3. The Community of Citizens In the last chapter, we discussed some of the ways that the church maintained cultic boundaries and rhetorically emphasized its exclusivity. We now turn to a consideration of just what the catechumens were doing as they pursued baptism. Many have sought to answer this question with the cognitive and psychological models discussed in the Introduction. Such approaches, however, tend to downplay if… Read more
4. Teaching the Creed We have seen the rich variety of official positions in the church and considered the construction of a hierarchy as a way to create stakeholders within the Christian community. The higher clergy, especially the bishops, put considerable effort into maintaining their position in matters both secular and religious. However, they exercised that power in part by collecting substantial numbers of lower clergy and… Read more
5. Teaching Liturgy and Performing Theology Having considered the communal and creedal aspects of Christian initiation, we turn here to the theme of cult and consider the role played by Theodore’s discussion of the liturgy within his catechetical curriculum. The final five sermons in Theodore’s educational program for baptismal candidates comment on the sacramental liturgies, three on baptism and two on the eucharist. The first sermon on… Read more
Conclusion Theodore’s Catechetical Homilies present his attempt to craft a distinctive Christian paideia and to create initiated Christian citizens. While Nock sees these converts as the norm, MacMullen can hardly imagine that such converts were produced by the early church. Of course, even after receiving this sort of instruction, people were still entering the church with differing notions of what that meant and with a broad range… Read more
Bibliography Primary Literature ʿAbdišōʿ. Catalog. Ed.: Assemmani, J. S. 1725. Ebediesu, Enumeratio librorum omnium ecclesiasticorum. BO 3.1:1–362. Rome. Acts of the Council of Chalcedon. Ed.: Schwartz, E. 1932–1938. Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum 2.1–6. Berlin. Trans.: Price, R. and Gaddis, M. 2005. The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon. 3 vols. TTH 45. Liverpool. Acts of the Council of… Read more
To Anastasia, Lampros, and Sofia-Melanthia Acknowledgments It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge the help of a number of people whose support and encouragement sustained me throughout the time during which this project, first as a thesis and now as a book, took shape. My gratitude goes to my former supervisor Professor Peter Brown and to Professors John Gager and Kathleen McVey. I have also profited… Read more
Preface: An Introduction to Theodoret’s Life and Writings [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] Εἰς τοὺς… Read more
Introduction. Theodoret and the Fifth Century Earth and sea are freed from their ancient ignorance; the error of idols is no longer to be seen; the darkness of ignorance has been dispersed, and the light of knowledge fills with its rays the whole inhabited world. Greeks, Romans, and Barbarians recognize the divinity of the crucified and venerate the sign of the cross. The Trinity is… Read more
Chapter 1. The Notion of Therapeia in Theodoret: The Apologetic Use and Role of Greek Medicine and Philosophy against the Greeks As demonstrated both in particular comments scattered throughout his corpus of writings and more generally in the Therapeutikê, [1] Theodoret displays a thorough knowledge of Greek medicine. [2] While the use of insights from Greek medicine… Read more
Chapter 2. God, Gods, Angels, Heroes, and Demons: Parallel Notions of the Intermediaries In Dialexeis III, VII, and X, Theodoret sets out to contrast Christianity with Greek religious attitudes concerning the gods, angels, daemons, and the associated phenomena of divination, oracles, and sacrifices. Although these concepts are treated in separate dialexeis, each with a distinct thematic emphasis, their interrelatedness is hard to ignore. This accords well with… Read more
