THE DEVELOPMENT OF MATER ECCLESIA IN NORTH AFRICAN ECCLESIOLOGY By Bradley M. Peper Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Religion May, 2011 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Professor J. Patout Burns Professor Robin M. Jensen Professor Thomas A. J. McGinn Professor Joel F. Harrington Professor Dale A. Johnson
Copyright 2011 by Bradley M. Peper All Rights Reserved ii
In memory of my grandmother, Marjorie, whose emphasis on education and sense of humor have remained with me iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the financial support and guidance of the Graduate Department of Religion at Vanderbilt University. Among the faculty, I am especially grateful to my advisor and chair of my dissertation committee, J. Patout Burns. He has been a positively challenging instructor and a constant source of intellectual and moral support throughout my entire graduate career. Dr. Burns has fostered my academic interest in North African theology as well as taught me the importance of ecclesiology as a pivotal topic in the development of western thought. Most importantly, his pedagogical method has served as the paradigm for emulation in my own teaching career. It has been my honor and pleasure to have had him as my mentor. I am also grateful to Robin Jensen and Dale Johnson; each has significantly nuanced my approach to the study of Christian history. Dr. Jensen has taught me the necessity of examining liturgy and material evidence in early Christian history. She has been a continued source of help and insight with this dissertation. Through conversation and coursework with Dr. Johnson, I have gained not only a deeper understanding of modern-european religious history but also a shaper sensibility concerning the importance of an apropos construction of history, both of which strongly informed the postscript of this dissertation project. For that and other shared coincidences, I am greatly appreciative for his tutelage and friendship. I would also like to thank the rest of my dissertation committee, Thomas A. J. McGinn and Joel F. Harrington, for their support and important feedback. In addition, iv
various colleagues and collaborators have aided me throughout this process, and I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge their valuable contributions. Special thanks go to Josh Davis, Mark DelCogliano, Todd Green, and Michael Gibson for their years of friendship and conversation; all of them graciously acted as sounding boards and offered beneficial critiques and assistance. Michael Gibson with his editorial expertise was especially helpful during the final stages of my completion of this dissertation. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Lisa, for enduring me throughout this entire process. She kindly tolerated me when I was under slept and overly temperamental; for this, I will always be appreciative. v
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS... ix Chapter I. INTRODUCTION...1 Mater Ecclesia in Modern Scholarship...4 Outline of Chapters...13 A Note on Style, Translations, and References...16 II. THE ORIGINS OF MATER ECCLESIA: IRENAEUS AND TERTULLIAN...18 Irenaeus and the Church in Lyon...19 1. The Church of Lyon in the Late Second Century...20 2. Irenaeus s Ecclesiology...24 3. Maternal Imagery in Lyon...27 Tertullian s Ecclesiology and Use of Mater Ecclesia...36 1. North Africa in the Late Second and Early Third Centuries...38 2. Tertullian s Ecclesiology...46 3. Tertullian s Use of Mater Ecclesia...52 4. Tertullian s Sources for Mater Ecclesia...59 Conclusion...62 III. DEVELOPING THE CHURCH S EXCLUSIVE MATERNITY: CYPRIAN...64 Context and Ecclesiology...65 1. Cyprian s Early Ecclesiology...65 2. The Decian Persecution...71 Confessors/Martyrs...74 Laxist Controversy...76 Rigorists/Novatianists...78 3. Shifting Power: From Community to Bishop...79 4. Shifting Authority and Purity: From Local Bishop to a Universal Episcopate...85 5. Conclusion...93 Mater Ecclesia: Metaphor and Scriptural Types in Cyprian s Works...93 vi
1. The Community as Mother: 248-250...95 2. The Bishop as Mother: 250-255...99 3. The Pure Mother: 256...111 Other Contemporary North African Uses of Mater Ecclesia...113 Conclusion...117 IV. MOTHER OF ALL CHRISTIANS: MATER ECCLESIA IN THE WORKS OF AUGUSTINE...119 Augustine s Polemical Engagements and Ecclesiological Development...123 1. Manichaeism and the Historical Church...123 2. Jovinianism and the Virginal Church...126 3. Donatism and the Universal/Mixed Church...129 4. Pelagianism and the Liberating Church...134 Augustine s Use of Mater Ecclesia...138 1. The Mother of the Living, the Mother of Christ...138 Mother Church and Eve...138 Mother Church and Mary...141 2. The Mother of All Christians...148 Rebellious Children...152 Tolerating Bad Children...156 Receiving Other Children...159 3. The Fecund Mother...162 Baptism as Rebirth...162 Celebrating the Martyrs Baptisms...167 Baptizing Infants...173 Augustine s Sources...177 1. Patristic...177 2. Scriptural...180 3. Personal...183 Conclusion...185 V. THE HOLY AND CATHOLIC MOTHER: QUODVULTDEUS AND FULGENTIUS...188 North Africa under the Vandals...190 1. Vandal Settlement...190 2. Arian/Vandal Persecution...193 3. Catholic Perception of the Persecution...198 Mater Ecclesia in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries...204 1. Quodvultdeus...204 2. Fulgentius of Ruspe...214 Conclusion...218 VI. GENERAL CONCLUSION...220 The Role of Mater Ecclesia in North African Ecclesiology...220 vii
Postscript: Where is Mother Church Today?...224 APPENDIX...234 BIBLIOGRAPHY...237 viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AChr AHC ANF ATAE AugStud CCSL ChHist CIL CSEL DACL FC HTR ILCV JECS JEH JRH JRS JTS MA MGH NCP Antike und Christentum Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum Ante Nicene Fathers Series Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia Augustinian Studies Corpus Christianorum Series Latina Church History Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum Corpus Scriptorium Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum Liturgie Fathers of the Church Series Harvard Theological Review Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres Journal of Early Christian Studies Journal of Ecclesiastical History Journal of Religious History Journal of Roman Studies Journal of Theological Studies Miscellanea Agostiniana Monumenta Germaniae Historica New City Press ix
NPNF PL RB REAug Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series Patrologia Latina Revue Bénédictine Revue des Études Augustiniennes RHPR R vu H s P s p R us s RSR SC SL SP TQ TS TU VigChr ZNTW Recherches de Science Religieuse Sources Chrétiennes Studia Liturgica Studia Patristica Theologische Quartalschrift Theological Studies Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Altchristlichen Literatur Vigiliae Christianae Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche x