Patristic Tradition Research Articles

РЕЦЕПЦИЯ ИДЕЙ ЗАПАДНОЙ СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ ФИЛОСОФИИ XIX – НАЧАЛА ХХ ВЕКА В ДУХОВНО-АКАДЕМИЧЕСКОМ ТЕИЗМЕ КАК ФАКТОР РАЗВИТИЯ ПРАВОСЛАВНОГО ЭТИКО-АНТРОПОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО УЧЕНИЯ

The article deals with the attitude of Orthodox doctrine about the person and society to a number of European and American social concepts, including "social evangelism," "positivist sociology" (using the example of G. Spencer), Nietzscheanism, "organistic" con-cepts of social development. It is concluded that, despite the desire to find their interpretation of social processes based on the patristic tradition, representatives of spiritual and academic philosophy used the conceptual ideas of Catholic and Protestant au-thors, especially the latter's criticism of positivism and Nietzscheanism when considering social issues. In addition, the article indi-cates a close connection between the Orthodox doctrine of society and the study of the ethical and social nature of man.

К истории православной проповеди в Речи Посполитой начала XVII в.: об источниках «Казанья на погребение» (Вильно, 1619) Леонтия Карповича

The author’s Orthodox sermon became widespread in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth only at the turn of the 17th century. The first published sermons on the occasion of church weddings and funerals, as well as the so-called “materia” or thesis plans for the compilations of sermons, belong to this period. The book heritage of the Archimandrite of Vilnius Brotherhood monastery, Leontij Karpovyč (ca. 1580 –1620), is one of the noteworthy examples of combining patristic traditions of exegetic homiletics with imitation of Polish models of thematic preaching. The paper explores the sources of Karpovyč’s funeral homily “Kazanie na pogrzebie” on the occasion of the funeral of Prince V. Golitsyn (pronounced in “prostaya mova”, published in Polish). The study aims to reconstruct the intellectual resource of the sermon on the basis of the given by Karpovyč references and quotations and to outline the main sources of the text, including biblical fragments. This analysis helps to find out the reading circle of Orthodox intellectuals associated with the Vilnius Brotherhood monastery and to identify out the elements of similarity of the sources of their erudition with the curriculum of non-Orthodox educational institutions, as well as the degree to which Orthodox author had mastered the Polish literary tradition.

Rational Faith and Believing Reason. Orthodoxy and the Works by Ivan Ilyin

This article considers Ivan Ilyin’s approach to the philosophy of religion, Orthodoxy and the Church from the viewpoint of his creative biography. The addition of new materials from the notionalist’s archive, such as memoirs and letters concerning religious issues and the use of the patristic tradition in the philosophical concept of the thinker, give this review an element of novelty. The novelty of the study is also strenghtened by the author’s focus on the question of how the philosopher understood the role and significance of Orthodoxy. The main milestones of the philosopher’s biography are considered from the viewpoint of his works revealing the evolution of his thought. This article highlights the reasons for Ilyin’s separation from the representatives of the new religious consciousness. Special attention is paid to the philosopher’s connection with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia as well as his participation in Christian circles and meetings. The emphasis is also laid on the connection between the social and political views of the notionalist regarding the future of Russia and Orthodoxy and its importance for the building a healthy statehood. The philosopher’s method and the role of the reason in the process of the knowledge of God are revealed on the example of the philosophy of religion. The Orthodox doctrine had asserted a significant influence on the philosopher’s thinking. Although it is widely accepted that Ivan Ilyin had not yet been a believer during the Moscow period of his creative activity, and instead approached the worldview issues exclusively from the standpoint of the pure reason, facts can be demonstrated that suggest the opposite. Inspired by German philosophy, Ivan Ilyin still refused to base his philosophical method on the Hegelian approach to a man and God, and, in his search, turned instead to the legacy of the Apostolic Fathers through reflections on Socrates. According to the notionalist, the way to renew the spiritual culture from the state of deep crisis was to construct a correct religious experience based on humility and integrity of the knowledge.

THE PRIMORDIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL COURT IN THE ORTHODOX TRADITION: CANON LAW AND THEOLOGY

In this essay, here is briefly examined Christian concept of Justice, which is applied by the church through its court. Christian justice as a goodness of redemption here is analyzed under the light of Gospel and then, confirmed by the patristic tradition, in particular the canon law tradition, which is presented by Church councils in order to highlight its importance for Church’s redemptive mission

COSMOLOGICAL CONCEPT OF ST. GREGORY OF NYSSA

The article discusses the concept of the creation of the universe according to St. Gregory of Nyssa (Cappadocian). This theme was in sharp contrast to ancient Greek philosophy, which was characterized by ontological diarchy. The problem that Gregory of Nyssa discusses is related to the creation of matter, how the matter acquire substantia and hypostasis from nothingness. According to Gregory, God creates all the properties that characterize matter, and their connection determines the existence of different elements. Also noteworthy is the dynamic of the universe, which means that the universe was not originally perfect. It is about the causal creation or properties of creatures, which are followed by the dynamic development of creatures in time. A special place is given to the creation of man - the crown of the universe. Initially humanity is formed and only later does a sexual difference occur. For the Patristic tradition, the process of dynamic development of creatures is not unknown and it is directly related to the completion of the universe, which is not a moral issue but an ontological and cosmological one

A theologian is one who prays

This essay honors the legacy of Mark McIntosh. Mark was passionate about the unity between theology and spirituality. In his scholarship and teaching, Mark focused on the unified endeavors of speaking about God and living in vital relationship with God. Rooted in the biblical and patristic traditions, Mark’s work reinforced the notion that “a theologian is one who prays.” Addressing the problem of the division between theology and spirituality, Mark utilized the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Vladimir Lossky, and others to propose constructive solutions. Mark’s work will continue to inspire theologians to labor for theology that expresses an inner experience of the truth.

Understanding the Difference Between Antisemitism and Anti-Judaism

Understanding the Difference Between Antisemitism and Anti-Judaism Marianne Moyaert (bio) In his article, John Pawlikowski begins by discussing the Church's ambivalent position vis-à-vis the history of antisemitism. On the one hand, Pope John Paul II explicitly condemned antisemitism as a sin, a condemnation, which Pawlikowski notes, "represents the strongest theological statement against this pernicious disease." He also makes explicit what steps have been taken, especially since the Second Vatican Council, by both ecclesial authorities and theological scholars to remove anti-Jewish legacies from their theology. On the other hand, there are reasons to doubt whether the Church has taken responsibility for its implication in the history of antisemitism. The Church has tended towards arguing "that antisemitism came only from fringe elements in the Church who were muscled by wayward preachers and teachers." Such an argument denies the pervasive and systemic problem of antisemitism and disavows the view that it is deeply embedded in the Catholic tradition. The document We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah (1998), which Pawlikowski also mentions, is exemplary in this regard. While this document makes clear the necessity of thoroughgoing scholarly research to better understand the mechanisms that finally led to the Shoah and emphasizes that Christians have to confront the injustices of [End Page 373] the past to open up a new future (memoria futuri), the document also shifts responsibility away from the Church and its theological traditions to those Christians who failed to live according to what "might have been expected from Christ's followers."1 Rather than recognizing antisemitism as a form of systemic racialization legitimized and institutionalized by Catholic tradition and its authorities, the document tends to reduce the problem of antisemitism to the personal failure of some.2 To make matters worse, the document immediately contrasts the few rotten apples to the many initiatives taken by ecclesial authorities to halt the suffering of the Jews under the Nazis. In addition, We Remember emphasizes that National Socialism was in fact a modern, anti-Christian, pagan racist regime, which ought to be clearly distinguished from Christian anti-Judaism. By way of conclusion, the document acknowledges that "erroneous and unjust interpretations of the New Testament regarding the Jewish people" contributed to "feelings of hostility towards this people," but points out that such interpretations have been "totally and definitively rejected by the Second Vatican Council." Understood in this way, the problem of Christian anti-Judaism belongs to the past and has been dealt with appropriately within the Church; the problem of racist antisemitism is inimical to Christian tradition and its theological vision about the unity of the human race, and has been condemned in the strongest words. In contrast to We Remember, Pawlikowski explicitly states that "thus far the roots of antisemitism in the Catholic Church have [not] been fully erased from Catholic consciousness." To this day, Pawlikowski asserts, there is a problem of latent or dormant antisemitism, which can become the ground for new more explicit expressions of hatred, such as the attacks on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. To uproot antisemitism from Catholic tradition, Pawlikowski suggests a research program focused on biblical exegesis and the Patristic tradition, as well as on the failure of the Church to acknowledge how its anti-Jewish traditions provided fertile ground for the Shoah. Finally, he also urges us to revisit the issue of the Church's evangelizing mandate in relation to the Jewish people. [End Page 374] I am a Catholic comparative theologian working after Nostra Aetate and I find myself in full agreement with Pawlikowski. The history of Christian antisemitism covers almost 2,000 years and we only started to grapple with it in the aftermath of the Shoah. Far from it being merely a surface issue, antisemitic discourse has seeped deeply into the core of (European) Christian culture. Antisemitic patterns of thinking were imprinted on the Christian imagination through liturgy, prayer, and sermons, but also through art, illuminated manuscripts, theatre, music, as well as legislation. Even when one is dedicated to moving beyond antisemitism, it remains difficult to step outside of this framework. As David Nirenberg states, "The peril of fantasizing our freedom from the past is great": when we...

Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and the Interpretation of the Messianic Psalms

Abstract For the majority of the patristic tradition, the Psalms are full of prophetic references to Christ, justified by New Testament citations and creative reading strategies. But for two writers from the so-called Antiochene school, Diodore of Tarsus and his student Theodore of Mopsuestia, this is not the case; New Testament use of the Old Testament is not prescriptive and allegory must be avoided at all costs. Diodore and Theodore only recognize four psalms as messianic: Ps 2, 8, 45, and 110. But not only do both theologians read Christ into these psalms, they do so in a manner that is unusual compared to how they approach the rest of the Psalter. This essay seeks to shed light on the reasons underlying these seeming exceptions. Pushing back against the now outdated paradigm of the Antiochene school as purely historical or literal exegesis, this essay will argue that both Diodore and Theodore are motivated not primarily by exegetical method, but more so by theological and textual concerns. More specifically, the readings of these four psalms are shaped by the Antiochene Christological vision found in Heb 1–2, which results in the prioritization of this text over the psalms in question.

Twenty-Four Elders: Revelation and the Old Testament Canon in Victorinus and Melito

Melito of Sardis, it is here argued, reported an Old Testament canon of twenty-four books (rather than twenty-five) and went on to link this figure with the twenty-four elders in Revelation. From Melito, Victorinus of Poetovio took up this exegesis and eventually added his own variation; it is from him that the Latin tradition knows of these interpretations, along with the count of twenty-four books. Further grounds are examined for linking the writings of Melito and Victorinus, including especially their relation to those of Irenaeus and Papias. A reconsideration of Melito’s place in the patristic tradition is also urged, with the suggestion that he wrote his Extracts in Rome ca. 150 and was a pivotal influence in the West.

What Does it Mean to be Contrary to Nature?

Abstract St. Paul says that same-sex sexual acts are “contrary to nature.” Plainly this is intended as a condemnation, but beyond that its meaning is obscure. In particular, we are given no general account of what it means to be contrary to nature, including what other acts might fit this description. This article attempts to provide such an account. It relies for this purpose on the biblical and classical sources of this idiom as well as its subsequent use within the Greek patristic tradition. It argues that the core meaning of “contrary to nature” is that of violating the integrity of structure and function of the human body. The article further contrasts this biblical and Greek patristic understanding with that of the “sin against nature” developed in the West during the Middle Ages. It argues that they are different in important ways and that a recovery of the biblical and Greek patristic view can help restore the concept of the unnatural to its proper place within Christian ethics.

The Metaphor of Moses' Ascent of Sinai within Patristic Tradition

The Metaphor of Moses' Ascent of Sinai within Patristic Tradition

Beyond the Realistic‐Ethical Distinction in Deification: Reconsidering Norman Russell’s Assessment of Gregory of Nyssa

AbstractThe notion of deification (θεοποίησις) or divinization (θέωσις), a fundamental theme in Eastern Orthodox theology, has long fascinated theologians from different traditions. In spite of the general interest in this theme, scholarship has fallen short on several accounts. One issue is that the intrinsic relationship between the ‘realistic’ and ‘ethical’ senses of deification has defied clear explanation. This failure is exemplified by Norman Russell’s The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (2004), where the obscured relationship also yields an inaccurate assessment of Gregory’s theology. Revisiting Gregory’s notion of deification, this article proposes a new account for the intrinsic relationship between the ‘realistic’ and ‘ethical’ senses of deification, and suggests a revision of Russell’s reading of Gregory.

HESYCHASTIC SYNERGISM AND THE SEPARATION OF THE WEST AND THE EAST

In the article, the author makes a theological and philosophical analysis of the term “energy” as a fundamental category of the theology of Hesychasm, which, in various transformations and receptions, became a determining factor in the formation of two parallel religious-philosophical paradigms: Eastern Christian and Western Christian. It is argued that the West followed the path of Neoplatonism, identifying God himself with being “ésse” and actions with creative results, which led to a certain distance between God and creation, and involvement was perceived through the causality of being. Eastern Christianity took a conceptual language from Neoplatonism and created its own religious-philosophical patristic tradition, in which the existence of God is distinguished between inner and outer, where the inner is unchanging, and the outer is a manifestation and reflection of the inner and which is complicit with creation.

