Jovinian was a monk at one time in his life, but subsequently turned against monastic asceticism—though without giving up his status as monk.[2] Jovinian was apparently broadly read and adduced examples from secular literature, which did not sit well at the synods. He became the leader of a group of disciples: Auxentius, Genialis, Germinator, Felix, Prontinus, Martianus, Januarius and Ingeniosus are identified in the act of 390 condemning him.[2] His writings praising the excellence of marriage, which he published from Rome, were condemned at a synod held in Rome under Pope Siricius and subsequently at the Milan synod.[2]
Jovinian, in the polemical view of his chief opponent, Jerome, has some of the style of an "Epicurus of Christianity." The following is a passage attributed to Jovinian by Jerome in his "Against Jovinian":
I respond to your invitation, not that I may go through life with a high reputation, but may live free from idle rumour. I beseech the ground, the young shoots of our plantations, the plants and trees of tenderness snatched from the whirlpool of vice, to grant me audience and the support of many listeners. We know that the Church through hope, faith, charity, is inaccessible and impregnable. In it no one is immature: all are apt to learn: none can force a way into it by violence, or deceive it by craft.
Against Jovinian (12th century manuscript)
Nothing is known of the later career of Jovinian.[2] From a remark in Jerome's work Against Vigilantius, written in 409, that he "amidst pheasants and pork rather belched out than breathed out his life", it is inferred by some (who assume Jerome to speak from authoritative knowledge and not merely in his usual highly rhetorical mode of vituperation) that he was then dead, and had not been made to suffer for his views too strenuously.[2] In fact, penalties of quite a cruel nature were often meted out upon heretics during the reign of Theodosius I, and legal records at the time show that the Roman state did prescribe cruel punishments for him, including flogging and (supposing he survived) exile "...to the Isle of Bua" in the Adriatic Sea. It is worth noting in this regard that Augustine of Hippo, in a relatively recently discovered letter (10*), laments the use of the leaded thong on heretics, since, in the Saint's words, "...it so often leads to death."[citation needed]
Despite seeing marriage as an honorable state, Jovinian himself did not marry, so that he was not kept busy by the state of marriage.[10]
Teachings
The writings of Jovinian were sent to Jerome by his friend Pammachius.[2] Jerome replied to them in a long treatise in two books, written in 393. Many of Jovinian's views could be considered contrary to ascetic ideals that were gaining prominence in the era, and would ultimately influence what constitutes Roman Catholic orthodoxy today.
He felt that virgins, widows and married women, even remarried widows, are of equal merit in the Christian community.[2] Jovinian addressed his virginal reader:
I do you no wrong, Virgin: you have chosen a life of chastity on account of the present distress: you determined on the course in order to be holy in body and spirit: be not proud: you and your married sisters are members of the same Church…Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: but I give my judgement, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I think therefore that this is good by reason of the present distress, namely, that it is good for a man to be as he is…[11] See, the Apostle confesses that as regards virgins he has no commandment of the Lord, and he who had with authority laid down the law respecting husbands and wives, does not dare to command what the Lord has not enjoined. And rightly too. For what is enjoined is commanded, what is commanded must be done, and that which must be done implies punishment if it be not done. For it is useless to order a thing to be done and yet leave the individual free to do it or not do it. If the Lord had commanded virginity He would have seemed to condemn marriage, and to do away with the seed-plot of mankind, of which virginity itself is a growth. If He had cut off the root, how was He to expect fruit If the foundations were not first laid, how was He to build the edifice, and put on the roof to cover all! Excavators toil hard to remove mountains; the bowels of the earth are pierced in the search for gold. And, when the tiny particles, first by the blast of the furnace, then by the hand of the cunning workman have been fashioned into an ornament, men do not call him blessed who has separated the gold from the dross but him who wears the beautiful gold. Do not marvel then if, placed as we are, amid temptations of the flesh and incentives to vice, the angelic life be not exacted of us, but merely recommended. If advice be given, a man is free to proffer obedience; if there be a command, he is a servant bound to compliance.
