Hippolytus and the Roman church in the third century
Subtitle: communities in tension before the emergence of a monarch-bishop
By: by Allen Brent.
Series: Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae ;; v. 31
Publisher: E.J. Brill
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Leiden; New York; Köln
Language: eng
Number of pages: 611
Subjects: Hippolytus, Antipope, ca. 170-235 or 6.; Hippolytus, Antipope, ca. 170-235 or 6 -- Statues.; Ligorio, Pirro, ca. 1510-1583.; Christian literature, Early -- Greek authors -- History and criticism.; Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600 -- Sources.
Description: Allen Brent examines the significance of the Hippolytan events in the life of the Roman Church in the early third century. Developing the thesis of at least two authors in the Hippolytan corpus, he proposes a new, redactional explanation of the relation between these different authors and the theological and social tensions to which their work bears witness.

Brent reconstructs a picture of the community that contextualizes both the Hippolytan literature and in particular the Statue, for which he proposes a new interpretation as a community artefact though universally misjudged as a monument to an individual. Tertullian's relationship with Callistus is finally re-assessed. This work is thus an important contribution to new understandings of a period critical both for the development of Church Order and embryonic Trinitarian Orthodoxy.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [541]-569) and indexes.