fredag 16 mars 2018

Article: 'Enduring Shame as Costly Signalling: The Case of Public Confession of Sin According to Tertullian'

Rikard Roitto's article 'Enduring Shame as Costly Signalling: The Case of Public Confession of Sin According to Tertullian' has been accepted for publication in Journal of Cognitive Historiography.

The article analyses public confession of sins according to Tertullian (160-225 CE) as an emotionally and socially costly signal of commitment to a religious group, early 3rd century Christianity in Carthage. What group dynamic functions did the ritual have and why did people accept undergoing the shame of public confession of sins? 



torsdag 9 november 2017

SBL Annual Meeting in Boston

Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Boston is coming up 18-21 November and we will be there.

Rikard Roitto will present a paper on Moral Repair in a session on Mind, Society, and Religion in the Biblical World, theme: Supercooperators: Costly Signaling Theory and Its Applications to Biblical Studies. Richard Sosis, one of the most prominent scholars working with costly signalling, will be key note speaker.

Rikard Roitto's abstract:
Confession of Sins and Penance as Costly Signaling in Early Christianity
In early Christianity, conflict resolution that involved decision about exclusion and reintegration of community members was often ritualized as excommunication, penance, confession of sins and intercession. Mediation of divine forgiveness of sin was central to the rituals that reintegrated transgressing community members and reconciled them with the community. This paper discusses confession and penance as costly signalling of commitment. The concept of "cost" as used in costly signaling theory is evaluated in relation to these rituals.

Other exciting sessions for our project include:

Bible and Emotion [With David Konstan on forgiveness]
11/19/2017 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM

Cognitive Science of Religion Unit
Theme: Cognitive Historiography of Religion: What Is It? What’s the Point? And How Do You Do It?
Monday - 1:00 PM-3:30 PM

Religious Competition in Late Antiquity
E.g. 11/19/2017 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM

We also have some other engagements. Thomas Kazen will preside the session on the Historical Jesus, 11/20/2017 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM. Rikard Roitto will present "The Embodied Experience of the Early Christian Symposium and Paul's Language of Salvation and Justification" in the session on Biblical Exegesis from Eastern Orthodox Perspectives, 11/20/2017 4:00 PM to 6:45 PM.



onsdag 1 november 2017

Welcome to our blog!

We are very happy to announce that we have begun our research project on moral repair in antiquity. As the project progresses, we will share short summaries of our results here. Information about the project can be found in the menu.

Thomas Kazen and Rikard Roitto, Stockholm School of Theology

Article: 'Enduring Shame as Costly Signalling: The Case of Public Confession of Sin According to Tertullian'

Rikard Roitto's article 'Enduring Shame as Costly Signalling: The Case of Public Confession of Sin According to Tertullian' has ...