Patristics

The paper has two main aims: first, to offer a general overview about Augustine’s concept of corporeal matter, based on a comprehensive
examination of all the occurrences of the Latin lemmas "materia" and "materies" in his works; second, to discuss more in detail the vexed question of Plotinus' influence on Augustine’s conception of matter, in order to highlight that the major meeting points between Augustine and Plotinus rest on a purely literal level, and to rather point out the significant conceptual differences between these two thinkers.

The mystery of union beyond distinction is a key of the eucharistic doctrine for Cyril of Alexandria who compares it to the intra-trinitarian union and the union of Christ with his flesh. These three unions do not imply confusion nor division, but a communication of properties, thought according to different manners : substantial union for Trinity, appropriation in the case of Christ, physical participation in the eucharist. The latter permits to transform corporeality (a principle of separation between men) into a means of supreme union. It implies a double participation to God - spiritual and corporeal-, two elements we find in sacramental practices : central position of the Holy Spirit, whose presence is required to receive communion (thus the relationship between baptism and eucharist) ; realistic conversion of bread and wine, importance of the body. Facing the dilemma raised by Nestorius - does the christian eat the body or the divinity ?-, Cyril states that the flesh must belong to the Word as his own in order to preserve the power of the eucharist. 

Le mystère de l'union par delà la distinction est une des clés de la doctrine eucharistique pour Cyrille d'Alexandrie qui la compare avec l'union intra-trinitaire et celle du Christ à sa chair. Ces trois unions n'impliquent ni confusion ni division, mais une communication des propriétés, selon des modes différents cependant : union substantielle pour la Trinité, appropriation dans le cas du Christ, participation physique dans l'eucharistie. Cette dernière permet de transformer la corporéité, facteur de séparation entre les hommes, en moyen d'union suprême. Elle suppose une double participation à Dieu, spirituelle et corporelle, deux aspects qui se retrouvent dans la pratique sacramentelle : place centrale de l'Esprit Saint dont la présence est prérequise pour communier (d'où les relations entre baptême et eucharistie) ; réalisme de la transformation du pain et du vin, importance du corps. Face au dilemme posé par Nestorius - le chrétien mange-t-il le corps ou la divinité ?-, Cyrille affirme que seule l'appartenance en "propre" de la chair au Verbe préserve la puissance de l'eucharistie.

Sidonius C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius, Die Briefe. Eingeleitet, übersetzt und erläutert von Helga Köhler, Stuttgart: Hiersemann 2014, XXXVII + 355 pp., ISBN 978-3-7772-1414-6, € 224 (hb). Die Briefe des Apollinaris Sidonius sind seit eh und je eine erstrangige Quelle für das Gallien des fünften Jahrhunderts und haben bis in den Humanismus hinein die europäische Literatur entscheidend beeinflusst. Als prototypi-sche Mischgestalt aus Aristokrat und Seelenhirt, römischem Präfekt und Bischof von Clermont, Hofpoet und liturgischem Autor ist Sidonius wesent-lich für unser Verständnis des spätantiken Christentums. Helga Köhler (K.) stellt ihn nun erstmals in einer mustergültigen Übersetzung seiner ganzen Korrespondenz dem deutschsprachigen Publikum vor. Dank ihrem wegwei-senden Kommentarband zum ersten Buch der Korrespondenz (Heidelberg 1995) ist K. eine der Urheberinnen der heutigen Sidonius-Renaissance. Das Buch enthält, neben der Übersetzung, eine Einleitung, eine Auswahl-Bibliographie und ein Namen-und Sachregister. Die Einleitung ist eine gekonnte, äußerst zugängliche Zusammenfassung unserer Kenntnis auf dem heutigen Stand der Wissenschaft. Binnen dreißig Seiten wird der Leser infor-miert über den Autor, seine Briefkunst und sein Nachleben. Zudem legt K. Rechenschaft ab über die Entscheidungen, die sie bei der Übersetzung getroffen hat. Einige, für die Übersetzung wichtige Aspekte möchte ich hier hervorheben. Die Sammlung von 147 Briefen in neun Büchern würdigt K. zu Recht als mehr als ein historisches Dokument, nämlich als ein sorgfältig angeleg-tes Gesamtkunstwerk aus Prosa und poetischen Einlagen, das Politik und Privatleben, Weltliches und Geistiges verbindet zu einem Kaleidoskop wech-selnder Stimmungen. Form und Sprache der Briefe stehen dabei stets gleich-rangig neben ihrem Informationsgehalt. Dem Stil des Sidonius gerecht zu werden war Hauptaufgabe dieser Über-setzung. Die sehr langen Perioden, die alle denkbaren Stil-und Gedankenfi-guren häufen, überforderten schon nachweisbar manche Zeitgenossen. K. hat sich für die weitestmögliche Nachbildung des Originals entschlossen, da die deutsche Syntax ja die Möglichkeit zu Schachtelsätzen bietet. Das Ergebnis ist eine vornehme, zuweilen leicht altertümliche, aber immer kristallklare Über-setzung. Die erfindungsreiche Wortwahl und der präzise Aufbau steuern den langen Atem, den der Leser braucht. Die Übersetzung wäre besonders dazu geeignet, vorgetragen zu werden. Bemerkenswert sind die poetischen Einla-gen, die K. virtuos gemäß der ursprünglichen Metren übersetzt.

