Soldier Saints and Holy Warriors


Book Description

The classical idea of the philosopher/hero or warrior of antiquity gave rise during the first centuries after Jesus Christ to a type of Christian anti-hero who eschewed lofty philosophy, the battlefield and the honours that go with it.




Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900-1200


Book Description

A comprehensive study of the process by which certain martyrs of the early church were transformed into military heroes.




The Way of the Warrior Saint


Book Description

The Way of the Warrior Saint promotes self-sacrifice—or crucifixional living—as the cure for the modern fallacy of taking the easy route in life. Modeled on Jesus’ victory over death through His voluntary suffering on the cross, it spotlights heroes who through self-sacrifice became exceptional and reputable individuals. You don’t have to believe the tenets of the Christian faith to see that the mechanism of self-sacrifice is the way to find greatness within you. Even a cursory examination reveals that the Christ story serves as the model for all our great stories. The likes of Luke Skywalker, Jon Snow, Catniss, Tony Stark, Elsa, Harry Potter, Batman, Wonder Woman, Pinocchio, Horus and Perseus. All of our heroes found their victory through the sacrifice of self. But the crucifixional model isn’t just for the movies. We find the same message in sports, the kitchen, marriage and everywhere else we look. If you want to live a life based on wisdom in the service of others, you’ll find a refreshing Christian perspective that drives results in this book. “Personal achievement advice has been with us since time immemorial, but in The Way of the Warrior Saint, an American parish priest from Arizona, Fr. Chris Salamy, takes it to another level by overlaying a powerfully Christian teaching on top of the traditional wisdom of the ages. His unique message for exceptional living, through what he terms a crucifixional life, is an important concept and a must read, especially for all dads and younger men.” —Dean G. Popps, former Assistant Secretary of the United States Army “The Way of the Warrior Saint is a helpful read for anyone who is trying to put faith into action. It is filled with real life challenges, engaging stories, solid principles, and practical tips to help the reader navigate life’s uncertainties with clear direction. Father Chris distills his years of ministry experience into memorable and applicable ‘takeaways’ that can help each one of us and all of us live a life that honors God and serves others.” —Tim Tassopoulos, President and COO, Chick-fil-A, Inc. “The Way of the Warrior Saint is a work of art. Fr. Chris identifies the missing link in our lives that allows us to conquer anything and live successfully. The concept of living a crucifixional life to overcome and win is genius and a tool that everyone should embody. This book is a must read for anyone that has faced challenges and wants to live more powerfully.” —Dr. Eric J. Scroggins, author of Vision Blockers, life & business coach, CEO of EricScroggins.com “In The Way of the Warrior Saint, Fr. Chris draws from his personal experiences to paint a vivid and compelling case for taking up the ‘crucifixional’ way of life. Not only does Fr. Chris inspire his reader but he also gently guides them towards a fuller Christian life. I highly recommend this often humorous and bare-knuckled book by one of the Church’s preeminent pastors it will engage every reader who wants to live courageously for Christ.” —Father Evan Armatas, Host of Orthodoxy Live on Ancient Faith Radio and author of Toolkit for Spiritual Growth: A Practical Guide to Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving




The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition


Book Description

Christopher Walter's study of the cult and iconography of Byzantine warrior saints - George, Demetrius, the two Theodores, and dozens more - is at once encyclopaedic and interpretative, and the first comprehensive study of the subject. The author delineates their origins and development as a distinctive category of saint, showing that in its definitive form this coincides with the apogee of the Byzantine empire in the 10th-11th centuries. He establishes a repertory, particularly of their commemorations in synaxaries and their representations in art, and describes their iconographical types and the functions ascribed to them once enrolled in the celestial army: support for the terrestrial army in its offensive campaigns, and a new protective role when the Byzantine Empire passed to the defensive. The survey highlights the lack of historicity among the Byzantines in their approach to the lives of these saints and their terrestrial careers. An epilogue briefly treats the analogous traditions in the cultures of neighbouring peoples. Walter draws attention to the development of an echelon of military saints, notably in church decoration, which provides the surest basis for defining their specificity; also to the way in which they were depicted, generally young, handsome and robust, and frequently 'twinned' in pairs, so calling attention to the importance of camaraderie among soldiers. At the same time, this work opens a new perspective on the military history of the Byzantine Empire. Its ideology of war consistently followed that of the Israelites; protected and favoured by divine intervention, there was no occasion to discuss the morality of a 'just war'. Consequently, when considering Byzantine methods of warfare, due attention should be given to the important role which they attributed to celestial help in their military campaigns.




