In the early sixth-century eastern Roman empire, anti-Chalcedonian leaders Severus of Antioch and Julian of Halicarnassus debated the nature of Jesus's body: Was it corruptible prior to its resurrection from the dead? Viewing the controversy in light of late antiquity’s multiple images of the ‘body of Christ,’ Yonatan Moss reveals the underlying political, ritual, and cultural stakes and the long-lasting effects of this fateful theological debate. Incorruptible Bodies combines sophisticated historical methods with philological rigor and theological precision, bringing to light an important chapter in the history of Christianity.
Yonatan Moss is a scholar at the Martin Buber Society of Fellows at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he teaches in the Department of Comparative Religion.
ContentsAcknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction: Dissension among the Dissenters 1. Holy Flesh: Th e Christological Debate 2. Body Politics: Rethinking the Body of Christ 3. The Food of In/corruption: Liturgical Aspects of the Debate 4. The Body of the Fathers: Textual Tradition and Exegetical Authority Conclusion: Severus Transformed Notes Bibliography Index
"This is an important book on patristic Christology, given Moss's methodological care, his modesty about his conclusions, and his exploration of less commonly used Syriac and Coptic sources... Recommended."
