Faith in the miraculous power of relics was one of the most important aspects of their cult, the mark distinguishing it from the earlier care of martyrs’ tombs and, I think, the real source of its success. In this paper I’m going to answer the questions of why, where, and how this phenomenon began. First, I’m going to analyze the evidence from the second half of the fourth century (Hilary of Poitiers, Athanasius and others) in order to fix the chronology of the miraculous. Then I will argue that one of the most important reasons which gave rise to the belief in the power of relics was the observation of real events and behaviors of people gathered in new monumental martyria in the middle of the fourth century.
Robert Wiśniewski earned his PhD at the University of Warsaw in 2002 with a thesis on the role of the devil in early Latin hagiography. He works on late antique Christian religious mentality and practice, although his attention is sometimes attracted by Gallic druids. Robert is currently writing a book on the beginnings of the cult of relics and is involved in a project on Christian divination in Late Antiquity. He is perplexed by the question of how it was possible to be well informed about the future and remain a good Christian.
Related works by Robert Wiśniewski:
- “Lucilla and the Bone. Remarks on an Early Testimony to the Cult of Relics.” Journal of Late Antiquity 4 (2011), 157-161
- „Początki dzielenia relikwii świętych w chrześcijaństwie antycznym: Czy Grecy są winni?” [Dividing relics. Are the Greeks guilty?] in: Timai: Studia poświęcone profesorowi Włodzimierzowi Lengauerowi przez uczniow i młodszych kolegów z okazji Jego 60. urodzin, red. A. Wolicki. Warszawa 2009, 168-185
- „I los padł na Macieja…”. Kilka uwag o późnoantycznym stosunku do losów i pewnym epizodzie z początków Kościoła [“And the Lot Fell on Matthew...”. Some Remarks on the Late Antique Attitude to Drawing Lots and an Episode of the Early Beginnings of the Church], U Schyłku starożytności. Studia źródłoznawcze 10 (2011), 229-236.
- Początki kultu relikwii na Zachodzie [The Beginnings of the Cult of Relics in the West. A Sourcebook], Warsaw, 2011.
- “Looking for Dreams and Talking with Martyrs. Internal Roots of the Christian Incubation.” [submitted to Studia Patristica, forthcoming]