Kevin Madigan
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195322743
- eISBN:
- 9780199785407
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195322743.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Theologians have always struggled to understand how humanity and divinity coexisted in the person of Christ. Proponents of the Arian heresy, which held that Jesus could not have been fully divine, ...
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Theologians have always struggled to understand how humanity and divinity coexisted in the person of Christ. Proponents of the Arian heresy, which held that Jesus could not have been fully divine, found significant scriptural evidence of their position. The defenders of orthodoxy, such as Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose of Milan, Jerome, and Augustine, believed that these biblical passages could be reconciled with Christ's divinity. Medieval theologians such as Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventure, also grappled with these texts when confronting the rising threat of Arian heresy. They too faced the need to preserve Jesus' authentic humanity and to describe a mode of experiencing the passions that cast no doubt upon the perfect divinity of the Incarnate Word. However, they also confronted an additional obstacle. The medieval theologians had inherited from the Greek and Latin fathers a body of opinion on the passages in question, which by this time had achieved normative cultural status in the Christian tradition. However, the Greek and Latin fathers wrote in a polemical situation, responding to the threat to orthodoxy posed by the Arians. As a consequence, they sometimes found themselves driven to extreme and sometimes contradictory statements. These statements seemed to their medieval successors either to compromise the true divinity of Christ, his true humanity, or the possibility that the divine and human were in communication with or metaphysically linked to one another. As a result, medieval theologians also needed to demonstrate how two equally authoritative but apparently contradictory statements could be reconciled. This book examines the arguments that resulted from these dual pressures and finds that, under the guise of unchanging assimilation and transmission of a unanimous tradition, there were in fact many fissures and discontinuities between the two bodies of thought, ancient and medieval. Rather than organic change or development, the book finds radical change, trial, novelty, and even heterodoxy.Less
Theologians have always struggled to understand how humanity and divinity coexisted in the person of Christ. Proponents of the Arian heresy, which held that Jesus could not have been fully divine, found significant scriptural evidence of their position. The defenders of orthodoxy, such as Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose of Milan, Jerome, and Augustine, believed that these biblical passages could be reconciled with Christ's divinity. Medieval theologians such as Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventure, also grappled with these texts when confronting the rising threat of Arian heresy. They too faced the need to preserve Jesus' authentic humanity and to describe a mode of experiencing the passions that cast no doubt upon the perfect divinity of the Incarnate Word. However, they also confronted an additional obstacle. The medieval theologians had inherited from the Greek and Latin fathers a body of opinion on the passages in question, which by this time had achieved normative cultural status in the Christian tradition. However, the Greek and Latin fathers wrote in a polemical situation, responding to the threat to orthodoxy posed by the Arians. As a consequence, they sometimes found themselves driven to extreme and sometimes contradictory statements. These statements seemed to their medieval successors either to compromise the true divinity of Christ, his true humanity, or the possibility that the divine and human were in communication with or metaphysically linked to one another. As a result, medieval theologians also needed to demonstrate how two equally authoritative but apparently contradictory statements could be reconciled. This book examines the arguments that resulted from these dual pressures and finds that, under the guise of unchanging assimilation and transmission of a unanimous tradition, there were in fact many fissures and discontinuities between the two bodies of thought, ancient and medieval. Rather than organic change or development, the book finds radical change, trial, novelty, and even heterodoxy.
Adiel Schremer
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195383775
- eISBN:
- 9780199777280
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195383775.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
This book seeks to reconstruct the earliest rabbinic discourse of minut (frequently understood as the Hebrew equivalent of the Christian term “heresy”), and to reassess the place that early ...
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This book seeks to reconstruct the earliest rabbinic discourse of minut (frequently understood as the Hebrew equivalent of the Christian term “heresy”), and to reassess the place that early Christianity occupied in that discourse. It suggests that the emergence of the rabbinic discourse of religious identity was a response to an identity crisis of a post-traumatic society, shattered by the powerful Roman empire. In order to re-affirm its values and distinct Jewish identity Palestinian rabbinic society developed a discourse of “heresy,” in which its religious boundaries were re-established by the labeling of some Jews as minim, and their placement beyond the pale. That discourse emphasized notions of social and communal solidarity and belonging, much more than a strictly defined concept of “correct belief,” and minim, accordingly, were Jews who's fault was seen in their separation from the rest of the Jewish community. The place that Christianity occupied in that discourse was relatively small, and the early Christians, who only gradually were introduced into the category of minim and became to be considered as such, were not its main target. Throughout Late Antiquity, the “significant other” for Palestinian Rabbis remained the Roman Empire, and the religious challenge with which they were mostly occupied was the Empire's power and the challenge it posed to the belief in God's power and His divinity.Less
This book seeks to reconstruct the earliest rabbinic discourse of minut (frequently understood as the Hebrew equivalent of the Christian term “heresy”), and to reassess the place that early Christianity occupied in that discourse. It suggests that the emergence of the rabbinic discourse of religious identity was a response to an identity crisis of a post-traumatic society, shattered by the powerful Roman empire. In order to re-affirm its values and distinct Jewish identity Palestinian rabbinic society developed a discourse of “heresy,” in which its religious boundaries were re-established by the labeling of some Jews as minim, and their placement beyond the pale. That discourse emphasized notions of social and communal solidarity and belonging, much more than a strictly defined concept of “correct belief,” and minim, accordingly, were Jews who's fault was seen in their separation from the rest of the Jewish community. The place that Christianity occupied in that discourse was relatively small, and the early Christians, who only gradually were introduced into the category of minim and became to be considered as such, were not its main target. Throughout Late Antiquity, the “significant other” for Palestinian Rabbis remained the Roman Empire, and the religious challenge with which they were mostly occupied was the Empire's power and the challenge it posed to the belief in God's power and His divinity.
