The symposium focuses on a phenomenon that is attested in several forms for ancient Christianity, but has not yet been examined in detail: the stigmata on body and soul. The starting point is the term “stigma,” which comes from ancient Greek (στίγμα) and there – unlike in contemporary English or German – (primarily) refers to something visible on the skin in a concrete sense. The exact meaning of “stigma,” however, is disputed. Is it a tattoo or rather a brand (e.g. to mark the ownership of slaves), a wound, or a scar?
