Doctrinal Diversity: Varieties of Early Christianity

185 Pages·0159.407 MB·English

by  Everett Ferguson

Recent Studies
in Early Christianity
A Collectiono f ScholarlyE ssays
Series Editor
Everett Ferguson
A GanrANDS rnIns
-
I
i
SeriesC ontents Doctrinal Diversity
Varietieso f Early Christianity
l. Christianity and Society
2. Christianity in Relation to Jews, Greeks,a nd Romans
). Norms of Faith and Life
4. Doctrinal Diversity
5. Forms of Devotion
Edited with an introduction bv
6. History, Hope, Human Language,a nd Christian Reality
Everett Ferguson
GanraNoP ususHINGI,N c.
A r"rnrurgnonF THET nvron 6 FuNcIs Gnoup
New Yorkd London
1999
Contents
Introductions copyright @ 1999 Everett Ferguson. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data vll SeriesI ntroduction
ix Volume Introduction
I Unity and Diversityi n the Church of the Fourth Century
Doctrinal diversity : varieties of early Christianity / edited. with AndrewL outh
introductions by Everett Ferguson. l9 Augustine's Idea of God
p. cm. - (Recent studies in early Christianity ; 4) JamesJ . O'Donnell
Includes bibliographical references. 3t "Good for Nothing"? Augustine on Creation
ISBN 0-8I53-)071-5 (alk.p aper) RowanD . Williams
l. Theology, Doctrinal-History-Early church, ca. 10-600. 47 The Cross as Ransom
I. Ferguson,E verett, 1933- II. Series. EugeneT eSelle
BT2'.D625 t999 7l The Seed of Fire: Divine Suffering in the Christology of
27O.1-4c21 99-26)tl Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius of Constantinople
CIP JosephM . Hallman
95 Half a Century of Gnosisforschung - in Retrospect
R. McL.W ilson
106 Prolegomena to the Study of Ancient Gnosticism
BentleyL ayton
t24 Arius in Modern Research
ChrisnpheSr tead
137 Jerome's Polemic Against Priscillian
inhis Letter to Ctesiphon (Lj3, 4l
AlbertoF erreiro
I6l Dilatory Donatists or Procrastinating Catholics:
The Tlial at the Conference of Carthage
MaureenA . Tilley
175 The Atmosphere of Election:
Augustinianism as Common Sense
J. PatouBt uns
t9l Pelagianism and Augustine
GeraldB onner
Printed on acid-free, 250-year-life paper 2ll Augustine and Pelagianism
Manufactured in the United States of America GeraldB onner
FEEHAN MEMORIAL LIBRARV
UNIV. OF ST. MARY OF THE tAK'
vi CoNrrNrs
233 The Ttansmissiono f Sin in the Seed:
A Debate Between Augustine of Hippo and Julian of Eclanum
CarolS cheppard SeriesI ntroduction
243 The Life of Abercius:I ts Significance for Early Syriac Christianity
DavidB undy
258 Eusebiusa nd Syriac Christianity
SebastiaBnr ock
28r The Christology of the Church of the East in the Synods
of the Fifth to Early Seventh Centuries:
Preliminary Considerations and Materials
SebastiaBnr ock
299 Images of Ephraem: The Syrian Holy Man and His Church
SidneyH . Griffith
326 Asceticismi n the Church of Syria: Garland published in 1993 Studiesin Early ChristianityA: Collectioonf ScholarlyE ssaysa, n
The Hermeneutics of Earlv Svrian Monasticism eighteen-volume ser of classica rticleso n the early history of Christianity.T he present
SidneyH . Griffith set of six volumes, RecenSt tudiesin Early Christianity,c ontinues that first seriesb y selecting
3r3 Acknowledgments articlesw ritten during the last decade.T he chronological scope is the same, the first
six centuries of the common era. The arrangement once more is topical but with a
conflation and realignment of topicst o fit the smaller number of volumes. The present
serieso f essaysw ill serve as an important supplement for those who possessth e first
seriesF. or those without the first series,it will introduce key areaso f researcha nd debate
on the early history of Christianity.
The growing academic interest in Christianity during its early centuries, as
noted in the seriesi ntroduction to Studiesin Early Christianityh, as greatly acceierated.
There has been a proliferation of studiesd uring the last decadeo n the subject of
Christianityi n late antiquity. The very popularity of the designation" late antiquity" says
something about the current intellectual climate in which these studies ariie: a shift
from a primary emphasiso n Christianity itsetf to the larger cultural setting of which it
was a part; a shift from doctrinal studiest o the church as a sociali nstitution, and a shift
from concern for orthodoxy to the popular religious attitudes and expressions.
