Just Deserts: Losing Origen and Gaining Retributive Judgment in the Hagiographical Literature of the Early Byzantine World Todd Edison French Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2014 © 2013 Todd Edison French All rights reserved ABSTRACT Just Deserts: Losing Origen and Gaining Retributive Judgment in the Hagiographical Literature of the Early Byzantine World Todd Edison French The rise in production and distribution of Christian Hagiography in the Early Byzantine Empire points towards a unique moment in Christian History. The role of the saint was moved from the margins to a central and dynamic position within the church hierarchy and broader religious landscape. Meeting the pagan claims of power and prestige, hagiographers crafted a saint that was more retributive than the earlier martyrologies and histories. The ascetic took on a role that was more akin to God’s agent than suffering stranger. The deserts of Syria, Palestine and Egypt become the territory of struggle against a world that had fallen out of step with God’s will, but was slowly being corrected. This research looks for reasons as to why this prominent form of literature became more deliberately retributive through its progression toward the sixth century. A major focus of the argument will be the influence that Origen had on Christian theological interpretation. Beginning with a section on Origen, this research will move on through the five most prominent hagiographical compilations in late antiquity. In the end, it will show that each of these hagiographers’ relationship with Origen’s teaching and subsequent communities yielded a particular flavor of hagiography on a spectrum of retributive justice. Finally, it will take into account the influence that the development of a structured system of law under Justinian had on the religious outlook of various later works. Table of Contents: Introduction: Retribution and Power in Hagiography 1 Chapter 1: Origen: Justinian’s “Nemesis” or a sixth 24 century scapegoat Chapter 2: The Lausiac History and the Origenist crisis 61 Chapter 3: On Providence and Beautiful Order: Gregory of 119 Nazianzus and Theodoret of Cyrrhos Chapter 4: Cyril of Scythopolis: Dabbling Origenist or 182 vehement accuser? Chapter 5: Persuasive Punishments and Prescriptive 244 Hagiography in John of Ephesus Chapter 6: John Moschos: A stylized approach or a true 314 Florilegium? Chapter 7: Justinian, Law, and the Origenist influence 366 Conclusions: Retribution: A strange unifier of the life of the 400 author and the death of the saint Bibliography 417 Appendix A: Appended stories: In line with Moschos? 441 I Acknowledgments: Edison and Anna, who cannot yet read this, you gave up more for its completion than anyone else. To my Mother and Father, who have given everything of themselves for me throughout this educational endeavor and beyond, if I could but carry forward your example in life to my own children. To Mary Etta, your love of knowledge and desire to win inspired me from a very early age. Ryan and Teresa, Steve and Phyllis, I thank you for all of the help and love you gave our family over these years of schooling. To the many scholars who have made room in their busy lives for conversations, the value of which seeds I am only beginning to reap, I am deeply grateful. My deepest gratitude to John McGuckin, who like so many spiritual fathers gave me just what I needed, showing me the path to the greater things. You trusted my disoriented youthfulness with support and a way forward—I will always cherish your and Eileen’s care for my intellect and soul. Robert Somerville, who opened my skeptical eyes to the vibrancy of the law in Christian History. You could not have convinced me this project had anything to do with law, and here I sit, deeply indebted to you and your work. Euan Cameron, for your insightful reading and precision of analysis. I distinctly remember you offering your regret at only having been able to read my work through twice—your selfless commitment to me as a student and your deeply insightful and precise wisdom has taught me much about the scholar I hope to be. Adam Becker, for really teaching me Syriac and providing hours of thoughtful exchange on a range of topics. I aspire to be as committed and generous to younger scholars as you have been in sharing your knowledge and time with me. Michael Como, for your enthusiasm and help in the final stages of the project and for the legacy of profound pedagogical techniques I have learned from those you have mentored. I am thankful to Mark Black, Doug Varnado, Jerry Gaw, and Harold Hazelip who inspired me with their love of humanities while I was busy thinking about Chemistry and German, to Dan Wiginton for inspiration and support during those formative years—both in the lab and out, to Christopher Morse for that first mark of approval at Union