Maurice Wiles
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199245918
- eISBN:
- 9780191600814
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199245916.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Arianism is a fourth‐century heresy, which affirmed Christ to be divine, but not in the same full sense in which God the Father is divine. Traditional Trinitarianism, with its classical expression in ...
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Arianism is a fourth‐century heresy, which affirmed Christ to be divine, but not in the same full sense in which God the Father is divine. Traditional Trinitarianism, with its classical expression in the Nicene Creed, emerged out of controversy with Arianism and defined Christ as being of one substance with the Father. The overall aim of the book is to trace when and where beliefs of an Arian nature have recurred in the subsequent history of Christianity. It begins with an account of the main findings of recent scholarship on fourth‐century Arianism, which involve substantial revision of the traditional picture of the faithful orthodox defending sacred truth against the evil heretics. It goes on to provide survey accounts of Gothic Christianity, of references to Arianism in the Middle Ages, and of the resurgence of Arian‐type beliefs in the continental Reformation. There is a major concentration on eighteenth‐century Britain, where many leading intellectual figures favoured a view of the Trinity close to that of early Arianism. In particular, there are detailed studies of the theological beliefs of Isaac Newton, William Whiston, and Samuel Clarke. The collapse of these views (and the similar views of many leading heterodox dissenters) into Unitarianism is traced out, and reasons for that development offered. The final chapter looks at the development of the historical study of Arianism in Britain from John Henry Newman to Rowan Williams, with special regard for the relation between the scholars’ faith and scholarly judgement. Finally a brief epilogue asks about the implication of this historical study for contemporary Trinitarian faith.Less
Arianism is a fourth‐century heresy, which affirmed Christ to be divine, but not in the same full sense in which God the Father is divine. Traditional Trinitarianism, with its classical expression in the Nicene Creed, emerged out of controversy with Arianism and defined Christ as being of one substance with the Father. The overall aim of the book is to trace when and where beliefs of an Arian nature have recurred in the subsequent history of Christianity. It begins with an account of the main findings of recent scholarship on fourth‐century Arianism, which involve substantial revision of the traditional picture of the faithful orthodox defending sacred truth against the evil heretics. It goes on to provide survey accounts of Gothic Christianity, of references to Arianism in the Middle Ages, and of the resurgence of Arian‐type beliefs in the continental Reformation. There is a major concentration on eighteenth‐century Britain, where many leading intellectual figures favoured a view of the Trinity close to that of early Arianism. In particular, there are detailed studies of the theological beliefs of Isaac Newton, William Whiston, and Samuel Clarke. The collapse of these views (and the similar views of many leading heterodox dissenters) into Unitarianism is traced out, and reasons for that development offered. The final chapter looks at the development of the historical study of Arianism in Britain from John Henry Newman to Rowan Williams, with special regard for the relation between the scholars’ faith and scholarly judgement. Finally a brief epilogue asks about the implication of this historical study for contemporary Trinitarian faith.
Caroline Humfress
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198208419
- eISBN:
- 9780191716966
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208419.003.011
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This concluding chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. In late antiquity, practitioners of forensic rhetoric were trained in how to handle general legal principles and ...