The increaseds tudy of this period finds expressioni n more doctoral students,
record membership in professionalo rganizations,l ike the North American Patristics
Societya nd the Associationi nternationale d'6tudes patristiques,a nd large attendance
at the International Conferenceso n Patristic Studiesi n Oxford (August 16'21' 1999,
marks the thirteenth of these meetings that occur every four years), in addition to
participation in specializedc onlerenceso n Origen, Gregory of Nyssa,A ugustine, and
others.E xpandedl iterary productivity is evidencedb y new journals (TheJ ournalo f Early
ChristianS tudiese, dited by Elizabeth Clark and Everett Ferguson,a continuation of Tre
SecondC entury;Z eitschriftf iir Antikes ChristentumlJournaol f Ancient Christianity,e dited by
H.C. Brennecke and C. Markschies), new reference works (TheE nqtclopediao f Early
Christianig[ New York: Garland],e ditedb y EverettF erguson,f irst edition in 1990,s econd
and greatly expanded edition in 7997, paperbacke dition 1998; TheE nryclopedioaf the
Early Church [New York: Oxford University Pre ss, 19921,E nglish translation ol Dizionario
Patristiceo d i AntichithC ristianee, dited by Angelo Di Berardino), and substantials cholarly
monographs in the field.
vlll Sentrs INrnoDUcrIoN
In some ways the selection of articles for six volumes on a decade of
scholarshipi s more difficult than eighteen volumes on a century: We do not have the
perspectiveo f time to judge what is of enduring worth. Although some of these pieces Volume Introduction
will no doubt become classicst,h e guiding principle in selection has been to poinr to
areast hat are drawing the greatesta ttention. Some subjectsh ave becomev irtually
independent subdisciplinesin the study of religion in late antiquity. This is notably true
of Gnosticism,a lthough the very term is under attack as a proper category.
The six volumes of this collection of scholarly essayst ake up the following
broad topics: (l) the social setting of the early church, with attention to such matters
asw omen, family, friendship,f unerary practicese, ducation,a nd slavery;( 2) the political,
cultural, and religious setting of early Christianity in relation to Romans, Greeks,a nd
Jews; (3) the internal developmento f the church asi t recognizedi ts canon of scriptures,
interpreted those scriptures,d efined its confessiono f faith, and articulated standards
of conduct; (4) the diversity - geographical, doctrinal, discipiinary - that A principal theme characterizingr ecent study of early Christianity is the diversity in
counterbalancedt he efforts to achieve a unified orthodoxy; (5) the many expressions the Christian movement, present from its beginning and continuing even after
of devotion and spirituality that both nourished and manifestedf aith; and (6) the varied orthodoxy was firmly institutionalized.E ven among those who establishedt heir claim
ways in which early Christiansw restled with the limitations of historical existencea nd to represent orthodoxy there were differencesi n the theological interpretation of key
human languagey et voiced their hopes for another and better world. doctrines. One study included in this collection (Louth) addressesth e general theme
Theset opicsr epresentt he emphasesin the modern study of early Christianity: of unity and diversity, and of orthodoxy and heresy,i n the fourth century''
social history and the application of the social sciencest o the understanding of the Then follows a collection of important studies of major doctrines - God,
historical texts, women's concerns and gender issues,C hristians' relations with their {reation, Christ,a tonement.F or the doctrine of God there is chosena n articleo n a major
Jewish and pagan neighbors,v ariety in early Christianity (especiallyf ueled by the Nag christian thinker, Augustine, by someone acknowledged as a major contemporaly
Hammadi texts but not exclusivelys o), types of asceticisml,i terary forms and criticism, Augustine scholar,J .J. O'Donnell. Basict o the Christian world view is the doctrine of
and Christianity'sr elationshipt o late antiquity and the transition to the medievalw orld. crearion, and once more Augustine is the object of study (by R. williams).':The bridge
Some themes long presenti n the study of early Christianity continue to gain attention: berween the transcendent God and human beings is suppiied in Christian thought by
the creedal definition of the faith, the causesa nd effectso f persecution,d ifferent the doctrine of the incarnation of the Word of God.r Christ brought reconcilliation
approachesto the interpretationo f the Bible, forms of worship and spirituality,C hristian berween God and humanity by his death on a cross.E ugene TeSelle,h imself an
morality, and the Christian hope. importanr interpreter of Augustine but here dealingp rimarily with thinkers other than
One person'sju dgment and one small set ol essaysc annot do full justicet o Augustine, looks at the ancient imagery of ransom, now out of favor with most
the rich flowering of studiesi n the field of early Christianity.W e can only point to the theologians,a s a valid contempolary way of describingt he effectso f the atonement.
