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IMC 2009: Sessions

Session 720: Conceptualizations of Heresy: Discourse and Community in the Age of Jerome

Tuesday 14 July 2009, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Platinum Latin
Organiser:Philip Hugh Burton, Department of Theology, University of Birmingham
Moderator/Chair:Danuta Shanzer, Department of Classics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign / Dumbarton Oaks Medieval (Latin) Library
Paper 720-aThe Charge of Heresy as a Means of Attracting Attention in the Jerome-Rufinus Controversy
(Language: English)
Christa Neudecker, Brasenose College, University of Oxford
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Language and Literature - Latin, Learning (The Classical Inheritance), Rhetoric
Paper 720-bThe Convergence of Heresy and Paganism in the Writings of Augustine's Early Episcopate?
(Language: English)
Melissa Markauskas, Department of Religions & Theology, University of Manchester
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Language and Literature - Latin, Religious Life, Sermons and Preaching
Paper 720-cSermo compositus and simplicitas christiana in Rufinus and Jerome
(Language: English)
Philip Hugh Burton, Department of Theology, University of Birmingham
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Language and Literature - Latin, Learning (The Classical Inheritance), Rhetoric
Abstract

This session will examine the ways in which three major Latin authors, Jerome, Rufinus, and Augustine, deal with situations (such as the Origenist debate or the Donatist controversy) where tradition, scripture, and reason cannot of themselves give a clear diagnosis of heresy. It will be argued that one common response is to conceptualize heresy and orthodoxy within ancient discourse on friendship, rhetoric, scholarship, and proper use of language. In this light, accusations of heresy are not entirely about innovation versus correct belief, but about character, ethos, and the extent to which the 'ordinary' Christian can be claimed and reclaimed as a member of a community.