'Working the Earth of the Heart' : The Messalian Controversy in History, Texts, and Language to AD 431

A complete reassessment of the Messalian controversy of the 4th and 5th centuries AD, showing that it was not a question of heresy, but rather of misperceived differences of culture and spiritualism. Stewart reconstructs the history of the controversy from its beginnings, and considers in depth the spiritual vocabulary which lies at the root of it.