PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Hunter, David G. , Professor of Religious Studies and Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity The Jovinianist Controversy Publication date 2007 (print edition) Print ISBN: 978-0-19-927978-4 doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279784.001.0001 Abstract: In the later years of the fourth century the monk Jovinian was condemned at Rome and Milan for teaching that all baptized Christians were equal in God's sight and that all would receive an equal reward in heaven regardless of ascetic merit. This book is the first study in English devoted to Jovinian and the controversy sparked by his teaching. In chapter 1 I offer a reconstruction of Jovinian's teaching, uncovering its strong anti-heretical emphases, exposing its biblical foundations, and relating it to fourth-century baptismal practice. Subsequent chapters place Jovinian in a variety of contexts: the rise of a Christian aristocracy in the fourth century (chapter 2); the development of an anti-heretical tradition in the first three centuries (chapter 3); the proliferation of this heresiological discourse in the fourth century (chapter 4); and the history of Marian theology, especially on the matter of Mary's perpetual virginity (chapter 5). In the final two chapters I distinguish the different approaches to marriage, celibacy, and clerical life evinced by Jovinian's opponents (chapter 6), and highlight the ways in which one of these opponents, Jerome, became the object of criticism and accusations of heresy. If there is a single conclusion to be drawn from this study, it is that Jovinian stood much closer to the mainstream of the Christian tradition than previous critics (including his ancient opponents) allowed. Keywords: Jovinian, marriage, celibacy, orthodoxy, heresy, virginity, Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Siricius Table of Contents Preface Introduction Part I. Jovinian and his World 1. Reconstructing Jovinian The main outlines of the teaching of Jovinian can be reconstructed from the reports of Siricius, Ambrose, and Jerome. Condemned at Rome and Milan in spring of 393, Jovinian acquired a considerable following by denying that celibate Christians were, ipso facto, superior to married Christians. He also appears to have accused his opponents of heresy, especially ‘Manichaeism’. For example, he charged that Ambrose was guilty of heresy for teaching that Mary the mother of Jesus remained physically intact in the process of giving birth (virginitas in partu). Jovinian stressed the power of baptism to overcome evil and to guarantee salvation for all Christians. 2. Jovinian and Christian Rome In the background of the Jovinianist controversy there is plentiful evidence of Christian opposition to asceticism, especially at Rome. One reason for this is that by the mid-fourth century a Christian aristocratic culture had begun to develop, in which ‘assimilation and accommodation’ (Salzman) to traditional aristocratic values was the norm. Even when late Roman aristocrats adopted asceticism, they often did so in line with traditional aristocratic expectations of their class and without significant disruption of lifestyle. The adoption of asceticism by female members of the gens Anicii is a notable example. 1 of 2 Part II. Jovinian, Heresy, and Asceticism 3. Asceticism, Heresy, and Early Christian Tradition Jovinian's accusations against ascetic extremists had a precedent in earlier Christian tradition. Ascetic elitism was opposed by a number of early Christian writers, including 1 Clement, Ignatius, and the author of the Pastoral Epistles. By the early third century, this opposition had hardened into the polarities of ‘orthodoxy’ and ‘heresy’. This anti-heretical effort culminated in the writings of Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria against the ‘encratite’ heresy, which anticipated the polemics of Jovinian. In the third century we also see the development of a ‘moderate encratism’ in the writings of Tertullian, Cyprian, and Origen, which later inspired the opponents of Jovinian, e.g. Ambrose and Jerome. 4. Jovinian, Heresy, and Fourth-Century Asceticism Both radical and moderate forms of encratism proliferated in the fourth century, encouraged by the spread of monasticism and Manichaeism. Anti-heretical responses followed, both in literary works and in imperial legislation: the labels ‘Manichaean’ and ‘Encratite’ were applied to all types of ascetics, thereby blurring the boundaries between ‘orthodoxy’ and ‘heresy’. Heresiologists, such as Epiphanius and Filastrius of Brescia, also indiscriminately mixed Manichees, Encratites, Montanists, and even the followers of Origen. Thus they prepared the way for the kind of polemics articulated by Jovinian. 