De Amicitia: Towards an Understanding of Spiritual Marriage and Female Religious Authority in Fourth-Century Antioch Tom Cramer John Chrysostom’s fourth-century treatises Adversus eos qui apud se habent subintroductas virgines and Quod regulares feminae viris cohabitare non debeant contain dramatic denunciations of an ascetic practice known as syneisaktism, or spiritual marriage, in which men and women formed chaste relationships for religious ends. This article attempts to reconstruct the rationales and intellectual framework that supported this tradition with an emphasis on the gender implications. Taking into account the religious and social context underlying these treatises, it argues the primary point of contention between these two groups was not fear for sexual impropriety, but rather the fundamental value of women in the emerging Christian society. This paper argues that the rejection of spiritual marriage in this instance was the denial of the essential equality of men and women. The evidence shows, however, that this viewpoint was not universally held and understanding the presence and persistence of such belief is critically important for our understanding of the first centuries of the Christian tradition in Roman society.
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