areaso f emphasisa nd call attention to some significants tudies.T heses tudiesw ill lead On the possibilityo f divine suffering the Hebrew biblical view o{ God clashed
teachersa nd studentsi nto the larger field and, we hope, spark their interesti n pursuing with the usual philosophicalu nderstandingo f deity asi mpassibleT. his subjecth as come
some of these questions and related matters more extensively,t hereby enlarging the to prominence once again in modern theology. and this pelspective has risen to the
number of researchersin a field not only intellectualiy challengingb ut also spiritually surfacei n the study of the early {athers, especiallya dvocatedb y Joseph Hallman. In
significant. the article chosent o be included here, Hallman finds the logicalr igor o{ the theologians
of the Antioch school in refusing to considert he possibilityo { divine suffering and the
guarded openness of the theologians of Alexandria to consider the "paradox of
impassibles uffering" to be signilicant for theil contrasting approachest o the lelation
of the divine and human in Christ; Hallman suggestst hat both viewpoints have
something to contribute to the church today.
Other doctrinal topics o{ recurring interest could not be included in this
volume, but some studies may be noted: How the doctrine of original sin emerged,n
and sin and freedom of the will as related to spirituality.s Eschatologicalt opics are
treated in Volume VI.
As examples of the varieties in eariy Christianity, studies are presented on
Vor-uur INrnoDUcrroN Voruvr InrnoDUcrIoN
topicso f perenniali nterest- Arianism, Donatism,a nd the Augustinian-Pelagianc onflict SyriacC hristianity is chosenf or specialt reatment becauseo f this burgeoning attention,
- and a newcomer of the last fifty years, Gnosticism.D iversity was already evident in so that it servesw ell as an example of the regional and linguistic variety in early
the early history of the church in the differencesb etween Jewish and Gentile believers. Christianity.M oreover. Syriac-speakingC hristianity has importance on the wolld stage
The diversep henomena brought together under the umbrella of "Jewish Christianity" as the source of the considerablee asterne xpansion of Christianity (reaching to China
continue to provoke consideration.6A t one time Gnosticism (the very label Ior which and India) and as the first branch of Christianity to come to grips with Islam, leading
has become probiematicT)w as consideredb y most to be the opposite of Jewish to the phenomenon of an Arabic-speakingC hristianity.te
Christianity,s incei t brought hereticalt eachingsi nto Christianity from the paganw orld. christianity made irs apearancei n syria early, and syriac texts preselve
Now the Jewish element in Gnosticismi s given major consideration.T his volume important source material, but one must be cautious about the use of this material.
includes survey articles on one of the last half-century's major concerns,G nosticism, David Bundy has employed his amazing linguistic competencet o open up many of the
by two of the subject'sm ajor students,R . McL. Wilson (a history of research)Ea nd eastern manifestations of Christianity. In this collection he looks at the Syriac Life of
BentleyL ayton (an introductiont o the phenomenoni tself). Aberciusf,i nding its setting in fourth-century Phrygia and so not a primary source for
Arius has been the subjecto { many studies.T hesea re surveyedb y Christopher early Syriac Christianity. SebastianB rock is at the forefront of making Syriac texts
Stead,w ho has himself contributed in a major way to a clarification of the issuesi n accessiblet o westeln scholals and indeed to members of Syriac-speakingr eligious
the Trinitarian discussionsr elatedt o Arius and his associatesT. he reign of Constantine communities.2oH is two contributions to this volume provide good introductions to the
was the settingf or a major theologicald iscussionin the East- Arianism - and a major hisrory and theology of Syriac Christianity. Aphrahat was the first major Christian writer
ecclesiologicaclo nflict in the West (North Africa) - Donatism. One of the many studies in Syriac whose works sulvive, and his Christology has great interest as a Semitic
Maureen Tilley has devoted to Donatism in North Africa'is included here. counrerpart to the developing Christology of the Greek-speakingc hulch.2r Ephraim,
North Africa, too, was the flash point for the outbreak of the Pelagian however, was Syriac's most prolific and influential author; Sidney Griffith offers a
controversy,w hich came to embroil much of the western church and to touch on magistedal introduction to him. The abundant exegeticalw ork that survivesi n Syriac
significantq uestionso f human nature and salvation.T he two printed lectureso f Gerald supplementst he western exegesisth at is studiedi n Volume III.22S yriacC hristianity had
Bonner are an excellenti ntroduction to the issuesin volved in the conflict. Patout Burns its own distinctive ascetict radition, and notice of this topic here complementsa ttention
explains how Augustinianism could rapidly become the majority view when it given to asceticismi n Volume V.
