Discuss the ways in which Christianity and its culture influenced the literature of Late Antiquity?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. The works by authors such as Jerome, Augustine, and Ambrose all focused on religious and moral contemplation of the world, and helped to further the investigation of the spiritual world from an individual perspective. By writing sermons, letters, theological debates, and commentaries on scripture, Christian intellectuals advanced their philosophies and developed a deeper understanding of the Christians in the world. Of particular note was their engagement with the pre-existing literature of Greece and Rome, and to what extent it should be considered as part of a traditional education. Augustine and Ambrose rejected the exclusion of Greek and Latin literature, arguing that the emphasis on grammar, rhetoric, debate, and philosophy could further advance church standing. They debated the ideas of Neoplatonism, for example, and found the similarities acceptable. Others, such as Augustine, in his City of God, argued that the classical view of history was flawed and was not cyclical, but linear and would culminate with the arrival of the Messiah. Most importantly, because monasteries and churches became repositories of manuscripts and codices (sing codex), pre-Christian literature was preserved through history.