ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that Epiphanius' polemical description of Origen's life in Panarion 64 reflects new definitions of heresy emerging in the increasingly ascetic and imperial church of the fourth century. The diversity and range of theological opinion was therefore not theoretical to Epiphanius; his interest in heresiology reflected his experience as ascetic and bishop within the divided fourth century church. Epiphanius' vivid polemical imagery of snakes, medicines, demons, and failed heresiarchs illustrates the continuing importance of the figural in Christian teaching. Jon F. Dechow has argued that the continuing polemical association of Apollinarius and Origen in Epiphanius' writings was due to his concerns about their Christology and anthropology, and to the opposition of simple believers to speculative theology. Equally important, Epiphanius does not mention any conflict with Bishop Demetrius, the bishops of Palestine, the appeal to Rome for condemnation, the validity of his ordination or questions of orthodoxy in his leaving Alexandria.