Deification in the Latin Patristic Tradition ed. by Jared Ortiz

Deification in the Latin Patristic Tradition ed. by Jared Ortiz

Homiletic Symbolism in Heimskringla

This paper examines the hypothesis that the home-coming episode in St. Olaf’s Saga (ch. 32–34) in Heimskringla is an allegory based on homiletic symbolism. The episode is about Olaf’s return to his home in Norway after many years abroad and is one of the events that define the onset of his mission to control and Christianise Norway. Olaf arrives at his mother and stepfather’s home in a vivid, personal and detailed narration, imbued with action and excitement. It is harvest-time, and Olaf’s stepfather, Sigurdur sýr, king of Ringerike, is busy overseeing the harvest activity. He is walking around a field with two other men, dressed in a blue tunic and leggings, a grey cloak and a wide grey hat, a cloth over his face and a staff in his hand with a gilded silver cap on the top, surmounted by a silver ring. He is then summoned by Ásta – his wife and Olaf’s mother – to come home quickly as she has been informed that her son will be arriving soon. Sigurður puts on his royal outfit, including a scarlet robe, spurs of gold and a golden helmet, and goes home with thirty men. Meanwhile, Ásta and twenty others prepare a welcoming feast. She sends envoys to the neighborhood with an invitation to the banquet while the hall is prepared. Everything is just ready when Olaf arrives at his homestead with a retinue of a hundred men. He is greeted by Sigurdur, Ásta and the local crowd, and is led to the throne by his mother. The potential hagiographic nature of St. Olaf’s Saga, combined with the detailed narrative containing many potential symbols in the form of numbers, colours, artefacts and action, give a strong impression of allegory. There is a likely allusion to Mark 6:7 when Ásta assigns twelve people in six pairs to prepare the hall, and again when she sends four people in four directions to invite magnates to the event, echoing the angels in Mark 13:27 who were sent to bring the chosen ones from the four winds. The arrival of Olaf with his hundred men would seem to be a key event. The number 100 (or 120 if a long hundred is meant) is interpreted by Bede, for example, as a symbol of happiness of the elect in eternal life and directly associated with the biblical parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, which in Christian patristic tradition alludes to the Redemption, the restoration of humanity as the tenth celestial order, a key feature in the history of salvation. This number, one hundred, here associated with a saint, is flanked by many other potential symbols. One is that the combined flocks of Olaf (100+1), Sigurdur (30+1) and Ásta (20+1) make 153 people, a biblical number that has been associated with the elect in the heavenly land, i.a. by Gregory the Great. An examination of how other potential symbols group with Sigurdur and Ásta, reveals a consistent pattern. Sigurdur’s symbols associate him with heaven, the Trinity and the eternal word of God. Typological allusions associate Sigurdur and his staff with Moses and Judah, whose antitype is Christ, while the staff and the ring represent the Cross and the Church, respectively. Sigurdur also reflects the pilgrims in Emmaus, an iconographic motif based on Luke 24:13–53 that involves the resurrected Christ. On the arrival of Olaf, Sigurdur’s colours turn from blue, silver and grey to red and gold. This appears to indicate God’s word with full wisdom (gold), God’s love and the Holy spirit (red, which also signifies martyrdom). The transformation would signify the changes brought about by the advent of Christ (and his parallel, Olaf). Ásta is firmly linked to the four directions and the numbers two and four, which usually signify motherhood and earthly, missionary aspects of the Church, the Gospels and the evangelists. The home-coming episode was most likely understood as an allegory in ecclesiastical circles in medieval times. It uses symbols and images that relate to multiple iconographical features, focusing on escatological aspects of the history of salvation. The episode permits a coherent allegorical interpretation which equates St. Olaf with Christ as the Redeemer. Raudulf’s thattur, another short story about St. Olaf, incorporated in the longer version of his saga but which does not appear in Heimskringla, is also an allegory. Olaf is here placed centrally in an allegorical building modelled on a multidimensional cosmos, taking the symbolic seat of Christ in the Heavenly Jerusalem (Einarsson 1997, 2001, 2005). Both stories indicate a dedicated activity of creative allegorical writing intended to reinforce and nurture the veneration of the saint.

