This study explores the motif of Christ’s descent into hell (Descensus Christi ad inferos) as it appears in apocryphal literature and selected early Christian writings. It aims to demonstrate the diversity of early Christian interpretations of Christ’s descent into the underworld and to elucidate its theological significance for concepts of salvation, death, and resurrection. After a brief introduction to the topic, the study examines early testimonies in the works of Melito of Sardis and Hippolytus, which provide important theological foundations for understanding the descensus. The analysis then turns to apocryphal writings, such as the Acts of Thomas and the Odes of Solomon, where the motif of the descent is developed in narrative and poetic forms. Particular attention is given to texts that interpret the descensus simul taneously as a salvific ascent (ascensus), most notably the Pistis Sophia and the Ascension of Isaiah. Subsequent chapters address the Questions of Bartholomew, the Book of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ by Bartholomew the Apostle, and the Gospel of Nicodemus, which represent some of the most influential portrayals of Christ’s descent into hell and played a significant role in shaping later Christian tradition. The final section investigates the reception of the descensus motif among major theologians and Church Fathers, including Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, as well as Syriac and Byzantine authors. The study argues that Christ’s descent into hell does not constitute a uniform theological concept in early Christian sources, but rather a complex and multifaceted motif interpreted within diverse christological and eschatological frameworks.

How is the apostle Peter’s wife portrayed in early Christian writings? Within the first century CE, texts like 1 Corinthians and the Synoptic Gospels seemingly take for granted that Peter was married, but do not explicitly mention his wife. In the second to fourth centuries, however, we see a variety of depictions, from Clement of Alexandria’s anecdote concerning her martyrdom to Jerome’s suggestion that Peter forsook the office of marriage after following Jesus. I demonstrate that these views are often shaped by theological controversies such as Encratism or Jovinianism, with the idealisation of celibacy significantly influencing the portrayal of Peter’s wife by the late fourth century.

The present article discusses why the study of Christian Apocrypha and Parabiblical Traditions is crucial not only for the understanding of early Christian History but also for the theological field of New Testament Exegesis. It starts with the author’s definition of Christian Apocrypha and Parabiblica and offers examples for the heuristic value of such an understanding. It discusses the impact of apocryphal writings and parabiblical traditions for the reception history of the New Testament and for the understanding of the history, understanding and development of genres of ancient Christian writings like apocalypses and Gospels. After this it develops and discusses three major theses about the impact of Christian Apocrypha for the understanding of the New Testament canon, its fundamental openness and history even after its formal closure. Finally, it offers opportunities of inter-theological interdisciplinary dialogue.

Christology can be defined as theological reflection on the person and mission of Jesus Christ [...]

Among Old Testament figures, Moses enjoyed a unique status from the perspective of late antique Christian writers. He was recognized as a lawgiver, prophet, leader, priest, and miracle-working holy man whose guidance of the Israelites toward an earthly salvation prefigured the mission of Christ. Yet, while patristic theologians defined for Moses a common stock of characteristics and themes, a considerable degree of fluidity in defining the prophet’s significance for contemporary Christians remained. This is particularly apparent in the depictions of Moses authored in post-Roman Gaul between the sixth and mid-eighth centuries. These “Merovingian Moseses” were united by a common store of biblical stories, symbols, and themes, as well as by their collective debt to patristic tradition, but also were distinct in their embodiment and representation of a selective choice of these tropes. While characterizations of Moses by Bishops Avitus of Vienne and Caesarius of Arles offered two possible models for understanding the Israelite prophet—hero and imperfect embodiment of the Old Law, respectively—neither model dominated contemporary discourse, and depictions of Moses continued to be shaped by differences in genre, authorial program, and in a number of cases a specific concern with contemporary Jews. Collectively, these Merovingian Moseses thus signify a socioreligious milieu that was confident in its Christian identity but also still somewhat ill at ease with both a biblical Jewish heritage and, even more so, the continued presence of living Jews within a professed Christian regnum.

The purpose of the publication is to introduce into the scientific space of Ukraine a translation of the ancient Greek apology of one of the early Christian writers Hermias the Philosopher – "Ridicule of the Pagan Philosophers". The critical and satirical style of this author and his manner of conducting polemics reveal a deep expert in ancient philosophy: he skillfully reveals the contradictions present in it and proves the general inability of pagan wisdom to adequately understand the world. In contrast, the Christian doctrine is almost not mentioned in the work. Thus, Hermias's work is a sharp polemical pamphlet, familiarization with which will be interesting not only for theologians, but also for philosophers, literary critics, linguists and other specialists – researchers of the early Christian literary heritage.