representeds uch a reversalo f so much earlier Christian thought. Carol Scheppard
studiest he key issue between Augustine and Julian oI Eclanum, who becamet he NOTES
literary standardb earer of Pelagius'sv iewpoint - original sin and its transmissionf rom
tAlongside this may be placed a similar study lor the first three centulies - A.M. Rittel, "'Orthodoxy,'
Adam to all humanity. The Pelagianc ontroversy also raised discussiono f the practice ,Heresy,, and the Unity of the Church in PIe-Constantinian Times,,, studia Patristict 24
of infant baptisma nd the reasonsfo r it.r0 ( I 993) :3I 6-30.
Not representedi n this volume is the study of schismaticm ovements.A mong 2C f. also, N. Joseph Torchia, "The Implications of the Doctrine ot Creatioe x Nihilo in Augustine's
Theology," Studia Patristica) 1 (1997 ):266-7 7-
thesei s Novatianism.rrE speciailyp rominent in recent study is the significanta ttention rBrian E. Daley, "Divine Ttanscendence and Human Transformation: Gregory of Nyssa'sA nti-
given to the Montanist movement, which was forcedi nto schisml rom the great church. Apollinarianchristoklgy," StudiaPatristiu)2(19971:87-95; IorAugustineonthissubject,
Major publications include collections of source material in English,l'zm onographs,rr idem, ,,A Humble Mediator: Distinctive Elements o{ Augustine,s christology,,, Word and Spirit
and shorter paperso n particulart opics- challengingt he characterizationo f Montanism 9c h(r1i9sSto7l)o:gI0y0o-f1L7e. onDtaiulesyo fhBaysz aalsnoti mumad-e"' AimRpicohrtuannito nco':n tributiLoenso nttoi uthsoe {uBnydzearnsttiaunmdianngd tohf ethe
as millenadan,ra arguing that women and not Montanus were its real founders,r5a nd Relation of Human and Divine in Christ," StudiL Patistiu 24 (1997'l:2J9-65 '
attributing to it the occasionf or persecutionu nder SeptimiusS everus.rT6 he prominence aJean LaPorte, "From Impure Blood to Original Sin," Studia Patristica) l (19791:4)844.
'John J. o'Keefe , "Sin, Apatheia, and Free dom of the Will in Gregory of Nyssa, " Studia Patristica 22
of women in the Montanist movement, not limited to its beginning, relatest o the
( I 989):52-59 .
concernsi n Volume L 6Joan E. Taylor, ,,The phenomenon of Early Jewish-Christianity: Reality or Scholarly Invention?,"
Another schismaticm ovement that was chargedw ith heresy and had some Vigiliae Christianae 44 ll990l:1 l)-)4.
7M ichael A. Williams, Rethinking "Gnosticism": An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category( Pilcetoni
points of kinship with Montanism was Priscillianism.S ince the major study over two princeton University Press, 1996). For bibliography on "Gnosticism" see the annual updates
decadesa go by Henry Chadwick,rTo ther books have explored other ramifications of by David M. Scholer in Novum Testamentum.
Priscillian'sm ovement. rsT his volume includes a study by Ferreiro of the attack on the sFor another survey, James M. Robinson, "Nag Hammadi: The First Fifty Years," in J.D. Tlrner and A.
McGuire, The Nag Hammadi Library after Fifty Years:P roceedingso f the 1995 Societyo f Biblical
person of Priscillianm ade by Jerome, who was notorious for fierce personal attackso n Literature Commenordtion( Leiden: E J. Bnll, 1997), pp. l-13.
personsw ith whom he disagreed. 'Among these, Maureen Tilley, "From Separatist Sect to Majority Church: The Ecclesiologies of Parmenian
Syriac-speakingC hristianity is drawing increasinga ttention, as a number of andTlconius," StudiaPatrktiu3)(19971:260-65; seeinEoductiontovol. II,n' 12.
towilliam Harmless, ,,Christ the Pediatrician; Infant Baptism and Christological Imagery in the Pelagian
western scholarsh ave gainedc ompetencein readingS yriact exts, many of which remain Controversy," Augustinian Studies2 8 (1997\ :7- )4
unedited. The third annual SyraicS ymposiumm eetsJ une 17-2O, 1999,a t Notre Dame.