Jovinian also maintained that abstinence is no better than the partaking of food in the right disposition. Looking back into the creation, Jovinian stated that God gave dominion to humanity over the creation. After the great flood, God allowed humanity to take food not only from plants, but also from animals. St. Paul in the New Testament also teaches that all food is clean if they are eaten with thankfulness (Romans 14:20).[12] Another point that Jovinian argues is, "they who with full assurance of faith have been born again in baptism, cannot be overthrown by the devil." As Jerome critiques in his treatise, Jerome alters the word "overthrown" with "tempted".[13] This may show that either Jerome missed a point that Jovinian was making, as his argument on this point was much shorter. The word "overthrow" may have indicated much more significance than a believer committing sin since Jovinian believed that a believer was able to sin after the baptism. He wrote that if they do sin, they must repent. Rather, Jovinian seems to have been arguing that something significant occurs in the life of the believer when he or she is baptized, something that goes beyond peccability.[12] This quote reveals a concern not simply over the presence of sin, but over the future state of believers. Jovinian evidently argued that baptism, administered “with full assurance of faith”, places believers in a state in which the blessings they experience as a result are not diminished by the presence of sin.
In other words, Jovinian argued for what historian David Hunter called the final indefectibility of believers rather than their personal impeccability.[14] Those who are baptized into the Church are in a permanent state of grace. Jovinian limited the impossibility of relapse to the truly regenerate, thus his teaching on perseverance has affinities with Augustine's gift of perseverance and the Calvinist doctrine of perseverance of the saints. However Jovinian did not derive his view of eternal security from a doctrine of predestination, but instead from his denial of works having merit.[15][6]
The fourth proposition stated is, "there is one reward in the kingdom of heaven for all who have kept their baptismal vow." Referencing Matthew 25:31-46 about sheep and goats, the judgment of humanity through the flood, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Jovinian stated, “There is one salvation for those who are released, one destruction for those who stay behind”.[16] Jovinian rejected the idea that believers should be divided into classes, some more spiritual than others, because the New Testament repeatedly emphasizes that all believers partake of the body and blood of Christ (John 6:56), that the Holy Spirit indwells all believers (1 Cor 6:19), and that the Church itself is one. For these reasons, the common teaching that an ascetic lifestyle produces greater reward should be rejected. All believers possess the presence of Christ and are part of the same body. Therefore, all experience the same reward.[12]
Many scholars have argued that for Jovinian, works did not justify a man, thus holding to a Protestant view of justification, which is by faith alone.[9][17][18][19] It has been argued that Jovinian believed in a distinction between the visible and invisible churches, based on his statement that the Church is founded on faith, and that all in the Church are taught by God and that no "unripe" members exist within the Church and no one can enter the church "by fraud".[20][21][22][23][24]
Jovinian distinguished physical baptism and baptism of the Holy Spirit, which confers grace to the believer.[25][15]
From a letter of the synod at Milan to Pope Siricius (Ambrose, Epistle xlii) and from Augustine's book Contra Julian ii, it is clear that Jovinian also denied the perpetual virginity of Mary.[2]
The counter of Jerome to this "Epicurus of Christianity" took a whole book to praise virginity and disparage the state of marriage, based upon Paul's remarks in 1 Corinthians 7. The work was couched in abusive and intemperate language that appalled Pammachius, who found it excessive in its praise of virginity and in depreciation of marriage. Jerome did not approve of democratic distribution of bliss in the life to come:
Perhaps those who have been married twice or thrice ought not to complain, for the same whoremonger if penitent is made equal in the kingdom of heaven even to virgins.
Efforts to suppress it failed, however, and Jerome's work obtained a wide circulation.[2]
...lyke Iouinian Fat as a whale and walkynge as a swan As vinolent as botel in the spence
Reaction
After Jovinian attacked monasticism, Jerome attacked him harshly. Jerome gives a very bad picture of the character of Jovinian, clearly colored by bitterness. Jerome called Jovinian a servant of corruption, barbarous writer, while Augustine was more lenient, despite disagreeing with some views of Jovinian. Siricius the bishop of Rome later excommunicated Jovinian and his followers, because he was zealously opposed to any marriage of clergy. Jovinian was also condemned by Ambrose, in the same fashion as Siricius, because of his high views on marriage.[15]
Later in the Protestant reformation, Jovinian has been seen as a "witness of truth", while he is most often seen as a heretic by Roman Catholics.[15]
Arianism is a Christological doctrine considered heretical by all modern mainstream branches of Christianity. It is first attributed to Arius, a Christian presbyter who preached and studied in Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God the Father with the difference that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten/made before time by God the Father; therefore, Jesus was not coeternal with God the Father, but nonetheless Jesus began to exist outside time.