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This concluding chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. In late antiquity, practitioners of forensic rhetoric were trained in how to handle general legal principles and imperial constitutions. In other words, late Roman rhetorical schools, in both the East and the West, taught their pupils how to handle imperial legislation pragmatically, as a resource for influencing the outcome of disputes, rather than a canon for deciding them. The duty of the late Roman advocate, and indeed the iurisperitus employed in private cases, lay in exploiting the dialectic between any relevant ‘normative’ rule and its concrete application, in favour of their client's case. Thus, within the technical branch of ancient rhetoric, ‘laws’ were already held to exist within a domain of rhetorical argumentation. What emerges from this perspective is not the ‘intellectual inferiority’ of late Roman law, but the creativity and ingenuity of late Roman forensic practitioners.Less
This concluding chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. In late antiquity, practitioners of forensic rhetoric were trained in how to handle general legal principles and imperial constitutions. In other words, late Roman rhetorical schools, in both the East and the West, taught their pupils how to handle imperial legislation pragmatically, as a resource for influencing the outcome of disputes, rather than a canon for deciding them. The duty of the late Roman advocate, and indeed the iurisperitus employed in private cases, lay in exploiting the dialectic between any relevant ‘normative’ rule and its concrete application, in favour of their client's case. Thus, within the technical branch of ancient rhetoric, ‘laws’ were already held to exist within a domain of rhetorical argumentation. What emerges from this perspective is not the ‘intellectual inferiority’ of late Roman law, but the creativity and ingenuity of late Roman forensic practitioners.
Alexandra da Costa
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199653560
- eISBN:
- 9780191742026
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653560.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This book investigates how Syon Abbey responded to the religious turbulence of the 1520s and 1530s. It examines the eleven books three brothers — William Bonde, John Fewterer, and Richard Whitford — ...
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This book investigates how Syon Abbey responded to the religious turbulence of the 1520s and 1530s. It examines the eleven books three brothers — William Bonde, John Fewterer, and Richard Whitford — had printed during this period and argues that the Bridgettines used vernacular printing to engage with religious and political developments that threatened their understanding of orthodox faith. Through these works — and their some twenty-six editions — the Abbey presented itself as part of the vanguard of the Church, fighting heterodoxy with a three-fold commitment to reformed spiritual leadership, vernacular theology and the spiritual education of the laity. It used its printed books to augment inferior parochial instruction; bolster orthodox faith and contradict evangelical argument; resist Henry VIII's desire for ecclesiastical supremacy; and defend the monastic way of life. The book has three principal aims. First, to continue the debate about the nature of late medieval Catholicism by directing attention to one community that publicly proclaimed a very specific Catholic identity in the early sixteenth century that was not uncritical of traditional religion. Second, to highlight the dynamic nature of that identity. Although Syon energetically contested its opponents' claims to a ‘Catholic’ identity and insisted on its own ability to rigidly define heresy, it took advantage of the fluidity of religious identity in this period to forge a public image which might bolster lay faith in traditional religion. This identity was in continuous dialogue with evangelicalism and far from static. Third, to emphasise the importance and dynamism of conservative vernacular theology in this period: it's capacity to recognize, and engage with, the lay desire for spiritual self-determination, while responding robustly to threats to traditional religion. Less
This book investigates how Syon Abbey responded to the religious turbulence of the 1520s and 1530s. It examines the eleven books three brothers — William Bonde, John Fewterer, and Richard Whitford — had printed during this period and argues that the Bridgettines used vernacular printing to engage with religious and political developments that threatened their understanding of orthodox faith. Through these works — and their some twenty-six editions — the Abbey presented itself as part of the vanguard of the Church, fighting heterodoxy with a three-fold commitment to reformed spiritual leadership, vernacular theology and the spiritual education of the laity. It used its printed books to augment inferior parochial instruction; bolster orthodox faith and contradict evangelical argument; resist Henry VIII's desire for ecclesiastical supremacy; and defend the monastic way of life. The book has three principal aims. First, to continue the debate about the nature of late medieval Catholicism by directing attention to one community that publicly proclaimed a very specific Catholic identity in the early sixteenth century that was not uncritical of traditional religion. Second, to highlight the dynamic nature of that identity. Although Syon energetically contested its opponents' claims to a ‘Catholic’ identity and insisted on its own ability to rigidly define heresy, it took advantage of the fluidity of religious identity in this period to forge a public image which might bolster lay faith in traditional religion. This identity was in continuous dialogue with evangelicalism and far from static. Third, to emphasise the importance and dynamism of conservative vernacular theology in this period: it's capacity to recognize, and engage with, the lay desire for spiritual self-determination, while responding robustly to threats to traditional religion.
Peter Schäfer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153902
- eISBN:
- 9781400842285
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153902.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a ...
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In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a profound influence on rabbinic Judaism, which was itself just emerging and, like Christianity, trying to shape its own identity. This book reveals the crucial ways in which various Jewish heresies, including Christianity, affected the development of rabbinic Judaism. The book even shows that some of the ideas that the rabbis appropriated from Christianity were actually reappropriated Jewish ideas. The result is a demonstration of the deep mutual influence between the sister religions, one that calls into question hard and fast distinctions between orthodoxy and heresy, and even Judaism and Christianity, during the first centuries CE.Less
In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a profound influence on rabbinic Judaism, which was itself just emerging and, like Christianity, trying to shape its own identity. This book reveals the crucial ways in which various Jewish heresies, including Christianity, affected the development of rabbinic Judaism. The book even shows that some of the ideas that the rabbis appropriated from Christianity were actually reappropriated Jewish ideas. The result is a demonstration of the deep mutual influence between the sister religions, one that calls into question hard and fast distinctions between orthodoxy and heresy, and even Judaism and Christianity, during the first centuries CE.
David G. Hunter
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279784
- eISBN:
- 9780191707391
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279784.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
In the later years of the fourth century the monk Jovinian was condemned at Rome and Milan for teaching that all baptized Christians were equal in God's sight and that all would receive an equal ...
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In the later years of the fourth century the monk Jovinian was condemned at Rome and Milan for teaching that all baptized Christians were equal in God's sight and that all would receive an equal reward in heaven regardless of ascetic merit. This book is the first study in English devoted to Jovinian and the controversy sparked by his teaching. In chapter 1 I offer a reconstruction of Jovinian's teaching, uncovering its strong anti‐heretical emphases, exposing its biblical foundations, and relating it to fourth‐century baptismal practice. Subsequent chapters place Jovinian in a variety of contexts: the rise of a Christian aristocracy in the fourth century (chapter 2); the development of an anti‐heretical tradition in the first three centuries (chapter 3); the proliferation of this heresiological discourse in the fourth century (chapter 4); and the history of Marian theology, especially on the matter of Mary's perpetual virginity (chapter 5). In the final two chapters I distinguish the different approaches to marriage, celibacy, and clerical life evinced by Jovinian's opponents (chapter 6), and highlight the ways in which one of these opponents, Jerome, became the object of criticism and accusations of heresy. If there is a single conclusion to be drawn from this study, it is that Jovinian stood much closer to the mainstream of the Christian tradition than previous critics (including his ancient opponents) allowed.Less
In the later years of the fourth century the monk Jovinian was condemned at Rome and Milan for teaching that all baptized Christians were equal in God's sight and that all would receive an equal reward in heaven regardless of ascetic merit. This book is the first study in English devoted to Jovinian and the controversy sparked by his teaching. In chapter 1 I offer a reconstruction of Jovinian's teaching, uncovering its strong anti‐heretical emphases, exposing its biblical foundations, and relating it to fourth‐century baptismal practice. Subsequent chapters place Jovinian in a variety of contexts: the rise of a Christian aristocracy in the fourth century (chapter 2); the development of an anti‐heretical tradition in the first three centuries (chapter 3); the proliferation of this heresiological discourse in the fourth century (chapter 4); and the history of Marian theology, especially on the matter of Mary's perpetual virginity (chapter 5). In the final two chapters I distinguish the different approaches to marriage, celibacy, and clerical life evinced by Jovinian's opponents (chapter 6), and highlight the ways in which one of these opponents, Jerome, became the object of criticism and accusations of heresy. If there is a single conclusion to be drawn from this study, it is that Jovinian stood much closer to the mainstream of the Christian tradition than previous critics (including his ancient opponents) allowed.
Raymond F. Bulman and Frederick J. Parrella (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195178067
- eISBN:
- 9780199784905
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195178068.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church was held in the city of Trent from 1545 to 1563. Its main object was the definitive determination of the doctrines of the Church in answer to ...
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The 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church was held in the city of Trent from 1545 to 1563. Its main object was the definitive determination of the doctrines of the Church in answer to the Protestant heresies. A second object was the execution of a thorough reform of the inner life of the Church by removing numerous abuses that had developed. The result was an all-embracing system of theology, ethics, Christian behavior, religious practice, liturgy, organization, and Roman centralization. The second Vatican Council was convened by Pope John XXIII between 1962 and 1965. It marked a fundamental shift towards the modern Church, and many of the rules and practices established in the 16th century at Trent collapsed and were replaced. Among these were rigorous seminary training for priests, the practice of frequent confessions, fostering of Marian devotion, emphasis on the indissolubility of marriage, restrictions on lay ministry, and many others. In this book, a team of Catholic scholars offers a close examination of the full nature and scope of these changes. Each contributor offers an impartial investigation of a particular issue. Included are chapters on such topics as scripture and tradition, priestly formation, women, popular devotion, canon law, church music, marriage, and the universal catechism.Less
The 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church was held in the city of Trent from 1545 to 1563. Its main object was the definitive determination of the doctrines of the Church in answer to the Protestant heresies. A second object was the execution of a thorough reform of the inner life of the Church by removing numerous abuses that had developed. The result was an all-embracing system of theology, ethics, Christian behavior, religious practice, liturgy, organization, and Roman centralization. The second Vatican Council was convened by Pope John XXIII between 1962 and 1965. It marked a fundamental shift towards the modern Church, and many of the rules and practices established in the 16th century at Trent collapsed and were replaced. Among these were rigorous seminary training for priests, the practice of frequent confessions, fostering of Marian devotion, emphasis on the indissolubility of marriage, restrictions on lay ministry, and many others. In this book, a team of Catholic scholars offers a close examination of the full nature and scope of these changes. Each contributor offers an impartial investigation of a particular issue. Included are chapters on such topics as scripture and tradition, priestly formation, women, popular devotion, canon law, church music, marriage, and the universal catechism.
