Krastu Banev

Krastu Banev offers a sustained argument for the value of a rhetorically informed methodology with which to analyse Theophilus' anti-Origenist Festal Letters. He highlights that the wide circulation and over rhetorical composition of these letters allow for a new reading of these key documents as a toon meer form of 'mass-media' unique for its time. The discussion is built on a detailed examination of two key ingredients in the pastoral polemic of the archbishop-masterly use of late-antique rhetorical conventions, and in-depth knowledge of monastic spirituality-both of which were vital for securing the eventual acceptance of Origen's condemnation. Banev's fresh approach reveals that Theophilus' campaign formed part of a consistent policy aimed at harnessing the intellectual energy of the ascetic movement to serve the wider needs of the church. toon minder