Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity The Jovinianist Controversy

Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity is the first major study in English of the 'heretic' Jovinian and the Jovinianist controversy. David G. Hunter examines early Christian views on marriage and celibacy in the first three centuries and the development of an anti-hereticaltradition. He provides a thorough analysis of the responses of Jovinian's main opponents, including Pope Siricius, Ambrose, Jerome, Pelagius, and Augustine. In the course of his discussion Hunter sheds new light on the origins of Christian asceticism, the rise of clerical celibacy, the developmentof Marian doctrine, and the formation of 'orthodoxy' and 'heresy' in early Christianity.

I. Jovinian and his world1. Reconstructing Jovinian2. Jovinian and Christian RomeII. Jovinian, heresy, and asceticism3. Asceticism, heresy, and early Christian tradition4. Jovinian, Heresy, and fourth-century asceticism5. Mary ever virgin? Jovinian and Marian heresyIII. Jovinian and his opponents6. Against Jovinian: From Siricius to Jerome7. After Jovinian: Marriage and celibacy in Western theologyConclusion