Public disputation, power, and social order in late antiquity

Using select philosophical and theological debates, Lim discusses how with the advent of Christianity the public function of disputation changed from a means of discovering truth and self-identification for the orator to a means of competition and "winning over" an opponent. Lim demonstrates clearly how the reception and practice of public debate, like other forms of competition in Late Antiquity, were closely tied to underlying notions of authority, community and social order.