Origen’s exegesis of the Song of Songs, despite the praise it generally raised both in antiquity and in modern times, still awaits for deeper investigation as far as the literary project of the Alexandrian and its output are concerned. In this respect, it is difficult not only to exactly define the mutual relations between the Commentary and the Homilies on the Song of Songs, apart from the evident similarity of their themes, but more specifically to catch the particular nature of Origen’s interpretation at the first level of the biblical text against his well-known allegorism. Viewing the «littera» or «historia» of the Song as a theatrical piece, as especially shown in the Commentary, Origen delivers a dramatical interpretation which by its careful description of the successive scenes develops into a proper script for the stage. Though this explanation is meant to guide the reader to a further level of interpretation, the ‘letter’ cannot here be appreciated simply as the provisional step leading to the ‘spirit’, i.e. the spiritual intelligence of the Song which is in principle the only one permitted for Origen in this biblical love poetry. Instead of that, through the discourse engaged by the dramatic interpretation, on the one hand, there is an overlapping of both the ‘historical’ and the ‘spiritual’ explanation and, on the other hand, the dramatic exegesis also delivers a surplus of sense which is not totally subsumed in the spiritual interpretation. At moments the Song as ‘play’ seems therefore to gain in Origen’s perceptive reading a life of its own.

Taft R. F. The Great Entrance. A History of the Transfer of Gifts and other Preanaphoral Rites of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. [A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, vol. II]. Roma, 1975. (Orientalia Christiana Analecta; 200).

In order to shed light on the meaning of John 1, St. Augustine would turn to “that image which the creature is, that is, to the rational soul for a more careful questioning and consideration” of the procession of the Son from the Father. He would do so by seeing a link between the way the mind “beget[s] its knowledge when it knows itself” and the way the Father begets the Son;  in other words, the way a word is spoken by man and the way the Divine Word is ‘spoken’ by the Father. In this essay, I investigate both the way this ‘analogy of the word’ was used by thinkers prior to Augustine and also the thought of the Latin Father himself. I have also added an appendix on the subsequent thought of Aquinas on this point.

In 1899, part of the floor of the church of San Tommaso collapsed, revealing a Medieval mosaic pavement. Arthur K. Porter believed that it was the only surviving part of the ancient Benedictine abbey, but he also asserted that it was «the daintiest and most charming» Romanesque mosaic he ever saw.
In my paper, I will first clarify the process of rediscovery of the mosaic through archival documents, as well as the conservative actions managed by the Ufficio Regionale ai Monumenti and the Ministero delle Belle Arti. The mosaic was left in loco and closed with removable wooden boards that allowed its preservation till today.
After considering the geometrical elements of its composition, its ornamental motives and its figured subjects, I will provide a graphic reconstruction of the mosaic which is also part of a 3D rendering of the church, and clearly presents the surviving mosaic fragments in relation to the architectonical structures.
My analysis will focus on the figures and their semantic value investigating their iconographic details and their connection to the written culture i.e. Christian literature, classical texts, or astronomic and naturalistic treatises. Such a study will allow to recognize the negative connotations of «ydra», «[cer]berus», «Sinon» and the ass located in the northern nave’s section of the mosaic. The semantic and figurative connections of these figures with “evil” and “hell” are confirmed by the dark ‘setting’ and the proximity to the left/Damned side of the Last Judgment painted on the counter façade. Furthermore, I would argue that the presence of these negative figures must be associated to St. Jerome’s writing. Such association is crucial, because references to St. Jerome, to his life, his culture, and his writings, often occur in San Tommaso.
The southern nave mosaic differs in colours and figures: it is mostly white, instead of black, and is figured with zoomorphic and vegetal elements. The general semantic value is rather positive, and is probably influenced by Abraham’s bosom painted on the right/Saved side of the Last Judgment.
In the main nave only a few fragments are preserved, but the presence of Birds drinking from the chalice hint to a clearly Eucharistic meaning. Probably this section of the mosaic decorated the area surrounding a nave altar.
I will then compare San Tommaso’s mosaic with other Italian pavements, especially those from Cremona and the Po valley, but also with other figurative sources, such as illuminated manuscripts, are given. For example, I will consider the «cerberus» in relation to the only surviving manuscript from the library of San Tommaso (now Canon. Pat. Lat. 148, Oxford, Bodleian Library) and to the rare spread-eagled figure included in Ms. 99 from Montecassino.
I will discuss how figurative themes were connected to each other or were given a different connotation depending on their location, i.e. in the case of the ass, whose value is negative when next to ‘infernal’ figures in the pavement, but positive on the wall paintings as ‘obedient’ animal.
I will relate figures to architectural spaces, e.g. the altar in the Sanctuary as most sacred pole in the building, and to the main directional axes East/West, North/South, high/low, according to their symbolic meaning in Christian literature.
Finally I will argue that the mosaic figures contribute to the ‘hierarchy’ of the spaces in the church, creating a complex image-system where meanings of the figural elements are valid before their fruition, either by laics or, most likely, by monks who could read images also like warning visions of the Afterlife.

This book debunks the myth that the cross was never used as a visual symbol in pre-Constantinian Christianity, bringing together the relevant material evidence demonstrating Christian use of the cross prior to Constantine. The artifacts presented in this book interlock with literary witnesses from the same period to provide a consistent and robust portrait of the cross as a pre-Constantinian symbol of Christian devotion. The material record of the pre-Constantinian period illustrates that Constantine did not invent the cross as a symbol of Christian faith; for an impressive number of Christians before Constantine’s reign, the cross served as a visual symbol of commitment to a living deity in a dangerous world.

Social changes in the contemporary era have directly influenced human life and existence, especially the meaning of marriage. In light of these contemporary developments, researchers have emphasized the urgent need to deconstruct marriage and re-constitute it, fundamentally altering its traditional characteristics and meaning in the process. Conversely, the Orthodox Church views the essence of marriage with an interminable consistency and continuity characterized by the mysterion of love in Christ. Is it viable to live the meaning of this mysterion in today’s postmodern era? To examine this issue, this study initiates an interdisciplinary dialogue between postmodern perspectives on marriage and family on the one hand, and the vision of Orthodox theology on the other. This new and unexplored dialogue endeavors to contribute to the positive engagement of the Orthodox Church with the postmodern world.

This essay was published in The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology, edited by Christopher A. Beeley and Mark E. Weedman, for the CUAP Studies in Early Christianity (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2018); this is the uncorrected proofs. Exploring the humanity and divinity of Jesus, the Son's relation to the Father, and the agency of the Holy Spirit, it is one of five essays suggesting Johannine contributions to trinitarian discussions in the early church.

Trotz zahlreicher und fundierter Einblicke in die Gattung und den theologischen
Inhalt der Nag-Hammadi-Apokalypse des Paulus (NHC V,2) bleibt die genaue
Valenz des Textes umstritten: Ist der Text valentinianisch, wie oft behauptet, oder
nicht, und was bedeutet die Antwort für unser Verständnis der gnostischen Apokalypsen im Allgemeinen? Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über das Problem und belegt, dass der Nachweis für eine valentinianische Herkunft des Textes problematisch ist. Vor allem ist es unwahrscheinlich, dass die berühmten valentinianischen Lehrer des 2. Jahrhunderts Bedarf an Pseudonymität gehabt hätten. Ganz im Gegenteil zeigt die Beleglage für die Beziehung zwischen Gruppendefinition und Pseudonymität, dass die bekannten valentinianischen Lehrer ihre Autorität durch ihre kirchlichen Institutionen und hohe Ausbildung begründeten – im Unterschied zu den namenlosen Autoren der pseudonymen Apokalypsen und der sogenannten „sethianischen“ Literatur. Hier erscheint die Möglichkeit, dass die Nag-Hammadi-Apokalypse des Paulus eher ein späterer Text wäre, geschrieben nach der Blüte des Valentinianismus, in einer Zeit, als die valentinianische Theologie eine Art Geheimwissen unabhängig von irgendeiner Schule geworden war.

This article deals with the theory of the so-called ‘intelligible Triad’ (esse, vivere, intellegere) to show in what way this theory was developed in Neoplatonism (by Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus and Proclus) and transformed in the Patristic Thought (in Marius Victorinus, Augustine, Dionysius Areopagita, Maximus the Confessor, John Scott Eriugena),
where this theory was used to describe three main attributes of God as well as mutual relations between three Persons of the Holy Trinity and the structure of the created world and human soul.

Traducere din limba greacă de Ierom. Agapie Corbu, Ed. Sf. Nectarie, Arad, 2016

Această carte transcrie rezumativ predarea prin viu grai a vieţii monahale trăite de autor alături de Gheron Iosif Isihastul. Învăţătura orală a acestuia a fost esenţializată de Gheronda Iosif Vatopedinul în densele capitole care alcătuiesc volumul de faţă. În acest sens, aici găsim liniile principale ale învăţăturii Bătrânului Mănăstirii Vatopedului, testamentul său duhovnicesc, chintesenţa unei gândiri filocalice contemporane, formate din experienţă şi adăpate la izvoarele primenitoare ale marilor Părinţi duhovniceşti din toate vremurile. Toate atributele care pot fi acordate acestei scrieri se sintetizează într-o singură expresie: cuget patristic.

"Atunci când venim la Spovedanie, venim să ne întâlnim faţă către faţă cu un prieten. Nu venim pentru a fi judecaşi şi condamnati. Nu venim înfricosati de ceea ce urmeaza sa se întâmple. Venim la Cel care, Dumnezeu fiind, dincolo de suferinta, dincolo de moarte, a ales din iubire pentru noi sa devina om, sa ia asupra Sa firea noastra omeneasca si sa-Si dea viata pentru noi. Viata Sa, moartea Sa sunt pentru noi dovada ca suntem într-atât de mult iubiţi de Dumnezeu încât putem veni la El fie că suntem buni, fie că suntem rai, si El ne va primi cu bratele deschise; dacă este cineva gata sa plânga pentru pacatele noastre, pentru nevrednicia noastră acela este El, din compasiune, din mila, din iubire – cu acea disponibilitate pe care am vazut-o în viata unui sfânt, caruia Hristos i-a spus ca şi un singur păcătos dacă ar mai fi în lume, S-ar întrupa şi ar muri din nou pentru acesta, fiindca El nu poate răbda gândul că există vreun om care piere.

Acesta este Dumnezeul, Hristosul la Care venim atunci când ne apropiem de scaunul de Spovedanie – la Cel Care ni Se dăruieşte cu întreaga Sa viaţă si moarte; Cel Care ne aşteaptă să venim ca să aflam vindecare, alinare, sprijin – nu osândă, nu judecată."
Mitropolitul Antonie de Suroj

كتاب "لغة الله في التقليد الآبائي" من إعداد مارك شريدن وترجمة الباحثين بيشوي جرجس وموريس وهيب، يهدف كتاب "لغة الله في التقليد الآبائي" إلى توضيح كيف فهم اللاهوتيون المسيحيون المبكرون المعضلة التي تطرحها النصوص التي تنسب الخصائص والعواطف البشرية إلى الله، وتفصيل كيفية تعاملهم معها. لإنجاز هذه المهمة، يزود الكاتب القارئ بالكثير من النصوص الأولية من آباء الكنيسة إلى جانب شروحات مفصلة لتفسيراتهم، وهو يعتمد باستمرار على مؤلفين مثل كليمنضس، وأوريجانوس، وديديموس، وذهبي الفم، وغيرهم. يتمحور جوهر بحثه حول أن هناك معيارًا مزدوجًا مستخدمًا على نطاق واسع لتفسير النصوص الصعبة في الكتاب المقدس، ويشرح كيف قرأ الكتاب اليهود والمسيحيون المبكرون هذه النصوص مجازياً أو لاهوتياً من أجل اكتشاف الحقيقة الواردة فيها، حيث أدركوا أن التفسير البنائي والملائم لهذه النصوص يتطلب أن يبدأ المرء من فهم أن “الله ليس إنسانًا”. يجلب المؤلف التقليد الآبائي إلى حوار مع المفسرين المحدثين لإظهار الأهمية الثابتة للتفسير اللاهوتي الخاص بهذا التقليد لعصرنا هذا.

An overview of Augustine of Hippo's views about freedom. I argue that Augustine the bishop was one of the first theological compatibilists, who believed that responsibility is compatible with at least certain kinds of necessity and that human freedom requires determination by divine grace.

Proponemos una identificación entre la categoría de semina Verbi y la categoría de praeambula fidei, dentro de la categoría de praepatatio Evangelii. Siguiendo los estudios de autores como Antonio Orbe y otros, podemos hablar de semina Verbi como una participación intelectual, pero también existencial, del hombre en la verdad a través de la acción del Espíritu Santo. Los praeambula fidei hacen posible el acto de fe de manera racional y libre. Por lo tanto, creemos que es lícito, también desde las declaraciones del magisterio, hablar de una acción del Espíritu Santo como praeparatio Evangelii en las semina Verbi hacia el acto de fe.

