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Loading... Ambrose of Milan and the End of the Arian-Nicene Conflictsby Daniel H. Williams
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Scholars primarily interested in fourth-century theological conflicts should consults Williams's book; but those seeking a more complex biography of Ambrose will turn to McLynn's book. Specialists in late antiquity will want both in their university libraries and in their private collections. That Williams ultimately poses more questions than he answers does not detract from his achievement. He has amply succeeded in his declared intention of rescuing Ambrose from the hagiographers, and the western homoeans from their vituperators. W. has presented a well-researched and convincing thesis. Like his mentor, T. D. Barnes, W. pays close attention to detail and intricate discussion of the dating and purpose of individual works. Williams has persuasively contributed to this new "imago." This revised Ph.D. dissertation will be of interest to patristic scholars for its innovative reconstruction of the history of Nicene-Arian conflicts. Its main contribution lies in the demonstration of the complexity of factors at work during this fourth-century controversy, as social, political, and theological issues are shown to intertwine. Belongs to Publisher Series
This is a new and provocative study re-evaluating the history of the struggle between orthodoxy and heresy in the early church. Dr Williams argues that the traditional picture of Nicene ascendancy in the western church from 350 - 381 is substantially misleading, and in particular that theconventional portrait of Ambrose of Milan as one who rapidly and easily overpowered his "Arian" opponents is a fictional product derived from idealized accounts of the fifth century.Sources illustrating the struggle between the orthodox pro-Nicenes and "Arians" or Homoians, in the fourth century reveal that Latin "Arianism" was not the lifeless and theologically alien system that historians of the last century would have us believe. Dr Williams shows that the majority ofchurches in the West had little practical use for the Nicene creed until the end of the 350s - over twenty five years after it was first issued under Constantine - and that the ultimate triumph of the Nicene faith was not as inevitable as it has been assumed. Ambrose himself was seriously harrassedby sustained attacks from "Arians" in Milan for the first decade of his episcopate, and his early career demonstrates the severity of the religious conflict which embroiled the western churches,especially in North Italy. Only after an intense and uncertain decade did Ambrose finally prevail inMilan once the Nicene form of faith was embraced by the Roman empire through imperial legislation and "Arianism" was outlawed as heresy. This is an innovative and challenging book full of illumination new insights on the social, political, and theological entanglements ofthe early church. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)273.4Religions History, geographic treatment, biography of Christianity Doctrinal controversies & heresies Arian; Denying divinity of Christ (4th century)LC ClassificationRatingAverage: No ratings.Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |