Description
About the Author
Geoffrey Smith is Nease Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. He received a BA in Biblical Studies from Biola University in 2005, an MTS in Early Christianity from Harvard Divinity School in 2008, and PhD in Religions of Mediterranean Antiquity from Princeton University in 2013. His research interests include the apostle Paul, Gospels, New Testament textual criticism, papyrology and manuscript studies, patristics, Valentinianism, and "orthodoxy" and "heresy" in early Christianity.
Reviews
Geoffrey Smith has written a wonderful book - a fresh approach to oft-discussed subjects, integrating literary criticism, but also philological and sociological approaches. Smith brings new clarity to notoriously unclear matters, like the questions related to the lost 'Syntagama of all heresies' of Justin Martyr. For the first time the Nag Hammadi evidence is fully taken into consideration, allowing a new light to fall on the difficult questions how we can model Gnostic groups like the so called 'Valentinians.' * Christoph Markschies, Theologische Fakultat, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin *
This important book should be essential reading in research on pseudo-Pauline letters, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Nag Hammadi writings, among others. It is a wonderfully fresh break-through on the development of heresy 'black-lists' even prior to Irenaeus, and one that challenges received wisdom about Irenaeus's own innovations. With Smith's remarkably economic analysis, some historically significant but famously inconvenient loose pieces in Irenaeus's use of the term 'gnostic' now fall into place. * Michael A. Williams, author of Rethinking Gnosticism: An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category *
This excellent new study traces the origins of early Christian boundary drawing over against those considered 'heretics.' Smith breaks new ground in delineating what made Christian accounts of heresies, from pseudo-Pauline epistles to texts written in the fourth century, distinct from ancient inventories of varied opinions among the philosophers. Smith's argument that, in early Christian usage, 'school' belongs to the heresy-hunters' toolbox and thus does not say much about the opposed groups' social outlook is carefully crafted and merits serious attention. This book is a must for all those interested in ancient intellectuals, early Christian polemics and the roots of Christian identity formation. * Ismo Dunderberg, author of Beyond Gnosticism: Myth, Lifestyle and Society in the School of Valentinus *
Book Information
ISBN 9780199386789
Author Geoffrey S. Smith
Format Hardback
Page Count 216
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 468g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 236mm * 25mm