Jerusalem Church Research Articles

“Our Freedom in Christ”: Revisiting Pauline Imagery of Freedom and Slavery in His Letter to the Galatians in Context

The Letter to the Galatians is a polemical correspondence about the course of gospel mission that is at stake in the view of the apostle Paul. When Paul represents his own contacts with the Jerusalem church, he defends “our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus” (Gal 2:4). In his aim to focus on the unity of all in Christ, Paul even goes at lengths to state that there is no difference between slave and free (Gal 3:28), while polemically associating both a former state of unbelievers (Gal 4:8) and the emphasis by missionary opponents on circumcision and the covenant of the law (Gal 4:12–31) with bondage and slavery. Yet, what did freedom (ἐλευθερία, Gal 2:4) and its opposite, slavery (δουλεία, Gal 4:24, 5:1), exactly mean in the ancient world in which Paul and his readers lived and communicated? Jews, Greeks, and Romans did not necessarily mean the same by these terms, nor did freedom necessarily mean exactly the same as modern conceptions of the term. This paper aims to contextualize Paul’s imagery with a view to biblical traditions, early Jewish notions of freedom, and Graeco-Roman registers of discourse, taking into account historical, literary, linguistic, and rhetorical-critical contexts of interpretation and revisiting the language of freedom and slavery with a view to insights from linguistic anthropology. The paper then revisits the Pauline position of “freedom in Christ” in relation to previous hypotheses of Paul’s gospel mission.

Особенности ликвидации Духовной миссии в Иерусалиме в 1879 г.

The fond of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod in the Russian State Historical Archive contains a file “On the transformation of the Jerusalem Ecclesiastical Mission into a priorate at the consulate in Jerusalem.” The file has not yet attracted the researchers’ attention; its materials have not been published. The documents dated 1878–79 clarify the events that led to liquidation of the Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem in 1879, Chancellor A. M. Gorchakov’s report to Alexander II of February 13, 1879, in particular. The resolution on the document shows that the report was approved by the emperor. The Spiritual Mission was transformed into a priorate at the consular church in Jerusalem, and thus shut down. The decision was caused by long-term conflict between the Spiritual Mission and the consulate. Both institutions were subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; its Palestinian Commission was in charge of building infrastructure for pilgrims. Their spheres of activities were not demarcated clearly, resulting in rivalry. The liquidation of the Mission was prompted by the fact that its head, Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin), acquired land in Palestine with donations sent from Russia. Among the documents there are letters of consul in Jerusalem N. A. Ilarionov and Ambassador to Constantinople A. B. Lobanov-Rostovsky. They shed light on the purchase of land in Palestine by Archimandrite Antoninus. The land procurements were made in the name of a Turkish citizen, an employee of the Spiritual Mission Yakov Halebi, which could have resulted in serious legal and political problems. Antonin ignored all requests of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Holy Synod to straighten out the land title. The consulate had no control over the lands acquired by Antonin, and could not force the archimandrite to transfer them to the Russian government. It was decided to resolve the conflict between the two institutions by lowering the status of the Mission. The project was drafted at the Palestinian Commission with the B. P. Mansurov’s participation. The Holy Synod was notified of the liquidation of the Spiritual Mission when the decision was approved by the emperor. Another important document in the file is a letter from Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) to A.S. Norov dated January 10, 1879. The letter informed of the upcoming liquidation of the Spiritual Mission. This letter was handed over by Norov to the Empress Maria Alexandrovna and reported to the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod. However, this did not prevent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from transforming the Mission into a priorate. Until 1881, the Mission was titled priorate in all documents. The efforts of the future founders of the Orthodox Palestinian Society, E.V. Putyatin, K.P. Pobedonostsev, and V. N. Khitrovo, managed to halter and, later, to cancel the decision.

The Eucharist in Eleventh-Century Jerusalem: New Evidence on the Hagiopolite Communion Rite from Arabic Christian Sources

The article focuses on eucharistic practices in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem prior to Byzantinization. An analysis of a crucial testimony from Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida’s Adversus graecorum calumnias and a variety of Arabic Christian sources—the Martyrdom of Anthony Rawḥ, Ṣāliḥ ibn Saʿīd’s Marginal Notes, and Elias of Nisibis’s Book of Demonstration— confirm that by the eleventh century, the Melkite Church in Jerusalem had abandoned the ancient practice of receiving communion separately in two kinds (the consecrated Host in the hand and the Blood from the chalice) in favour of receiving communion simultaneously in both kinds. Yet, in contradistinction to the Constantinopolitan practice of mixing both in the chalice, in Jerusalem the pre-intincted consecrated Host was taken by the celebrant from the paten and placed directly into the communicant’s mouth. The evidence of the Martyrdom of Anthony Rawḥ further suggests that this practice arose in the late ninth or early tenth centuries.

Eric C. Moore. Claiming Places: Reading Acts through the Lens of Ancient Colonization

In this revised dissertation completed at Emory University under the supervision of Carl R. Holladay, Eric Moore notes that numerous scholars label Acts a story of origins or foundations that emphasizes community replication but that very few seek to situate this aspect of the story within its ancient Mediterranean context. Thus, Moore argues, simply and convincingly, that Acts is illuminated when it is read “in light of a specific topos in Mediterranean antiquity: civic or community origins” (p. 2). Moore uses the term and concept “colonization” to refer to community replication and the variety of standard features found in these ancient stories.Moore argues that while “the subject matter of Acts is the foundation and replication of the Christian community” (p. 12), this insight is not one that can be used to determine the specific genre of Acts given that stories of colonization pervade a variety of different types of texts and nonliterary media. Moore unpacks his primary argument in four lengthy chapters (chs. 2–5). Moore first establishes a framework for understanding Acts and colonization through a detailed study of Greek and Roman stories of community/civic replication (ch. 2, “Colonization—An Analytic Framework”). The chapter is divided into two major sections: the first section examines three major colonization motifs. Most colonization stories, for example, emphasize the origins of the new community and often as a result of a crisis such as civic conflict, droughts, plagues, and threats from foreign countries. New communities are often replicated by means of divine sanction whether that be through oracles or the involvement of the gods. The stories also frequently refer to the founder of the new community as one who often has a divine calling to form and establish the colony’s identity. The second section of the chapter is a thorough examination of a variety of colonization stories from Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman sources and successfully shows how origins, divine sanction, and founders/leaders pervade the stories.In chs. 3–5, Moore tests his thesis with respect to Acts. Moore argues that the early chapters of Acts function “like a foundation account” (p. 88), which traces how the “mother community” of the Jerusalem church is replicated in other locations—especially Antioch (ch. 3, “The Origins of the Cult Community in Jerusalem [Acts 1–5]”). Acts 1–2 contains the colonization motifs of the founding figures (Jesus and the 12 apostles), origins (Jerusalem is specified as the site of divine activity), and divine sanction (the emphasis on the Holy Spirit). Intriguing here is the way in which the geographical list in Acts 2:9–11 previews the text’s emphasis on community replication.Chapter 4 (“Antioch of Syria—Colony and Mother Community”) examines how the Jerusalem church is replicated in Syrian Antioch due to the crisis of the persecution of the Jerusalem church. Luke shows that members of the Jerusalem community within Antioch results in Antioch maintaining its close ties with Jerusalem. Divine sanction for the new community is evident by means of the note that “the hand of the Lord was with them” (Acts 11:21) and “he [Barnabas] was full of the Holy Spirit” (11:24). The transfer of the worshiping community to Antioch leads to a mixed community of both Jews and Gentiles—mixed communities being another common motif among colonization stories. But Antioch of Syria is also a mother community as it sponsors colonizing missions, and these stories contain the same colonizing motifs (see Acts 13:1–4).The final chapter (ch. 5, “Pisidian Antioch and the Rhetoric of Second-Generation Colonization”) shows how Paul (and Barnabas) is depicted as replicating a Christian community in the Roman colony of Pisidian Antioch. The chapter offers an insightful analysis of Paul’s lengthy sermon (Acts 13:17–41) by showing how it resonates with familiar colonizing themes.Moore’s book is an excellent example of the profitability of reading Acts within a robust analysis of its broader ancient Mediterranean world. His third chapter on ancient colonizing motifs is a rich resource for others interested in cult transfer stories in antiquity. His argument that Acts is an example of ancient colonizing rhetoric enables him to give historical substance to the fairly obvious claim that Acts is a foundation document, which emphasizes community replication. Ancient colonization stories do not explain everything related to the origins of the church, of course (and Moore notes this), and so this study is one very useful supplement to our understanding of Acts 1–5 (and the emphasis on community replication).

The United States of Medievalism

The United States of Medievalism

The Entry Into Jerusalem Archaeological Complex of Tsarevokokshaysk (17th - 19th Centuries)

The article presents the historical and archaeological characteristics of the territory adjacent to the Entry into Jerusalem Church of the Tsarevokokshaysk. The substantiation is presented that in this part of the historical center of Yoshkar-Ola there is a complex of interrelated archaeological objects that existed here in the time interval from the first decades of the life of the Tsarev town on Kokshaga River to the beginning of the 20th century. The Entry into Jerusalem archaeological complex consists of a historical necropolis of the 17th – mid-18th century, foundation of the Entry into Jerusalem Church built in 1759, remnants of the Rozhdestvenskaya Sloboda of the second half of the 18th – 19th centuries and structures belonging to the Bogoroditse–Sergievsky Monastery of the late 19th century. The authors use archival sources, which, when compared with the data on archaeological research, give an idea of the historical topography of this part of Tsarevokokshaysk in the 17th – 19th centuries.

Stephan J. Joubert (South African academic and visionary): His response to questions related to his academic views

This article reflects a conversation between Jan G. van der Watt and Stephan Joubert. The article serves as the introduction to the Special Collection: ‘From timely exegesis to contemporary ecclesiology: Relevant hermeneutics and provocative embodiment of faith in a Corona-defined world – Festschrift for Stephan Joubert, sub-edited by Willem Oliver (University of South Africa)’. Following a brief bio-statement as introduction, the following issues are discussed: the collection for the Jerusalem church; relevance of theology for society; social-scientific exegesis; the ancient concept of grace; Bible translation in South Africa; public theology on the electronic platform; biblical examples of leadership and electronic media in religious activities and education.Contribution: This Festschrift represents current trends in biblical scholarship and ecclesial leadership. It contributes to the public discourse in church and society, especially the role of the electronic media in current Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“As by a New Pentecost”: Embodied Prayer in Catholic Charismatic Renewal Following Vatican II

On 25 December 1961, John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council with his apostolic constitution Humanae salutis, praying that God would show again the wonders of the newborn Church in Jerusalem “as by a new Pentecost”. Not six years later, in 1967, a group of students at Duquesne University in the United States prayed while on retreat for an infusion of the Holy Spirit that they might also experience the power of Pentecost. They received what they reported to be the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and out of the spiritual experiences of that retreat arose what would become an international movement known as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. This movement, influenced by Pentecostalism, would develop its own embodied praxis of prayer that seeks a renewed encounter with the power of the Holy Spirit made manifest at Pentecost. This article analyzes the embodied prayer language of the Renewal by drawing from Louis-Marie Chauvet’s distinction between language as mediation (or, symbol) and language as tool (or, sign). It will use Chauvet’s distinction as a hermeneutic to flesh out the relationship between post-Vatican II charismatic prayer practices and their intended purpose of participating in the encounter of Pentecost.

Qumran, Early Judaism, and New Testament Interpretation

Qumran, Early Judaism, and New Testament Interpretation

Die Urgemeinde und das Judenchristentum

Die Urgemeinde und das Judenchristentum

Church and politics in Jerusalem: new evidence on the election of Patriarch Cyril II (1845)

ABSTRACT This paper follows the career of Cyril II as Patriarch of Jerusalem from his controversial election to the patriarchal throne (1845) until his deposition (1872) and death (1877) in the wider historical, ecclesiastical and political context, in a critical period for the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in particular and for the unity of the Orthodox Patriarchates in general. It examines the major events that marked his patriarchate, focusing on questions concerning his election (and subsequent deposition) by the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre; his response to the pressures of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the leaders of the Greek Community in Constantinople and Russia with relation to the schism with the Bulgarian Church; the demands of the Arab-speaking Orthodox flock in Palestine; the election of the abbot of the Monastery of St Catherine in Sinai; the Patriarchal estate property in Russia and Romania; and the claims by other Christian denominations of rights over the Holy Land. The paper closes with an assessment of Cyril II's legacy in the decades and centuries that followed, to the present day.

Palestine’s Syriac Orthodox community and the Dead Sea scrolls

ABSTRACT In 1947, a shepherd in the hills north of the Dead Sea visited a contact in Bethlehem, a dealer of antiquities to foreign visitors, offering fragments of written material. The dealer, from the Syriac community, was unsure of the items’ value and began enquiries which followed Syriac Orthodox religious and intellectual networks. Despite initial scepticism, the fragments were the first of the now globally famous Dead Sea Scrolls, and ever since have been surrounded by rumours and controversy. Inextricably entwined in these has been the Palestinian Syriac Orthodox church, in a pattern of involvements which link this small Christian community with the creation of knowledge in and about Mandate Palestine, the fate of its members during the Nakba, and internal competition for ownership of valuable resources in a community fragmented by the 1947–1949 conflict. In this paper, I reconstruct the role of Syriac Orthodox community members in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, examining how the parts they played were informed by their status in late Mandate Palestine. As a counterpoint to this, the case also highlights how the needs of the community – particularly in the wake of the Nakba – were tied to a kind of cultural diplomacy as the head of the church in Jerusalem, Mar Samuel, sought to frame his community as refugees, as Christian Palestinians, and as owners and valid beneficiaries of Palestinian archaeological heritage.

The First One Hundred Years of Christianity: An Introduction to Its History, Literature, and Development by Udo Schnelle

Reviewed by: The First One Hundred Years of Christianity: An Introduction to Its History, Literature, and Development by Udo Schnelle Florence Morgan Gillman udo schnelle, The First One Hundred Years of Christianity: An Introduction to Its History, Literature, and Development (trans. James W. Thompson; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2020). Pp. xxiii + 662. $60. Udo Schnelle, Professor of New Testament at the University of Halle-Wittenberg, originally published this large tome as Die ersten 100 Jahre des Christentums: Die Entstehungsgeschichte einer Weltreligion (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015; 3rd rev. ed., 2019). He states that there is one major question upon which the study is focused: "How did the insignificant Jesus movement in Galilee and Jerusalem become a powerful religious community and spread in a brief period throughout the Roman Empire?" (p. xiii). In his view three crucial factors were determinative: (1) the diversity of the movement enabled survival, since the demise of one stream did not result in ending the entire movement; (2) a conceptual unity combining the history of events and ideas was formed at the beginning, which gave rise to theological interpretation, and those ideas made history; and (3) the new movement was characterized by a high literary production, which S. holds must be regarded as an educational phenomenon. According to S., "[V]ery early an independent identity emerged, and the developing Christianity possessed a charismatic, social, and intellectual power of attraction" (p. xiii). Following a brief introductory chapter on historical method, in chap. 2, S. sets forth his preference for referring to the epoch he is focused on as "early Christianity" (Frühchristentum) vs. "primitive Christianity" (Urchristentum), holding that the former is the more neutral terminus technicus. In the next chapter, S. surveys presuppositions and contexts, such as the world culture of Hellenism, Greco-Roman culture, Greek religion, Roman and mystery religions, philosophical movements, Judaism, and the political and economic situation in the Roman Empire. In chap. 4, S. launches into his treatment of Jesus and the Jesus movement by discussing the Easter events and the emergence therefrom of nascent christology. In his view, the early Christians founded a new religious discourse that drew from both Jewish theological foundations (e.g., God as one, as creator) and Greek concepts (God becoming human in Jesus). He observes that, from the very beginning, Christian discourse was not actually compatible with either set of views. "The affirmation that a crucified man was the messiah was perceived as blasphemy" from the Jewish perspective as well as "a theological offense," while to the Greco-Roman world worshiping a crucified man appeared "as lunacy" (p. 91). S. thus affirms that "at the beginning of the new movement stood a thoroughly creative process … by which the Christ-believers introduced nothing less than the founder of a new discourse into the existing religious world and ascribed to him an unlimited soteriological power" (p. 92). He comments that it should not therefore be surprising that the church in Jerusalem came into conflict with official Judaism from the beginning. In chap. 5, S. deals with the Jerusalem church in terms of, for example, its structure, leadership, conflicts, and theological institutions. A notable position he espouses is that, in contrast to Lucan traditions, Paul's admitted persecution of Christ-believers could not have taken place in Jerusalem since he stated in Gal 1:22: "I was unknown by sight to the churches in Judea." S. locates Paul's anti-Christ-believers activity rather in Damascus "before or at his conversion" and suggests that "there where he acts against the message of Jesus, he is won over to it" (p. 117). Schnelle envisions baptism and the Lord's Supper as among the first basic elements [End Page 709] of institutionalization of the Christ-believers in Jerusalem. He finds the deepest reason for adopting the practice of baptism to be that "the announcements of the Baptist were unexpectedly fulfilled" with the Easter events around Jesus (p. 119). He holds that in continuity with John's baptism "the baptism among Christians was a once-for-all act" (p. 119) and thus was distinguished from ritual washings in Judaism. In his sixth chapter, S. identifies three great currents at the beginning of Christianity...

Revising the Date of the Armenian Lectionary of Jerusalem

This article challenges the current consensus dating the Armenian Lectionary (AL), the earliest record the feasts and liturgical readings the church Jerusalem. For over fifty years, most studies have followed Athanase Renoux in assigning the Greek Vorlagen AL to the early fifth century c.e., or more precisely, to the years intervening between 417 and 439. This paper highlights severe problems in Renoux's arguments, however, and produces new evidence supporting a later dating. It concludes that AL reflects the city's ritual practices in the years following (a) the dedication Eudocia's Church St. Stephen (439), (b) the collapse the bishop Juvenal's efforts to integrate the 25 December Christmas feast into the local calendar (after 439), and (c) the construction Ikelia's Church Mary (Kathisma) near Bethlehem (c. 456). In turn, through a close comparison AL's readings for the 15 August feast of Mary Theotokos with homilies by two local preachers—Hesychius and Chrysippus—the paper concludes that the Greek Vorlagen AL can date no later than 479. In this analysis, AL represents the ritual practices the Jerusalem church at the beginning its patriarchal period—that is, after the Councils Ephesus and Chalcedon, or roughly during the episcopacy Anastasius I (458–478).

Cléophas (Lc 24,18) : un indice de la créativité littéraire et théologique de Luc ?

Building on the works of Richard Bauckham and Tal Ilan, this paper argues that the name Cleophas in Luke 24.18 (Gk Κλεοπᾶς) and Clopas (Gk Κλωπᾶς) in John 19.25 points to the same historical person, the father of a key leader of the Jerusalem church at the end of the first century. By making anew this assumption we have a possible access to Luke's redactional and theological work in the Emmaus narrative. Even if the whole passage is governed by Luke's literary skills and theological interests, it does have traditional support in the legitimation story that Jesus had indeed appeared to Cleophas. Luke's choice of that name is doubly smart: it highlights the respect the Pauline churches have for the Judean churches in the spirit of Rom 9–11 and establishes the legitimacy of his own sophisticated narrative through a known Judean Christian.

바울의 갈라디아교회 ‘자유’ 수호

This study is for ascertaining ‘the freedom’ mentioned repeatedly in the Galatians, in the interconnections among the Galatian Church, the Jerusalem Church and Paul. It is also for tracing Paul’s strategies for protecting the freedom of the Galatian Church. The freedom of that Church means the freedom from obeying the Law and it also means being the children and the inheritors of God. Regarding Paul’s visiting Jerusalem as the challenge, Pillars of Jerusalem did not admit the freedom of the Galatian Church. Taking issue with the moral corruptions they sent the intruders to that Church. Paul considered Peter who had some relationship with God-fearers, as threatener and he tried to decouple Peter and the Galatian Church. Uttering curses on the intruders Paul tried to protect the freedom of the Church. Using various methods of persuasion he showed that he was superior to the Pillars of Jerusalem. With this study we can find the footprint of the mission of Jewish Christians to gentile Christian and the Paul’s strong effort to stop it.

Conceptualizing New Jerusalem

Abstract This essay re-conceptualizes Muscovite notions of New Jerusalem, by considering the practice of historical replication, including hierotopy, as a religious-political ideology. It explains why and how Tsar Fedor Alekseevich adopted and advanced the replication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the Resurrection “New Jerusalem” Monastery, founded by Patriarch Nikon and his father Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich, despite the ecumenical patriarchs’ condemnation of Nikon and his monastery in 1666 and eschatological fears promoted by Old Believers. Fedor resurrected the New Jerusalem idea in order to solidify his inheritance of the Muscovite throne and the Constantinian legacy in connection with the First Russo-Turkish War of 1676–1681. The tsar embraced the “Byzantine-New Jerusalem scenario,” according to which Muscovite rulers who scored military victories through the power of the True Cross in St. Constantine’s image were obliged to preform churchwardenship (ktitorstvo) in imitation of the Byzantine emperor, including the embellishment of the prototypical Jerusalem church and its replications in Russia. The investigation of Tsar Fedor Alekseevich’s Byzantine-New Jerusalem scenario reveals the non-linear, non-logical type of thinking that advanced political goals, including the establishment of the legitimacy of the tsar and his dynasty. This article highlights and qualifies the strategy of historical repetition, in which the icon reproduces the prototype in real, not metaphoric, terms.

사도행전 12장에 나타난 아그립바1세의 박해와 죽음에 관한 연구

This article deals with social-historical and theological aspects of Acts 12. The text maintains the flow and continuity of the entire book of Acts, and the structure of Acts 12 is also carefully organized. Regarding Agrippa I’s life, what position did he place in the context of the first-century Roman Empire and Jewish society, and how his persecution of the Church of Jerusalem could be explained in the social history at that time. His activity has to be seen along with the status quo policy of the Roman Empire.<BR> The following is divided into persecution of the Church (Acts 12:1-5), Peter’s rescue and refuge (Acts 12:6-19), and the section of Agrippa I’s death (Acts 12:20-25). Luke seems to have reconstructed the traditions related to Agrippa I from a critical point of view. The use of the name Herod instead of Agrippa is also believed to reflect the critical position. Despite the persecution of Agrippa I, Peter was miraculously rescued through God, and he was punished by God for death. This theme reveals a critical position on the Roman Empire. Through strong attack on human deification attempts, Luke criticizes state power. In other words, it is clearly shown that God and state power are ultimately incompatible.

“The Healing” of Jerusalem church in plans and actions of Porphyrios Uspenski

“The Healing” of Jerusalem church in plans and actions of Porphyrios Uspenski

Predstava Crkve Svetog groba na Jerusalimu iz Crkve Ružice - primer vizuelne kulture u kontekstu verske prakse

Among but few icons brought back home by hajjis from their pilgrimage to Jerusalem (hence the name jerusalems) preserved in Belgrade, the one that stands out for its peculiarity and relatively early origin is the 1819 icon kept in Ružica Church in Kalemegdan. The most important element of the icon is the depiction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This paper presents and analyses numerous peculiarities of this depiction, before all by comparing its iconography and style with the usual kind of the Jerusalem pilgrimage icons of the same age. Th icon painter's method is additionally analysed through the theoretical prism of palimpsest and gloss, recently developed in art-historical studies. It has been concluded that the depiction is basically similar to that on other icons dating from after the 1808 fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but bearing an array of specificities that could be ascribed to the reinterpretation of architectural elements of the Jerusalem Church which the icon painter depicts to underline its holiness. The analysis points to a local Palestinian master as the author of the icon.