Melchisedec TÖrÖnen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296118
- eISBN:
- 9780191712258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296118.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
An exposition of Maximus' understanding of the Trinity. The Trinity is a Triad in Monad and a Monad in Triad. The Triad-in-Monad is at once both united and distinguished and there is no confusion or ...
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An exposition of Maximus' understanding of the Trinity. The Trinity is a Triad in Monad and a Monad in Triad. The Triad-in-Monad is at once both united and distinguished and there is no confusion or separation in it. A balance between essence and hypostasis is at the heart of this doctrine.Less
An exposition of Maximus' understanding of the Trinity. The Trinity is a Triad in Monad and a Monad in Triad. The Triad-in-Monad is at once both united and distinguished and there is no confusion or separation in it. A balance between essence and hypostasis is at the heart of this doctrine.
A. D. Nuttall
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184621
- eISBN:
- 9780191674327
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184621.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry, Drama
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of how the early 20th century saw itself, in contrast with the 19th, as ‘life-affirming’ (which tended to mean ‘sexuality-affirming’). It then ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of how the early 20th century saw itself, in contrast with the 19th, as ‘life-affirming’ (which tended to mean ‘sexuality-affirming’). It then argues that although Blake was discovered as a notable precursor of this liberation, his thought was derived from previously existing matter. The libertine ideology was not dominant, indeed, before the Romantics, but it existed. The tradition can be traced back, perhaps to the time of Christ and beyond. The religious tone of Blake and Lawrence should alert us to the possibility of a haeresis perennis, a perennial heresy. To pursue this ‘explanatory heresy’ is, however, to encounter a considerable paradox. At the centre of this paradox, having the power in some degree to resolve it, is an alternative picture of the Trinity, in which the Father is a tyrant, not complemented but opposed by the Son.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of how the early 20th century saw itself, in contrast with the 19th, as ‘life-affirming’ (which tended to mean ‘sexuality-affirming’). It then argues that although Blake was discovered as a notable precursor of this liberation, his thought was derived from previously existing matter. The libertine ideology was not dominant, indeed, before the Romantics, but it existed. The tradition can be traced back, perhaps to the time of Christ and beyond. The religious tone of Blake and Lawrence should alert us to the possibility of a haeresis perennis, a perennial heresy. To pursue this ‘explanatory heresy’ is, however, to encounter a considerable paradox. At the centre of this paradox, having the power in some degree to resolve it, is an alternative picture of the Trinity, in which the Father is a tyrant, not complemented but opposed by the Son.
Carol Lansing
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195149807
- eISBN:
- 9780199849079
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195149807.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
Catharism was a popular medieval heresy based on the belief that the creation of humankind was a disaster in which angelic spirits were trapped in matter by the devil. Their only goal was to escape ...
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Catharism was a popular medieval heresy based on the belief that the creation of humankind was a disaster in which angelic spirits were trapped in matter by the devil. Their only goal was to escape the body through purification. Cathars denied any value to material life, including the human body, baptism, and the Eucharist, even marriage and childbirth. What could explain the long popularity of such a bleak faith in the towns of southern France and Italy? This book explores the place of Cathar heresy in the life of the medieval Italian town of Orvieto. Based on extensive archival research, it details the social makeup of the Cathar community and argues that the heresy was central to the social and political changes of the 13th century. The late 13th-century repression of Catharism by a local inquisition was part of a larger redefinition of civic and ecclesiastical authority. The book shows that the faith attracted not an alienated older nobility but artisans, merchants, popular political leaders, and indeed circles of women in Orvieto, as well as in Florence and Bologna. Cathar beliefs were not so much a pessimistic anomaly as a part of a larger climate of religious doubt. The teachings on the body and the practice of Cathar holy persons addressed questions of sexual difference and the structure of authority that were key elements of medieval Italian life. The pure lives of the Cathar holy people, both male and female, demonstrated a human capacity for self-restraint.Less
Catharism was a popular medieval heresy based on the belief that the creation of humankind was a disaster in which angelic spirits were trapped in matter by the devil. Their only goal was to escape the body through purification. Cathars denied any value to material life, including the human body, baptism, and the Eucharist, even marriage and childbirth. What could explain the long popularity of such a bleak faith in the towns of southern France and Italy? This book explores the place of Cathar heresy in the life of the medieval Italian town of Orvieto. Based on extensive archival research, it details the social makeup of the Cathar community and argues that the heresy was central to the social and political changes of the 13th century. The late 13th-century repression of Catharism by a local inquisition was part of a larger redefinition of civic and ecclesiastical authority. The book shows that the faith attracted not an alienated older nobility but artisans, merchants, popular political leaders, and indeed circles of women in Orvieto, as well as in Florence and Bologna. Cathar beliefs were not so much a pessimistic anomaly as a part of a larger climate of religious doubt. The teachings on the body and the practice of Cathar holy persons addressed questions of sexual difference and the structure of authority that were key elements of medieval Italian life. The pure lives of the Cathar holy people, both male and female, demonstrated a human capacity for self-restraint.
