Establishing Boundaries: Marriage and continence in the Church of the Sasanian Empire

Abstract

This paper examines the theological and Ecclesiological principles underlying the anti-ascetical regulations in the Church of the East under Sasanian rule. It will hold that the regulations aimed at sustain Marriage as condition to attain clerical status were the product of diverse forces outside and inside the Church. More specifically, regulations on clerical Marriage were the product of the need to define the nature of spiritual authority before the challenges of other religious communities.