Guilt by Association

Heresy Catalogues in Early Christianity

Geoffrey S. Smith

Draws together several related but often distinct fields within early Christian studies
Makes bold claims about the origins of Gnosticism
Examines the complicated relationship between Christianity and Judaism in the 2nd Century
New interpretation of the Pastoral Epistles

Guilt by Association

Heresy Catalogues in Early Christianity

Geoffrey S. Smith

Description

Guilt by Association explores the creation, publication, and circulation of heresy catalogues by second- and early third-century Christians. Polemicists made use of these religious blacklists, which include the names of heretical teachers along with summaries of their unsavory doctrines and nefarious misdeeds, in order to discredit opponents and advocate their expulsion from the "authentic" Christianity community.

The heresy catalogue proved to be an especially effective literary technology in struggles for religious authority and legitimacy because it not only recast rival teachers as menacing adversaries, but also reinforced such characterizations by organizing otherwise unaffiliated teachers into coherent intellectual, social, and scholastic communities that are established and sustained by demonic powers.

This study focuses especially on the earliest Christian heresy catalogues, those found within the works of Justin, Irenaeus, Hegesippus, and the authors the Testimony of Truth and the Tripartite Tractate. By focusing upon the heresy catalogue, Guilt by Association not only accounts for the emergence of the Christian heresiological tradition; it also sheds new light upon the socio-rhetorical aims of the Pastoral Epistles, the circulation of early Christian literature, the emergence of a distinct Christian identity, and the origins of Gnosticism.

Guilt by Association

Heresy Catalogues in Early Christianity

Geoffrey S. Smith

Introduction
Chapter 1: Doxography, Pseudo-Pauline Literature, and the Christian Heresy Catalogue
Chapter 2: Justin's Advertisement of the Syntagma Against All the Heresies
Chapter 3: The Fragmentary Remains of Rival Heresy Catalogues
Chapter 4: Irenaeus, the 'School Called Gnostic,' and the Valentinians
Conclusion
Bibliography

Guilt by Association

Heresy Catalogues in Early Christianity

Geoffrey S. Smith

Author Information

Geoffrey S. Smith, Nease Fellow and Lecturer, University of Texas at Austin

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.

Guilt by Association

Heresy Catalogues in Early Christianity

Geoffrey S. Smith

Reviews and Awards

"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