Bishops in Flight

By Jennifer Barry.

Exile and Displacement in Late Antiquity. This book explores why the discourse of Christian flight became an important part of the narrative of pro-Nicene orthodoxy that would dominate the Roman Empire. Not only does Christian flight take precedence over memories of martyrdom, but the cultural authority of those bygone martyrs is also slowly folded into new persecution narratives of episcopal exile. As Athanasius of Alexandria (ca. 293–373) argued in the fourth century, the blood of the martyrs may indeed be the seed of the church, but the bishop—particularly the bishop who survives—ensures that the seed takes root.

UC Press. (2019) 224 pages.