Christian Authors Research Articles

Studying Augustine of Hippo in the 21st century. A Plea for a Renewed Augustinology

Bestselling author Tom Holland described in his 2019 monograph Dominion what he considers to be the paradoxical situation that, despite the pervasive secularization of the West, Christianity comprises the most influential development in the history of the West. That Christian transformation of antiquity apparently still influences what we think about people and society today. One of the Christian authors of Late Antiquity that Holland regularly quotes is Augustine of Hippo. For philosophers and theologians it is beyond dispute that this ‘church father’ stood at the cradle of Latin Christianity, although they are not always entirely happy about this. The latter discomfort often has to do with Augustine’s radical thinking about a comprehensive divine grace, and what this implies, according to him, for ongoing human failure.

Plotin interprète de la chôra du Timée (Ennéades III, 6 [26], 13‑18)

How does Plotinus interpret the chora in Plato’s Timaeus ? For him, Timaeus 48e‑52d deals with matter (hyle). The identification of chora with hyle goes back to Aristotle’s Physics IV.2. Aristotle’s interpretation of Plato’s chora as matter was echoed by Theophrastus and the Stoics and prevailed in Middle‑Platonist, neo‑Pythagorean and early Christian authors. In addition to the identification of chora with hyle, the ancient interpreters of the Timaeus conflated hyle with Plato’s ananke (Tim. 47e‑48a). Plato himself distinguishes between chora and ananke. The latter denotes everything that appears in the “receptacle” prior to the ordering of the world by the demiurge, while chora is another name for the receptacle itself. In Plato, the receptacle accounts for the fact both that there are transient images of intelligible beings and that these images appear to occupy a place, i.e. that they are spatially extended. This is why the receptacle is given its alternative name “ground” (chora) and why it is also called “place” (topos) and “seat” (hedra). Although the receptacle itself cannot be spatially extended in the same way as that which appears “in it”, it is the cause of spatial extension. For Plotinus, two characteristics of matter are of primary importance : lack of size and impassibility. In the treatise II .4.[12].2‑5, he highlights the former, and in III .6[26].7‑19 he elaborates on the latter, while commenting once again on the former. In III .6[26].7‑19, he argues that this conception of matter is in line with how Plato conceives of it in the Timaeus. The “receptacle” cannot be acted upon (paschein) nor can it possess any size (megethos). Only the images of true beings “in” it can. In doing so, however, they make matter appear to “stretch out” alongside themselves. But this is not actually the case, because matter itself has no extension. On one point, however, Plotinus’ account differs from Plato’s. According to Plotinus, not only does matter not possess size, but it is not the cause of size either. The size of the appearances derives from the formulas (logoi) of which these appearances are images. Each formula encompasses within itself the measure of the size that its image will assume : the formula of horse encompasses the size of a particular horse, the formula of human being the size of a particular human being. Plotinus describes in more detail how a formula, in unfolding out of the soul, “stretches out”, thus acquiring size. He also makes a comparison between this process and the way in which formulas in the human soul display images of themselves in our image‑making faculty. He characterises this process as a motion starting from the formula and resulting in its “division” (merismos). This is what makes the image of the formula extended, i.e. divided partes extra partes, when it appears against the invisible background of matter. Since matter neither possesses size nor is the cause of it, it can be called “ground” (chora), “place” (topos) or “seat” (hedra) only in an improper way.

Ringing Changes. On Old Norse-Icelandic mál in Kormáks saga

The Old Norse-Icelandic word mál, variously “measure, speech, poetry, case, matter,” is strategically called on at various points throughout Kormáks saga. Its diverse significations all bear on the life of the warrior-poet, who is himself characterized as precipitous by nature. He achieves in his poetry what eludes him in life and love: moderation (hóf), the midway point in measures of all kinds. Subject to comparisons with other males in the saga, mocked in his masculinity by an insolent servant, and cursed by a sorceress, he does not attain the body of his beloved Steingerðr but succeeds in recreating her in ideal form in skaldic poetry. Away from Iceland on Viking expeditions, he finds an equilibrium that was denied him in Icelandic society. The overall judgment of the Christian author is of a successful career in art yet one limited in life by an impulsive character, curse (this, too, a kind of mál), the judgement of others – in all, a pagan destiny. In significant ways Kormákr prefigures the Iceland of the thirteenth century.

Ex sanctorum patrum certissimis testimoniis: Reading the Greek Fathers in Latin in Early Medieval Monasteries

Monastic reading communities in early medieval Europe had a voracious appetite for the works of the Greek church fathers in Latin translation. This article examines the evidence for the availability of translated Greek patristics in western abbeys from the fifth to the ninth centuries through a survey of surviving manuscripts and monastic library inventories. While there was not yet a canon of officially recognized ‘fathers of the eastern church’ in early medieval Europe, this article shows how western monks favoured five of the six Greek patriarchs singled out as authoritative in the sixth-century Decretum Gelasianum. In terms of genre, they strongly preferred the homiletical writings of eastern Christian authors over their polemical works, because sermons and biblical homilies had greater utility as tools for teaching and preaching. Lastly, this article highlights the fact that the most widely copied Greek church father in early medieval Europe was also the most notorious and suspect thinker in the eastern church: Origen of Alexandria, whose skill as an author of biblical commentaries outweighed his notoriety as a condemned theologian in the eyes of western monks.

GORGONIJA

Gregory of Nazianzus is considered to be one of the most important Christian authors of the late antiquity, both in terms of his role in developing Christian doctrine as well as lan- guage and literary style. In this paper I analyze one segment of his Oration 8, an encomium to his deceased sister Gorgonia, for which I find that is mistakenly translated and interpreted in the majority of relevant publications. This traditionally wrong interpretation led to confu- sion regarding the understanding of certain theological positions of the author (his attitudes towards the meaning of the sacrament of Eucharist, so that medieval beliefs are often ascribed to him), as well as his peculiar theological-philosophical poetics as a whole, where, I believe, such an interpretation cannot fit in.

“Insiders” and “Outsiders” in Early Christianity in the Light of New Anthropological Theories

The article represents the problem of the development of early Christian anti-Judaism using the methods of Cognitive Science of Religion and Social Anthropology. This approach allows us to consider the early Christians anti-Jewish writings of 2nd — 3rd CE from another angle and to explain the reasons of emerging of anti-Judaism in a new way. In the works of early Christian authors Jews were always shown as “Others” (Outsiders) opposed to “Us” (Insides) — Christians. The image of Jew was stereotyped and passed through the Christian writings. Jews were characterized as deicides and apostates with worthless rites. They also caused troubles for Christians. At the same time Christians were depicted as new, eternal Israel, their New law replaced the Old law of Jews. For Christians “Us” were those, who rejected carnal sacrifices of Jews, circumcision and Shabbat day. Cognitive Science and Social anthropology explains humiliation of “Others” and exaltation of “Us”, pointing out that inter-group conflict emerge while groups have a common goal. At the same time, fear of “Other” makes inner-group connections stronger. Stereotypes and prejudices are the result of such inter-group communication. Stereotypes transmit, develop and strengthen within the group. Jewish-Christian relations of Antiquity are one of the examples of the conflict inter-group communication. Ancient anti-Jewish treatises demonstrate the growing of antipathy to Jews by Christians under the forming stereotypes.

Virgin Territories

AbstractIn this wide-ranging conversation, David Serlin (University of California, San Diego) and Roland Betancourt (University of California, Irvine) discuss questions of sexual consent and sexual violence in the visual culture of early Christian art as inspired by Betancourt’s recent book, Byzantine Intersectionality: Sexuality, Gender, and Race in the Middle Ages (2020). Drawing on rare manuscripts and other objects of worship from institutional archives, Betancourt analyzes and contextualizes numerous Byzantine visual texts featuring often confounding representations of sexual acts or gendered behavior that later Christian interpreters would treat as conventional or settled. For Betancourt, early Christian authors and artists were far more open to troubling and experimenting with depictions of sexual and gendered narratives than many medievalists (and, importantly, non-medievalists) have been trained to see.

Доктрина справедливої війни у розробці християнських мислителів часів Середньовіччя

Based on the analysis of the works of medieval Christian thinkers, the article highlights the principles of the Christian doctrine of „just war”, which was formed during the Middle Ages and did not undergo significant changes until the Second Vatican Council (1963-1965). The urgency of the topic lies in the fact that many armed conflicts are now religious in nature, including the latest Russian-Ukrainian war, which is being waged under the slogan of the „Russian world” ideology, developed by Moscow Patriarch Kirill. Such and similar consecration of wars and armed conflicts by religious organizations forces us to turn to political and legal concepts, which seem to have long since disappeared, but they now, as it turns out, acquire a new meaning. The article reveals the purpose of the study, its methods and the state of study in the literature. The main part of the article shows that, although the concept of „just war” dates back to antiquity, the architects of the doctrine of just war were medieval Christian authors – Ambrose of Milan, Aurelius Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Francisco de Vitoria. The article considers the contribution of each of these authors to the development of the doctrine, emphasizes that, in fact, the concept of „doctrine” should be attributed to the creative legacy of Thomas Aquinas in the concept of „just war”, and noted that this doctrine became the basis of Catholic doctrine of war. which has remained unchanged for many centuries. Later scholastics, and above all Francisco de Vitoria, supplemented the doctrine of just war with their research, without affecting its foundations developed by Thomas Aquinas. However, it is noted that in modern warfare, the concept of „justice” is distorted, the understanding of just war in the Christian religious and ethical tradition has been forgotten, and some church leaders even suggest abandoning the doctrine of just war. The author believes that everything needs to be redesigned, raising the whole layer of works on the theme of just war, starting with ancient and medieval authors. The article concludes with conclusions and formulations of prospects for further research in this area.

Being an Authentic Christian: an Analysis Based on The Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard emphasis the importance of each individual being an authentic person. In his works, he gives an overview and direction to become an authentic person. Realizing whether someone authentically is not easy. Nowadays, I see many Christians who do not really live their lives as a Christian. The focus of this research is to present Kierkegaard's view on the criteria of an authentic Christian. The method used is a critical reading analysis of Kierkegaard's works (particularly Purity of Heart and The Sickness unto Death), previous research studies, observations, and interviews with several individuals. The author finds six criteria about authentic Christian individuals, namely: (1) Living in repentance, (2) Personal relationship with God, (3) Fear of God, (4) Willingness to suffer, (5) Being a loving person, and (6) Living in silence.

Bogdan Gabriel Bucur. Scripture Re-envisioned: Christophanic Exegesis and the Making of a Christian Bible. BAC 13.

Bogdan Gabriel Bucur. <i>Scripture Re-envisioned: Christophanic Exegesis and the Making of a Christian Bible.</i> BAC 13.

Salvation and Victory by Christ’s Death and Resurrection in the Ancient Church

Abstract The theme of this article arises from Reformed theology, namely, how did authoritative Christian authors of the second to the fifth centuries AD think about salvation by Christ’s substitutionary and atoning death? How do their views relate to the ‘Christus Victor’ theology that is sometimes propagated nowadays as a more biblical alternative to the traditional Reformed soteriology, and which is considered the dominant approach in the ancient church? Can traces of Christ giving ‘satisfaction’ for God’s offended honor or for his wrath against sin be found in the first centuries? Did any church fathers hold that Christ vicariously bore God’s punishment for the sins of humankind? What was meant by the ransom that Christ had to pay, and to whom did he pay it: to God or to the devil, or were these considered invidious alternatives? This article demonstrates that in their interpretations of biblical texts, the church fathers did indeed address most of these questions. However, a continuous debate on such questions remained, so that the church of those centuries did not create a standard doctrine about the rationale of salvation by Christ, which testifies to varied understandings of it.

In Battle and in Bed: Wanton Women and Women Warriors in Muslim and Christian Crusade Narratives

AbstractThis article analyses the parallel representations of enemy warrior women as sexually profligate and inappropriately martial in selected Latin and Arabic texts from the period of the first three crusades (late eleventh to late twelfth centuries). Cross‐cultural comparison of depictions of fighting women demonstrates that both cultures portrayed the other side as dominated, and thus undermined, by women who were unnaturally assertive in both sexual and military affairs. Both Muslim and Christian authors sexualised and militarised the bodies of enemy women in order to define which men were the strongest, best and most deserving of battlefield victory in the holy wars of crusade and jihad.