Theological Seminary, to Robert Owens for the introduction to Syriac. To Kathleen McVey for her insights and direction at Princeton Theological Seminary and Peter Brown for opening my eyes each and every seminar—your sincere care for your students as persons as well as scholars continues to inspire me. I am thankful for the friendship and support of Carl Holladay, the Christian Scholarship Foundation, and Carla Shedd. Your bestowing of fellowships and II enthusiasm for my work was essential to my success. I am thankful to Matt Pattillo, David Sanchez, and Ben Tausig for their friendship and intellectual insight over the years. After several years of reflection, I am in awe that I was so fortunate to find my place in the company of people as profound and beautiful as Susan Andrews, Joe Blankholm, Patton Burchett, Heather Ohaneson, Matt Pereira, Greg Scott, and Dan Vaca. If I say you have a certain “je ne sais quoi,” you alone will laugh and know precisely what I mean. Your intellect and creativity is rare and inspiring. I envy your students in the years to come. To Jesse, Marcus, Bethany, Devin, Hugo, Alexandra, Norris, Orrie, and Catalina, thanks for your welcome and enjoyable diversions from this process. You nurtured that other, more important side of me, helping me to succeed beautifully. III For Ashley You have been encouraging and selfless. So many treasures I have gained from the beauty of your unwavering confidence and love. I dedicate this work to you. IV Introduction: Retribution and Power in Hagiography “Not only was the end of all things to be hoped for, which he says was still unknown to him, but also the likeness to God, which will be conferred in proportion to the completeness of our deserts.”1 Few stories could have captured the early Christian imagination so acutely as the death of Ananias and Sapphira. Faced with an opportunity to give all of their earnings to the apostles, they falter, and the consequences are rendered expeditiously. The community was surely dumbfounded, as were all those un-churched who believed the remarkable story. Who from this group of loyal followers would have guessed that God’s providence, which had seemingly forsaken his Son in the midst of crucifixion and made no recompense to his punishers, could articulate a murder with such expedience over a seemingly trivial claim? In this text lies the first Christian formula for a rich and widely attested paradigm of divine retribution that was re-crafted over several centuries through the narratives of the holy person in late antiquity. This dissertation traces the origins and attestations of divine retribution found 1 Origen, “De Principiis,” in The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325, trans. Philip Schaff, vol. 4 (Edinburgh: Grand Rapids, Mich: T. & T Clark; Eerdmans, 1989), 3.6.1. 1 within the genre of late antique Greek and Syriac hagiographical source material.2 This project will argue that these rather ubiquitous elements go beyond didacticism, playing a pivotal role in claims to religious authority, providential assessment, theological maturation and the wider development of Christian literary style. With the rise in popularity of holy literature surrounding individual holy persons, came the flow of punitive elements necessary for conditioning hearers within and outside of the community. Utilizing examples from the major hagiographical compilations of early Byzantium, this dissertation will explore the development of divine retribution in Christian literature from Palladios of Galatia, Theodoret of Cyrrhos, Cyril of Scythopolis, John of Ephesus and finally, John Moschos. As a foundational introduction to the theology that will be explored throughout these works, an initial chapter on Origen of Alexandria will precede the chapters focused on these collections. Finally, a chapter on the Emperor Justianian I will close out the discussion of retribution and justice in the hagiographies of early Byzantium. However tempting it is to imagine direct lines of influence from ancient contexts, this project will attempt to avoid direct and simplistic correlations in the hope of showing the unique developments that hagiographical literature represented. By maintaining this distinction between Byzantine Christian literature and its forbears, one is better able to distinguish the riff from the intricate harmonies developed in these religious narratives. 2 I have chosen these languages as loci of interest based on their importance in Eastern Christianity and because of their rich tradition of literary transmission and interaction. Sebastian P. Brock, From Ephrem to Romanos: Interactions Between Syriac and Greek in Late Antiquity (Aldershot: Ashgate/Variorum, 1999), 152. 2 Questions: In preparation of this project’s itinerary, several questions have emerged that served as guideposts to its successful completion.