Cappadocian Fathers Research Articles

Emotions in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (review)

Reviewed by: Emotions in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Kevin White Simo Knuuttila. Emotions in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy. Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Pp. x + 341. Cloth, $74. “Studies on the emotions became popular in the analytically oriented philosophy of mind in the 1980s” (1), the author begins, but the status of emotion as reason’s rival or complement in the directing of human nature is, of course, of perennial interest to philosophy per se. True, the topic has acquired (and not just in the analytic school) a certain prominence in recent decades, and this has led to useful historical investigations, although, as the author says, many more of them have been on emotions in ancient than in medieval philosophy (ibid.). In four chapters, he presents a continuous history of philosophical reflection on emotion from Plato to the fourteenth-century Franciscan Adam Wodeham, and late medieval compendia. Along the way he summarizes and comments on a large number of texts in whole or in part, regularly quotes from them in English translation, and often supplies the more significant Greek and Latin terms. For discussion of ancient theories, he acknowledges reliance on works by Martha Nussbaum and Richard Sorabji, but his scholarship extends to a wide range of primary sources and other historical studies. His recognition of the bearing of both theological and medical works on his subject is noteworthy: it is a mark of the singularity of emotion—or, as it is sometimes still quaintly called, ‘passion’—as a philosophical theme that it can combine theological and medical considerations, as well as moral and rhetorical ones. [End Page 316] The first and longest chapter, “Emotions in Ancient Philosophy,” begins with discussion of the relevant Platonic and Aristotelian texts, with emphasis on the Republic and Philebus and on the Rhetoric, respectively. The Stoic view of emotion as false judgment, to be expelled through exercises, is considered, and the influential Stoic doctrine of pre-passions or first movements is stressed. More briefly the chapter considers the Epicureans, Galen, the middle Platonists, and Plotinus, and closes with a look at the De natura hominis by the fourth-century bishop Nemesius, a synthesis of ancient thought that had an influential eleventh-century Latin translation. Chapter 2, “Emotions and the Ancient Pursuit of Christian Perfection,” discusses the Alexandrian and Cappadocian Fathers, John Cassian, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Pseudo Dionysius, with remarks on monastic discipline and scriptural interpretation. Origen’s connection of first motions with bad “thoughts” and his distinction between thought and consent are brought out. Augustine naturally gets the most attention here, with sections on City of God, Confessions, and emotions and will. The third chapter, “Medieval Conceptions of Emotions from Abelard to Aquinas,” is remarkably well constructed. It begins with the theme of first movements, the literature of spiritual experience, and the logic of the will in twelfth and thirteenth-century authors; it then turns to Latin translations of medical treatises and of Avicenna’s faculty psychology; and it closes with early thirteenth-century philosophy, Albert the Great, and Aquinas, author of “the most extensive medieval treatise on the subject” (239), namely Summa theologiae, I–II, QQ.22–48. At only thirty-one pages, the last chapter, “Emotions in Fourteenth-Century Philosophy,” is a coda to the discussion of Aquinas that introduces the themes of intuitive cognition, self-awareness, and free volition, and sketches the views of important Franciscan authors. Scotus and Ockham introduce the notion of “passions of will”; their follower Adam Wodeham considers love as a cognition partially caused by another cognition (277). Aquinas’s treatise emerges as a focal point, one at which earlier currents converge and from which subsequent lines of thought derive or differ. The author emphasizes Aquinas’s debts to Avicenna and John of la Rochelle, and his original analogy between the “motion” of the soul and physical motion. (Is this analogy plausible beyond the limitations of Aquinas’s physics or is it merely a curiosity? The author offers no opinion on this question.) Readers interested in the theological context of Aquinas’s treatise and further discussion of its philosophical components may wish to consult a work not mentioned in the bibliography: Paul Gondreau...