Criticism of myth in the Bible is not a modern problem. Its roots go back to the earliest Christian theologians, and before them, to ancient Greek and Jewish thinkers. The dilemma posed by texts that ascribe human characteristics and emotions to the divine is a perennial problem, and we have much to learn from the ancient attempts to address it.

Mark Sheridan provides a theological and historical analysis of the patristic interpretation of Scripture’s anthropomorphic and anthropopathic language for God. Rather than reject the Bible as mere stories, ancient Jewish and Christian theologians read these texts allegorically or theologically in order to discover the truth contained within them. They recognized that an edifying and appropriate interpretation of these stories required that one start from the understanding that "God is not a human being" (Num 23:19). Sheridan brings the patristic tradition into conversation with modern interpreters to show the abiding significance of its theological interpretation for today.

Language for God in Patristic Tradition is a landmark resource for students of ancient Christian theology. Wide-ranging in scope and accessible in its analysis, it demonstrates that those engaged in theological interpretation of Scripture have much to gain from studying their forebears in the faith.

În învăţătura sa despre rugăciune, Mitropolitul Antonie pune accent deosebit pe tăcere. Nu doar inima şi mintea noastră, ci şi trupul trebuie antrenat într-o tăcere trezvitoare, prin care suntem deschişi faţă de Dumnezeu, dispuşi să primim orice ne va da El, şi deschişi faţă de aproapele nostru. Rugăciunea este departe de a fi un şuvoi de cuvinte rostite de noi către Dumnezeu fără oprire; mulţimea cuvintelor poate reprezenta o piedică în calea rugăciunii autentice.
Relaţia noastră cu Dumnezeu în rugăciune este fundamentală pentru viaţa creştină, iar rugăciunea este o artă ce poate fi însuşită prin lucrare după rânduială. Trebuie să învăţăm să ne rugăm, iar sfaturile Mitropolitului Antonie sunt practice şi amănunţite.

„Pentru a putea să te rogi trebuie să te afli în acea stare ce ar putea fi definită prin sintagma Împărăţia lui Dumnezeu. Trebui să recunoaştem că El este Dumnezeu, că El este Împăratul; trebuie să ne predăm Lui. Să fim cel puţini preocupaţi de voinţa Sa, chiar dacă încă nu suntem capabili să o împlinim.
Dar dacă nu facem astfel? Dacă ne raportăm la Dumnezeu precum acel tânăr bogat care nu L-a urmat pe Hristos fiindcă era prea bogat, atunci cum putem să-L întâlnim? Atât de adesea, ceea ce dorim să avem prin rugăciune, printr-o relaţie profundă cu Dumnezeu după care tânjim este pur şi simplu o altă perioadă de fericire; nu suntem pregătiţi să vindem ceea ce avem pentru a cumpăra mărgăritarul de mare preţ.
Cum atunci să dobândim acest mărgăritar de mare preţ?
Pe acesta nădăjduim să-l obţinem?
Nu este la fel precum în relaţiile dintre oameni: când un bărbat sau o femeie simte iubire pentru altcineva, pentru ei nu mai contează la fel alţi oameni. Ca să folosim o scurtă zicală din vechime: „Când bărbatul îşi găseşte o mireasă, el nu mai este înconjurat de bărbaţi şi femei, ci de oameni”. Nu este aceasta ceea ce s-ar putea întâmpla, ceea ce ar trebui să se întâmple cu toate bogăţiile noastre atunci când ne întoarcem către Dumnezeu?”
Mitropolitul Antonie de Suroj

In Book 5 of his Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses), Irenaeus envisions an eschaton that coheres with the beginning of creation and serves God’s purpose of perfecting man in His divine dispensation. For this argument, Irenaeus cites extra-biblical traditions about end times. His depiction of the earthly Messianic Kingdom demonstrates striking similarities to the eschatological visions in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (2 Baruch), a Jewish apocalypse written around the end of the first century, thus indicating shared traditions. In this regard, Irenaeus is rather unique among early Church Fathers. While others show influences of the strand of Jewish apocalyptic tradition that features heavenly journeys, spiritual ascents and angelic theoria, Irenaeus, on the other hand, shows to be heir to the strand of Jewish apocalyptic tradition that envisions an end with the blessing of union with God that is materially abundant, concretely earthy, upon this world created by God from the beginning.