Anger matters: politics and theology in the fourth century CE

UnrestrictedIn this dissertation I examine the De ira Dei of Lactantius from the perspectives of classical philosophy and rhetorical theory, Christian theology, and the socio-historic debates specific to the fourth century CE. Lactantius argues that the Christian God is moved by anger, a claim which he himself acknowledges as antithetical to the traditional philosophical and theological positions that viewed the supreme god as impassible. To date, De ira Dei has remained a misunderstood and undervalued resource in the study of the history of religion in Late Antiquity. My primary aim is to demonstrate the ways in which the text and its author were occupied with philosophical and theological questions of central importance to the development of Christian doctrine. I argue that Lactantius sought to shape the Christian (and) imperial present through his contribution to these debates. This document, indicative of the transitions and transformations particular to the early fourth century CE, presents an alternative perspective to the controversies of the period. The questions raised in and by the text prompt a reevaluation of our conceptions both of Christian beliefs about the emotions of God and, moreover, of the consequences of these beliefs. My approach to the text, grounded in philosophy, theology, and history, seeks to contribute to the fields of Classics and Religion, as well as to those of intellectual history and Latin apologetic more broadly, a reappraisal of a text hitherto confined to the narrower purview of Patristics