Theodoret's People: Social Networks and Religious Conflict in Late Roman Syria (Volume 48)

Theodoret's People sheds new light on religious clashes of the mid-fifth century regarding the nature (or natures) of Christ. Adam M. Schor focuses on Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, his Syrian allies, and his opponents, led by Alexandrian bishops Cyril and Dioscorus. Although both sets of clerics adhered to the Nicene Creed, their contrasting theological statements led to hostilities, violence, and the permanent fracturing of the Christian community. Schor closely examines council transcripts, correspondence, and other records of communication. Using social network theory, he argues that Theodoret's doctrinal coalition was actually a meaningful community, bound by symbolic words and traditions, riven with internal rivalries, and embedded in a wider world of elite friendship and patronage. The book shows how theology reshaped late Roman social life inside and outside the clergy and how deeply certain patterns of relationships affected Christian teachings --Book Jacket List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Part I. Theodoret and His Antiochene Clerical Network 1. Traces of a Network: Friendship, Doctrine, and Clerical Communication, 423--451 2. Shape of a Network: Antiochene Relational Patterns 3. Roots of a Network: Theodoret on the Antiochene Clerical Heritage 4. Ephesus and After: Leadership, Doctrinal Crisis and the Transformation of the Antiochene Network 5. Forging Community: Theodoret's Network and its Fall Part II. Theodoret and Late Roman Networks of Patronage 6. Mediating Bishops: Patronage Roles and Relations in the Fifth Century 7. The Irreplaceable Theodoret: Patronage Performance and Social Strategy 8. Patronage, Human and Divine: The Social Dynamics of Theodoret's Christology Epilogue: The Council of Chalcedon and the Antiochene Legacy Notes Bibliography Index "Theodoret's People sheds new light on religious clashes of the mid-fifth century regarding the nature (or natures) of Christ. Adam M. Schor focuses on Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, his Syrian allies, and his opponents, led by Alexandrian bishops Cyril and Dioscorus. Although both sets of clerics adhered to the Nicene creed, their contrasting theological statements led to hostilities, violence, and the permanent fracturing of the Christian community. Schor closely examines council transcripts, correspondence, and other records of communication. Using social network theory, he argues that Theodoret's doctrinal coalition was actually a meaningful community, bound by symbolic words and traditions, riven with internal rivalries, and embedded in a wider world of elite friendship and patronage."-- Publisher description