The significant influence of Christianity on legislative policy in the field of family law during the Dominate period occurred under the rule of two emperors: Constantine I (306–337) and Justinian I (527–565). The paper examines the legal reforms introduced primarily by Emperor Constantine who, recognizing the spiritual potential of the new religion, not only equalized Christianity with paganism but also actively supported it in various ways. The introductory sections of the paper present the ideas of the first Christian writers, namely Tertullian, Ambrose, Augustine, Lactantius, and Jerome. The subsequent chapters analyze the legislation of Emperors Constantine I, Theodosius II, and Majorian in the area of matrimonial law. This imperial legislation was aimed at the protection of marriage and, to a greater or lesser extent, made the conclusion of a second marriage after divorce more difficult or, in certain cases, even prevented it. Special attention was given to the punishment of the crime of adultery, the possibility of pardoning an adulterous wife, and also the introduction of state control over divorce through the establishment of reasons permitting it. Christianity helped to overcome the classical concept of Roman marriage understood as a factual state and contributed to its replacement by a new concept, according to which marriage was a legal institution and a permanent legal status.

In this article, the author analyzes the writings of the Latin Fathers of the Church in terms of the importance of water transport in them. It should be remembered that in this article I focus on patristic sources. On this basis, one can distinguish two basic meanings of water transport as perceived by Christian authors. These are social and economic meanings; I discuss them expecting to prompt discussion. One of the questions that I try to answer in this article is the extent to which patristic authors were interested in presenting the image of water transport and what could have been the reasons for this interest (or lack of it), as well as what role the issue of water transport played in the sources used. Patristic authors did not leave much data on this topic, but fragments of their writings, if subjected to appropriate criticism, may constitute an extension of existing research and knowledge. Christian writers also used some elements related to water transport in their pastoral activities as examples drawn “from life” or as rhetorical figures.

The doctrine of the Trinity has long been a source of controversy within the Christian world. Over time, this belief also became one of the central topics in theological debates between Christians and Muslims. During the first five centuries of the Islamic era, Christian theologians living in the Muslim world, such as the Melkite Theodore Abū Qūrrāh (d. ca. 829), the Nestorian ʿAmmār al-Baṣrī (d. ca. 850), and the Jacobite Abū Raʾīṭah al-Takrītī (755–835), wrote numerous works in defense of the Trinity. Through various methods and arguments, they sought to present themselves as monotheists. To this end, they attempted to explain the Trinity using Islamic theological methods and concepts. In response, Muslim Muʿtazilite theologians such as Abū ʿĪsā al-Warrāq (d. 247/861) and ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1024), along with many other heresiographers and apologists, composed treatises refuting the doctrine of the Trinity. They rejected and refuted all the arguments advanced by Christian writers in its defense, striving to demonstrate that Christians were, in fact, tritheists. This thesis first explains the evolution of the concept of the Trinity within mainstream Christianity up to the Council of Chalcedon. It then turns to the idea of the Trinity among the so-called heretical Christian sects and apocryphal gospels. The study also examines how the Qur’an, Muslim exegetes, historians, and heresiographers viewed the Trinity and related concepts. Throughout this work, we have sought to analyze Muslim understandings of the Trinity and other Christian doctrines as objectively as possible, employing a phenomenological approach combined with critical analysis.

This dissertation examines the status and representation of women in early Christianity, with a specific focus on Mary Magdalene as reflected in both canonical and apocryphal texts. Within the broader field of Christian studies, feminist theology provides a renewed interpretive framework for reading the Bible and early Christian writings. By analyzing the Gospels alongside selected noncanonical sources, this study investigates how Jesus’ teachings introduced reformative perspectives on women’s roles within the patriarchal context of Jewish society. The research highlights the distinctive portrayal of Mary Magdalene in apocryphal works such as the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Thomas, and Pistis Sophia, in which she is depicted as a figure of wisdom, leadership, and spiritual authority. Although the institutional Church later rejected these texts, they nonetheless reveal the intellectual and theological engagement of early Christian communities with questions of gender and discipleship. Ultimately, this study demonstrates how feminist reinterpretations of these sources can shed new light on the evolving position of women in both early Christianity and contemporary faith contexts.

Abstract This essay, designed as a complement to opinions expressed by Rowan Williams and some speakers at the conference in his honour, explores features of early Christianity which suggest a positive evaluation of artificial intelligence. Noting that the fear of reducing humans to machines has been joined in the modern age by the fear that machines could become human, it takes as an example of both trends Frank Tipler’s thesis that humans are destined to survive in the form of digital information. It goes on to suggest that concomitants of our humanity such as embodiment, memory and emotions may not be as highly valued by early Christian writers as by modern opponents of artificial intelligence. It concludes by considering whether the power to love is a sufficient diagnostic of the human in contrast to the artificial.

