The Acts of the Early Church Councils (Oxford Early Christian Studies)

The present study examines the acts of ancient church councils as the objects of textual practices, in their editorial shaping and in their material conditions. The book analyses the purposes and expectations governing and inscribed into the use and creation of these acts. It traces the processes of their production, starting from the recording of spoken interventions during a meeting, to the preparation of minutes of individual sessions, to their collection into larger units, their storage, and the earliest attempts at their dissemination. It contends that the preparation of ‘paperwork’ is central to the work of a council, and much of its effectiveness resides in the relevant textual and bureaucratic processes. As council leaders and administrators paid careful attention to the creation of a ‘proper’ record suited to their requirements, they also scrutinized documents and records of previous occasions with equal attention and inspected document features meant to assure and project validity and authority. From the evidence of such examinations the study further reconstructs the textual and physical characteristics of ancient conciliar documents and the criteria of their assessment. Papyrological evidence and contemporary legal regulations are used to contextualize these efforts. The book seeks to demonstrate that scholarly attention to the production processes, character, and material conditions of council acts is essential to their understanding, and to any historical and theological research into the councils of the ancient church.