Schism and reconciliation in a sixth-century Trinitarian dispute: Damian of Alexandria and Peter of Callinicus on ‘properties, rôles and relations’

‘Tritheism’, in the sense of acknowledgement of three divine substances (ousiae), became a problem to the nonconforming Churches of Syria and Egypt during the sixth century. The origin and setting of the problem are briefly discussed and analysed. Damian Pope of Alexandria and Peter Patriarch of Antioch disagreed about the rebuttal of the doctrine and in particular about the claim by Damian that the tradition stemming from the Cappadocian Fathers legitimised the notion of the persons of the Trinity as ‘subsistent relations’. The arguments on both sides are summarised and a resolution is suggested for speculation. The author notes the present relevance of the ancient debate both to current Trinitarian understanding affecting Christian ecclesiology and, also, to the growing discussion between Muslims and Christians about the Trinitarian idea and the doctrine of God that divides the religions, an area in which, the author argues, it is too facile, too indifferent to history, to say without qualification that both affirm the same God.

The Protomodern Augustine? Colin Gunton and the Failure of Augustine

Abstract: The late Colin Gunton often criticized Augustine in two key areas: (1) Augustine's supposed emphasis of the one over the many effectively severed any meaningful link between creation and redemption (contra the theological understanding of Irenaeus); and (2) because of Augustine's supposed emphasis on the timeless essence of God at the expense of the three real persons, Augustine failed to bequeath to the Western intellectual tradition the benefits of a truly Christian ontology (effectively losing the insights of theologians such as the Cappadocian Fathers). This article argues that for all of Gunton's insights – and there are many – a close reading of Augustine actually shows that Augustine is not guilty of such weaknesses and that in fact Augustine provides some of the very theological insights and strengths Gunton wishes to mine from other sources.

BETWEEN SUBORDINATION AND KOINONIA: TOWARD A NEW READING OF THE CAPPADOCIAN THEOLOGY1

AbstractThis article argues that it is inappropriate to read Cappadocian theology exclusively from the angle of Basil of Caesarea's identification of the Godhead with the Father alone. As an alternative to the Basilian‐based reading that undermines the view that the three persons are together co‐constitutive of the Godhead and restricts the Godhead to the Father alone, this article calls for a more comprehensive reading of the theology of the Cappadocian fathers that takes into consideration the trinitarian perspective of Gregory of Nazianzus, and claims that his understanding of the Godhead as the reciprocal koinonia of the three persons together not only completes and corrects Basil's view and presents a more coherent view of the Cappadocian theology, but also salvages the theology of the Trinity from any possible semi‐monarchical logic that could undermine one of the divine persons for the sake of, or at the expense of, the others.

In Quest of Basil's Retreat: An Expedition to Ancient Pontus

Basil of Caesarea (AD 329–378), his brother, Gregory of Nyssa (335–394), and their friend, Gregory Nazianzen (328–389), are a group of three great Christian thinkers of the late 4th century AD known as the ‘Cappadocian Fathers’. All were steeped in the culture of traditional Hellenism, and at the same time were great theologians and leaders who steered the Christian church of the eastern Roman empire in the turbulent years of the late 4th century. Theologically they are best known for bringing to a close the Arian controversy that had wracked the Christian church for most of the 4th century. Basil, called ‘the Great’ in the Christian tradition for his leading role in steering the Arian controversy to a conclusion, is also known for his reforms of the unruly ascetic movement in Asia Minor, documented in such works as hisAsketikon. As a result of his labours he effectively established Greek cenobitic (common-life) monasticism. But his influence as a preceptor of Christian monasticism was destined to spread far, both east in Syria and in the Latin West. A Latin translation was an important source of theRule of St Benedict, which set the tone of western monasticism for many centuries to come.

Style and Meaning in Gregory of Nyssa's Panegyrics on Martyrs

– The writings and sermons of the Cappadocian Fathers were deeply indebted to the inheritance of the classical rhetoric of the Second Sophistic. This contribution studies the use of this rhetoric in Gregory’s panegyrics on martyrs: the Homily on Theodore the Recruit, the First (Ia and Ib) and Second Homilies on the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and the First and Second Homily on Stephen the Protomartyr. In particular, it focuses on how the literary style of these sermons – one element of rhetoric – supports the message the preacher wanted to convey to his audience. The primary purpose of these sermons was to extol and praise the martyr’s achievements and the Christian virtues to which he or she bore testimony, thus presenting him as a spiritual model worthy of imitation. Subsidiary goals were the polemic against other religions or Christian currents considered as heterodox as well as moral exhortations to the audience. This meaning was not only generated by the content of the sermons but also by the application of stylistic features that underline the presence of these themes in Gregory’s martyrial homilies. From this perspective, we study Gregory’s use of hyperbole, comparisons, periphrastic turns, paratactic and antithetic parallellisms, fictitious monologues and dialogues, and ecphrasis. We give ample illustrations of the presence of each feature in our chosen sermons and in each case we address the question: how did this particular stylistic feature generate meaning and how did it serve the homilist’s purposes?

Newman and Teilhard

Teilhard greatly admired Newman for whom the Eastern Fathers had been his first masters. Teilhard himself was nourished on the ideas of the Fathers, especially the Greek-speaking Fathers, many of whom are present throughout his writings like Irenæus of Lyon, Origen of Alexandria, this man with an ‘extraordinary cosmic consciousness,’ or the Cappadocian Fathers, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus. Faithful to the vision of the Cosmic Christ in St Paul and St John, Teilhard was inspired by the evolutionary perspective of the Eastern Fathers. He was always aware of continuing their ideas within the framework of a universe in movement towards its final consummation in the Universal Christ. In this respect we think it important to stress that Teilhard’s reflection on the divinisation of the cosmos, the doctrine of original sin or apophatic theology, a theology that is practically unknown to the majority of western Christians today, comes very close in its broad approach to that of many contemporary Orthodox theologians. Teilhard was equally aware of the need to summon a ‘New Nicæa,’ a new ecumenical council to define ‘the cosmic face of the Incarnation.’ He feared that we were about to see a renewal of ‘the great conflicts of arianism’ in an evolutionary cosmos. Finally, Teilhard invites us to return to the roots of our faith—going through Newman and the Eastern Fathers—to allow us to advance together towards the reconciliation of the eastern and western churches so that the ‘one holy catholic and apostolic Church’ might ‘breathe again with its two lungs,’ according to Pope John Paul II’s much-loved metaphor. We have much to do…

IS JOHN ZIZIOULAS AN EXISTENTIALIST IN DISGUISE? RESPONSE TO LUCIAN TURCESCU

AbstractThis essay responds to Lucian Turcescu's article, “ ‘Person’ versus ‘Individual’, and Other Modern Misreadings of Gregory of Nyssa”, Modern Theology Vol. 18 no. 4 (October, 2002) in which he argues that John Zizioulas's relational ontology of trinitarian personhood is indebted more to modern personalism and existentialism than to the Cappadocian Fathers. Turcescu's focus on Gregory of Nyssa does not warrant the claim that a relational ontology of personhood cannot be found within the thought of the Cappadocian Fathers. More substantively, Turcescu never addresses Zizioulas's interpretation of the Cappadocian affirmation of the monarchy of the Father, which, I argue, is central to Zizioulas's relational ontology insofar as such an ontology attempts to express the realism of divine‐human communion.

“Person” in Christian Tradition and the Conception of Saint Albert the Great: A Systematic Study of Its Concept as Illuminated by the Mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation by Stephen A. Hipp

