ISSN 1661-3317  Smit, Manliness – lectio difficilior 1/2007 – http://www.lectio.unibe.ch 1 Peter-Ben Smit Manliness and the Cross – A Note on the Reception of Aspects of Early Christian Masculinity in Athanasius’ Life of Anthony .............................................................................................................................. Zusammenfassung: In seinem Beitrag ‘Construction of Masculinity in Antiquity and Early Christianity,’ lectio difficilior 2006:2 (http://www.lectio.unibe.ch/06_2/marin_construction.htm), weist Mayordomo Marin zu Recht auf die problematische Beziehung zwischen antiker idealer Männlichkeit und christlicher Identität hin. Christliche Identität ist in dieser Hinsicht deshalb problematisch, weil sie von einem gekreuzigten Erlöser ausgeht. Die Miszelle zeigt auf, wie das Kreuz in der Vita Antonii von Athanasius von Alexandrien noch immer im Rahmen einer Diskussion über Männlichkeit (andreia) eine Rolle spielt, jetzt aber als Merkmal idealer Männlichkeit gilt, die nach dem Muster hellenistischer Ideale beschrieben wird. .............................................................................................................................. 1. Introduction Ideals related to masculinity have developed over the centuries. Early and earliest Christian texts show how Christ believers, such as Paul and John, found themselves in the position that they had to renegotiate the ideal of masculinity in the light of a supremely unmanly crucified savior. This note demonstrates how the controversial concept of a crucified Messiah could be reinterpreted in terms of precisely these ideals in the fourth century Life of Anthony by Athanasius of Alexandria. The part of the Life of Anthony focused on here is striking because it reinterprets precisely the most problematic aspect of early Christian masculinity, namely the cross, in such a way that it becomes the epitome of ideal masculinity. Thus, this note constitutes a short study in the history of reception of New Testament ideals of masculinity. In line with the nature of this contribution, however, it cannot be as exhaustive as the subject would deserve. In order to achieve this, first examples of the way in which New Testament authors deal with the question of masculinity are presented, after this a passage from the Life of Anthony and the way in which masculinity appears in it is analyzed. Based on these two steps general conclusions will form the final part of this note. brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Bern Open Repository and Information System (BORIS)