Overview

English summary: While up until now the heathen criticism of the clergy and that of Schismatics and heretics have been the main focus of research, this volume explores various areas of early Christian criticism of the clergy. Beginning with a comprehensive analysis of mainstream church sources, the study reconstructs early forms of Christian self-criticism, which extends over large sections of the patristic literature, and puts them in a historical context. It emerges that two processes had a major influence on the development of early Christian professional ethics: the professionalisation of the clergy from the turn of the 2nd/3rd century, and the increasing significance of ascetic life as a guiding objective during the time of the German imperial church. German description: Wahrend bisher die heidnische Kritik am Klerus und die der Schismatiker und Haretiker im Mittelpunkt des Forschungsinteresses stand, erschliesst dieser Band verschiedenste Bereiche altchristlicher Kleruskritik. Ausgehend von einer umfangreichen Analyse grosskirchlicher Quellen rekonstruiert die Studie antike Formen christlicher Selbstkritik, die sich uber weite Teile der patristischen Literatur erstrecken, und ordnet diese zugleich historisch ein. Dabei zeigt sich, dass zwei Prozesse die Entwicklung der altchristlichen Standesethik massgeblich beeinflusst haben: die Professionalisierung des Klerus seit der Wende vom 2. zum 3. Jahrhundert sowie die zunehmende Bedeutung der asketischen Lebensform als Leitideal in der Zeit der Reichskirche.

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9783847101543

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Reviews

[Dockter's] monograph is a welcome first step, painstakingly collected and presented, and can be taken as a useful sourcebook for further investigating ancient criticisms on clerics. --Uta Heil, University of Vienna, Review of Biblical Literature 01/2016

""[Dockter's] monograph is a welcome first step, painstakingly collected and presented, and can be taken as a useful sourcebook for further investigating ancient criticisms on clerics."" --Uta Heil, University of Vienna, Review of Biblical Literature 01/2016

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