Heresy and Authority in Late Antiquity

Presenter: Samuel Cohen

Presenter Status: Faculty

Academic Year: 22-23

Semester: Fall

Department: History

Funding Source/Sponsor: RSCAP

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1TC1-kraXkUJc4y0tmTJLnsnVyXAb61y6

Abstract:
My book project, entitled Heresy and Authority in Late Antiquity offers the first systematic overview of the papal use of heresiology – the ‘science’ of heresy detection – a rhetorical genre that sought to define the boundaries of authentic belief through the classification of insiders and outsiders. With the support of the RSCA 2022 Summer Fellowship, I completed a chapter in my book, which argues that the heresiological condemnation of perceived social deviance was an essential way Roman bishops grounded their authority in the fifth and sixth centuries. This period was characterised by political upheaval and bitter divisions amongst Christians, which defined late Roman society, delineated the relationship between secular and ecclesiastical power, and determined who had the right – indeed the duty – to decide the correct form of the faith. Late antique Roman bishops emerged for the first time as protagonists in these controversies. However, lacking coercive power, popes could not simply proclaim their authority; they had to argue for it. One way they did this was to oppose – and to be seen to oppose – heresy. And because social non-conformity could also be described as a species of heresy, anti-heretical rhetoric often disguised anxieties about a range of non-theological issues, including migration and the movement of perceived outsiders into the Rome. Moreover, unease about the role of women in the life of the church and sexual misconduct – both of which were often associated with private religious practice – were also described using the language of heresy.