Soldiers of Christ


Book Description




Sanctified Violence


Book Description

"This rich and engaging book looks at instances of sanctified violence, the holy wars related to religion. It covers it all, from ancient to present day, including examples of warfare among Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists, as well as Christians, Jews and Muslims. It is a comprehensive and readable overview that provides a lively introduction to the subject of holy war in its broadest sense—as ‘sanctified violence’ in the service of a god or ideology. It is certain to be a useful companion in the classroom, and a boon to anyone fascinated by the dark attraction of religion and violence." —Mark Juergensmeyer, University of California, Santa Barbara Contents: Introduction: What Is Holy War? Chapter 1: Holy Wars in Mythic Time, Holy Wars as Metaphor, Holy Wars as RitualChapter 2: Holy Wars of Conquest in the Name of a DeityChapter 3: Holy Wars in Defense of the SacredChapter 4: Holy Wars in Anticipation of the Millennium Epilogue: Holy Wars Today and Tomorrow Also included are a description of the Critical Themes in World History series, Preface, index, and suggestions for further reading.




Saint and Nation


Book Description

In early seventeenth-century Spain, the Castilian parliament voted to elevate the newly beatified Teresa of Avila to co-patron saint of Spain alongside the traditional patron, Santiago. Saint and Nation examines Spanish devotion to the cult of saints and the controversy over national patron sainthood to provide an original account of the diverse ways in which the early modern nation was expressed and experienced by monarch and town, center and periphery. By analyzing the dynamic interplay of local and extra-local, royal authority and nation, tradition and modernity, church and state, and masculine and feminine within the co-patronage debate, Erin Rowe reconstructs the sophisticated balance of plural identities that emerged in Castile during a central period of crisis and change in the Spanish world.




Saints and Soldiers


Book Description

Winner, 2022 Nellie Bly Book Award, Chanticleer International Book Awards More than a decade ago, counterterrorism expert Rita Katz began browsing white supremacist and neo-Nazi forums. The hateful rhetoric and constant threats of violence immediately reminded her of the jihadist militants she spent her days monitoring, but law enforcement and policy makers barely paid attention to the Far Right. Now, years of attacks committed by extremists radicalized online—including mass murders at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, as well as the Capitol siege—have brought home the danger. How has the internet shaped today’s threats, and what do the online origins of these movements reveal about how to stop them? In Saints and Soldiers, Katz reveals a new generation of terrorist movements that don’t just use the internet, but exist almost entirely on it. She provides a vivid view from the trenches, spanning edgy video game chat groups to what ISIS and Far-Right mass-shooters in El Paso, Orlando and elsewhere unwittingly reveal between the lines of their manifestos. Katz shows how the online cultures of these movements—far more than their ideologies and leaders—create today’s terrorists and shape how they commit “real world” violence. From ISIS to QAnon, Saints and Soldiers pinpoints the approaches needed for a new era in which arrests and military campaigns alone cannot stop these never-before-seen threats.




Arms and Armour of the Warrior Saints


Book Description

The question of the independence of Byzantine iconography continues to draw attention. Following extensive research on the persistence of Classical motifs in Byzantine art, interest has recently turned to the originality of the latter and its reliability as a historical source. This study examines whether military equipment (armour, weapons, insignia and costume) shown in images of the warrior saints reflects items actually used in the mid-Byzantine Army or merely repeats Classical forms. Such representations are compared with documentary evidence gathered chiefly from Byzantine military manuals. The author demonstrates that military equipment, being a vital branch of material culture subject to constant evolution, provides a good indicator of iconographic innovation in the art of Byzantium.




Warriors, Martyrs, and Dervishes


Book Description

Warriors, Martyrs, and Dervishes: Moving Frontiers, Shifting Identities in the Land of Rome (13th-15th Centuries) focuses on the perceptions of geopolitical and cultural change, which was triggered by the arrival of Turkish Muslim groups into the territories of the Byzantine Empire at the end of the eleventh century, through intersecting stories transmitted in Turkish Muslim warrior epics and dervish vitas, and late Byzantine martyria. It examines the Byzantines’ encounters with the newcomers in a shared story-world, here called “land of Rome,” as well as its perception, changing geopolitical and cultural frontiers, and in relation to these changes, the shifts in identity of the people inhabiting this space. The study highlights the complex relationship between the character of specific places and the cultural identities of the people who inhabited them. See inside the book