Mark Edwards is Professor of Early Christian Studies at University of Oxford. His publications include Catholicity and Heresy in the Early Church (Ashgate, 2009) and John Through the Centuries (Wiley-Blackwell, 2003).

Throughout this useful volume, the repeated appearances of some of the same themes, issues and authors -- and, on occasion, the same texts -- in multiple chapters cumulatively invite the reader to appreciate the interconnectedness of diverse forms of literature and practice, and thus to ask whether the designation of them as 'diverse' would have been as obvious to readers and authors at the time. Perhaps more importantly, Edwards also warns against letting superficial similarities between texts become the basis for simple, reductionist statements about the 'religious identity' of authors, or seeking to neatly pigeonhole their works within clear intellectual genealogies. This detailed and thoughtful account is a useful introduction to a wide selection of early fourth-century writings and provides a fascinating insight into the innovation, experimentation and complexity of the age.

• PHILOSOPHICAL VARIATIONS; RELIGIOUS PLURALITY; CHRISTIAN POLYPHONY

Mark Edwards is Professor of Early Christian Studies at University of Oxford. His publications include Catholicity and Heresy in the Early Church (Ashgate, 2009) and John Through the Centuries (Wiley-Blackwell, 2003).

Throughout this useful volume, the repeated appearances of some of the same themes, issues and authors -- and, on occasion, the same texts -- in multiple chapters cumulatively invite the reader to appreciate the interconnectedness of diverse forms of literature and practice, and thus to ask whether the designation of them as 'diverse' would have been as obvious to readers and authors at the time. Perhaps more importantly, Edwards also warns against letting superficial similarities between texts become the basis for simple, reductionist statements about the 'religious identity' of authors, or seeking to neatly pigeonhole their works within clear intellectual genealogies. This detailed and thoughtful account is a useful introduction to a wide selection of early fourth-century writings and provides a fascinating insight into the innovation, experimentation and complexity of the age.

• PHILOSOPHICAL VARIATIONS; RELIGIOUS PLURALITY; CHRISTIAN POLYPHONY

Mark Edwards is Professor of Early Christian Studies at University of Oxford. His publications include Catholicity and Heresy in the Early Church (Ashgate, 2009) and John Through the Centuries (Wiley-Blackwell, 2003).

Throughout this useful volume, the repeated appearances of some of the same themes, issues and authors -- and, on occasion, the same texts -- in multiple chapters cumulatively invite the reader to appreciate the interconnectedness of diverse forms of literature and practice, and thus to ask whether the designation of them as 'diverse' would have been as obvious to readers and authors at the time. Perhaps more importantly, Edwards also warns against letting superficial similarities between texts become the basis for simple, reductionist statements about the 'religious identity' of authors, or seeking to neatly pigeonhole their works within clear intellectual genealogies. This detailed and thoughtful account is a useful introduction to a wide selection of early fourth-century writings and provides a fascinating insight into the innovation, experimentation and complexity of the age.

• PHILOSOPHICAL VARIATIONS; RELIGIOUS PLURALITY; CHRISTIAN POLYPHONY