Volune INrnoDUcrIoN
'I Martin Wallraff, "Socrates Scholasticus on the History of Novatianism," Studia Patristica 29
(1997\:170-77. UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE CHURCH OF THE
12R onald E. Heine, The Montanist Oraclesa nd Testimonia,P atristic Monograph Series 14 (Macon: Mercer FOURTH CENTURY
University Press, 1989) and William Tabbetaee, Mntanist Insoiptions and Testimonia:
Epigraphic Sourczsl llustratinf the History of Montanism, Patristic Monograph Series l6 (Macon:
Mercer University Press, 1996). Tabbernee uses the inscriptions as the basis for his study of byANDREWLOUTH
"Montanist Regional Bishops: New Evidence from Ancient Inscljptions," Joumal ofEarly
Christian Studies I ll99)l:249-BA.
t' Christine T'revett, Montafiisrn: Gender,A uthority, and the New Propftecy (Cambridge: Cambridge University fflo look back to the early Church as a theologian and
taCharles E.P Hriells, s",T1h9e9 M6)a.rriage of Montanism and Millennialism," Stud.iaP aristica26 (199)\:14O46. I historian, and ask questionsa bout her unity, is to enter on
It Anne Jensen, "Prisca - Maximilla - Montanus: Who Was the Real Founder oI 'Montanism'?' I a long tradition, which goes back at least to the Reforma-
Studia Patistic4 26 (l 993\ : | 47 -50. don, if not to the Great Schism of 1054 itself. Once the Church
'6Andrzej W5ylp u(s1t9ek9,7 \':M2a7g6i-c9, 7.Montanism, Perpetua, and the Severan Persecution," Vigiliae Christianae had split, the various separatedC hristians looked back to justify
t7 Priscillian of Avila (Oxford: Clarendon Press, I 976). their position in that tragedy. They scoured the early sourcesf or
18R . Van Dam, Leadership and Community in Later Antique Gaul (Berkeley: University of California Press, evidence for and againste Piscopacy,P ^pacy, authority confided
1985 ); Virginia Burrts, The Making of a Heretic: Gmder, Authority, and the Priscillianist
Controversy (Berkeley: Univeroity of California Press, 1995). to tradition or to Scripture alone: they questioned the form in
reS idney H. Griffith, -Muslims and Church Councils: the Apology of Theodore Abir Quruah," Studia which these early sources have come down to us - the sixteenth
Patristica25 (19971:270-99:idem,TheodoreAbilQunah:ATreatiseontheVenerationoftheHoly
Ians (Lewen: Peeters, 1997). century saw reserveso f scholarly genius Poured into the problem,
20Among his many publications note "Syriac Studies in the Iast Three Decades: Some Reflections," in for instance,o f the genuinenesso f the lgnatian corresPondence'
VI Symposium Syriacum (1992), ed. Rend Lavenant. Orientalia Christiana Analecta 247 (Rome, and what fired all that, apart from scholarly curiosity, was the
1994), pp. l)-29, aad "Fire from Heaven: From Abel's Sacrifice to the Eucharist. A Theme
in Syriac Christianity, " Studia Pati stiu 25 (l 9 9) | :229 41. buming question of the authenticity of episcopal authority on
" William L. Petersen, "The Christology of Aphrahat, the Peruian Sage: An Excursus on the lTth which Ignatius speaks so decisively. Out of that the critical
Demorctration," Vigiliae Chistianae 46 (19921:241-56.
22As a sample, J. Frishman, "Tlpe and Reality in the Exegetical Homilies of Narsai," Studia Patristica20 discipline of patristicse merged.I t was, in fact, rather later that the
(1989\:169-79. fourth century became the focus of the debate about the unity,
authoriry, and identity of the Church - Newman obviously
springs to mind and his Arians of the Fourth Century (London,
1833) and his Essayo n theD ertelopnenot f Doctrine( London, 1845).
Later on, the fourth century attracted the attention of scholars
such as Professor H. M. Gwatkin and his Studiesi n Aianism
(Cambridge, 1882), and ProfessorS . L. Greensladea nd his Schism
in the Early Church (London, 1953), and in quite modern rimes
Arianism, in particular, has remained a mirror in which scholars
have seenr eflected the problems of the modern Church (a good
example is the third part of Rowan Williams's Aius: Heresya nd
Trailition [London, l9S7l, though there are plenty of othen).
