of their unsavory doctrines and nefarious misdeeds, in order to discredit opponents and advocate their expulsion from the "authentic" Christianity community. The heresy catalogue proved to be an especially effective literary technology in struggles for religious authority and legitimacy because it not only recast rival teachers as menacing adversaries, but also reinforced such characterizations by organizing otherwise unaffiliated teachers into coherent intellectual, social, and scholastic communities that are established and sustained by demonic powers. This study focuses especially on the earliest Christian heresy catalogues, those found within the works of Justin, Irenaeus, Hegesippus, and the authors the Testimony of Truth and the Tripartite Tractate. By focusing upon the heresy catalogue, Guilt by Association not only accounts for the emergence of the Christian heresiological tradition; it also sheds new light upon the socio-rhetorical aims of the Pastoral Epistles, the circulation of early Christian literature, the emergence of a distinct Christian identity, and the origins of Gnosticism.

In this brilliant study of the relationship between domestic politics and the shaping of foreign policy, Geoffrey Smith shows how fascists, anti-Semites, and other right-wing extremists became unwitting allies of the Roosevelt administration in the debate over American entry into World War II. "Respectable" isolationists and others who opposed American involvement in the European war found themselves discredited by the likes of Father Coughlin, the American Silver Shirts, and the German-American Bund—for the disgust generated by the totalitarian thuggery of these groups and individuals helped to convince Americans that indeed they had a stake in the war abroad. FDR used this incontrovertible evidence to frighten a nation into war, while those who opposed war could not free themselves from the stigma of association with extremists. In a superb new epilogue, Mr. Smith brings up to date his discussion of American extremism, explaining how the nation's attitudes have taken a 180-degree turn in the years since World War II. "Persuasively argued ... a very well-written book."—Journal of American History.