5. Mary Ever-Virgin? Jovinian and Marian Heresy A survey of the history of the idea of Mary's virginitas in partu shows that the notion had only marginal support in the tradition of the first three centuries. Associated with both docetism and encratism, the doctrine was opposed even by ascetically minded teachers, such as Tertullian and Origen. In the late fourth century, however, the notion of Mary's virginitas in partu reappeared in the sermons of Zeno of Verona and the ascetical treatises of Ambrose; Jerome, by contrast, was more reticent about embracing the idea. Jovinian's opposition to the virginitas in partu, therefore, stood squarely in the mainstream of Christian opinion, as it had developed by the late fourth century. Part III. Jovinian and his Opponents 6. Against Jovinian: From Siricius to Jerome Although they all concurred in condemning Jovinian, Pope Siricius, Ambrose, and Jerome had different views of asceticism and clerical office. Siricius had long been lukewarm towards ascetic piety; he insisted that monks had to work their way through the ranks of the clergy before becoming presbyters or bishops, at the same time as he insisted on sexual continence for the higher clergy. Ambrose, by contrast, saw monks as the ideal candidates for the episcopacy, and he encouraged the ascetical life, especially in the form of consecrated female virginity. Jerome favoured the ascetic life and looked down on most of the clergy. He also was overtly hostile towards both Siricius and Ambrose. All of these different dynamics came into play in the course of the Jovinianist Controversy 7. After Jovinian: Marriage and Celibacy in Western Theology The extreme positions taken by Jerome in his Adversus Jovinianum provoked numerous responses in the decades after Jovinian's condemnation. Friends, such as Pammachius and Domnio, demanded that Jerome explain himself or retract his words. Enemies, such as Rufinus of Aquileia, suggested that Jerome was guilty of the ‘Manichaean’ heresy. Others, such as Pelagius, Augustine, and the anonymous author of the Consultationes Zacchaei et Apollonii, quietly offered alternative views, without condemning Jerome directly. These efforts to find a via media between Jerome and Jovinian show the ongoing impact of Jovinian's arguments and the need for a more moderate approach to marriage and celibacy than Jerome had provided. Conclusion Bibliography Index 2 of 2 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Hunter, David G. , Professor of Religious Studies and Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity Print ISBN 9780199279784, 2007 pp. [vii] Preface In the later years of the fourth century an intense theological controversy occurred in Western Christianity over the issue of celibacy and marriage. At the centre of this debate stood a monk named Jovinian, who earned ecclesiastical condemnation for asserting that celibate and married Christians were equal in God's sight. Jovinian was opposed by some of the foremost churchmen of his day, among them Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine (all later named ‘doctors’ of the Latin Church). This book tells the story of Jovinian and the conflicts generated by his teaching. A word about the scope of my discussion is in order, for much of this book deals with figures and ideas that appeared prior to the time of Jovinian. Chapter 3, for example, begins with Jesus and Paul and concludes with Origen of Alexandria, and Chapter 4 ranges widely across the East and West in the fourth century. I deemed this approach necessary because I wished to place Jovinian within the context of the broader history of early Christian teaching on marriage and celibacy. One of the central arguments I develop is that although Jovinian was condemned as a ‘heretic’, he actually had much in common with previous Christian writers of impeccably ‘orthodox’ stripe. Conversely, I considered it necessary at times to trace the prehistory of ideas opposed by Jovinian (e.g. my discussion of Mary's virginitas in partu in Chapter 5), if only to demonstrate the marginal status of such ideas within the earlier tradition. Scholars of Christianity in late antiquity have produced an abundance of studies of ascetic behaviour, and especially sexual renunciation, in recent decades. But no one has yet directed comparable attention to the reverse phenomenon, that is, to the ways in which Christians questioned and challenged aspects of the ascetic ideal. My aim has been to retrieve some of these anti-ascetic tendencies in early Christianity and to demonstrate their place within the broader Christian tradition. The result, I believe, is a revised and more nuanced account of the development of Christian thought on asceticism in late antiquity. As my friends know, I have been at work on this project for much too long and have accumulated more than the usual share of debts. Over the years many scholars have heard, read, or responded to pieces of the present work, especially at meetings of the North American Patristics Society, the Oxford International Conference on Patristic Studies, the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature, and the American Society of Church History. I apologize to those I have unwittingly omitted from the following acknowledgements. end p.vii 1 of 1 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Hunter, David G. , Professor of Religious Studies and Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity Print ISBN 9780199279784, 2007 pp. [viii] Several dear friends have graciously read the entire manuscript and offered their expert criticism: Elizabeth A. Clark, J. Patout Burns, Peter Iver Kaufman, Robert A. Markus, and Robert Louis Wilken. One could not ask for more learned or more generous readers. Special thanks are owed to my colleague at Iowa State University, Eric Northway, who unselfishly (perhaps imprudently) took time from his own dissertation to read the entire text and to encourage me along the way. Conversations with colleagues in the United States and abroad have often enlightened me and always delighted me, among them: Gillian Clark, Kate Cooper, Jack Davidson, Thomas Fisch, Carol Harrison, Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Madeleine Henry, Mathijs Lamberigts, Conrad Leyser, Bill Klingshirn, Neil McLynn, Susan Marks, Thomas Martin, Kim Power, Richard Price, Michael Rackett, Michele Salzman, Dennis Trout, and Mark Vessey. In the spring of 2001 a lecture for the Early Christian Studies programme at The Catholic University of America and for the Group for the Study of Late Antiquity at Princeton University gave me the opportunity to present material later incorporated into Chapter 6. I wish to thank Philip Rousseau of Catholic University and Peter Brown of Princeton for their kind invitations and gracious hospitality. In attendance at Princeton were Virginia Burrus, Susanna Elm, and Brent Shaw. Their encouragement contributed more than they know to the completion of this book. Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities supported my research at several points, and the Leverhulme Trust of Great Britain enabled me to spend a year as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Nottingham, where I pursued some of the initial work on this project. Colleagues at Nottingham were always warmly receptive to the foreigner in their midst. I thank Ed Ball, Richard Bell, Maurice Casey, Douglas Davies, John Heywood Thomas, Hugh Goddard, Wolf Liebeschuetz, Sr. Mary Charles Murray, and Gerard O'Daly. Sabbatical grants from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and Iowa State University provided the freedom from teaching needed to complete this work. At Oxford University Press Lucy Qureshi has been a model editor and graciously tolerant of my delays. I am grateful to Dorothy McCarthy, Jenny Wagstaffe, and Rachel Woodforde for guiding the typescript through production, and to Jack Sinden for his careful copy-editing. I must acknowledge, as well, the editors of the Oxford Early Christian Studies series, Gillian Clark and Andrew Louth, for accepting the book into their series. I owe a special debt to Professor Robin Margaret Jensen of Vanderbilt University Divinity School for providing the photograph on the jacket. Finally, I am grateful that my sons, Gregory and Robert, who having grown up in the shadow of Jovinian, have emerged no worse for it. And to my wife, Lynn, who has provided her skill as an editor and her support as a spouse, 1 of 2 the dedication says it all. D. G. H. end p.viii 2 of 2 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Hunter, David G. , Professor of Religious Studies and Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity Print ISBN 9780199279784, 2007 pp. [ix] Contents List of Abbreviations x Introduction 1 Part I. Jovinian and his World 1. Reconstructing Jovinian 15 2. Jovinian and Christian Rome 51 Part II. Jovinian, Heresy, and Asceticism 3. Asceticism, Heresy, and Early Christian Tradition 87 4. Jovinian, Heresy, and Fourth-Century Asceticism 130 5. Mary Ever-Virgin? Jovinian and Marian Heresy 171 Part III. Jovinian and his Opponents 6. Against Jovinian: From Siricius to Jerome 207 7. After Jovinian: Marriage and Celibacy in Western Theology 243 Conclusion 285 References 288 Index 308 end p.ix 1 of 1 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Hunter, David G. , Professor of Religious Studies and Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity Print ISBN 9780199279784, 2007 pp. [x] Abbreviations 1. Periodicals and series Abbreviations of the names of periodicals and series have been adapted from Patrick H. Alexander, John F. Kutsko, James D. Ernest, Shirley A. Decker-Lucke, and David L. Petersen (eds.), The SBL Handbook of Style for Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1999); supplemented by Siegfried Schwertner (ed.), Internationales Abkürzungsverzeichnis für Theologie und Grenzgebiete (Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1974). AB Anchor Bible ACW Ancient Christian Writers AJA American Journal of Archaeology ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt ATR Anglican Theological Review Aug Augustinianum AugStud Augustinian Studies BA Bibliothèque Augustinienne BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands Library BLE Bulletin de littérature ecclésiastique CAH Cambridge Ancient History CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CH Church History CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum CCSA Corpus Christianorum, Series Apocryphorum CCSL Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum CQ Classical Quarterly CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium C.Th. Codex Theodosianus, in T. Mommsen and P. M. Meyer (eds.), Theodosiani libri XVI cum constitutionibus Sirmondianis (Berlin, 1905) end p.x 1 of 1 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Hunter, David G. , Professor of Religious Studies and Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity Print ISBN 9780199279784, 2007 pp. [xi] CWE Collected Works of Erasmus CWS Classics of Western Spirituality DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers DSp Dictionnaire de spiritualité, ascétique et mystique EphMar Ephemerides Mariologicae ETL Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses FC Fathers of the Church FZPhTh Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie GCS Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte Greg Gregorianum HTR Harvard Theological Review ILCV E. Diehl (ed.), Inscriptiones latinae christianae veteres, 3 vols. (Berlin, 1925–31) JAC Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum JECS Journal of Early Christian Studies JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JMEMS Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies JRS Journal of Roman Studies JSPSup Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha: Supplement Series JTS Journal of Theological Studies LCC Library of Christian Classics LCL Loeb Classical Library MFC Message of the Fathers of the Church Mus Muséon: Revue d'études orientales NHMS Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies NPNF1 Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1 NPNF2 Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2 NTS New Testament Studies OECS Oxford Early Christian Studies OECT Oxford Early Christian Texts PG Patrologia Graeca PL Patrologia Latina PLS A. Hamman (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae Supplementum, 5 vols. (Paris, 1958–74) end p.xi 1 of 1 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Hunter, David G. , Professor of Religious Studies and Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity Print ISBN 9780199279784, 2007 pp. [xii] PLRE A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris (eds.), The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, 4 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980–92) PMS Patristic Monograph Series PTS Patristische Texte und Studien RAC Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum RBen Revue Bénédictine REAug Revue des études augustiniennes RechAug Recherches augustiniennes REL Revue des études latines RHE Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique RHR Revue de l'histoire des religions RQ Römische Quartalschrift für christliche Altertumskunde und für Kirchengeschichte RTAM Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale RTL Revue théologique de Louvain RTP Revue de théologie et de philosophie SacEr Sacris erudiri: Jaarboek voor Godsdienstwetenschappen SAEMO Sancti Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis Opera SC Sources chrétiennes StPatr Studia Patristica TAPA Transactions of the American Philological Association TaS Texts and Studies TS Theological Studies TU Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristliche Literatur VetChr Vetera Christianorum VC Vigiliae Christianae VL Vetus Latina: Die Reste der altlateinischen Bibel WGRW Writings from the Greco-Roman World WSA The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century ZKG Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft ZTK Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche end p.xii 1 of 1 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com) © Copyright Oxford University Press, 2007. All Rights Reserved Hunter, David G. , Professor of Religious Studies and Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity Print ISBN 9780199279784, 2007 pp. [xiii] 2. Ancient sources Abbreviations of the titles of Latin sources have been adapted from Albert Blaise and Henri Chirat (eds.), Dictionnaire Latin–Français des auteurs chrétiens (Turnout: Brepols, 1954); titles of Greek patristic texts from G. W. H. Lampe (ed.) A Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961). Full publication information is not given for editions that have appeared in the most common series: CSEL, CCSL, CSCO, GCS, PL, PLS, PG, and SC. Ambrose of Milan Cain De Cain et Abel (CSEL 32.1) Ep. Epistulae (CSEL 82.1-3) Exh. virg. Exhortatio virginitatis, in F. Gori (ed.), Verginità e vedovanza ii (SAEMO 14.2; Milan and Rome, 1989) Fid. De fide (CSEL 78) Inst. De institutione virginis, in F. Gori (ed.), Verginità e vedovanza ii (SAEMO 14.2; Milan and Rome, 1989) Luc. Expositio evangelii secundum Lucam (CCSL 14) Myst. De mysteriis (SC 25bis) Off. De officiis, in Ivor Davidson (ed.), Ambrose: De officiis i (OECS; Oxford, 2001) Paen. De paenitentia (SC 179) Sacr. De sacramentis (SC 25bis) Vid. De viduis, in F. Gori (ed.), Verginità e vedovanza i (SAEMO 14.1; Milan and Rome, 1989) Virg. De virginibus, in F. Gori (ed.), Verginità e vedovanza i (SAEMO 14.1; Milan and Rome, 1989) Virgin. De virginitate, in F. Gori (ed.), Verginità e vedovanza ii (SAEMO 14.2; Milan and Rome, 1989) Ps-Ambrose Laps. virg. De lapsu virginis (PL 16) Ambrosiaster Comm. in Rom. (etc.) Commentarius in xiii epistulas Paulinas: ad Romanos (etc.) (CSEL 81.1–3) Quaest. Quaestiones veteris et novi testamenti (CSEL 50) end p.xiii 1 of 1