Religious Intolerance in the Later Roman Empire - Bad request ...

16.5.13 of 21 January 384. Although this law only appears to target bishops in regards
to the teaching of heretical doctrines, it is quite revealing as to the attitude that the
authorities had developed towards heretical beliefs. As noted, it orders that bishops
should not “teach a faith which they do not have.” Self evidently, the heretical bishops
did have “a faith” (their own) which they could teach if they were allowed to, but they
did not have the Nicene faith itself and therefore they had no faith at all; no faith of
any description or of anything worth the designation of faith. Therefore, according to
this law, Nicene faith is the one and only faith, the only true and proper vessel for
worship of God. Nothing of which the heretics have therefore, can approximate the
truth of religion as uniquely shown through and by the (Nicene) faith.
Conclusion: Theodosius and heretics.
Much of Theodosius' legislation on heresies does not support the conclusion
that he was a Christian “fanatic.” 248 Although it cannot be disputed whose side he was
on, much of the details of the laws does not indicate that he was a zealous crusader for
the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, Theodosius does emerge from the legislative
record as being more intolerant than his predecessors with the result that heretics were
possibly in a worse position in 395 than they had been in 379. Much of this
impression formed by the sheer volume of legislation that he passed on heretics,
twenty laws and one ruling in his sixteen years compared to a mere two under
Constantine (plus twelve letters on the Donatist dispute), none from the reign of
Constantius, two from Valentinian’s reign (with a further eight dealing with the
Ursinian phenomenon), and none from Theodosius' immediate predecessor Valens.
Such a volume suggest that there was a greater concern apropos heresy which should
necessitate legislation and that in itself is a measure of intolerance. Moreover, such a
dichotomy in the volumes of material cannot be wholly and reasonably attributed to a
248 As suggested by Williams and Friell (1994) 56
247