Patristic Studies

– Augustine's and Jerome's letters provide one of the most exciting correspondences of ancient Christianity. The first personal contact was initiated by Augustine, who disapproved of Jerome's point of view, especially regarding the estimation of the importance of the Septuaginta and the interpretation of one of the parts of the Galata letter. As Jerome received the letters sent to Bethlehem late and in a roundabout way, the monk living in his monastery in Bethlehem interpreted the bishop's letters as an attack. Therefore he passionately rejected them. In his letters, Jerome makes a sharp contrast between himself and the bishop of Hippo. This study aims to explore whether Jerome's self-portrait reflects reality or whether he was driven by rhetoric and literary intentions in creating this diptichon.

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).

At the beginning of the eleventh century, a great spiritual personality, Saint Symeon the New Theologian, struggled to teach his audience about the importance of being aware of the presence of God in their hearts, minds, and lives. His charismatic figure and mystical approach towards theology raised questions started a conflict and ended with an exile. Although there were multiple reasons why that happened, all can be summarized in a single line: the clash

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.

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.

Cyrille, archevêque d'Alexandrie en Égypte (vers 375-444), est un des plus grands exégètes et théologiens de son temps. Il est également un des plus célèbres représentants de l'école théologique alexandrine. Il nous a légué un immense héritage écrit, dont la majeure partie est constituée d‘analyses exégétiques. Dans ses nombreuses oeuvres, il polémique avec les ariens, les païens, les juifs et les nestoriens. Le Commentaire de Cyrille d’Alexandrie sur l’Épître aux Hébreux (CPG 5209 (3)) ne nous est parvenu que dans les fragments contenus dans des chaînes bibliques, des florilèges dogmatiques et chez des auteurs postérieurs. Nous avons traduit de manière critique du grec ancien en français les fragments grecs et latins du Commentaire de Cyrille d’Alexandrie sur l’Épître aux Hébreux tels que les présente l‘édition de P.E. Pusey. Nous avons également traduit en français, à partir de la traduction latine, les fragments arméniens du Commentaire publiés par J. Lebon, qui contribuent beaucoup à l‘étude des fragments grecs et latins.

Resumo O presente artigo visa a abordar a questão da dimensão espiritual do ser humano a partir da leitura e comentário de textos seletos da obra de Orígenes de Alexandria (185-251 d.C.). De modo específico, analisaremos trechos do Comentário ao Cântico dos Cânticos, obra que revela o vigor espiritual do mestre alexandrino. Gregório Taumaturgo, discípulo de Orígenes, qualifica-o como um homem entusiasmado, ou seja, habitado pela presença de Deus. Essa vivência espiritual, segundo Orígenes, é possível ao homem que entra no dinamismo da vida divina. Em nosso artigo apresentamos a interpretação origeniana da criação do homem à imagem e semelhança de Deus como pressuposto da vida espiritual e, concomitantemente, como esse ser criatural responde à iniciativa divina.

Palavras-chave Orígenes de Alexandria. Antropologia teológica. Espiritualidade. Teologia patrística.

The present article aims to addresses the spiritual matter of the human being from the reading and commentaries of selected texts of Origen of Alexandria (185-251 AD). In a specific way, we will analyze sections of the Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, work that reveals the spiritual vigor of the Alexandrian master. Gregory Thaumaturgo, a disciple of Origen, qualifies him as an enthusiastic man, that is, inhabited by the presence of God. This spiritual experience, according to Origen, is possible for the man who enters the dynamism of the divine life. In our article, we present the origerian interpretation of the creation of man in the image and likeness of God as a presupposition of the spiritual life and, simultaneously, how this creaturely being responds to the divine initiative.

Keywords Origen of Alexandria. Theological Anthropology. Spirituality. Patristic Theology.