Crawford Gribben
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195325317
- eISBN:
- 9780199785605
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195325317.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter documents Irish Cromwellian debates about the ecclesiastical role of women. Preachers and theologians disagreed as to the extent to which their women members could take part in public ...
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This chapter documents Irish Cromwellian debates about the ecclesiastical role of women. Preachers and theologians disagreed as to the extent to which their women members could take part in public worship. Some insisted on their total silence, while others were prepared to allow women to speak in subject to the church. Other women rejected the denominations for the alternative of prophetic individualism. This debate is documented through its impact on Elizabeth Avery, whose apparent conservative drift from the notorious heresy of the Seekers to the orthodox Puritanism of the Independents was indicative of larger trends in the period.Less
This chapter documents Irish Cromwellian debates about the ecclesiastical role of women. Preachers and theologians disagreed as to the extent to which their women members could take part in public worship. Some insisted on their total silence, while others were prepared to allow women to speak in subject to the church. Other women rejected the denominations for the alternative of prophetic individualism. This debate is documented through its impact on Elizabeth Avery, whose apparent conservative drift from the notorious heresy of the Seekers to the orthodox Puritanism of the Independents was indicative of larger trends in the period.
David G. Hunter
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279784
- eISBN:
- 9780191707391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279784.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The main outlines of the teaching of Jovinian can be reconstructed from the reports of Siricius, Ambrose, and Jerome. Condemned at Rome and Milan in spring of 393, Jovinian acquired a considerable ...
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The main outlines of the teaching of Jovinian can be reconstructed from the reports of Siricius, Ambrose, and Jerome. Condemned at Rome and Milan in spring of 393, Jovinian acquired a considerable following by denying that celibate Christians were, ipso facto, superior to married Christians. He also appears to have accused his opponents of heresy, especially ‘Manichaeism’. For example, he charged that Ambrose was guilty of heresy for teaching that Mary the mother of Jesus remained physically intact in the process of giving birth (virginitas in partu). Jovinian stressed the power of baptism to overcome evil and to guarantee salvation for all Christians.Less
The main outlines of the teaching of Jovinian can be reconstructed from the reports of Siricius, Ambrose, and Jerome. Condemned at Rome and Milan in spring of 393, Jovinian acquired a considerable following by denying that celibate Christians were, ipso facto, superior to married Christians. He also appears to have accused his opponents of heresy, especially ‘Manichaeism’. For example, he charged that Ambrose was guilty of heresy for teaching that Mary the mother of Jesus remained physically intact in the process of giving birth (virginitas in partu). Jovinian stressed the power of baptism to overcome evil and to guarantee salvation for all Christians.
Terryl C. Givens
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195167115
- eISBN:
- 9780199785599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167115.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Mormons believe God was once a man, and humans may become gods (theosis). God is embodied, sexuality is divinized, and the mundane, the quotidian, the earthly, is made celestial. Sacred distance ...
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Mormons believe God was once a man, and humans may become gods (theosis). God is embodied, sexuality is divinized, and the mundane, the quotidian, the earthly, is made celestial. Sacred distance collapses, and all things are spiritual. The result is a tension bordering on blasphemy or heresy.Less
Mormons believe God was once a man, and humans may become gods (theosis). God is embodied, sexuality is divinized, and the mundane, the quotidian, the earthly, is made celestial. Sacred distance collapses, and all things are spiritual. The result is a tension bordering on blasphemy or heresy.
Susan J. Palmer and David G. Bromley
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177299
- eISBN:
- 9780199785537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177299.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter argues that myth and ritual in NRMs are oppositional in nature, challenging the status quo with “deliberate heresies”. Examples from the Rajneesh, The Family, the Raelians, ...
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This chapter argues that myth and ritual in NRMs are oppositional in nature, challenging the status quo with “deliberate heresies”. Examples from the Rajneesh, The Family, the Raelians, Unificationism, and others illustrate the spontaneous, improvisational “concocted” quality of NRM myths and rituals since their founder-prophets are myth-makers. The research on myth and ritual conducted by scholars in new religious studies is surveyed, and the various theoretical and disciplinary approaches to understanding the meaning and function of these two forms of religious expression in established traditions are outlined. Finally, practical teaching exercises designed to help students research NRMs and understand the qualities and function of myth and ritual are proposed.Less
This chapter argues that myth and ritual in NRMs are oppositional in nature, challenging the status quo with “deliberate heresies”. Examples from the Rajneesh, The Family, the Raelians, Unificationism, and others illustrate the spontaneous, improvisational “concocted” quality of NRM myths and rituals since their founder-prophets are myth-makers. The research on myth and ritual conducted by scholars in new religious studies is surveyed, and the various theoretical and disciplinary approaches to understanding the meaning and function of these two forms of religious expression in established traditions are outlined. Finally, practical teaching exercises designed to help students research NRMs and understand the qualities and function of myth and ritual are proposed.
Erika T. Hermanowicz
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199236350
- eISBN:
- 9780191717062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236350.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter focuses on the use and manipulation of law by Catholic and Donatists clergy. It shows their fundamental disagreements as procedural, not doctrinal. On the Catholic side, the first ...
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This chapter focuses on the use and manipulation of law by Catholic and Donatists clergy. It shows their fundamental disagreements as procedural, not doctrinal. On the Catholic side, the first substantive discussion of heresy and schism in regards to the Donatist situation is by Optatus of Milevis. He argued that the Donatists were schismatics. Schism was a separation from the mother church, engendered by discordant sentiments, bitterness, rivalry, and feuds. The separation was rooted in divisions among men and had nothing to do with theological tenets approved and held by the Church.Less
This chapter focuses on the use and manipulation of law by Catholic and Donatists clergy. It shows their fundamental disagreements as procedural, not doctrinal. On the Catholic side, the first substantive discussion of heresy and schism in regards to the Donatist situation is by Optatus of Milevis. He argued that the Donatists were schismatics. Schism was a separation from the mother church, engendered by discordant sentiments, bitterness, rivalry, and feuds. The separation was rooted in divisions among men and had nothing to do with theological tenets approved and held by the Church.
James Pereiro
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199230297
- eISBN:
- 9780191710650
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199230297.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter explores the role ethos played in the genesis of Newman's theory of development. It begins with an analysis of Wood's theory of doctrinal development, and Newman's and Manning's negative ...
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This chapter explores the role ethos played in the genesis of Newman's theory of development. It begins with an analysis of Wood's theory of doctrinal development, and Newman's and Manning's negative response to it. The chapter tries to trace the intellectual difficulties and tensions Newman faced before his acceptance of doctrinal development, and shows how the concept of ethos contributed to the solution of those objections and to the formulation of his theory.Less
This chapter explores the role ethos played in the genesis of Newman's theory of development. It begins with an analysis of Wood's theory of doctrinal development, and Newman's and Manning's negative response to it. The chapter tries to trace the intellectual difficulties and tensions Newman faced before his acceptance of doctrinal development, and shows how the concept of ethos contributed to the solution of those objections and to the formulation of his theory.
Stephen Hampton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199533367
- eISBN:
- 9780191714764
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533367.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Church History
This chapter traces the dispute surrounding Sherlock's attempt to re-express the doctrine of the Trinity in more contemporary philosophical language. Taking inspiration from the writing of the ...
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This chapter traces the dispute surrounding Sherlock's attempt to re-express the doctrine of the Trinity in more contemporary philosophical language. Taking inspiration from the writing of the Arminian theologians Courcelles and Leclerc, Sherlock proposed the replacement of the traditional scholastic vocabulary with a new conception based on the idea of the Trinity as three infinite minds, each possessed of self-consciousness, but united by their mutual consciousness of each other. The chapter then sets out in detail South's response to Sherlock's writing, his accusation that Sherlock falls into the heresy of tritheism and his defence of the medieval catholic conception of the Trinity. It also shows that the other Anglican Reformed were similarly committed to the traditional expression of Trinitarian orthodoxy.Less
This chapter traces the dispute surrounding Sherlock's attempt to re-express the doctrine of the Trinity in more contemporary philosophical language. Taking inspiration from the writing of the Arminian theologians Courcelles and Leclerc, Sherlock proposed the replacement of the traditional scholastic vocabulary with a new conception based on the idea of the Trinity as three infinite minds, each possessed of self-consciousness, but united by their mutual consciousness of each other. The chapter then sets out in detail South's response to Sherlock's writing, his accusation that Sherlock falls into the heresy of tritheism and his defence of the medieval catholic conception of the Trinity. It also shows that the other Anglican Reformed were similarly committed to the traditional expression of Trinitarian orthodoxy.