Man - "Debtor of the God"

The main objecvtive of Davit Guramishvili's poetic work is getting to know one’s self. Thus, the author’s lyrical "I" is clearly visible in the poem. In order to get to know one’s self, meaning of the human existence needs to be explored. The image of God as well as the sinful nature has been inherited in the humankind.Christ has redeemed the humankind from the captivity of original sin, paying the "old debt". "Davitiani” is based on such Christian ideology. On the one hand, the poet notes that God undertook the obligation to save his creatures in the first place. At the same time, Davit Guramishvili believes that he is indebted to God as he is born as his image, in his likeness. The second reason behind man's duty to God is the redemption of sins and the restoration of damaged image. The New Testament has imposed a "new debt" on mankind.The main purpose of the "new man", which is deification, begins with the discovery of the likeness of God in himself, then - with repentance of the sins. At the end, the person on the path of personal perfection meets God.Davit Guramishvili's lyrical character also starts to strive for "deification". He regrets that he has been robbed of the light of the Lord. Like a sinful Adam he is dressed in leather, and deprived of the sun of paradise, is buried in the abyss of hell.Remembering the passion of the Savior on the cross is the duty of the Christian. He should sympathize with and mourn the martyrdom of Jesus with his own sins. The most ardent co-sufferer of the sufferings of Christ is the Mother of God. The poet's lyrical protagonist recalls the tragedy of Golgotha ​​and seems to feel the pain inflicted by the Lord’s wounds, expressing the communion of the sufferings of the Virgin. David Guramishvili, as a Christian author, thus becomes an accomplice of the Lord's passion.Such a principle of liturgical thinking in the work of David Guramishvili, first of all, relies on the idea of St. Paul the Apostle, according to which the man would gain life in Christ through crucifixion. Such a concept is also revealed in the old Georgian theological poetry. It is noteworthy that the poet's lyrical protagonist will also replace Adam and by considering his mourning as his own tragedy, he tries to establish a personal "I".The poet sympathizes with the Adam's sin. However, he rejoices by the fact that he is freed from the "old debt" and this time he feels a new duty towards the Savior, Christ. For Davit Guramishvili, the poetic path has become an arena of spiritual victory in order to get to know one’s self. Therefore he establishes a personal lyric based on liturgical consciousness. The poet, through his work, aims to glorify the Savior, express gratitude and love towards him and thus pay the "new debt“.

Pain, Emotion, and Identity in Early Christianity

Pain has been a topic of sustained study in early Christian history, not least in its role in the construction of a distinctive Christian self and identity. This article addresses the significance of pain in early Christian identity by reframing pain as an emotion and an affective practice, an approach that reflects scholarly re- evaluations of pain in both the neuroscience of emotion and the history of emotions. The essay first addresses pain's function as an emotion, as well as the emotional contours of pain relief. It then traces the role of pain as a marker of identity in Christian literature, including Paul, the Gospel of John, early homiletic and moral exhortations, and martyr literature. Early Christian authors differ in significant ways among themselves on the meaning of pain, but they share a general perspective that the conceptualisation and experience of pain, as part of an overall discourse of passions and emotions, mark Christian identity and set Christians apart from others. Early Christian sources provide an extraordinary and relatively unrecognised resource for observing the development and change of emotional communities, as Christians understood themselves to feel different from others, to feel pain differently.

Job as a Steadfast Wrestler: Athletic Exemplarity in John Chrysostom and Severian of Gabala

Abstract In Greek Late Antiquity, the Biblical character of Job was portrayed in two different ways: as Job the impatient complainer and as Job the patient sufferer. The latter image has often been enriched by means of agonistic metaphors describing Job as the perfect athlete wrestling with the devil. Despite its pervasiveness, however, this image has only been studied in a sporadic and incomplete way. The article intends to bridge this gap by researching how Christian authors strategically used the image of Job as an athlete in order to increase his impact as a role model. First, it briefly explores this image in Biblical traditions and in the works of Origen, Basil of Caesarea, and Gregory of Nyssa. The main part of the article then focuses on the works of John Chrysostom and Severian of Gabala. It is necessary to ascertain which image(s) of Job each author presents and how this image is presented as well as to lay bare the function and relevance of the agonistic metaphors that are used to portray Job. To achieve this aim, the article offers a philological analysis of some crucial primary sources in their socio-cultural context. The agonistic metaphors have also been analysed according to the principles of cognitive-linguistic metaphor theory. In the end, the article shows how Chrysostom and Severian used Job as a model-athlete to incite their audience to strive for a perfect Christian life. It demonstrates that the agonistic metaphors are deeply significant for the portrayal of Job, since they incite the audience to view Job’s life, and consequently also their own life, from a new angle. By turning Job the passive sufferer into an active athlete who is the ultimate example of resilience, the metaphors shed a new light on Job’s suffering and thereby on the problem of theodicy.