The corpus of Christian writings known as the Apostolic Fathers (ca. 70–150 AD) is an invaluable source for scholars of ecclesiastical polity. Using three contemporaneous sources from the Apostolic Fathers—1 Clement as our primary text and the Didache and Ignatius of Antioch’s authentic letters as secondary texts—we explore the constitution of the early Church. These texts show the Church confronting collective action problems stemming from maintaining discipline in worship. With evidence drawn from the texts, we make a rational-choice argument that clerical hierarchy and sacramental practices ameliorated these collective action problems by lowering the costs of screening and monitoring church members. Clerical authority over baptism and the eucharist were particularly effective at aligning individual self-interest with communal wellbeing, and hence important for governing the Church.

This article examines the oft-overlooked New Testament commands to “Greet one another with a kiss of love” (1 Pt 5:14) and a “holy kiss” (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; 1 Thes 5:26), considering their meaning in the earliest Christian communities and their potential significance for the Church today. For Paul and 1 Peter, the kiss functions as an embodied act of reconciliation, unity, and hospitality that is both risky and transformative. Early Christians received this command with seriousness, developing practices and introducing restrictions and ritual that reinforced communal solidarity while navigating anxieties about intimacy, gender, and reputation. In conversation with early Christian texts, this article explores what today’s church might learn from ancient debates about the apostolic command to kiss one another. The kiss challenges Christian communities to consider how embodied acts of peace and reconciliation can confront divisions, particularly around intimacy and inclusion.

Abstract This article experimentally applies anthropological perspectives to ancient European religions, focusing on Slavic pre-Christian beliefs. It aims to offer nuanced analytical tools and a reflective framework to interpret these religions, primarily by examining how Christian sources portray Slavic paganism and discussing the emic–etic distinction’s advantages and limitations. The article categorizes the strategies employed by medieval Christian writers in their writings and summarizes the emic–etic debate in the study of religion and its connection with the insider–outsider debate. In evaluating these sources and the religious systems they describe, the author suggests that both insider and outsider perspectives contain inherent emic and etic aspects. The proposed “acad-etic” position encourages acknowledging modern academic presuppositions that may influence understanding the data. The article underscores the need for a holistic approach, considering historical and social contexts and the discursive strategies used in describing ancient religions.

The spiritual has always been an important component in literary expression and religious experience, particularly in the context of cross-cultural exchange. Although Lin Yutang’s literary creation has been well received, the relationship between his spiritual thoughts and Christian new evangelization is less commonly mentioned at present, especially from an empirical point of view. This study addresses this gap, contributing to the practice of contextualization in mission work by providing a cross-cultural perspective on Lin Yutang’s creative works related to spiritual pursuit and their possible implications for Christian mission work. Herein, 45 representative literary texts were examined, employing a mixed methods analysis of spiritual motifs, cultural symbols, and audience reception among a range of different populations. Emphasized in the coding were self-transcendence, cultural integration, religious symbolism, and narrative as a strategy for creating spiritual involvement. This article reveals that Lin’s Christian writings reflect a mediating spiritual journey, illustrated by Christian motifs of self-transcendence and holiness. Through the integration of Eastern and Western spiritualities, his works offer helpful resources for the acculturation of the Gospel in mission activities. Readers from different cultural backgrounds have also claimed that their spiritual identification and openness to Christian messages improved after reading Lin’s stories. In this sense, the mediating effect of literature on spirituality contributes to new forms of proclamation that are more in line with the current times. In summary, this research brings Lin Yutang’s works into prominence as an important cultural bridge that enhances Christian new evangelization theories and practices, providing clues for culturally conscious evangelization in a globalized era.

The main aim of the article is to explore the impact of the expanding art of translation in the multicultural Abbasid society on the development of medicine and astronomy, and to examine the role of non- Arabs alongside Arabs in this field. Arab-Islamic culture and literature are not only the products of the Arab people, but also the intellectual and spiritual progress of many peoples. Especially after the Abbasids came to power, the role of non-Arab (Ajam) peoples in this culture increased even more. Also, the strengthening of the translation movement gave a powerful impetus to the development of science, Greek philosophical thought and Indo-Iranian thought penetrated into the depths of the Islamic religion. Their activity is reflected in the work of both Christian and Muslim authors. The article examines the multicultural society that arose in the Arab Caliphate during the Abbasid period, and also examines the role of Christian writers, scholars, and translators. One of the main factors driving the translation movement was society's need for science. Translators did not just translate, but studied, analyzed, interpreted what they translated, and then wrote their own works. Along with translated works, they also had several original works. Another reason why the translation movement was so widespread was the diversity of the ethnic composition of society. Thus, the cultural life in which the Persians, Turks, Greeks and Syrians, Jews and Copts play a role along with the Arabs inevitably creates the need to learn the cultural heritage of these peoples. This can be explained by the fact that the Abbasid caliphs were loyal to different cultures than their Umayyad predecessors.

ABSTRACT Esoteric, neo-Gnostic authors hold that the Nicene Council decided which early Christian writings it included in the New Testament canon and excluded Gnostic works, whether or not at the instigation of emperor Constantine. A few scholars agree that there is or might be some truth in this view. This paper demonstrates that for this opinion there are no historical cues from the first 550 years after the Council. The question is when this persuasion originated. The Synodicon Vetus, a Byzantine work from the late ninth century, tells a story that suggests such a decision, although it does not mention Gnostic books explicitly. After this work had been published in Strasbourg in 1601, several authors, like Voltaire and Helena Blavatsky, gave it some credibility. In this way it was uncritically adopted and disseminated by other authors, mostly without any reference. The authors of this paper argue that Christian spirituality would have developed into a quite different, less earthbound direction if the Church had included Gnostic books in its scriptural canon.

This article considers anti-adornment rhetoric circulating in Roman antiquity and in two of the earliest and most extensive treatments of dress by early Christian writers, namely, treatises by Tertullian of Carthage and Clement of Alexandria. It treats ancient Roman-period discourses of anti-adornment to reveal how configurations of gender were entangled in Roman-imperial race–making and colonial projects. Tertullian’s and Clement’s treatments of adornment, it argues, likewise rehearse Roman colonial imaginaries. Their declamations against luxurious dress and adornment are read here as registering Roman colonial anxieties about the intermingling of populations, the influx of goods and peoples, and the fluctuating dynamics of social belonging and self-display Roman imperial order demanded. It concludes that these Christian authors’ discourse on gendered adornment indicates their investment in and contributions to ancient Roman ethno-racial and imperial formations. Finally, in conversation with Americanist Anne Anlin Cheng’s concept of “ornamentalism,” it offers a brief consideration of how their rhetoric figures in the longue durée of western imaginaries of Asiatic femininity.

The publication presents a translation of the Latin poem "Triumphus Christi heroicus" (The Heroic Triumph of Christ), accompanied by an introductory article and commentary. The work describes Christ's descent into hell after his atoning sacrifice, his victory over Pluto, the pagan god of the underworld, and his minions, as well as his encounter with the dead Old Testament righteous and their deliverance from hell. The authorship of this work remains a matter of debate: for a long time it was attributed to the ancient Roman Christian writer of the 4th century Juvencus. However, Pseudo-Juvencus (another unknown early Christian writer), an anonymous medieval author, and recent studies point to the sixteenth-century German humanist Johann Spangenberg as a possible author. The introductory article analyses the history of the text and hypotheses about the author, and considers the publication history of the Triumph as reconstructed by G. Vredeveld and his theory, which explains why for a long time the authorship was attributed to Juvencus. The artistic features and plot of the poem are examined from the perspective of the Christian literary tradition of the "descent into hell". The main sources in the tradition of texts with the motif of "decens ad infernos", which could have influenced the creation of the text of "Triumph", are given. The mixing of pagan and Christian discourse within one work is separately noted. Three directions of cross-cultural interaction in the text are distinguished: Christian and ancient Roman pagan parallels, ancient Roman realities in Christian interpretation, as well as literary allusions to ancient authors, primarily Ovid and Virgil. "The Heroic Triumph of Christ" is part of the Christian tradition of triumphal Easter hymns, which can be traced from early Christian literary works to Neo-Latin authors. This is the first time this work has been translated into Russian.

This article offers a detailed comparative analysis of two significant Ethiopic manuscripts the Maqala Mikael 167, a 16th-century document, and the Ambrosiana manuscript, which dates back to the 14th century. Both manuscripts contain important versions of the Epistles of Saint Paul, yet they present some crucial differences that shed light on the transmission and preservation of these texts within the Ethiopic tradition. The primary focus of the study is the identification of notable omissions in the Ambrosiana manuscript when compared to the Maqala Mikael 167. These discrepancies are not only significant in the context of textual variations but also crucial for understanding the development of the Epistles' textual tradition over time. By examining these omissions and the manuscript's specific details, the article aims to enhance the critical edition of the Epistles, offering valuable insights into the historical and textual evolution of these ancient Christian writings. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of the Maqala Mikael 167 as a completer and more reliable source for the critical analysis of Saint Paul’s Epistles, providing a more comprehensive version of the texts. At the same time, the Ambrosiana manuscript’s historical and cultural significance is acknowledged, as it represents an earlier stage in the transmission of the Epistles within Ethiopic Christianity. This comparative approach helps deepen our understanding of the complexities involved in the preservation of sacred texts in Ethiopic Christianity, contributing to ongoing scholarly efforts in textual criticism. Keywords: Ethiopic manuscript, Textual omissions, comparison, Codex Ambrosianus, Textual criticism