Continental scholan such as Adolf von Harnack also studied the
past,i nformed by theological perspecrivesd erived from the pres-
ent; in a different and striking way Erik Peterson turned to the
fourth century to find the roots of an ideology of unity that was
fuelling the murderous policies of Nazism.t In dl these casest he
I E ik P.te^or, Dcr Monothcismusa ls politisehcsP rcblem, rcpinrcd in TheologischcT roftarc (Munich,
l95l), pp. 4F147- See rlso A. Schindlcr, ed,.,M onotheismus als PolitischetP ,oblcm?E rik Petmon und die
Kririk dcr politischa ThcoloXic( Gotesloh, t97tl).
ANDREWL OUTH Fourth-centuryC hurch
fourth century seemedt o be a test case- for questionso f modern of identity as religious believen from the sarne source. And this
ecclesiology:R ome defendedb y development in the caseo f New- is clearly something new. It is, of coune, the printing presst hat
man, the justification for the ecumenicalm ovement in the caseo f forms the crucial turning-point in making available ideas in a
Greenslade. As scholan looked back they had various ideas as to way that transcends the physical reach of the human com-
how the unity of the Church could be expressed,i n what it munities which originated or fostered them. What that made
consisted- Newman was concerned to argue that without the available was new 'organs of ecumenicity' - a corrrnon Bible,
living authoriry of the papacyn one of thesea dd up to very much, printed catechisms, a uniform liturgy - all of these used by
Greenslade on the contrary pointed to the very varied ways in ieligious comrnunities in Westem Europe from the early modern
which the Church has articulateda senseo f its uniry and identiry period onwards as ways of expressing and nurturing their unity
and wanted to insist that nothing is a sineq ua non. There are of and identiry. And none of this was available in that way to the
course dangersi n looking back over the centuries, and I do not Church of the fourth century: 'would that we were so lucky'
wish to suggestt hat scholan in the past were not aware of them. must be the view of many in the modern Russian Orthodox
The main danger is, it seemst o me, that thinp that are obvious to Church! It is here that I would locate one of the greatest
us may never have occurred to those who lived in the past, and differencesb etween ourselvesa nd people of the fourth century,
contrariwise what seemedp ressingt o them may be ignored by us differencest hat have caused our 'world' to shrink, so that our
becausei t is not crucial for us. But, conscious, I hope, of the immediate consciousnessh as expanded to embrace virtually the
warning of one of my Cambridge professorsth at one cannotj ump whole of the globe, and is no longer restricted to the locd
out of one's epistemologicasl kin, what I want to do in this paperi s communities to which we belong.
to try and recapture something of what uniry and divenity in the At this point I think wewneed to remind ourselvesju st how
Church meant to Christiansi n the fourth century. diverse and disparatet he communities of the fourth century -
But let us begin in the presentc entury. In a surveyc arriedo ut and not just the Christian communities - were. The basicu nit
in Moscow and Pskov in 1992, people were askedw here they was the city - n6iutg, ciuitas- with its surrounding countryside-
got their religiousa nd philosophicali deasf rom. Overall the most Except in the case of a few great cities, especially Rome and
influential source of such ideas was newspapersa nd TV (thirty- Constantinople,t he city and its surroundingsw ere a selFcontained
nine per cent); even among believerst his was still an important economic unit. They were also self-governing, governed by
source (twenty-seven per cent), running close to relativesa nd local notables.T heir loyalties were primarily local, which found
friends( twenty-nine per cent),a nd the Gospelso r other religious expressioni n the local religious cults that Christians were to call
literature (thirty-three per cent). The Church, sermons,c onver- 'pagan'. The Roman Empire made no attemPt to erase this
sationsw ith clergy were pretty low down the scale( nine per cent prevailing senseo f localiry. A variery of languagesw ere spoken
overall,o nly nineteenp er cent among believers).2W hat is inter- but we have little idea about them except when they attained
estinga bout theses tatisticsis that they demonstratet he existence literary expression - something that had already happened to
'organs
of what we could call of ecumenicity' that the early Latin and Greek, and was to happen in the fourth century,
'media'
Church would not even have dreamt of, The make largely under Christian auspicesi,n the caseso f Syriac,C optic,
possiblea common pool of ideas,a nd also a common senseo f and Gothic. This senseo f localiry was reinforcedb y distancea, nd
belonging, that was not there in the fourth century. Many slowness and difficulry in travelling: we hear of quite a bit of
people, even believers,d erive their notion of what Christianity travelling, but it was the preserve of a tiny class.W e know, and
is about from the media, and even derive something of their sense Peter Brown has recently given eloquent expressiont o,' the
problems caused to those who were responsible for governing
2 Lyudmila Vorontsova and Scrgei Filatov, 'The changing pattcrn ofrcligious bclief: percstroikaa nd 3 See P. Brown, Power and Pasuasion in late Aatiqrity- Touards a Chdstian Empire (Wisconsin, 1992),
bcyond', Religion,S tatea nd Society,22.l (1994), pp. 89-96, tablc on p. 92.
pp. 3-34.
