In "Cosmology and Fate in Gnosticism and Graeco-Roman Antiquity," Denzey Lewis explores the rhetoric of "enslavement to fate" in the intellectual history of the 2nd century C.E., which she argues is d
"Introduction to `Gnosticism' packs a great deal of information and insight into marvelously readable language, offering an excellent introduction to the complex and fascinating world of early Christi
In The Early Modern Invention of Late Antique Rome, Nicola Denzey Lewis challenges the common understanding of late antique Christianity as dominated by the Cult of Saints. Popularized by historian Peter Brown, the Cult of the Saints presupposes that a 'corporeal turn' in the 4th century CE initiated a new sense of the body (even the corpse or bone) as holy. Denzey Lewis argues that although present elsewhere in the late Roman Empire, no such 'corporeal turn' happened in Rome until the early modern period. The prevailing assumption that it did was fostered by the apologetic concerns of early modern Catholic scholars, as well as contemporary attitudes towards death, antiquity, and the survival of the Church against secularism. Denzey Lewis delves deeply into the world of Roman late antique Christianity, exploring how and why it differed from the set of practices and beliefs we have come to think flourished in this crucial age of Christianization.