BOOK REVIEWS 161 Subject (1998, edited by Brian Davies, O.P.), which covers much the same ground as the present volume. These are just minor quibbles. The Thomist Tradition is by far the most authoritative, engaging, and up-to-date book in its genre. It merits a broad readership within the Catholic academic community and beyond. GREGORY M. REICHBERG International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIG) Oslo, Norway "Person" in Christian Tradition and the Conception ofSaint Albert the Great: A Systematic Study of Its Concept as Illuminated by the Mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation. By STEPHENA HIPP. Beitrage zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters n.f. 57. Miinster: Aschendorff, 2001. Pp. 565. ISBN 3-402-04008-5 (paper). At the end of one of his opuscula sacra discussing the nature of the Trinity, Boethius asks his friend to whom the work is dedicated, the deacon John, whether his arguments are consistent with Church teaching. A simple enough question and yet a revealing way in which to close one ofthe seminal documents on the topic in the Latin tradition. Indeed, Boethius is so concerned with the difficulties of providing a rational articulation of the doctrine that he asks John to suggest an alternative account should he have any hesitations. As Boethius's treatise is an investigation of the concept of persona, his caution concerning his attempt at philosophical understanding in light of the conciliar formulations is all the more understandable. The definition of person has been, and remains, controversial. Yet it cannot be avoided, for the problem of personhood is, for obvious reasons, among the defining issues of Christian philosophy. Thus there can be no doubt about the importance of articulating the distinction between natura and persona, which is the task taken up by Stephen Hipp's historical study on Trinitarian doctrine. While the historical scope ofthis work is rather broad, its delineation is fairly exact: it is focused on the Christian philosophy of person from the beginnings to the thirteenth century and treats Albert the Great as a seminal figure in the tradition. The book begins with a sweeping overview of the concept of person developed in connection with the Christological councils and in patristic literature. The second section is devoted to Albert's response to this tradition as well as his own attempts to articulate the differentia defining personhood. The final section provides an overview of the study and its implications as well as brief accounts of the views of Aquinas, Scotus, Suarez, and others. While the historical background for Albert's work includes both Greek and 162 BOOK REVIEWS Latin contributions, a significant portion of Hipp's treatment is dedicated to Boethius's attempts to define and distinguish natura and persona. Analyzing the concepts of nature and person as developed in the Contra Eutychen, Hipp shows how Boethius provides the metaphysical infrastructure for his famous definition of person as "naturae rationabilis individua substantia." Hipp also looks at the relation of subsistence to substance in the Cappadocian Fathers and their association of prosopon with particular subsistence. This allows a cogent comparison with Boethius's parallel treatment in the De Trinitate and De hebdomadibus as a foundation for the theological principle "substantia continet unitatem, relatio multiplicat trinitatem." Boethius's primary contribution to Christian philosophy of personhood is thus located in his formulation of the substantial yet relational character of personality. Moreover, Hipp shows this to be both a development of Greek thought and a source for the Latin tradition that influenced later treatments. Among the later treatments are those of theologians associated with the twelfth-century School of St. Victor. Especially significant is the critique of Richard of St. Victor who insisted that the Boethian focus on rational nature is insufficient to mark the distinctive reality ofpersons as persons. Returning to the Cappadocian emphasis on incommunicability, Richard attempted to draw attention away from the quality of rationality as common to all persons and redirect it to the absolute uniqueness of each person as a singularity. This uniqueness, which can only be designated by a proper name, provides a mode of definition that goes beyond the limits of essentialism. Person remains a kind of substance, but cannot be...

Trinitarian Theology West and East: Karl Barth, the Cappadocian Fathers, and John Zizioulas, by Paul M. Collins

Trinitarian Theology West and East: Karl Barth, the Cappadocian Fathers, and John Zizioulas, by Paul M. Collins

Kingdom of snow: Roman rule and Greek culture in Cappadocia

Introduction BADLANDS 1. Viper Died: Local Notables and Imperial Rule 2. Hook Hidden in the Bait: The Rewards of Giving 3. Singing of the Sirens: Service in the Imperial Administration 4. The Highlander EMPIRE AND PROVINCE 5. Surpass Me with Your Generosity: Provincial Governors and Tax Assessors 6. Men in an Oven: Emperors in Cappadocia 7. Birds Cowering Before an Eagle: Basil and Valens' Court at Antioch 8. Everything Yields to Theodosius: Gregory of Nazianzus at Constantinople CULTURE WARS 9. A True Hellene Among the Cappadocians: Julian in Asia Minor 10. Basil's Outline of Virtue 11. Gregory of Nazianzus and the Philosopher Emperor Epilogue: Admonishment and Compassion Abbreviations Notes Editions and Translations 1. The Cappadocian Fathers 2. Ancient Authors and Texts Bibliography Index

Review: Trinitarian Theology West and East. Karl Barth, The Cappadocian Fathers, and John Zizioulas

Trinitarian Theology West and East. Karl Barth, The Cappadocian Fathers, and John Zizioulas Paul M. Collins xiv + 251 Oxford University Press 2001 £40 0 19 827032 1

Kingdom of Snow: Roman rule and Greek culture in Cappadocia by Raymond Van Dam (review)

REVIEWS 268 monarchs? What is one to make of the supposed amicable relations of Frederick II (1194–1250) of Hohenstaufen with Muslims and Jews? And what about the peasantry? Did there exist a medieval equivalent to Carlo Ginzburg’s Menocchio,8 who seems to have invented a heretical personal cosmology for himself drawing, among other sources, on the Koran? Saracens is not as broad in scope as its title suggests. But even within the narrower focus of the study, Tolan leaves some questions unanswered. Was it possible that the adversarial discourse was meant to hide a much more symbiotic reality between practitioners of the two faiths, specially in the frontier areas, as Charles Halperin argues in his “The Ideology of Silence: Prejudice and Pragmatism on the Medieval Religious Frontier.”9 The book is divided into eleven chapters; in each chapter, a number of relevant authors are studied. As such, the structure of the book recalls Hayden White’s Metahistory and, in the field of medieval history, Walter Goffart’s Narrators of Barbarian History (A.D. 550–800): Jordanes, Gregory of Tours, Bede, and Paul the Deacon (1988). Both works intended to break the “metanarrative ” of modern historiography and show the uniqueness of each sourceauthor . The effect on the reader is one of disjointedness and lack of an organic unity in the narrative. Tolan, however, argues for the development of a discourse over time, but the many sections and subsection in Saracens make it difficult for the reader to follow the line of continuity from one century to another . ALI ANOOSHAHR, History, UCLA Raymond Van Dam, Kingdom of Snow: Roman rule and Greek culture in Cappadocia (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 2002) ix + 290 pp. Raymond Van Dam considers his recent book “primarily a study of a particular region in the eastern Roman empire at a particular time. The focus,” he insists, “is on Cappadocia, not the Cappadocian Fathers” (5). I must disagree. The Cappadocian Fathers are certainly the most extensive source for fourth-century Cappadocia, and any study of this region will no doubt reveal the perspectives of these three important bishops, but Van Dam’s study does not go very far beyond their perspective in examining the contextual landscape of Cappadocia in the fourth century. The book may not be a biography of the Fathers—as it assumes a former acquaintance with Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa—but it follows their youthful studies and professional careers in a rather narrative fashion. Perhaps if the book ended with a reevaluation of Cappadocia as “a particular region,” then I would concede that it is indeed a regional study; however, it ends rather abruptly with a semibiographical summary of the relationships between the Fathers and the Emperor Julian. These relationships are the real core of the book: they show the ways in which local administrators and spiritual leaders coexist, clash, and basically learn to deal with a non-local administration—namely, the emperors 8 The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-century Miller, trans. John and Anne Tedeschi (Baltimore 1980). 9 CSSH 26.3 (1984) 442–466. REVIEWS 269 of the eastern Roman Empire. Before examining these relationships, however, we must consider the purpose of the book as being one installment of a trilogy. Van Dam envisions his three books to provide a more comprehensive picture of Cappadocia; the first two books deal with the personal relationships among the Fathers and the Christianization of Cappadocian society. This book, the third one, is intended to provide a socio-geographical supplement to the overall picture. His multiple approaches to the material go beyond the usual methodology: “Patristics scholars need to demonstrate a greater awareness of the realities of Greek and Roman society, and social and cultural historians need to acquire a deeper familiarity with the potentialities of theological and ecclesiastical texts” (4). In other words, social, cultural, intellectual, theological, and political evidence must not be separated into such categories at the expense of a greater understanding of the subject as a whole. In Kingdom of Snow, Van Dam takes all these kinds of evidence into account to form an impression of “distinctly regional characteristics” (6) of...

"Heavenly Man" and "Eternal Christ": Apollinarius and Gregory of Nyssa on the Personal Identity of the Savior

Although the opposition of the Cappadocian Fathers, on church-political as well as theological grounds, to Apollinarius of Laodicaea and his followers is well known, it is more difficult to see precisely what their objections were to his conception of Christ, particularly since their own christologies seem, in many respects, quite similar to his. This essay argues that Gregory of Nazianzus and particularly Gregory of Nyssa saw in the christology of Apollinarius a soteriology radically different from their own: while he regarded Christ's role as savior as resting on his natural difference from our own fallen constitution, they understood the mystery of salvation as the incipient transformation of all humanity through the communication, by God the Word, of divine virtue and life to a complete and normal human being united personally to himself. This soteriological difference, in turn, had important implications for the differing anthropologies, eschatologies, and conceptions of God that one finds in the works of these authors.

Collins, Trinitarian Theology East and West. Karl Barth, the Cappadocian Fathers, and John Zizioulas

Collins, <i>Trinitarian Theology East and West. Karl Barth, the Cappadocian Fathers, and John Zizioulas</i>

Reviews

Books reviewed:Michael W. Myers, Brahman: A Comparative TheologyLeo G. Perdue (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to the Hebrew BibleW. Lee Humphreys, The Character of God in the Book of Genesis: A Narrative AppraisalKlaus Baltzer, Deutero‐Isaiah, Hermeneia — A Critical and Historical Commentary on the BibleBrevard S. Childs, Isaiah, The Old Testament LibraryTina Beattie, The Last Supper According to Mary and MarthaJacob Neusner, The Halakhah and the Aggadah: Theological PerspectivesJ. Behr, Asceticism and Anthropology in Irenaeus and ClementJohn Chrysostom, Wendy Mayer and Pauline Allen, The Early Church FathersNorman Russell, Cyril of AlexandriaCarolinne White, Early Christian Latin PoetsPhillip Cary, Augustine’s Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian PlatonistPaul M. Collins, Trinitarian Theology West and East: Karl Barth, the Cappadocian Fathers, and John ZizioulasG. R. Evans (ed.), The Medieval Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Medieval PeriodDonald K. McKim, Introducing the Reformed Faith: Biblical Revelation, Christian Tradition, Contemporary SignificanceEric L. Santner, On the Psychotheology of Everyday Life, Reflections on Freud and RosenzweigDietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of DiscipleshipJohn Robinson, Honest to GodGustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and SalvationVincent J. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered: An Epistle from the MasaiL. William Countryman, Dirt, Greed and Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and their Implications for TodayGerd Theissen, The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative FormAnthony B. Pinn and Benjamin Valentin (eds), The Ties that Bind: African American and Hispanic American/ Latino/a Theologies in DialogueColin Gunton, The Christian Faith: An Introduction to Christian DoctrineJacques Derrida, edited by Pascale‐Anne Brault and Michael Naas, The Work of MourningJuliet Floyd and Sanford Shieh (eds), Future Pasts: The Analytic Tradition in Twentieth‐Century PhilosophyJohn Hick, Dialogues in the Philosophy of ReligionMichael Ruse, Can a Darwinian be a Christian? The Relationship Between Science and ReligionJanet Radcliffe Richards, Human Nature After Darwin: A Philosophical Introduction

When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ’s Divinity in the Last Days of Rome (review)

When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in Last Days of Rome. By Richard E. Rubenstein. (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company 1999. Pp. xix, 267. $26.00.) The theological debates and political maneuvering that took place in fourth century concerning development of Christian doctrine of Trinity are related in dramatic, provocative, and eminently readable fashion by Richard Rubenstein. Although Rubenstein himself is neither theologian nor an historian, he is generally well read in pertinent recent literature in English. A professor of conflict resolution and public affairs at George Mason University, Rubenstein applies his skills at analyzing social and religious conflict to produce vivid and engaging account of dispute between priest Arius and his bishop Alexander which quickly spread beyond Alexandria in Egypt to embroil Mediterranean world from east to west in this controversy. Commendable in this book are: vivid portrayals of major personalities involved, imperial and ecclesiastical, interactions described between and among them, presentation of soteriological beliefs of both Arians and Nicenes that made each side so passionate in defending own views and in vigorously rejecting views of adversary, generally successful attempt at making very technical theological terms in this debate accessible for nonspecialists, and theological conclusion that what Cappadocian Fathers contributed and Creed of Constantinople enshrined in 381 was that Christian doctrine of God as Trinity was radically distinctive when compared with Greco-Roman Neoplatonism and Judaism. At least three general themes are apparent in Rubenstein's work. First, Council of Nicaea in 325 marked the last point at which Christians with strongly opposed theological views acted civilly toward each (p. 87). Craving to acrimony of Arian controversy in next fifty-six years and imperial coercion throughout, but especially by Theodosius in demanding conformity with Constantinopolitan formulation of 381 > in end adversaries were vilified as unrepentent sinners: corrupt, malicious, even satanic individuals (p. 88). A major reason for Nicene Christianity's victory was support of powerful Emperor Theodosius in enforcing Trinitarian doctrine in Roman world. This, in turn, says Rubenstein, led to other forms of repression against non-Christians, namely pagans and Jews. While there are elements of truth in these claims, period before Nicaea was not as pacific among Christians as Rubenstein implies: fierce and ad hominem disputes between Christians such as Irenaeus and Terullian, on one side, and Gnostics, on other, are but one example. Also, what Rubenstein downplays in acceptance of Trinitarian doctrine of Constantinople in 381 is role of people's liturgical and devotional life in affirming equality of divinity of Son and Holy Spirit with Father, as exemplified in Basil of Caesarea's work On Holy Spirit. Second, Rubenstein interprets split between Nicene and Arian Christians as reflecting a rough division between those more in need of powerful, just ruler [Nicenes] and those more in need of loving advocate and friend [Arians] (p. 146). Certainly, in general at onset of controversy, as Gregg and Groh's work Early Arianism indicates, such an assertion is accurate. But Rubenstein goes on to say that Nicene Christianity's faith in majestic Christ incorporated into Godhead as articulated in Council of Constantinople, was grounded at least in part in its pessimistic view of human nature (p. …

1998 NAPS Presidential Address Building a New City: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Philanthropy

1998 NAPS Presidential Address Building a New City: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Philanthropy

Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism by Jaroslav Pelikan

Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism. By Jaroslav Pelikan. [Gifford Lectures at Aberdeen, 1992-1993.] (New Haven: Yale University Press. 1993. Pp. xvi, 368. $42.50 cloth; $17.00 paperback.) This book seeks an understanding of the natural theology and classical background of the Cappadocian Fathers (Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa). The author adds a fourth person to this traid in the person of Macrina, whose role as an interlocutor in Nyssa's writings is taken as proof of actual input by this exceptionally well-educated woman (p. 108). The title belies the fact that the book's primary focus is on these figs. Pelikan is preoccupied with the Cappadocians' use of apophatic method in theology (p. 92), that is, the analyses of the idea of God through his negative attributes. In linguistic terms, this meant negation by use of the alpha privative in Greek words like formless, unpalpable, invisible, inasmuch as language about the divine is inadequate (p. 44). Put another way, it is a system of first determining terminologically what God is not: everything from his impassibility to the view that He is One who is truly above all names (p. 213). This is the reverse of kat aphasis or affirmation of divine attributes, a characteristic, for example, of Greek myth. But apophasis is in essence a negative epistemology that controls metaphor and analogy, and eliminates myth with its corollary, the need for allegorical interpretation. Pelikan's analysis takes the Hellenism of the Cappadocians as its starting point. For him this cultural category is bound up primarily with the Greek philosophical tradition, although the Greek Hellenismos was in the fourth century generally conceded to have a broader scope, embracing everything from pagan temple ritual to the pre-philosophical content of the paddies (the primary texts of Greek education in grammar and rhetoric like the Homeric poems, the tragedians, historians, etc.). It is unlikely that the Cappadocians' anthropology (as opposed to theology) can have failed to have been shaped by this (so for example Pelikan's discussion of the term arete excellence). But the reader should be aware that the discussion stresses the philosophical background of the three men and Macrina. The body of the work is not, thankfully, a neat essay with an a priori thesis and all loose ends tied together. Rather it is an empirical analysis based on a thorough reading of the Cappadocian corpus with extensive quotations. As such the book makes few concessions to the reader. A synthetic reading of these texts has long been a desideratum, and so Pelikan's handling of the subject is most useful to scholars seeking a new understanding of the origins of the Christian Sophistic and the acculturation of the new religion to the Greek paddies. …

The Cappadocian Fathers, Women and Ecclesiastical Politics

The Cappadocian Fathers, Women and Ecclesiastical Politics