Clandestine Heresy and Politics in Sixth-century Constantinople: Theodore of Caesarea at the Court of Justinian

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    Abstract (may include machine translation)

    This paper addresses the issue of the presence of "Origenist heretics," so-called, in the court of Justinian. It analyses the historiographic testimonies on the role of Domitian, originally abbot of the Monastery of Martyrius, later bishop of Ancyra in Asia Minor, and of Theodore, nicknamed the Wine-sack (Askidas), originally a monk of the New Lavra and later Archbishop of Caesarea and Justinian's all-powerful advisor. The paper analyses the hostile texts of Cyril of Scythopolis on these two actors and describes the circumstances of the condemnations of - first - Origen in 542/3 and - second - of Origenism as such at the fifth ecumenical council in 553. Then, it accumulates proofs for the identification of the author of the Questions and Answers (Erotapokriseis) of Pseudo-Caesarius with Theodore of Caesarea (aka the Wine-sack: Askidas) and proposes a methodology to decipher the cryptic language of this work. A continuation of this study about the doctrine of universal restoration (apokatastasis) in the Pseudo-Caesarius has been published in the second volume of the Beyond the Fathers series.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationNew Themes, New Styles in the Eastern Mediterranean
    Subtitle of host publicationChristian, Jewish and Islamic Encounters, 5th-8th Centuries
    EditorsHagit Amirav, Francesco Celia
    Place of PublicationLeuven
    PublisherPeeters Publishers
    Pages137-171
    Number of pages35
    ISBN (Print)9789042934450
    StatePublished - 2017

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