The Eusebians

The Polemic of Athanasius of Alexandria and the Construction of the Arian Controversy
Erscheinungsjahr 2006
ISBN: 978-0-19-920555-4
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 296 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 145 mm x 222 mm, Gewicht: 551 g

A historical and theological re-evaluation of the polemical writings of Athanasius of Alexandria (bishop 328-73), who would become known to later Christian generations as a saint and a champion of orthodoxy, and as the defender of the original Nicene Creed of 325 against the `Arian heresy'. For much of his own lifetime, however, Athanasius was an extremely controversial figure, and his writings, although highly influential on modern interpretations of the fourth-century Church and the so-called `Arian Controversy', display bias and distortion. David M. Gwynn examines Athanasius' polemic in detail, and in particular his construction of those he condemns as `Arian' as a single `heretical party', 'the Eusebians'. Gwynn argues that Athanasius' image of the Church polarized between his own `orthodoxy' and the `Arianism' of the `Eusebians' is a polemical construct, which has seriously impaired our knowledge of the development of Christianity in the crucial period in which the Later Roman Empire became ever increasingly a Christian empire.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gwynn, David M.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Systematische Theologie Christliche Theologie und die Wissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Wissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte Frühes Christentum, Patristik, Christliche Archäologie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Religion & Wissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- Part I

- 1: The polemical writings of Athanasius: chronology and context

- Part II

- 2: Athanasius' earliest polemical work: the `Eusebians' in the Epistula Encyclica of 339

- 3: The origin of the `Eusebians' in the polemic of Athanasius

- 4: The influence of Athanasius' polemic 339-46

- Part III

- 5: Who were the `Eusebians'?

- 6: The `Eusebians' in action

- 7: The `Arianism' of the `Eusebians'

- Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

David M. Gwynn is Junior Research Fellow, Christ Church, Oxford.