Orthodoxy and Heresy in Second-Century Rome 2004 (original) (raw)
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From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries
2003
XV drawn from proselytes and sympathizers of Jewish synagogues. The mi nority of "weak" Christians in Rome "are not to be identified against a Gentile background but rather against the background of Jewish prac tice of the law" (73). The evidence of persecution after the Roman fire of 64 C.E. indicates that those crucified and executed in other painful ways were not Roman citizens, whereas most Jews at that time enjoyed such citizenship. The evidence of the names in Romans 16, compared with thousands of inscriptions and literary references linked to Rome, shows that of those about which something definite can be concluded, "over two-thirds with a great degree of probability show indications of slave origin" (183). Tracing the evidence down through the end of the second century confirms the picture of a church that remained largely a slave and lower-class institution. While some members of Roman house churches came from high social status, even from senatorial families, the large majority consisted of lower-class immigrants. The divided nature of Roman Christianity is indicated by the evidence in Romans 16, showing five different "Christian islands," with other Roman Christians mentioned that could not have belonged to fewer than two additional groupings (359). Each of these groups worshiped separately and could be "referred to as a house community" (360). Lampe traces the history through the end of the second century, includ ing the evolution of later heresies, to show the divided nature of these Christian cells, each exhibiting peculiar traits going back to different origins and immigrants from specific parts of the empire. This view is sustained by a detailed exegesis of literary materials written in Rome as well as by a prosopographic analysis of each Christian leader and martyr through the end of the second century. This study is so masterful in its grasp of a vast array of evidence, so solid and innovative in its methodology, and so audacious in conception that it has already become a classic. With encyclopedic thoroughness and objectivity, every possible detail from history and archaeology is presented and evaluated. The treatments of Hermas, Justin, the Valen tinians, and dozens of other leaders comprise virtual monographs within the larger study, developing a variety of methods in assessing so cial roles and status.
Church History, 2011
The subtitle of this book might well be "some of my best friends are heretics." Reviewing the theological debates from Irenaeus to Chalcedon, Edwards argues for a position that current scholarship would largely endorse: that tenets of the established orthodoxy of the early church had their origins among groups originally attacked as heretics. As a corollary, he asserts a thesis somewhat more problematic: that there was, if not an "orthodoxy," at least a "catholicity" that provided a foundation for the assimilation of such tenets and tendencies into a post-Nicene orthodoxy. He commences his argument with "The Beginnings of Orthodoxy" (chapter 1). He finds the foundations for central elements of subsequent orthodoxy in the speculative theology of the second century-apophatic theology in the Apocryphon of John; humanity as the divine image in the teachings of Valentinus; the eternal sonship of the savior in Basilides; and beginnings of theological anthropology in Marcion, raising the question of which of the "creeds" of Irenaeus or Valentinus and the Gnostics would most approximate the later "catholic" norm. Focusing next on Christology, and noting the intersections of the thought of Clement, Origen, and Tertullian in the third century with that of Valentinus, Basilides, and Theodotus, he finds a "tincture" of Valentinian thought (67) in the Alexandrians, and concludes that in the third century, as in the second, theological ideas flowed both ways between the "catholics" and the Gnostics. However, "[Valentinianism] was a stream to be panned, though only a fool or a heretic would bathe there" (77). Edwards continues his argument with Origen and Origenism, Nicaea and the homoousious debates, and the Christological debates culminating in the symbol of Chalcedon. In each case, he finds views that are attacked as heresy in their own day appearing as pillars of orthodoxy in subsequent debates. For the Origenist controversy, he focuses on Pamphilus' Apology for Origen. Pamphilus records that Origen is accused for using homoousios to refer to Christ's relationship with the Father (rightly so, according to Edwards), an BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTES
Heresy, Culture, and Religion in Early Modern Italy: Contexts and Contestations (review)
Renaissance Quarterly, 2007
despite the repressions of Albornoz, the return of the papacy from Avignon and the gradual reassertion of papal control throughout the remainder of the Trecento. Constitutional change during the intervening decades came slowly and subtly: rubrics outlawing participation of the barons in the city’s affairs stayed on the books, while the content of individual rubrics underwent gradual change or saw the replacement of former offices (reformatores) with new ones (conservatores), for example. Only under Paul II did Rienzo’s legacy truly disappear with the abolition of the 20 May Mass of the Holy Spirit in honor of his revolution (replaced by the feast of S. Bernardino in 1469) and the substitution of the Respublica romanorum and presens popularis status with the Sanctissimi domini nostri Pauli pape Secundi et Romane Ecclesie status. The change of a few words tells far greater tales. Modigliani offers a good review of the Roman constitution from 1143 into the Trecento and a detailed analy...
Heresy, Culture, and Religion in Early Modern Italy: Contexts and Contestations
Truman State University Press, 2006
Perhaps her most decisive influence has been her encouragement of her students and younger colleagues. As a mentor and teacher, Elisabeth has listened to many young scholars over the years; she has helped them (and us) reformulate our dissertations, rethink our conference papers, and craft our first publications. She has always done so with courtesy, encouragement, and an uncanny ability to enable her colleagues to rethink some of their most basic assumptions. It is our hope that this volume can serve as a collective expression of our gratitude to Elisabeth for all that she has done to develop the field of the study of religion in early modern Italy.
The Early Church -Internal and External Oppositions
INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIANITY: AN AFRICAN READER, 2022
The emergence of Christianity in the Roman Empire is a new religious faith with new ways of doing things made the people suspicious of what really Christianity was, either a political, religious, or even a funerary organization. Opposition against the Christian faith was not only external but even internal because the basis of foundations of the Christian faith was not well laid leading to heresies and schisms among the early Christians. This chapter explores the two sides of the opposition against the early Christians. Externally, the persecution and martyrdom are explored by considering the charges, allegations, demands, and the players in the entire phenomenon. The chapter assesses the reaction of the Christians especially the development of the early Christian martyr narratives and apologetic writings to the persecution and martyrdom of the early Christians. The early church was also full of some major internal conflicts. The chapter, therefore, evaluates the positions of some of the movements which were branded heretics. The chapter evaluates the developments of synods, creeds, and canon in response to the many internal conflicts among the early Christians. Finally, the chapter explores the various phases of Christianity in the various dispensations from the Great schism, medieval period, reformation, and the renaissance.