The Challenge of Theology and Power in Action
The Challenge of Theology and Power in Action
Bishops, Cities, and Empire, A.D. 337–361
Chapter 8 argues that the dispute encouraged bishops to devise new strategies of asserting their authority in city and empire, sometimes in sheer opposition to the emperor and even questioning his legitimacy. The chapter deals with the period from the death of Constantine to Julian's reign, as the faaçade of Nicene unity finally crumbled, and rival groups of bishops brought the dispute out into the open, scrambling to have their own definition of faith prevail. The author stresses in particular the role that violence, practiced on a new and unprecedented scale, played in this process.
Keywords: religious conflict, Christian history early church, ca. 30–600, bishops Rome, Arian controversy, Arianism, doctrine history Christian, heresy, doctrine history Christian, leadership (sociology), Athanasius of Alexandria, violence, power
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