Overview

The Acts of Early Church Councils Acts examines the acts of ancient church councils as the objects of textual practices, in their editorial shaping, and in their material conditions. It traces the processes of their production, starting from the recording of spoken interventions during a meeting, to the preparation of minutes of individual sessions, to their collection into larger units, their storage and the earliest attempts at their dissemination.Thomas Graumann demonstrates that the preparation of 'paperwork' is central for the bishops' self-presentation and the projection of prevailing conciliar ideologies. The councils' aspirations to legitimacy and authority before real and imagined audiences of the wider church and the empire, and for posterity, fundamentally reside in the relevant textual and bureaucratic processes. Council leaders and administrators also scrutinized and inspected documents and records of previous occasions. From the evidence of such examinations the volume further reconstructs the textual and physical characteristics of ancient conciliar documents and explores the criteria of their assessment. Reading strategies prompted by the features observed from material textual objects handled in council, and the opportunities and limits afforded by the techniques of 'writing-up' conciliar business are analysed. Papyrological evidence and contemporary legal regulations are used to contextualise these efforts. The book thus offers a unique assessment of the production processes, character and the material conditions of council acts that must be the foundation for any historical and theological research into the councils of the ancient church.

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9780198868170

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Reviews

"The volume importantly addresses this major lacuna by honing in on and analysing previously ignored and variegated textual practices that were utterly instrumental for these councils to effectively take place. * Mario Baghos, Classical Review * This monograph is the result of incredibly careful reading, often between the lines, of vast and complex sets of documents, and Graumann successfully builds a compelling picture of how the final acta produced by councils were the result of manifold influences, procedural moves, decisions and omissions, and priorities and personalities. This book will be of great interest to scholars of ancient record production, ecclesiastical politics, and conciliar history. * Young Richard Kim, Church History * The book's structure, organized by themes and topics, does lend itself to some overlaps and repetitions, and there is a wide variance in chapter length that makes the flow uneven at times. Nevertheless, this monograph is the result of incredibly careful reading, often between the lines, of vast and complex sets of documents, and Graumann successfully builds a compelling picture of how the final acta produced by councils were the result of manifold influences, procedural moves, decisions and omissions, and priorities and personalities. This book will be of great interest to scholars of ancient record production, ecclesiastical politics, and conciliar history. * Young Richard Kim, Oxford Early Christian Studies * The book's structure, organized by themes and topics, does lend itself to some overlaps and repetitions, and there is a wide variance in chapter length that makes the flow uneven at times. Nevertheless, this monograph is the result of incredibly careful reading, often between the lines, of vast and complex sets of documents, and Graumann successfully builds a compelling picture of how the final acta produced by councils were the result of manifold influences, procedural moves, decisions and omissions, and priorities and personalities. This book will be of great interest to scholars of ancient record production, ecclesiastical politics, and conciliar history. * Young Richard Kim, Church History * ... after reading the book one cannot avoid appreciating the roles of secretaries and stenographers of church councils, who are now recognised as playing a more central role than has been assumed hitherto. * Turhan Ka¸car, Istanbul Medeniyet ¨Universitesi, Bryn Mawr Classical Review * To put it bluntly: the christological doctrinal decisions of the councils of Ephesus (431) to Constantinople (680/81) required a procedural ""framing"". Or again to put it another way: Convincing Theologie based on professential bureaucracy. Thomas Graumann addresses this issue in his monograph, in which numerous preliminary work from a decade and a half has been incorporated. * Peter Gemeinhardt, Dr. Professor of Church History at the Faculty of Theology at Georg-August-University of G¨otting, Theology Review 119 *"

"The volume importantly addresses this major lacuna by honing in on and analysing previously ignored and variegated textual practices that were utterly instrumental for these councils to effectively take place. * Mario Baghos, Classical Review * This monograph is the result of incredibly careful reading, often between the lines, of vast and complex sets of documents, and Graumann successfully builds a compelling picture of how the final acta produced by councils were the result of manifold influences, procedural moves, decisions and omissions, and priorities and personalities. This book will be of great interest to scholars of ancient record production, ecclesiastical politics, and conciliar history. * Young Richard Kim, Church History * The book's structure, organized by themes and topics, does lend itself to some overlaps and repetitions, and there is a wide variance in chapter length that makes the flow uneven at times. Nevertheless, this monograph is the result of incredibly careful reading, often between the lines, of vast and complex sets of documents, and Graumann successfully builds a compelling picture of how the final acta produced by councils were the result of manifold influences, procedural moves, decisions and omissions, and priorities and personalities. This book will be of great interest to scholars of ancient record production, ecclesiastical politics, and conciliar history. * Young Richard Kim, Oxford Early Christian Studies * The book's structure, organized by themes and topics, does lend itself to some overlaps and repetitions, and there is a wide variance in chapter length that makes the flow uneven at times. Nevertheless, this monograph is the result of incredibly careful reading, often between the lines, of vast and complex sets of documents, and Graumann successfully builds a compelling picture of how the final acta produced by councils were the result of manifold influences, procedural moves, decisions and omissions, and priorities and personalities. This book will be of great interest to scholars of ancient record production, ecclesiastical politics, and conciliar history. * Young Richard Kim, Church History * ... after reading the book one cannot avoid appreciating the roles of secretaries and stenographers of church councils, who are now recognised as playing a more central role than has been assumed hitherto. * Turhan Kaçar, Istanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi, Bryn Mawr Classical Review * To put it bluntly: the christological doctrinal decisions of the councils of Ephesus (431) to Constantinople (680/81) required a procedural ""framing"". Or again to put it another way: Convincing Theologie based on professential bureaucracy. Thomas Graumann addresses this issue in his monograph, in which numerous preliminary work from a decade and a half has been incorporated. * Peter Gemeinhardt, Dr. Professor of Church History at the Faculty of Theology at Georg-August-University of Götting, Theology Review 119 * Graumann's volume is a highly technical monograph targeting a limited audience of academic researchers and scholars. It serves its purpose with expertise and precision. * Paul Hartog, Fides et Historia *"

... after reading the book one cannot avoid appreciating the roles of secretaries and stenographers of church councils, who are now recognised as playing a more central role than has been assumed hitherto. * Turhan Kacar, Istanbul Medeniyet UEniversitesi, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *

Author Information

Thomas Graumann is Reader in Ancient Christian History and Patristic Studies at the University of Cambridge and Professor for Patristics at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

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