ANDREW LOUTH Fourth-centuryC hurch
the empire by poor communications and powerful local inter- Moraliry was defined in terms of unity; singleness- i.e.,
ests:a governor could be months away from any confirmation celibacy - became an ideal that reached beyond the confusing
from the Imperial couft, and in many casesi t would be safer to multiplicity of the present. All that only made the Christian
collude with the power of local notables than to risk confronta- rhetoric of the unity of the Church even more compelling. To
tion in such a vacuum of clear imperial support. There was, of what, in the real world of the fourth-century Roman Empire,
course, a unified systemo f public oflice imposed from above, of did that rhetoric of uniry correspond?
which the governors were the lowest rank. Cities were grouped The first thing to be mentioned is, I thirrk, obvious: it is that
into provinces, each subject to a governor appointed for about in the course of the fourth century what was meant by the unity
two years, provinces into dioceses under uicaii, dioceses into of the Church changed, or rather that the ways in which the
prefectures governed by praetorian preGcts, themselvess ubject Church could expressi ts uniry changed- it became 'ecumenical'
to the emperor (or Imperial college). Emperors often spoke in in the senset hat it became an important part of the oikoumene,
their edicts of the empire as a single whole and issuedd ecreesi n the inhabited world over which the emperor ruled as God's
respect of it, but recent studies of the fourth century have representative.B ut what did the Church bring into the fourth
emphasizedth e distancew e must recognizeb etweent he rhetoric century?W hat organso f uniry did it alreadyp ossessb, efore it had
of imperial decree and political reality: the languagem ay be that thrust upon it, or found itself thrust into, the imperial structures
'command
of a economy', but there was not the administrative of unity?
machinery for that to be an attainable realiry.o Long before the beginning of the fourth century, the primary,
It was such a world that the fourth-century Church inhabited, empirical expression of the uniry of the Church had emerged.
and whatever uniry it experienced had to be something achiev- The Christian Church had spreadt hroughout the Roman Em-
able within such a world. The Church's own rhetoric of uniry pire asa n urban phenomenon: it was in rhe city that the Church
was considerable.T he New Testament fuelled such languagea nd flourished. By the end of the second century, at the latest, the
made it inevitable: the great high-priestly prayer placedo n the lips unity of the Church in each place had found expressioni n
'church'
of Jesusi n John 17, the frequent exhortations to unity found in the fact that each local community, each in one of the
Saint Paul's epistles,, together with the power l imagery he uses senseso f the word ecclesi4w, as led by a bishop, an episcopuslt.i s
to expressi t, especiallyt hat of the Church ast he body of Christ - still not clear what the essentiarl ole of the bishop was: it is
all this makesu niry an inexorable part of Christian self-conscious- confused by the fact that from the fourth century onwards rhe
ness.T here were other pressuresb ehind such rhetoric of uniry. bishop becamet he obvious spokesmanf or and representativeo f
Philosophical thinking - both profound, as with Plotinus, and the local church for almost all purposesi n the new 'ecumenical'
popular, sayi n the Hermetic literature - laid great store by unity. Church. Dom Gregory Dix has argued,6c onvincingly I rhink,
Everything came from unity and was destinedf or unity. Division that the primary and essentialr ole of the bishop in the Christian
was seen asf ragmentation, multipliciry as attenuation. communify was liturgical: he presided over the celebration of
the Christian liturgy, nothing took place without his authoriry,
The One remains, the many change and pass; though certainly in larger cities much musr have been delegated.
F{eaven'sl ight forever shines,E arth's shadowsf ly;
Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stainst he white radiance of Eternity . . .s
'
lnhisJuisdiction in the Early cftrni (London, 1975). For a full, but concisc, accounr ofthe role of
the christian bishop in late antiquiry (mainly, of coune, from the founh century onwards), sec H.
{ Sec. for instancc, summarizing much modern research, Averil Cameron, The Lalq Roman Empirc Chadwick, 'The role of thc Christian bishop in ancient society', in Centerf or Hcneneurial Studies,
(London, 1993), PP. 113ff., and on Diocletian's'Price Edict' (301)' p. 38. hotocol oJt he 35rt Coiloquy( February 1979), 35 (Berkelcy, Cal., 1979), pp. t-14 (reprintcd in idem,
5 P.B.Sh"U"y,'Adonais',stanza52 (cd.T Hutchinson,l9O4;1952edition,Oxford,p.443). Hercsy and Othodoxy in the Early Chwch lLondon,199ll, no. 3).
ANDREW LOUTH
Fourth-centuryC hurch
'one
This principle of city, one bishop' seems to have been most pure and ever-blessed Lady, Mother of God and
adhered to quite strictly: even a huge ciry like Rome had only ever-Virgin, Mary. . ."
one bishop - we know from Eusebiust hat alreadyb y the middle
of the third century the single bishop (Cornelius) presided over The one Church into the unity ofwhich we are garheredi n the
an establishment of forry-six presbyters, seven deacons, seven eucharisti s primarily the communion of those 'made perfect in
sub-deacons,f orqr-two acolytes,f ifry-two exorcists,r eaders,a nd
faith', secondly it is those gathered together at any particular
doorkeepers, and more than fifteen hundred widows and dis-
celebration of the eucharistw ithin that deeper unity, and thirdly
tressedp ersons.t More than one bishop meant schism, a divided (or perhaps:s econde qual) it is everyone everywhere embracedb y
Church (or rather division from the Church): an uncompromi-
that deeper unity. I emphasize this, because the impression is
sing assertiono f precisely that by Pope Cornelius is the point of
often given that ecclesima eanse ither the universal Church (in the
the letterj ust quoted from Eusebius.
senseo f geographically universal) or the local Christian com-
In what other ways was the uniry of the Church expressed?
muniry or both: it does indeed mean both, bur becausef irst of all
The next point that needs to be stressedis something that flows it has the meaning just suggested,o f uniry with the Church
from the liturgical function of the bishop. The celebration of the
alreadyg atheredt ogether before the heavenly throne. One might
eucharist itself is an expressiono f uniry - such an idea goesr ight
perhapso bject that this senseo f the Church as embracing those
back to Paul (seeI Cor. 10.16-17). But the uniry of what - the 'beyond
the veil' is hardly a sensei n which the rhetoric of uniry
universal Church, or the local communiry gathered together
is cashedi n terms of the real world of the Roman Empire. But I
with its bishop? One of the earliest eucharistic prayers makes it
do not think it would have seemeds o to Christianso f this period.
clear that more is meant than the uniry of the local community:
'Be That other world was very real: the Christian cult of saintsd id not
mindful of your Church, O Lord; deliver it from all evil,
expand into a vacuum, it expanded into another world of whose
perfect it in your love, sanctify it, and gather it from the four contours Christians were much more confident than either their
winds into the \ingdom that you have prepared for ir.'8 Bur as modern brothen and sistersin the faith or their paganc ontempo-
the eucharisticp rayersb ecome more expansive,i t becomes clear raries.A nd, I might add, they often give the impressiont hat they
that more is meant than the unity of all Christians who are alive. were more confident of the contours of the realm beyond, in-
The Liturgy of St Basil, immediately after the invocation of the habited by the saints and patriarchs, and opened up by Christ's
Holy Spirit over the worshippers and the holy gifts, prays: resurrection, than of many parts of the Mediterranean world
beyond their own immediate localiry. The local church, with its
and unite us all one with another who partake of the one growing number of local saints,c ame to do at leasta s good a job
bread and the cup in the communion of the One Holy of defining and expressingl ocal loyalties and local identiry as rhe
Spirit . . . that we may find mercy and grace with all the local pagan cults had done, while at rhe same time expressinga
saints who have been pleasing to you from eternity, fore- senseo f belonging that transcendedt he merely local.
fathers, fathers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, In what other ways did the rhetoric of uniry find expression?
evangelists, martyrs, confessors, teachers, and every just As well asg iving expressiont o a senseo f unity with the heavenly
spirit, all made perfect in faith, and especiallyo ur most holy, courts in the way I havej ust sketched, the liturgy hash istorically
been used as a way of imposing uniformiry and iher.fore a sense
of common uniry: one thinks of the placeo f the Tridentine mass
7 Cited in Eusebius, EcclesiasticaHl istory,Yl, xliii, ll (cd. E. Schwanz, Dic Ciethischm Christlkhen
SchdJtstelletrl d e6ten dreiJ ahthundcrte, Eusebius Werkc, 2 [3 parts, Bcrlin, 1903-91, p. 518).
E Ddache 10 (F. X. Funk and K. Bihlmcycr, eds, Dic Apostolischen Vitten 3rd edn [Tiibingen, 19701,
P. 6). e F. E. Btightmar , Liruryies Eastcm and Watm (Oxford,,lg96), pp. 33Of. lmy translationl