• The first full-length study of Jovinian in English
• Places Jovinian's writings in the context of the history of debates about marriage and celibacy
• Sheds light on a variety of issues in late ancient Christianity, such as the rise of clerical celibacy and the origins of Marian devotion

Readership: Scholars and students of the early Church and of late antiquity; historians of sexuality.

David G. Hunter, Professor of Religious Studies and Monsignor James A. Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University

"It is important work that merits attention since its main trajectory is theological and contextual... The study id therefore a welcome addition to the study of sexuality and asceticism in late antiquity." - Chris de Wet, Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae

"Hunter's study of the Jovinianist controversy is an admirable contribution to the study of late antique Roman society. Contemprary schlorship has developed quite an elaborate literature on asceticism and the sexual renunciation in late antiquity, as well as on the development of orthodoxy and heresy. Hunter's monograph provides invaluable - indeed, required - reading on both counts...a wonderful example of what the best scholarship in late antique Christianity ought to look like." - Shawn W. J. Keough Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"In the end it is impossible not to be convinced by Hunter's central contention, that Jovinian is to be understood not as a 'laxist' advocate of unrestrained immorality but as a sincere and serious thinker. These same questions would be asked and answered again, from Pelagius to Martin Luther and beyond; and Hunter is right to restore them to a central place in the history of Christian ideas." - Michael Stuart Williams Journal of Ecclesiastical History

"Hunter's excellent book will doubtless remain a standard work for years to come; although the topic is specialized, Hunter's fine style makes the book accessible to a wider audience than scholars of the late ancient Christianity" - Elizabeth A. Clark Journal of Early Christian Studies

"Hunter's work is impressive...it takes on some of the most contentious doctrinal issues from the early Christian period and clearly shows a church in formative mode." - Aideen Hartney, Journal of Theological Studies

I. Jovinian and his world
1: Reconstructing Jovinian
2: Jovinian and Christian Rome
II. Jovinian, heresy, and asceticism
3: Asceticism, heresy, and early Christian tradition
4: Jovinian, Heresy, and fourth-century asceticism
5: Mary ever virgin? Jovinian and Marian heresy
III. Jovinian and his opponents
6: Against Jovinian: From Siricius to Jerome
7: After Jovinian: Marriage and celibacy in Western theology
Conclusion