The Care of the Self in Early Christian Texts : Palgrave Macmillan : 9783319878614 : 3319878611 : 15 Aug 2018 : This book presents the first three Christian centuries through the lens of what Foucault called ?the care of the self.? This lens reveals a rich variation among early Christ movements by illuminating their practices instead of focusing on what we anachronistically assume to have been their beliefs. A deep analysis of the discourse of martyrdom demonstrates how writers like Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp represented self-care. Deborah Niederer Saxon brings to light an entire spectrum of alternative views represented in newly-discovered texts from Nag Hammadi and elsewhere. This insightful analysis has implications for feminist scholarship and exposes the false binary of thinking in terms of ?orthodoxy? versus ?heresy?/?Gnosticism.?