An Anatomy of a Crisis in Ecclesiastical Leadership: Isidore and Eusebius in Pelusium

This paper investigates a crisis in leadership in the Christian church after changes in imperial policy made it more acceptable socially and more advantageous financially to occupy clerical positions. For several decades in the early 5th century, Isidore of Pelusium and his network of friends reproa...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: De Bruyn, Theodore (Autor)
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Verificar disponibilidad: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Publicado: 2023
En: Zeitschrift für antikes Christentum
Año: 2023, Volumen: 27, Número: 2, Páginas: 279-299
(Cadenas de) Palabra clave estándar:B Isidorus, Pelusiota -435 / Eusebius, Pelusium, Bischof ca. 1. Hälfte 5. Jh. / Pelusium / Ministerio eclesial / Obispo / Comportamiento / Crítica
Clasificaciones IxTheo:KAB Cristianismo primitivo
KBL Oriente Medio
RB Ministerio eclesiástico
Otras palabras clave:B Isidore of Pelusium
B Eusebius of Pelusium
B Leadership
B Authority
B Egypt
B Late Antiquity
B Bishops
B Crises
B Asceticism
B Persuasion
Acceso en línea: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Descripción
Sumario:This paper investigates a crisis in leadership in the Christian church after changes in imperial policy made it more acceptable socially and more advantageous financially to occupy clerical positions. For several decades in the early 5th century, Isidore of Pelusium and his network of friends reproached and lamented the venal conduct of Eusebius, bishop of Pelusium, and several clerics he had appointed. But their efforts to alter the situation had little effect. To understand why this was so, the paper considers the types of people who wrote letters lamenting the situation in order to understand the nature of their response in relation to their social or political position, and it explores reasons why Eusebius and the other clerics were not dislodged by the censure and even derision of their critics. The conflict, it is argued, exposes the limitations of παρρησία as a means of altering the actions of the powerful and qualifies the role of ascetic authority in the de facto exercise of episcopal office in Late Antiquity.
ISSN:1612-961X
Obras secundarias:Enthalten in: Zeitschrift für antikes Christentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1515/zac-2023-0013