Ehrman might have mentioned the landmark figure of
Priscillian, the Spanish bishop, who was executed in 385 for promoting a version of Manichaeism.
The first instance, of capital punishment for heresy occurred in 385, when the pious Bishop
Priscillian of Spain and six of his followers were tortured and decapitated with the approval of a synod in Trier"(Levy, 1995, p.
Their topics include violence against Christians and violence by Christians in the first three centuries, avenging Julian: violence against Christians during the years 361-363, violence in the early years of Cyril of Alexandria's episcopate,
Priscillian of Avila's Liber ad Damasum and the inability to handle a conflict, and the reception and interpretation of Jesus' teaching of love for enemies in ancient Christianity.
(36) Within the decade, the Council of Toledo would condemn the followers of
Priscillian as heretics, while one of Ambrose's own catechumens, Augustine of Hippo, would spend his career writing against Manicheans and later against Donatist Christians.
En 1976 salio a la luz publica una monografia titulada
Priscillian of Avila: the occult and the charismatic in the early Church, de la que se ha hecho traduccion castellana en 1978.
Again, in chapter 7, he examines Vincent of Lerins's association of Simon with
Priscillian, offering a descriptive account but little comparison of Vincent with Jerome (other than that the former was more forthcoming than the latter [127]), without addressing the obvious question of Vincent's degree of dependence on Jerome.
His topics include Simon Peter and Simon Magus in the Acts of Peter and the Passion of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
Priscillian and Nicolaitism, and Simon Magus and Simon Peter in Medieval Irish and English legends and in a Baroque alter relief in the Cathedral of Oviedo in Spain.
In AD 385 Bishop
Priscillian of Avila was accused by his enemies of being a heretic because, among other views, he supported Manichaeism and held unorthodox ideas regarding the Trinity.
However, an otherwise fine discussion of the relation of imperial to ecclesial authority would have been complemented by reference to the appropriation of judicial authority over ecclesiastical affairs, given to Damasus and his allies by Gratian's rescript of 378, or by analysis of the trial and execution of
Priscillian in 386.