I would like to thank Lawrence Clopper, Abigail Young, Terry Gunnell,
and Frances Gussenhoven for their very helpful suggestions, sources,
and new directions to pursue relating to my query on Church denial
of Christian burial to classes of public entertainers. Their kindness
and the content and timeliness of their responses were more than I
could have expected.
For those interested, Terry Gunnell's response (sent direct and thus
not previously seen on REED-L) included the following information:
"Honorius Augustodunesis' widely read work 'Elucidarius' states
quite clearly that "joculatores" have no hope of salvation because
'Tota namque intentione ministri sunt Satanae; de ipsis dicitur
"Deum non cognoverunt; quia derisores iniquitatem" ' (Elucidarius,
question 58). As servants of the devil, who apparently practised
the profession first practised by Satan in Eden, it seems quite
natural they would have been denied Christian burial by any reader
of Elucidarius. Clearly these ideas were still very much in vogue
in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries all over Northern Europe...
where histriones/ mimi/ ioculatores/ leikarar etc. seem to have
also been denied any form of equal justice in courts."
Finally, in my search of the ATLA Religion database, I came across a
couple of references which demonstrate a slightly different modern
attitude, as well as perhaps some even earlier prejudice against
actors by some religious leaders worried about "alien Hellenistic
Roman influences". How things change, and how they remain the same!
Richard E. Wentz. "Portrait of an actor: a good actor goes on stage
as a transformed being; acting is a form of religious experience."
_Christian Century_ 97:18-20, January 2-9, 1980
Richard A. Batey. "Jesus and the theatre [Hypokrates = 'actor']."
_New Testament Studies_ 30 no. 4: 563-574, October 1984.
Augustine Stock. "Jesus, hypocrites, and Herodians [Jesus and the
theater]." _Biblical Theology Bulletin_ 16 no. 1: 3-7, January 1986.
Again, my sincere appreciation and thanks.
Tony Amodeo
[log in to unmask]