H. S. Skovoroda’s Religious and Philosophical Ideas (interpreted by Mahdalyna Laslo-Kutsiuk)

Abstract. Hryhorii Savych Skovoroda’s religious and philosophic ideas have attracted considerable attention in academic scientific discourse in postcommunist Ukraine. This is due not only to the humanistic-democratic paradigm of modern transformations in society, but also the methodological principles of historical and philosophical knowledge. We have tried to make a syncretic analysis of Skovoroda’s life and creativity based on the works of Romanian literary critic Mahdalyna Laslo-Kutsiuk (1928–2010), in particular by analysing the origins of Skovoroda’s philosophical doctrines, rethinking the Bible and specificity of his literary works.
 Skovoroda’s greatness lies in the fact that without losing his identity against the background of a rather fundamental philosophical tradition in Ukraine, he occupied and still occupies perhaps the most avant-garde position. He was one of the first philosophers to restore and develope the phenomenon of wisdom in new European civilisation, which was removed by the overall project of rationally-epistemological and rationally-scientific interpretations of philosophy after the ancient times. Analysis of the latest studies of Slavic and Western investigations of Skovoroda shows that this branch is interdisciplinary. Philosophers, historians, culture experts, literary critics, specialists in the history of religion have studied the heritage of this prominent Ukrainian philosopher. Expansion of the methodological spectrum started in the 1990s, meaning that the art of Skovoroda should be apprehended as penetrating synthetic phenomena in which the essential components of the Baroque world-view are combined with the culture of late antiquity, patristic tradition and even European humanism.

The Confrontation Between Quakers and Clergy 1652–1656: Theology and Practice

The conflict between the clergy and the earliest Quakers can be better understood in the context of the ‘mainstream’ Puritan tradition. Analysis of the pamphlets interchanged is used to investigate what the participants in the confrontation were hoping to achieve, what background they were were drawing on and what theological issues arose. Analysis of the pamphlets interchanged shows that the Quakers gave priority to the abolition of the paid professional ministry, while the clergy argued that the Quaker movement should be suppressed. The Quakers claimed to be guided by the inward light of Christ, but they supported their arguments with biblical references. Neither group were willing to admit to a source for their methods of biblical interpretation, but the clergy were clearly drawing on the patristic tradition, to which Jean Calvin and William Perkins were indebted; the Quakers may have learned from earlier radical groups. Each group used theological arguments to support very different codes of conduct. The clergy claimed to be entitled to the support of the magistracy in suppressing Quakers, but in the confused circumstances of the Interregnum the extent to which such support was forthcoming varied from place to place. This article focuses on different approaches to practice arising from these theological differences.

The Heliand in tenth-century England: translation, transmission and turbulence

ABSTRACT The Heliand is a rewriting of the Gospels in Old Saxon, reflecting daring efforts to not only convert pagans, edify catechumens and reinforce orthodox teachings, but also to present the Old Saxon vernacular as a language worthy of translating Scripture. A copy of the poem was in England by the second half of the tenth century, perhaps even earlier. In the single surviving copy from England, two incipits from a gospel lectionary were added in the margins near the time of writing, and they shed much light on how this poem was consulted and probably used for guidance on specific issues faced by a tenth-century English court. From its origin as a theological statement about the capabilities of vernacular languages in continuing Patristic traditions, the Heliand was later valued as a text that offered clarification on how to deal with hostile military and spiritual threats to Christian kingdoms.

Petrarch’s Deer in Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta 190 and the Visio Beatifica

ABSTRACT This essay explores the mysterious deer associated with the beloved in Rerum vulgarium fragmenta (Rvf) 190 and examines its significance in connection with the visio beatifica of the lady in Rvf 191–193. The deer in sonnet 190 recalls the traditional imagery found in bestiaries and in the patristic tradition, where the animal allegorises the good Christian and Christ himself in their fight against evil. The statement ‘Nessun mi tocchi’ (Rvf, 190, 9) on the deer’s neck, in turn, echoes the words that Jesus says to the former sinner Mary Magdalene after his resurrection. These elements portray the lover as a penitent sinner, and the beloved embodied by the deer as a Christic presence, introducing the beatific vision in Rvf 191–193. The association of the lady with Christ, however, will prove to be a symptom of idolatry, in contrast with the moral conduct that the subject pursues in Rvf 264.

Jesus “The Way” According to Origen and Marcellus: Confronting Two Patristic Traditions

The article aims to examine and compare the evangelic title of Jesus the Way (John 14:6) in two Christian authors who belonged to two opposing theological traditions, namely, Origen of Alexandria and Marcellus of Ancyra. This comparison, based on original texts, aims not only to show the differences between these two patristic traditions, but rather to identify some common traits that belong to the core of Christian faith. Thus, Origen of Alexandria and Marcellus of Ancyra, two very dissimilar Christian authors, were of the same mind in confessing that only if the Son of God became fully human, could he be the Way for humankind towards the Father.