Jerome, also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome.
A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, usually known as the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (NPNF), is a set of books containing translations of early Christian writings into English. It was published between 1886 and 1900.
Pelagius was a British theologian known for promoting a system of doctrines which emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin. Pelagius was accused of heresy at the synod of Jerusalem in 415 and his doctrines were harshly criticized by Augustine of Hippo, especially the Pelagian views about mankind's good nature and individual responsibility for choosing asceticism. Pelagius especially stressed the freedom of human will. Very little is known about the personal life and career of Pelagius.
Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because these impulses are regarded as sinful. Vows of celibacy are generally required for monks and nuns in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and other religions, but often not for other clergy.
The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Christian doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin "before, during and after" the birth of Christ. In Western Christianity, the Catholic Church adheres to the doctrine, as do some Lutherans, Anglicans, Reformed, and other Protestants. In Eastern Christianity, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Church of the East both adhere to this doctrine as part of their ongoing tradition, and Eastern Orthodox churches recognize Mary as Aeiparthenos, meaning "ever-virgin". It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Most modern nonconformist Protestants reject the doctrine.
The Synod of Elvira was an ecclesiastical synod held at Elvira in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica, now Granada in southern Spain. Its date has not been exactly determined but is believed to be in the first quarter of the fourth century, approximately 305–6. It was one of three councils, together with the Synod of Arles (314) and the Synod of Ancyra, that first approached the character of general councils and prepared the way for the first ecumenical council. It was attended by nineteen bishops and twenty-six presbyters, mostly resident in Baetica. Deacons and laymen were also present. Eighty-one canons are recorded, although it is believed that many were added at later dates. All concern order, discipline and conduct among the Christian community. Canon 36, forbidding the use of images in churches, became a bone of contention between Catholic and Protestant scholars after the Protestant Reformation.
Eternal security, also known as "once saved, always saved" is the belief providing Christian believers with absolute assurance of their final salvation. Its development, particularly within Protestantism, has given rise to diverse interpretations, especially in relation with the defining aspects of theological determinism, libertarian free will and the significance of personal perseverance.
Vigilantius the Christian presbyter, wrote a work, no longer extant, which opposed a number of common 5th-century practices, and which inspired one of the most violent of the polemical treatises of Jerome. Vigilantius was born about 370 at Calagurris in Aquitania, where his father kept an inn on the great Roman road from Gallia Aquitania to Spain. While still a youth his talent became known to Sulpicius Severus, who had estates in that neighborhood, and in 395 Sulpicius, who probably baptized him, sent him with letters to Paulinus of Nola, where he met with a friendly reception. Some Protestant historians regard Vigilantius, along with Jovinian, Aerius of Sebaste and Helvidius, as 4th-5th century early proto-protestants.
Against Jovinianus is a two-volume treatise by the Church Father Saint Jerome.
Jovinianism refers to an anti-ascetic movement that has its origins in the 4th-century theologian Jovinian, who criticized the monastic movement and argued for the equality of marriage and celibacy. Jovinianism was criticized by Saint Augustine and Jerome.
Helvidius was the author of a work written prior to 383 against the belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. Helvidius maintained that the biblical mention of "sisters" and "brothers" of the Lord constitutes solid evidence that Mary had normal marital relations with Joseph and additional children after the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus. He supported his opinion by the writings of Tertullian and Victorinus. Helvidius is sometimes seen as an early proto-protestant, along with Vigiliantius, Jovinian and Aerius of Sebaste.
Aerius of Pontus was a 4th-century presbyter of Sebaste in Pontus. He taught doctrines that were in opposition to 4th-5th century Christian beliefs. His views are known from St Epiphanius's Panarion in which he was accused of being an Arian. For a short period, he had many followers in Sebaste. He failed to make his teachings widely popular and his sect died out soon after his death. Aerius of Sebaste is sometimes seen as an early proto-protestant, along with Jovinian, Helvidius and Vigiliantius.
On the Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary Against Helvidius is an apologetic work of Saint Jerome which refutes Helvidius’ stance on Mary’s virginity..
The Evangelical Protestant Church (GCEPC) or The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church (LEPC) is a mainline Protestant denomination under the General Conference of Evangelical Protestant Churches headquartered in Cayce-West Columbia, South Carolina, United States.
Believer's baptism or adult baptism is the practice of baptizing those who are able to make a conscious profession of faith, as contrasted to the practice of baptizing infants. Credobaptists believe that infants incapable of consciously believing should not be baptized.
The Synod of Milan or Council of Milan may refer to any of several synods which occurred in late Roman Mediolanum or medieval Milan in northern Italy's Po valley:
Proto-Protestantism, also called pre-Protestantism, refers to individuals and movements that propagated various ideas later associated with Protestantism before 1517, which historians usually regard as the starting year for the Reformation era. The relationship between medieval sects and Protestantism is an issue that has been debated by historians.
Sarmatio was a 4th-century monk in Milan and a disciple of Jovinian, who disputed the merits of the monastic and unmarried life. Sarmatio first met Jovinian when he travelled to Milan, where Jovinian found two monks of a similar mind, Sarmatio and Barbatianus. After Jovinian was expelled from Milan, Sarmatio kept doing work in Vercellae where he gathered a considerable following and public support; in response, Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, started defending ascetism. The views Sarmatio was preaching were condemned in the Synod of Milan.
Barbatinus was a 4th-century early Church theologian and a Jovinianist. Barbatianus disputed the merit of the unmarried life and opposed ascetism. Barbatianus along with Sarmatio met Jovinian when he travelled to Milan and found themselves to have similar ideas.
References
↑ The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F. L. Cross (Editor), E. A. Livingstone (Editor) Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition p.904 (March 13, 1997)
↑ H. Schlagintweit, H. K. Forstner, Lehrgang Kunstgeschichte: Von der Antike bis zur Moderne zum Selbststudium der Kunststile, 186 pp., Schwabe Verlag Basel,, ISBN3-7965-0885-5, pp.371-372
↑ Jerome, Against Jovinian, 2.1, 387. Jerome’s original wording is almost certainly an accurate record of Jovinian’s words. David Hunter argues that Jerome either did not understand Jovinian’s point about baptism, or by altering the wording he allowed himself to take on an issue he could easily refute, even if it was not exactly what Jovinian was teaching. See Hunter, Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity, 36. Jerome’s paraphrase of “overthrown” surely indicates an unwillingness to deal with the essential issues raised by Jovinian in this proposition.
1 2 3 4 "Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Volume III: Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 311-600 - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". ccel.org. Retrieved 26 January 2022. Jovinian's second point has an apparent affinity with the Augustinian and Calvinistic doctrine of the perseverantia sanctorum. It is not referred by him, however, to the eternal and unchangeable counsel of God, but simply based on 1 Jno. iii. 9, and v. 18, and is connected with his abstract conception of the opposite moral states. He limits the impossibility of relapse to the truly regenerate, who "plena fide in baptismate renati sunt," and makes a distinction between the mere baptism of water and the baptism of the Spirit, which involves also a distinction between the actual and the ideal church.
↑ Jovinian, quoted in Jerome, Against Jovinianus, 2.18, in St. Jerome: Letters and Select Works, 402.
Hunter, David G., "Rereading the Jovinianist Controversy: Aestheticism and Clerical Authority in Late Ancient Christianity," in Dale B. Martin and Patricia Cox Miller (eds), The Cultural Turn in Late Ancient Studies: Gender, Asceticism, and Historiography (Durham (NC), Duke University Press, 2005), 119–135.
Hunter, David G. Marriage, Celibacy, and Heresy in Ancient Christianity: The Jovinianist Controversy (Oxford, OUP, 2007) (Oxford Early Christian Studies).
Italics indicate their inclusion to be controversial or disputed.
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