Classifying Christians: Ethnography, Heresiology, and the Limits of Knowledge in Late Antiquity

by Todd S. Berzon

Overview

Classifying Christians investigates late antique Christian heresiologies as ethnographies that catalogued and detailed the origins, rituals, doctrines, and customs of the heretics in explicitly polemical and theological terms. Oscillating between ancient ethnographic evidence and contemporary ethnographic writing, Todd S. Berzon argues that late antique heresiology shares an underlying logic with classical ethnography in the ancient Mediterranean world. By providing an account of heresiological writing from the second to fifth century, Classifying Christians embeds heresiology within the historical development of imperial forms of knowledge that have shaped western culture from antiquity to the present.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520383173
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	05/25/2021
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Todd S. Berzon is Associate Professor of Religion at Bowdoin College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

List of Abbreviations xiii

Introduction: Writing People, Writing Religion 1

1 Heresiology as Ethnography: The Ethnographic Disposition 27

2 Comparing Theologies and Comparing Peoples: The Customs, Doctrines, and Dispositions of the Heretics 58

3 Contesting Ethnography: Heretical Models of Human and Cosmic Plurality 98

4 Christianized Ethnography: Paradigms of Heresiological Knowledge 127

5 Knowledge Fair and Foul: The Rhetoric of Heresiological Inquiry 156

6 The Infinity of Continuity: Epiphanius of Salamis and the Limits of the Ethnographic Disposition 186

7 From Ethnography to List: Transcribing and Traversing Heresy 218

Epilogue: The Legacy of Heresiology 247

Bibliography 259

Index 285

Editorial Reviews

"Berzon's book offers a potent epistemological reflection on the production, organization, and limits of knowledge in late antiquity... a finely articulated meditation on the effects of theological and ethnographic ancient list-making."

Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Todd S. Berzon’s Classifying Christians: Ethnography, Heresiology, and the Limits of Knowledge in Late Antiquity partakes of these rich conversations by offering a sustained and convincing reflection on the adaptations, innovations, and antinomies of heresy-writing in the late ancient period."

Ancient Jew Review

"This volume clears more space in our scholarly discourse for several topics which are only recently starting to receive a fraction of the attention they deserve."

Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum

"Classifying Christians is a remarkable book... indispensable."

Reading Religion

"Classifying Christians is a learned, wide-ranging, and exciting new study on ancient Christian heresiology... we look forward to Todd Berzon’s next [volume]."

Histos

"Classifying Christians is a splendid and challenging study, a must-read for scholars in the field of Late Antique theological polemics. . . . immersive and engaging while intellectually challenging at the same time."

Augustiniana

"This volume clears more space in our scholarly discourse for several topics which are only recently starting to receive a fraction of the attention they deserve."

Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum