The quantitative analysis in Chapter 5 demonstrates a number of important differences in the factors most strongly influencing a senator’s decision to form a reputation as a disadvantaged-group advocate relative to a member of the House. Chief among these distinctions is the diminished impact of the size of a disadvantaged group within the state. Senators are not likely to choose to build a reputation as a group advocate for any but the groups considered to be the most highly deserving of government assistance. This chapter also introduces and tests three additional hypotheses reflecting the unique institutional characteristics of the Senate, finding that the larger the number of group advocates present within a given Congress, the more likely it is that another senator will also be willing to incorporate advocacy on behalf of that group into their own reputation.

Chapter 2 situates this project in the broader congressional representation literature and highlights the contributions that this project offers: a focus on legislative reputation, meaning the extent to which members have cultivated an image for working on behalf of particular groups, a systematic study of legislators’ decisions to cultivate reputations for working on behalf of disadvantaged groups as a whole, and an analysis shedding light on why some members choose to represent the disadvantaged, rather than simply focusing on how many do not. It offers a definition of what it means to be a disadvantaged group and presents a new categorization scheme based on the extent to which the group is generally perceived to be deserving of government assistance. This chapter introduces the advocacy window as the centerpiece of a new theory of representation explaining which members of Congress are likely to craft a reputation for representing a disadvantaged group, and why. The advocacy window showcases the amount of leeway members have in deciding what level of representation to offer a given disadvantaged group, after taking into account group affect and group size.

This chapter turns to early Byzantine homiletics, beginning with the works of early fifth-century preachers including Hesychios of Jerusalem, Attikos, and Proklos of Constantinople. Problems with the dating and attribution of many of the earliest Marian hymns persist; this chapter offers new approaches to this subject. The preoccupation of fifth-century homilists remained Christological and we find few, if any, references to Mary’s intercessory power in the surviving sermons. However, the situation begins to change in the sixth century, with the homilies of (ps-)Basil of Seleucia, Severos of Antioch and Abraham of Ephesus displaying more interest in Mary’s human aspect and intercessory role between humanity and God. The sixth century is thus a turning point, as scholars have already remarked; with the addition of Marian feasts to the calendar during this period, preachers began to focus increasingly on the Virgin’s importance as a holy figure in her own right.

This Introduction lays the theoretical and methodological foundation for this work through seven theses, each of which explores how Pentecostals shape the Nigerian social context through continuous actions of their faith, the instability of the social order and the systems of meaning they seek to inscribe, the social implications of their will to power, and the various understanding of power. Through an engagement with performance studies scholars and Pentecostal studies, this chapter establishes the historical and social contexts that have driven the Pentecostal desire for power.

I return to hymnography in this chapter, looking at the development of a full calendar of Marian praise between about 600 and 1000 CE. The main source of Marian hymnography is the major feasts, which include the Virgin’s Nativity, Entrance into the Temple, Annunciation, Dormition and others. The festal hymns, which include kontakia, stichera, kanons and various other forms, provide Christological teaching, although intercessory supplication to the Virgin may also play a role in short hymns known as theotokia. It is especially in the weekday services that we find intense supplication to the Theotokos, particularly on Wednesdays and Fridays. Her human lament at the foot of the cross, which was remembered on those days throughout the liturgical year, may symbolise the contrition that was expected of monks and nuns at all times; it also highlights Mary’s human qualities, which came to be understood as models for ascetics to imitate.

Conclusion: The final chapter sums up the findings of the book as a whole, assessing again whether its literary approach to the subject is productive. I also return to the question of gender, suggesting here that Mary embodies the characteristics (or virtues) of both genders to the extent that she becomes a paradoxical figure. I conclude that she appealed to both female and male devotees, since evidence of successful petitions from both genders survives. Finally, I point the way towards future studies that might follow the methodology that is employed in this book. Other literary genres that deal with the Virgin Mary require examination too; these include histories, chronicles, poetry, epistolography, polemical treatises and others.

The festal homilies of the middle Byzantine period are covered in this chapter, following the introduction of major Marian feasts between the sixth and early eighth century. These works provide a combination of Christological teaching, which is often presented by means of typological rather than discursive methods, along with narrative – some of which comes from apocryphal rather than canonical biblical texts. Although the Virgin remained important as the guarantor of Christ’s humanity and divinity in this period, growing interest in her own legendary story and personal holiness is reflected in the festal homilies. The homiletic category called ‘occasional’ meanwhile provides narrative concerning Mary’s intervention in human catastrophes such as the siege of the Avars and Persians on Constantinople in 626 CE. The homiletic genre, as practised by preachers of the middle Byzantine period, thus encompassed a range of didactic and panegyrical purposes.

This chapter covers a large literary category which I call ‘hagiographical’: it includes miracle stories that involve the Virgin Mary, full-length Lives of the Virgin (which began to be produced from the late eighth or early ninth century onward) and two Apocalypses. Many of the texts studied here are composed in a colloquial style that may have appealed to wider audiences in non-liturgical settings. This genre thus contrasts with the liturgical texts that are studied in the first four chapters: according to hagiography, Mary assumes power and agency that goes beyond her theological role in giving birth to Christ. Christians appeal to this female holy figure as one who is able to appeal to Christ and who is willing to help sinners or supplicants who despair of God’s direct favour. Christological teaching persists in these texts, but the emphasis has shifted to Mary’s intercessory role among Christians.

This chapter, Everything Christianity/the Bible Represents is being Attacked on the Internet!”: The Internet and Technologies of Religious Engagement, studies public contestation of power with powerful pastors through a crucial aspect of asserting power: money. This chapter illustrates a revolt against pastors through the critical examination of the aftermath of “The Great Tithe Debate” between online air presenter Ifedayo Olarinde (known as Daddy Freeze), and most of the famous Pentecostal pastors. If the identity of Pentecostals is power, then the rise of modern technology has provided the means for ordinary people on social media to duel with religious authority. Pentecostal pastors’ influence has been frequently studied in Pentecostalism, and one of the focal points of analysis is their ability to build immense financial power through skillful solicitation. With the ubiquity of technology, contenders are rising and threatening pastors’ authority to build financial capital. These contenders stage their own shows demonstrating how they have equally been empowered to tap into the same symbolic instruments that generate power for their leaders. This development troubles not just the Pentecostal pastorate but their followers as well.

This chapter deals with the development of early hymnography (c. 400–600 CE), including the Syriac and Georgian texts that influenced, or witnessed to, the Greek tradition. After an introductory section that deals with the second-century Odes of Solomon and fourth-century hymns of Ephrem the Syrian, the chapter moves on to fifth- and sixth-century Syriac poetry and dialogues, followed by important Greek hymns such as the Akathistos. The chapter concludes with sections on the Akathistos Hymn and on the sixth-century hymnographer Romanos the Melodist, who was responsible for creating a more human, as opposed to symbolic, literary image of the Virgin. Romanos remained influential for both hymnography and homiletics in subsequent centuries, as liturgical writers elaborated the image of the Virgin Mary as human mother and intercessor for their audiences.