The Politics of Heresy in Ambrose of Milan
Community and Consensus in Late Antique Christianity

Re-examines the 'Arian' opposition to Ambrose in Milan, arguing that he misrepresented it to suit his own agenda as bishop.

Michael Stuart Williams (Author)

9781107019461, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 October 2017

356 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.3 cm, 0.65 kg

Ambrose of Milan is famous above all for his struggle with, and triumph over, 'Arian' heresy. Yet, almost all of the evidence comes from Ambrose's own writings, and from pious historians of the next generation who represented him as a champion of orthodoxy. This detailed study argues instead that an 'Arian' opposition in Milan was largely conjured up by Ambrose himself, lumping together critics and outsiders in order to secure and justify his own authority. Along with new interpretations of Ambrose's election as bishop, his controversies over the faith, and his clashes with the imperial court, this book provides a new understanding of the nature and significance of heretical communities in Late Antiquity. In place of rival congregations inflexibly committed to doctrinal beliefs, it envisages a world of more fluid allegiances in which heresy - but also consensus - could be a matter of deploying the right rhetorical frame.

Introduction: the strange death of 'Arian' Milan
1. Making distinctions: Christian identity and community in Late Antiquity
2. A tale of two bishops: Auxentius of Milan and the election of Ambrose
3. Framing the faith: Aquileia, De fide, and the rhetoric of unity
4. Manufacturing consensus: communities, leaders and the first basilica crisis
5. Popular appeal: unity and authority in the second basilica crisis
Conclusion: waiting for the Arians
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Church history [HRCC2], History of religion [HRAX], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], History [HB]