Networks of faith: Theodoret of Cyrrhus and the bishops of Roman Syria, 423--451.

This dissertation considers the significance of doctrinal disputes in the mid-fifth century by examining social relations among their participants. It focuses on the Antiochene coalition of Syrian clerics which surrounded Theodoret of Cyrrhus and formed the Dyophysite side of the early Christological dispute in opposition to Cyril of Alexandria. The project employs an approach based on network theory to explore how arrangements of relationships shape and are shaped by doctrine and other cultural content. Thanks to extant letters and Theodoret's literary corpus, Syrian clerical relationships can be traced specifically, lending new context to the study of church controversies. After a historiographic and theoretical introduction, part one focuses on the Syrian bishops' relations within the clergy. Chapter one establishes the outline of Syrian episcopal relations, identifying the idioms, protocols, and mechanisms by which bishops defined a Dyophysite network in Syria. Chapter two seeks the roots of that network by analyzing Theodoret's vision of his regional clerical heritage, in particular the Syrian ascetic tradition and the doctrinal school of Antioch. Chapter three traces the development of this network as it faced a crisis of leadership during the Nestorian dispute (429--436), and reintegrated under Theodoret's guidance. Chapter four examines Theodoret's plans for his network and visions of it as a community, set against the record of its overthrow during the Eutychean dispute (447--451). Part two turns to bishops' wider relations within the patronage-laden society of Roman Syria. Chapter five places Syrian bishops within the competitive webs of elite patronage brokering, alongside local notables, sophists, imperial officials, generals, ascetics, and alternative religious experts. Chapter six details the strategies used by Theodoret to navigate these relations and maintain his role as social mediator. Chapter seven explores the interaction between the bishops' notions of patronage and their presentations of Christology. Collectively these chapters argue that the early Christological controversy was more than a mismatch of doctrines. It represented a clash of socio-doctrinal networks which fostered different experiences of clerical community.Ph.D.Ancient historyHistory, ChurchPhilosophy, Religion and TheologyReligious historySocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/124560/2/3150089.pd