Sources from the late antique and Byzantine eras attest that some Christian spouses adopted marital celibacy, or married persons' abstention from sexual intimacy, as an ascetic practice. The prevalent scholarship on marital celibacy has all too often read later practices of marital celibacy into earlier texts, due to scholars' tendency to universalize ascetic practice. This study endeavors to dismantle such universalizing by demonstrating the differences among four church fathers' approaches and attitudes toward marital celibacy, assuming neither the popularity of the practice nor the immediate affirmation of its necessity for marital ascetic piety. The dissertation explores the theme of marital celibacy in the works of four of the most influential men of the late fourth and early fifth centuries --Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil of Caesarea, and Augustine of Hippo-- through a careful analysis of various sources, from funeral orations to hagiographies, to sermons to dogmatic treatises, to letters and to monastic rules. It questions whether the practice was widely embraced in both the eastern and western regions of the empire and distinguishes between theoretical and pragmatic acceptance of marital celibacy. Not only does the study place the men's beliefs regarding marital celibacy within their larger teachings on marriage and virginity, but it also emphasizes the way in which each man's social context and pastoral role contributed to his rhetoric on the topic. It considers the ways in which the rhetoric surrounding marital celibacy intersected with the men's agendas and perspectives concerning other matters, such as their promotion of their saintly family (Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa), their monastic program (Basil), and their apologetics (Augustine). The project highlights the nuances among each father as well as the divergences between the east (represented by the Cappadocians) and west (represented by Augustine). Although each man discusses the topic of marital celibacy in some way and endorses its practice, at least ideally, they also indicate that not everyone was embracing marital celibacy, nor was every ecclesial leader promoting its practice as necessary for marital piety. Their writings reveal that at least a few people had adopted marital celibacy, and that many people--bishops and laity alike--were attempting to understand its theoretic and pragmatic place and role in the Christian life, particularly in light of Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 7. Despite efforts to offer a conclusive analysis of marital celibacy in the works of these four church fathers, the limitations caused by the divergences in the fathers' rhetoric, due to the distinctive contexts and genres of their writings, hinders a straightforward conclusion. Thus this dissertation serves as a glimpse into the diversity of early Christian marital practices through the lens of marital celibacy, underscoring the complexity of both belief and behavior in the late antique Christian world. / Religion

This work embarks on a study of the use and interpretation of the term ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> (self-control) in the principal Pauline letters. But, first of all, a study is made of the use of this term in the literature outside the New Testament. It becomes clear that ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> was a cardinal virtue closely associated with <font face="symbol">syvrosung</font> (temperance), one of the four basic Greek virtues. The emphasis fell particularly on the educated person's ability to control himself through strict self-discipline. However, this idea of self-control is alien to the tradition of the Old Testament. Only through the Hellenised Wisdom literature it became part of the Judaism of Paul's time. Through an exegetical analysis of Paul's use of the modes of the term ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font>; in 1 Corinthians 7:5, 9 and 9:25, as well as in Galatians 5:23; it becomes clear that to him ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> was part of the love with which believers served one another, within the freedom to which Christ has called them. It was the result of divine empowerment and control, because it was part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Although Paul also utilised the term as a virtue, to him it was not primarily characteristic of a person, but rather characterised the restrained and sacrificial managing of rights and privileges in relationships within the faith community. His own style of apostleship was a good example, because he willingly gave up his right to receive recompense for preaching the gospel. He illustrated this behaviour with the metaphor of an athlete's willingness to disregard certain rights with the eye on his goal. Believers should similarly be charitable towards one another. Nevertheless, regarding the control of sexual desires, Paul went a little further in his use of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font>. Although he did not denounce matrimony, it was his opinion that a distinctly demarcated group of believers received the gift to easily control their sexual desires. He advised them to stay celibate in order to devote themselves even more to God's service. Comparing Paul's utilisation of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> with the use of writers outside the New Testament, confirms his creative harnessing of concepts from the cultures in his environment. But it was not the classical or Hellenistic interpretation of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> that influenced him. The Hellenised Judaism of the Septuagint formed Paul's concept of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font>. Nevertheless, his utilisation of the term was innovative original: by angling the Christian view away from the Hellenistic self-centredness, and focusing it on a loving and altruistic managing of rights and liberties, he thoroughly christianised the term. A study of the church's understanding of Paul reveals that his use of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> was mostly misunderstood. Again the term was understood and utilised as depicting the virtue of self-discipline in the classical and Hellenistic sense of the word. This, in turn, led to widespread incidence of asceticism and celibacy in the church. Even some views that lay behind modern day legalism and pietistic tendencies, originated from this understanding by the church of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> . / Dissertation (PhD (New Testament Science))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted