Patristic Literature Research Articles

On the Role of Eschatology in the Ideological Confrontation between the Church and the Old Believers

The article describes the process of formalizing the eschatological teaching among the Old Believers and attempts to refute it by Church hierarchs. The focus is on the doctrine of the ultimate destinies of the world, which gained significant support among opponents of church reform in the latter half of the 17th century. The study demonstrates the con tinuity of ideas and the evolution of the views of the authors who explored in their works the theme of the reign of the Antichrist in the world and affirmed the idea that only the defenders of the old rite are able to serve the guarantors of the salvation of mankind. The authors built their arguments on quotations from the Holy Scriptures and their interpretations in patristic literature, explaining the facts of modern reality through them. Such constructions appeared quite convincing to the Russian population's religious consciousness, resulting in an increasing number of supporters of the Old Believer doctrine, turning the intra-church movement into a broad religious and social one. The fight against schism became relevant not only for the Church but also for secular authorities since the defenders of the old rite used the doctrine of the ultimate destinies of the world to justify their opposition towards governing bodies and solutions to social and political issues proposed by them. The Church battled against the Old Believers in alliance with the authorities. Council resolutions and legislative acts evidence this. The article concludes by arguing that the Church and authorities in the 17th – 18th centuries saw the main threat in the dissemination of the teachings of the Old Believers in handwritten propaganda texts, which necessarily contained a statement about the possible accession of the Antichrist in Russia. However, no attempts by the Church hierarchs to rebut the eschatological teaching of the defenders of the old rite were successful, and the religious-social movement only continued to grow. Both sides believed that eschatology played an essential role in the ideological confrontation between the Church and the Old Believers, substantiating the right to oppose the innovations brought into ritual and liturgical practice due to the reform.

John Damascene’s Arguments about the Existence of God: A Logico-Philosophical and Religio-Hermeneutic Approach

The Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith is perhaps the most logically structured and inspired work not only in the oeuvre of the seventh-to-eighth-century theologian John Damascene, but most likely throughout the entire Greek Patristic literature. As such, the Exact Exposition definitely presents some quite intriguing features, such as the prolific use of logical distinctions, syllogisms, or full-fledged arguments, to name a few. Regarding the latter, John Damascene’s use of certain arguments in order to prove the existence of God not only hold a unique place in Byzantine theology but have also exercised a tremendous influence on Eastern Orthodox apologetics. However, what I would call his rationalization agenda comes not only with merits but with faults as well. It is to both these that the present study draws attention by evaluating them logico-philosophically and interpreting them religio-hermeneutically. What is of special interest is the fact that John Damascene’s logical faults are the most interesting parts of his theologizing.

The Challenges of Migration: Xenophobia and Discrimination from the Perspective of Orthodox Christian Theology

Although our country has so far been bypassed by an aggressive phenomenon of migration, as has been happening for several decades in the West, nevertheless, in recent years, more and more emigrants from various countries with severe economic problems (Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Syria, Afghanistan, etc.) emigrated or were brought under employment contracts, to work in different fields of activity: construction, delivery, sanitation and others. The lack of local labour force, the majority of which emigrated, in turn, to the countries of the European Union, contributed significantly. This phenomenon comes with a series of challenges related to xenophobia, discrimination, racism, exploitation, abuse or even violence, generated by differences in mentality, culture, national identity or religion. From the perspective of the Orthodox Christian faith, we must address these challenges, referring to the landmarks we find in the Holy Scriptures and in patristic literature, trying to find those bridges of communication that could solve these problems.

Происхождение «молитвы Иисусовой». Критика традиционного мнения в контексте феномена спонтанных молитв

Introduction. The history of Byzantine spirituality is inextricably linked with the mystical tradition of Hesychasm, in which the practice of the “Jesus Prayer” occupied the central place. Both in the patristic literature and scientific historiography, particular attention has been paid to the question of the appearance of the formula of the “Jesus Prayer”. The generally accepted opinion was and remains that the formula of the “Jesus Prayer” was compiled on the basis of the texts of the New Testament. We find this opinion in the late Byzantine literature analyzing the formula of the “Jesus Prayer”. Modern scholarly literature also contains its own line of argumentation in favor of this opinion. Methods and analysis. Our scholarly interest in this topic was largely motivated by disagreement with this generally accepted view. This disagreement was initially intuitive, and it took us some time to be able to express our intuition logically and factually. The main line of our argumentation is based on the attraction of the phenomenon of spontaneous prayers to the analysis of the history of the “Jesus Prayer”. Results. This article summarizes the work that we have done. The fallacy of the traditional scientific approach to the “Jesus Prayer” as a fixed formula compiled on the basis of the texts of the New Testament is pointed out.

Praesentia carnalis Christi. Incarnation Terminology in the Anti-heretical Polemic of Philastrius of Brescia

The terminology found in one of the oldest Latin catalogs of heresies, Diversarum hereseon liber, written by Philastrius, bishop of Brescia (330-387/388), was adapted to the needs of anti-heretical polemics, and at the same time reflected the way of talking about Christ’s earthly mission, characteristic of the Latin patristic literature of the second half of the 4th century. A detailed philological and theological analysis of Philastrius’s treatise led to the following conclusions: (1) The terminology used by the author was rooted in the early Christian tradition (caro, corpus, incarnatio, incorporatio), but also original through the use of his own formula praesentia carnalis; (2) The vocabulary used in the catalog was strictly dependent on the subject of the doctrinal dispute. In polemics with docetistic heresies, Philastrius used the term caro more often than corpus, describing the body and, indirectly, the entire human nature of Christ. In the discussion with heresies that did not directly address the subject of the body of Christ, and also when presenting the orthodox teaching of the Church on the Incarnation of the Son of God, he used the term incorporatio more often than incarnatio; (3) The favorite phrase used by the Bishop of Brescia to describe the Incarnation was praesentia carnalis Christi. With it, Philastrius emphasized several important aspects of the theology of the Incarnation: the real corporeality of the person of Christ; the presence of the Son of God among people and its salvific purpose; a long process of revealing God to man, related to the Old Testament prophecies, the fulfillment of which was the coming of the Savior to earth.

Hrišćanska inspiracija u savremenoj srpskoj poeziji

The subject of our research in this paper are aspects of religious spirituality in contemporary Serbian poetry. First, we give an overview of poetic, ideological and cultural characteristics of poetic production in the last three decades, with certain value categorizations. We then direct our attention to the individual poetics of poets born in the seventies and eighties, whose poetry has a proven presence of Christian inspiration. Our goal is to establish a literary-historical and culturally distinct poetic flow and situate it within the History of Modern and Contemporary Serbian literature, predominantly secular. The focus of our analysis is not exclusively quotes, narratives or motifs from the Bible and patristic literature. We examine how Christian (Serbian-Byzantine and Western-Christian) spirituality participates in the formation of an individual poetic view of the world, as well as poetic spirituality that manifests itself through poetic images, expressions and figures. We are interested in the work of the religious consciousness of our poets in shaping their artistic, moral and value attitudes towards the phenomena of our epoch, but also towards the culture to which they belong. Therefore, we analyse the cultural models that these poets embrace in their poetry, as well as the humanistic messages that they place within their immanent poetics. We come to the conclusion that male and female poets, with their poetic and spiritual commitment, have taken the risk of deciding to give up poetry as a form of social engagement, aware in advance of the burden of the alternative and the minority.

Людиноорієнтованість філософського знання в системі наукових поглядів діячів Острозького культурно-освітнього центру (кінець XVI – початок XVII ст.)

The article traces the development of philosophical and theological knowledge in the Ostroh cultural and educational center in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Philosophical and theological knowledge was formed within the framework of Renaissance and Reformation ideas, which were dominant in the educational and cultural space of Ukraine in the specified period and, in turn, had an impact on the formation of conceptual worldview orientations at that time and later on. The main attention is paid to the philosophical and theological teachings developed by representatives of the Reformation movement: Vasyl Surazkyi, Gerasym Smotrytskyi, Kliryk Ostrozkyi, etc. In their works, the mentioned figures focused their attention on the issues of essence and role of philosophical knowledge in the education system of that time, developed human-oriented worldview questions along the lines of a Human being–God–the Universe as a response to the difficult socio-historical conditions of ethnic Ukrainian lands being part of foreign states and submission to foreign ideologies. In the spirit of ancient Rus traditions, Ostroh reformers considered philosophy to be wisdom, the task of which was to decipher and interpret the content of the Bible, the instructions of patristic literature and its adepts in order to uphold and protect the truths expressed in the Orthodox creed. It is concluded that, despite the fact that the line represented by the Reformation wing of Ostroh cultural and educational center is characterized from the point of view of historical retrospect as traditionalist and conservative, the complex of ideas and conceptual principles regarding a human being, his/her place in life, and worldview landmarks orientations constitute an important page in the history of this educational institution in particular and Ukrainian education and culture in general. Keywords: Ostroh cultural and educational center, reformation ideas, philosophical and theological education, human being, world, national identity.

Diabeł straszniejszy niż go malują. Lęk przed diabłem w XIII-wiecznym zbiorze Vie des peres

The article analyses the vision of the devil in the selected tales of the Vie des peres, a collection of pious tales from the thirteenth century, freely inspired by patristic literature and medieval exempla. The period in which the collection was written, the thirteenth century, bridges the gap between the early and late Middle Ages: it is a time when the perception of the devil is changing, and he is becoming increasingly feared. The analysis focuses mainly on four stories in which the devil is at the centre of the story, and in which his very image is a source of fear and a key element of the story: ‘Devil’s Mouth’, ‘Devils Vision’ and two versions of ‘Devil’s Image’. The vision of the devil in these stories coincides with the teratological vision that is dominant in the iconography, to which the stories directly allude. The message of these stories is generally positive: the protagonists almost always manage to overcome their fears and free themselves from the power of the devil. In this way, the authors avoid the trap of Manichaeism: the devil, despite his cunning and sophistication, is in the end only a caricature of an angel, unable to oppose God effectively. The fear of the devil appears several times on the pages of Vie des peres, but it is the message of hope that dominates.

Paolo Odorico, ed. Études byzantines et post-byzantines, Nouvelle série, Tome II (IX), La culture écrite des périphéries byzantines du Moyen-Âge à l’époque moderne

Paolo Odorico, ed. <i>Études byzantines et post-byzantines, Nouvelle série, Tome II (IX), La culture écrite des périphéries byzantines du Moyen-Âge à l’époque moderne</i>

Телесное зрение и созерцание в гносеологическом контексте: сравнение «Бесед на псалмы» Оригена и свт. Василия Великого

The article considers on the material of the “Homilies on the Psalms” of Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea the use of vocabulary of visual sense in an epistemological context, including the concept of “contemplation”, which goes back to the ancient philosophical tradition. Thus, the aim of the paper is to explain the philosophical meaning of this concept as the highest stage on the path of knowledge as well as its place in the epistemological systems of both authors. On the basis of the description of cognitive processes by early Christian writers we discovered a number of patterns in the composition of the semantic field of vision as the sense that participates in the act of knowledge. At the same time, our study demonstrates that the use of both the concept of “contemplation” and the vocabulary of visual sense partially fits into the philosophical division of the neoplatonic curriculum: while the study by bodily vision of the sensuous world created by God is associated with physics, the contemplation as a study of the supersensuous world by supersensory vision is associated with epoptics. However, in the explanations we have examined, these three steps are never mentioned in a row, in contrast to other texts where Origen and saint Basil follow the scheme of ethics-physics-epoptics. As texts that serves as the basis for comparing the Christian reception of the vocabulary of visual sense in patristic literature of the 3rd and 4th centuries AD we choosed not only the exegetic sermons of individual psalms by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea, but also a selection of other texts of the same authors representing relevant parallels in their use of vocabulary of visual sense. From the point of view of its scientific relevance, this study is also important because it shows the dependence of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by saint Basil of Caesarea upon the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen discovered in 2012 in the Codex Monacensis Graecus 314.

Семантика греха (к истории и онтологическому статусу понятия)

The article examines various disciplinary and research aspects of the concept of sin, actualizes the problem of historicism of this concept, its ontological rootedness in the experience of Christian thinking. The prerequisites of various dictionary-semantic reconstructions of the concept of sin in the academic publications of Max Vasmer, Oleg Trubachev, Vladimir Dal, Vladislav Sherdakov, etc. are specified. The ethical and ontological mood of the concept in everyday Russian speech is clarified, where it is used to denote misconduct, guilt, debauchery outside of direct connection with the law and the will of the Creator of the world. It is argued that the concept of sin can be classified as ontologically crucial primarily in Christian thinking; it is closely connected here with the study of human nature and human personality, the categories of salvation and redemption. In this regard, the semantics of the concept in the New Testament corpus of biblical works (the Gospels and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul) are systematically presented; representative examples from patristic literature are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the new diagnostic, practice-oriented classifications of sin proposed by Russian thinkers of the XIX-XX centuries – St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), Archimandrite Evtikhian (Lestev), Archimandrite Ioann (Krestyankin).

ГРИГОРІЙ СКОВОРОДА ЯК БІБЛІЙНИЙ ГЕРМЕНЕВТ

Of all the creative hypostases of the outstanding Ukrainian philosopher – exactly the hypostasis of Skovoroda as the hermeneut is the most difficult one for understanding and ambiguous for evaluation. There is an attempt in the article to analyze the train of thoughts of Hrigorii Skovoroda in the direction of biblical hermeneutics, to describe the peculiarities of the methods of interpretation, to characterize the exegesis of biblical texts of Skovoroda. Skovoroda’s hermeneutics is considered in the article in broad and narrow contexts – in comparison with the principles of the biblical exegesis rooted in the patristic literature, and against the background of the Ukrainian biblical hermeneutics of the Baroque era. The impact on Skovoroda’s hermeneutic views of the interpreters of the Alexandrian school – Philo, Clement and Origen – is analyzed. The special attention is paid to the impact of Origen’s ideas on the hermeneutic avocations of the Ukrainian philosopher. The biblical hermeneuts of the Alexandrian school developed the doctrine of three senses of the Holy Scripture, leaning toward an allegorical interpretation of the biblical texts. The thought of Hryhorii Skovoroda has a movement in the same direction. As well as Origen, Skovoroda considers the literal understanding of the Bible not a reading variant (as required by canonical exegesis), but a false reading. Following Origen, Skovoroda ridicules and criticizes the literal perception of the Holy Scripture, adding to it a lot of sarcasm and sharp expressions. Allegorical reading of the Bible was characteristic for the Ukrainian hermeneutics of the Baroque era. With the inherent to Baroque love for transcendence, the Ukrainian hermeneuts found allegorical sense even in moral lessons and historical narratives. That is why Skovoroda’s hermeneutic studios were organic and logical against the background of the Ukrainian Baroque. However, Skovoroda’s categorical rejection of the literal sense of the Bible is a radical, unique and courageous approach based on the doctrine of the two natures of all things.

Morálne zásady manželov v Augustínovom spise De bono coniugali

The treatise of Saint Augustine, bishop of Hippo, intituled De bono coniugali presents the unique dogmatist and at the same time moralistic view on the topic of marriage, which did not have, at the time, the analogy in the patristic literature. In this paper we focus on the Saint Augustine’s apology of the marriage. In centre of our interest will be the moral principles of the married couples issued from the main characteristic rudiments of the marriage defined by our bishop of Hippo that are used in the catholic Church almost without any changes also in nowadays. The marriage as the union of man and woman was from the beginning viewed as the base of the human society of any religion. Also the pagan Rome esteemed a lot the family and the spouses procreating and raising the children for the fatherland. The Christianity brings to the marriage the new aspect by giving to it the character of the sanctity and inviolability. The marriages were united with the goal of the procreation of the legitimate offspring but its absence, according Saint Augustine, did not make the obstacle of the sanctity and the purpose of the marriage. The Church in the confrontation with the pagan customs and traditions, or the sinful concupiscence of the man, well maintained the observation of the sacrament of the marriage, which provides with the new content. That is why the marriage became the sacred union based on the norm of the inviolability, the equality of both spouses, the procreation of the offspring and mutual fidelity. By theses rules the Church helped the women to gain the more dignify position in the society than it given by the roman legislative.

Православный кардиогнозис русского народа как основа богатырства (на материале «Дневника писателя» Ф.М. Достоевского)

The term “cardiognosis” is a neologism at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. F.M. Dostoevsky used in the “Diary of a Writer” and in the Great Pentateuch its Russian counterpart - “heart knowledge”. The chronologically explainable absence in the heritage of the classic of the lexeme under study, based on the addition of Latin roots, does not at all contradict the fact that F.M. Dostoevsky made an invaluable contribution to the intellectual tradition of studying cardiognosis that has developed in Russia. The creator of the “Diary of a Writer” invariably correlated this category with folk Orthodoxy. He saw the “heart knowledge of Christ” as the most effective and infallible way of attaining God. Dostoevsky developed such a perception as a result of his deep immersion in the context of the Bible and patristic literature. The writer was convinced that the cardiognostically conditioned faith of the Russian people is a guarantee of their special - world-unifying - destiny in the future. Nevertheless, he did not idealize popular types, noting their susceptibility to temporary obsession. However, this feature, according to F.M. Dostoevsky, does not exclude the openness of the heroic path to every Russian Vlas. In the “Diary of a Writer”, the occasional semantic content of the category “heroism” (“bo-gatirstvo”) is especially expressively explicated. It is understood not as an indication of a military ethos, but as a service to God in a broad sense. The basis and inspiration of heroism (bogatirstvo), according to F.M. Dostoevsky, is precisely cardiognosis. The writer is sure: a heart that “contains God” can transform into a “better person” even one who has sinned, but who repented in time. On the pages of the “Diary of a Writer” F.M. Dostoevsky not only defines the “best people” of the past of Russia (“Tikhon, Monomakh, Ilya...”), but also admires their followers from the 19th century. He considers those contemporaries who are ready to sacrifice themselves for the protection of brothers in Christ (General Chernyaev, Sophia Lurie, Foma Danilovich Lotaryov) as the incarnators of spiritual heroism (bogatirstvo). Dostoevsky's causal comprehension of the categories “cardiognosis” and “heroism” (“bo-gatirstvo”) showed a significant trait of the Russian national character, demonstrated the writer's faith in the saving mission of the God-bearing people.

Статус в миру и церковная карьера в России XVI века

The article reviews the peculiarities in the biographies of some Russian church leaders. The author shows that successful church and administrative career demanded more than patronage of the representatives of political and church elite. The latter only paved the monk’s way to consecration. To enter the narrow circle from which the candidates were elected demanded observation of other rules: usually, monastic vows taken at early age, lengthy monastic service (30 years in the least), as well as education (knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, Patristic literature and hagiography, basics of worship). The noble origin didn’t play any significant role. The author have managed to discover only four bishops (out of 120) belonging to aristocratic families from the Boyar Duma. The article notes several exemptions of these rules: the Novgorod archbishop Serapion I (1506–09), metropolitan Afanasii (1564–66), metropolitan Dionisii (1581–86), and also the Kazan metropolitan (1589–1606) and later patriarch (1606–1612) Germogen became heads of their dioceses after a short monastic service (1 to several years). Some were under the patronage of grand princes. However, their successful career cannot be explained by that reason only. It has been established that in some cases there was a special variant of the church career. These 4 representatives of the church elite began their careers as white priests, thus obtaining the necessary knowledge and skills to head of the church. They differ from other monks belonging to other social groups who spent decades on obtaining the necessary knowledge and skills. The study of the biography of the Vologda archbishop (1588–1603) and the Rostov metropolitan (1603–1604/1605) Iona (Dumin) gives reason to suppose that he also belonged to the white clergy group. The author demonstrates that the 16th century saw an emergence of this tendency (when the representatives of the white clergy took higher positions in the church hierarchy), which manifested itself more clearly in the 18th and 19th centuries. If in the 16th century white clergy numbered about 43% of bishops, by late 19th century their proportion reached 87,67%.

Taseva, Lora &amp; Marti, Roland (eds.). 2020. Translations of patristic literature in South-Eastern Europe: Proceedings of the session held at the 12th International Congress of South-East European Studies

Taseva, Lora &amp; Marti, Roland (eds.). 2020. Translations of patristic literature in South-Eastern Europe: Proceedings of the session held at the 12th International Congress of South-East European Studies

Christ the New Joshua

This essay examines the theme of Christ as the New Joshua, according to patristic literature (preeminently Origen) and then according to St. Thomas Aquinas. I show that Thomas Aquinas knows and adopts Origen’s central insights regarding Christ as the New Joshua. The purpose of the essay is to suggest that the theme of Christ as the New Joshua should have a more central place both in contemporary Christology and in Thomistic Studies.

Studies on the Intersection of Text, Paratext, and Reception: A Festschrift in Honor of Charles E. Hill

Studies on the Intersection of Text, Paratext, and Reception: A Festschrift in Honor of Charles E. Hill

Alexander the Great in the Early Christian Tradition: Classical Reception and Patristic Literature. By Christian Thrue Djurslev. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. x + 232 pp. $120.00 hardcover.

Alexander the Great in the Early Christian Tradition: Classical Reception and Patristic Literature. By Christian Thrue Djurslev. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. x + 232 pp. $120.00 hardcover. - Volume 90 Issue 3

MAN AND HIS QUALITY AS AN IMAGE OF GOD IN PATRISTIC THINKING

The notion of divine image is generously described by the patristic literature, each of the authors trying to identify the content of this special characteristic of human being, considered (in different positions) the defining element of the created rational being, indicating the possibility of opening to God not through something external, but from the inside of the human being. Since when they speak of God, the Church Fathers do not consider the reality of the one being, but that of the three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as well as when the question of the image of God is raised, they emphasize that this the image by which human nature is conformed is the image of the Son, or the image of the Word. In this article I set out to draw some points on this patristic feature of the Eastern Fathers.