Incorruptible Bodies: Christology, Society and Authority in Late Antiquity

Incorruptible Bodies: Christology, Society and Authority in Late Antiquity

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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.

(Christianity in Late Antiquity 1; Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2016)