The Use of Aristotle’s Biology in Nemesius’ On Human Nature

Towards the end of the fourth century CE Nemesius, bishop of Emesa in Syria, composed his treatise On Human Nature (Περὶ φύσεως ἀνθρώπου). The nature of the soul and its relation to the body are central to Nemesius’ treatment. In developing his argument, he draws not only on Christian authors but on a variety of pagan philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and the great physician-cum-philosopher Galen of Pergamum. This paper examines Nemesius’ references to Aristotle’s biology in particular, focusing on a few passages in the light of Aristotle’s Generation of Animals and History of Animals as well as the doxographic tradition. The themes in question are: the status of the intellect, the scale of nature and the respective roles of the male and female in reproduction. Central questions are: Exactly which impact did Aristotle make on his thinking? Was it mediated or direct? Why does Nemesius cite Aristotle and how? Long used as a source for earlier works now lost, Nemesius’ work may provide intriguing glimpses of the intellectual culture of his time. This paper is designed to contribute to this new approach to his work.

Den mångtydiga ortodoxin

The history of Christianity is marked by frequent debates over doctrinal truth. From an early stage, Christian authors began to use the terms "or­thodoxy" and "heresy" to deal with diversity of faith. While the orthodox faith was seen as the one that had been preserved from the time of the apostles, heresies were seen as later innovations. This idea was expressed in the Ecclesiastical History by Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth century, and became influential in later Christian history writing. Up until the twentieth century, orthodoxy and heresy were concepts typically associated with doctrinal content. However, with Walter Bauer's immensely influential work Rechtgläubligkeit und Ketzerei im Frühesten Christentum (1934), a socio-historical understanding of orthodoxy and heresy came to be adopted. According to this view, the concepts corresponded to social realities. With the influence from poststructuralist thought from the 1980s onwards, further developments took place in this scholarly area, with a new understanding of the concepts as rhetorical representations. This article argues that even in modern research, orthodoxy and heresy are typically associated with value judgment, and that ancient Christian cat­egorizations of "orthodox" and "heretic", and of the heretics them­selves, have continued to determine the way in which we read the sources today. Giving an example of heresiology produced by Jerome of Stridon during the Origenist controversy, it is suggested that in order to avoid essential­izing the rhetorical constructions of the heresiologists, a greater attention to their strategies as well as to their context is needed.

Christian Divination in Late Antiquity

<i>Christian Divination in Late Antiquity</i>

Book Reviews / Compte Rendus: Art, craft, and theology in fourth-century Christian authors

Book Reviews / Compte Rendus: Art, craft, and theology in fourth-century Christian authors

The Abduction of Preaching. Priest's Speech in the Structure of a Political Myth

This article offers an analysis of hybrid forms of religiousness arising from the interaction between the orthodoxy discourse and the political discursive environment. These forms are the result of attempted redirecting of the secular politics' tasks to the clergy and the church audience, that is, attempted political secularization of the Church.A precedent was the project to legitimize within the Russian Orthodox Church the so-called Maidan theology, which served as ideological accompaniment to the 2014 coup d'etat in Kiev. Since then, manifestations of political secularization have become regular.In September 2019, several dozen Orthodox priests published an open letter on the topic of the detention of street rioters during the Moscow City Duma election campaign. The letter had an emphatically political nature, as it was aimed at supporting people who were not simply seeking to state their views, but provoked the police to use force, escalating the conflict. The signatories of the appeal willingly or unwillingly joined this position, which at that time and in those circumstances meant direct interference in the political conflict. They had one important thing in common: they saw their own social role outside the church as more important than their servitude at church.The synthesis of Christian preaching and political propaganda is formed by stealing the language (in the sense established by Roland Barthes) of the Orthodox thought and is, therefore, doomed to create a hybrid, internally contradictory narrative that has nothing to do with authentic Christianity. This phenomenon can be characterized as the hijacking of the language of Christian preaching and the transfer of its sacred function into the sphere of the political. The most important task for Orthodox Christians is to purify, authenticate and naturalize the language of church mission, separating it from the influence of pseudo-Christian stylizations of secular politics and ideology.