J. Patrick Hornbeck II
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199589043
- eISBN:
- 9780191594564
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199589043.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
What is a lollard? Generations of historians and propagandists, bishops and inquisitors, theologians and polemicists have asked this question about the dissenters who began to trouble the English ...
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What is a lollard? Generations of historians and propagandists, bishops and inquisitors, theologians and polemicists have asked this question about the dissenters who began to trouble the English church in the late fourteenth century; indeed, much of the contested historiography of the English Reformation has turned on its answer. This is a book not only about lollards but about the terms and categories that have been used to describe them. It argues that the members of the dissenting communities of fourteenth‐, fifteenth‐, and sixteenth‐century England did not subscribe to a static set of theological ideas but, instead, departed from the consensus of the late medieval church in a host of diverse and evolving ways. The beliefs of individual dissenters were conditioned by a number of social, textual, and cultural factors, including the ideas they discussed with other members of their local communities, the texts to which they had access, and the influence of mainstream religion and spirituality. Careful attention to these dynamics at the local level, as well as to the theological content implicit in Wycliffite texts and ecclesiastical records, can disclose the ways in which dissenting beliefs changed over time and varied from individual to individual and community to community. By undertaking detailed studies of lollard beliefs about salvation, the Eucharist, marriage, the clergy, and the papacy, and by juxtaposing lollards' own texts with the records of their trials, the book seeks to uncover, and where possible to explain, the many divergent strands of lollard belief.Less
What is a lollard? Generations of historians and propagandists, bishops and inquisitors, theologians and polemicists have asked this question about the dissenters who began to trouble the English church in the late fourteenth century; indeed, much of the contested historiography of the English Reformation has turned on its answer. This is a book not only about lollards but about the terms and categories that have been used to describe them. It argues that the members of the dissenting communities of fourteenth‐, fifteenth‐, and sixteenth‐century England did not subscribe to a static set of theological ideas but, instead, departed from the consensus of the late medieval church in a host of diverse and evolving ways. The beliefs of individual dissenters were conditioned by a number of social, textual, and cultural factors, including the ideas they discussed with other members of their local communities, the texts to which they had access, and the influence of mainstream religion and spirituality. Careful attention to these dynamics at the local level, as well as to the theological content implicit in Wycliffite texts and ecclesiastical records, can disclose the ways in which dissenting beliefs changed over time and varied from individual to individual and community to community. By undertaking detailed studies of lollard beliefs about salvation, the Eucharist, marriage, the clergy, and the papacy, and by juxtaposing lollards' own texts with the records of their trials, the book seeks to uncover, and where possible to explain, the many divergent strands of lollard belief.
Geoffrey de Ste. Croix
Michael Whitby and Joseph Streeter (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199278121
- eISBN:
- 9780191707872
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278121.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The volume presents in seven chapters papers on early Christian topics by Geoffrey de Ste. Croix. Three of the chapters include papers which have previously been published and are widely accepted as ...
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The volume presents in seven chapters papers on early Christian topics by Geoffrey de Ste. Croix. Three of the chapters include papers which have previously been published and are widely accepted as classic studies, while the other four now appear in print for the first time – though they have already proved influential as a result of presentation at seminars and circulation in manuscript. The volume's central themes are: martyrdom, the evidence for which Ste. Croix scrutinizes closely in order to reveal the extent to which Christians, through the process of volunteering, were responsible for bouts of persecution; persecution, which extends from the Christian experience as recipients to their role as far more effective agents of the persecution of non-Christians and doctrinal opponents; orthodoxy, the determination of which through Church Councils, especially at the Council of Chalcedon, emerges as the product of calculated imperial intervention; and finally property and slavery, on which a clear divide emerges between the radical message of the Gospels and the actual practice of the early Church. In addition, the editors of the volume contribute essays on the historiographical impact of Ste. Croix's contributions to the study of early Christianity and on his views of toleration in the ancient world.Less
The volume presents in seven chapters papers on early Christian topics by Geoffrey de Ste. Croix. Three of the chapters include papers which have previously been published and are widely accepted as classic studies, while the other four now appear in print for the first time – though they have already proved influential as a result of presentation at seminars and circulation in manuscript. The volume's central themes are: martyrdom, the evidence for which Ste. Croix scrutinizes closely in order to reveal the extent to which Christians, through the process of volunteering, were responsible for bouts of persecution; persecution, which extends from the Christian experience as recipients to their role as far more effective agents of the persecution of non-Christians and doctrinal opponents; orthodoxy, the determination of which through Church Councils, especially at the Council of Chalcedon, emerges as the product of calculated imperial intervention; and finally property and slavery, on which a clear divide emerges between the radical message of the Gospels and the actual practice of the early Church. In addition, the editors of the volume contribute essays on the historiographical impact of Ste. Croix's contributions to the study of early Christianity and on his views of toleration in the ancient world.
