Violence and belief in late antiquity: militant devotion in Christianity and Islam

Introduction -- "The devil spoke from Scripture" : boundary maintenance and communal integrity in late antiquity -- "The living voice of kindred blood" : narrative, identity, and the primordial past -- "What has the pious in common with the impious?" : Ambrose, Libanius, and the problem of late antique religious violence -- "Are you Christians?" : violence, ascetics, and knowing one's own -- "Horsemen by day and monks by night" : narrative and community in Islamic late antiquity -- "The sword scrapes away transgressions" : ascetic praxis and communal boundaries in late antique Islam -- "Do you not fear God?" : the Khawarij in early Islamic society -- "This is a very filthy question and no one should discuss it" : the messy world of Ibn Hanbal

Introduction -- "The devil spoke from Scripture" : boundary maintenance and communal integrity in late antiquity -- "The living voice of kindred blood" : narrative, identity, and the primordial past -- "What has the pious in common with the impious?" : Ambrose, Libanius, and the problem of late antique religious violence -- "Are you Christians?" : violence, ascetics, and knowing one's own -- "Horsemen by day and monks by night" : narrative and community in Islamic late antiquity -- "The sword scrapes away transgressions" : ascetic praxis and communal boundaries in late antique Islam -- "Do you not fear God?" : the Khawarij in early Islamic society -- "This is a very filthy question and no one should discuss it" : the messy world of Ibn Hanbal