Niniejsza praca ma na celu przedstawienie teorii mitotwórczej J. R. R. Tolkiena, z perspektywy jej wymiaru duchowego. Od czasów antycznych teorie, tudzież filozofie, opierały się na myśleniu abstrakcyjnym i miały za zadanie wyjaśnienie ówczesnemu człowiekowi otaczającej go rzeczywistości. Nie inaczej było z Tolkienowską teorią, na potrzebę której ukuł swój termin Mitopoeia. „Duchowy wymiar Tolkienowskiej Teorii Mitotwórczej” – tłumacząc tytuł tej pracy na język Polski – przekłada się na wiele sfer życia Tolkiena. Pierwsza z tych płaszczyzn, to przypisywany mu przez niektórych krytyków program filozoficzny. Na tym wymiarze skupia się pierwszy rozdział tej pracy: „The Philosophical Disenchantment.” Jednak jak sugeruje tytuł, stanowi on zaledwie tło wszelkich dalszych poszukiwań, gdyż oferuje badaczom Tolkienowskiej myśli jedynie jej racjonalizację i demitologizację. Życiowa pasja Tolkiena, filologia komparatywna, daje wystarczające zrozumienie jego fenomenu, a przynajmniej zdaniem kilku krytyków. Niezaprzeczalnie stanowiła ona inspirację, a zarazem była narzędziem, którego Tolkien użył podług swej ogromnej wiedzy z zakresu językoznawstwa. Pomimo, iż w tej pracy „Comparative Philology” jest omawiana w drugiej kolejności, to właśnie ta dyscyplina była źródłem znajomości filozofii u Tolkiena. Podążając krokami Tolkieniany nie można jednak na tym poprzestać. Trzeci wymiar, jakże metafizyczny i filozoficzny w swych założeniach i implikacjach to odkrycie Owena Barfielda, znajomego Tolkiena. Barfield odkrył Teorię „Jedności Semantycznej,” co Tolkienowi przyszło łatwo przyjąć do wiadomości: język jako narzędzie może również być transcendentny, ze względu na swe początki. Dla Tolkiena była to jedna z tych rzeczy, która pozwoliła mu uwierzyć w smoki. „Philological Philosophy: Let There Be Dragons” – jest zatem łącznikiem między dwoma światami. Jednakże Tolkien nie był byle fantastą, oderwanym od ziemi. Teoria Barfielda, obudziła w nim nadzieję. Pomimo to, tak jak każdy rozsądny i racjonalny człowiek Tolkien musiał dowiedzieć się, „czy to prawda.” Potrzebował czegoś, aby idee odnieść do nie tyle rzeczywistego doświadczenia, ile prawdy. Prawda, bowiem wyzwala. Mimo nieustannego negowania jego wiary, to właśnie ona umożliwiła mu dalsze rozważanie tych teorii. I nie da się inaczej wytłumaczyć jego mitotwórstwa, jak przez uznanie jego wiary. Miłości do Boga, która była tak głęboka, że aż sięgała wiedzy teologicznej. Tego, między innymi, tyczy ostatni rozdział tej pracy: „Myth Becomes Truth.”
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Oi Christianoi - Sezione antica, n. 27 ----- Avendo spaziato in molti campi e trovandosi all'incrocio di tante strade sulle quali ha lasciato la sua originale impronta, Agostino d'Ippona (354-430) occupa un posto centrale e, per certi aspetti, unico nella storia del pensiero, della teologia e della spiritualità occidentale. Se le sue opere maggiori sono ben conosciute, tuttavia gran parte dei suoi scritti rimane nell'ombra, anche quando si tratta di scritti importanti per l'esegesi, la dottrina e la morale. Proponendo una sintesi dei contenuti di ciascuno di essi, questo Dizionario offre un quadro completo di tutta la vastissima produzione di Agostino, permettendo ad un vasto pubblico di lettori di avere a disposizione uno strumento utile di consultazione e di orientamento.

This article seeks to highlight the essential symbolic Christian meanings hidden in some textual metaphors of the Old Testament, such as templum Dei, «house of Wisdom», aula regia, Sancta Sanctorum, «tabernacle», «altar», «ark».To make our approach clearer: first of all, we will analyze some exegesis offered on these metaphorical terms by certain Fathers and theologians of the Eastern and Western Churches;
second, we will analyze some pictorial images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries that include a temple or chapel in the scene.
From this double analysis of texts and images, it will be possible to conclude that the temple painted in those images constitutes a visual metaphor that illustrates the Christological and Mariological meanings brought to light by the Fathers and theologians when interpreting the
aforementioned Old Testament textual metaphors.

Review of Norman Russell, Gregory Palamas and the Making of Palamism in the Modern Age (Oxford University Press, 2019).

Forum of the International Orthodox Theological Association, 4 May 2020

https://iota-web.org/2020/05/04/norman-russell-gregory-palamas/

Nell’ampio panorama degli scritti basiliani, le Omelie diverse rappresentano un importante esempio di quel genere di omiletica morale verso la quale anche gli altri Padri Cappadoci mostrarono sempre un vivo interesse. Nel volume si intende proporre la traduzione con le note dei discorsi genuini di Basilio (eccetto le omelie agiografiche, già pubblicate nel vol. 147 della presente Collana, il Panegirico per il martire Barlaam, non autentico, e il Discorso ai giovani, che esula per vari motivi dal resto della raccolta). I diciotto discorsi, che attestano ed esemplificano nel modo migliore la reale e costante attività di predicazione da parte del grande vescovo di Cesarea, offrono un ricchissimo quadro storico-culturale, fondamentale per la comprensione dell’ambiente e della società cappadoce del secolo IV d.C.: precetti ed esortazioni a pratiche di vita cristiana, condanna delle ricchezze, elogi della povertà, biasimo del vizio ed encomio della virtù sono soltanto un fugace abbozzo della numerosità di spunti che questi testi continuano a fornire anche a distanza dei tanti secoli che da essi ci separano.

Reviews: E. Cattaneo, in: La Civiltà Cattolica, Quaderno 4076, 2020, pp. 199-201

Confessions is considered to be one of the great works by Augustine of Hippo (354-430). While Augustine wrote many more influential treatises, sermons, and even letters, it is Confessions that is most associated with the North African theologian. It is one of his most studied works and continues to captivate readers of all stripes and dispositions. is newest translation of Confessions by Thomas Williams is a masterful work that beautifully captures Augustine's thought and heart.

I Tractatus in Psalmos furono scoperti e pubblicati da G. Morin tra la fine dell’Ottocento e gli inizi del Novecento. Sulla base di vari riscontri l’editore attribuì i nuovi testi a Girolamo, di cui fino a quel momento era pressoché sconosciuta la produzione omiletica, datandoli al primo decennio del V secolo, quando lo Stridonense si trovava a Betlemme. L’attribuzione fu accettata unanimemente, fino a quando nel 1980 V. Peri non propose di intendere i Tractatus come la traduzione geronimiana delle omelie di Origene. Tale tesi ebbe largo successo in Italia, ma incontrò l’opposizione di alcuni studiosi della scuola francese, che continuarono a sostenere la paternità geronimiana.
Qui si pubblicano il testo latino di Morin, rivisto dal curatore, e la traduzione italiana, corredata da un ampio commento che consente di inquadrare i Tractatus all’interno di una corretta prospettiva esegetica, ampia e articolata, che tenga conto della paternità geronimiana e dell’innegabile influenza origeniana.

In this groundbreaking article, the author, an Eastern Christian and practicing child and family psychologist, both calls for much more work to analyze and integrate secular psychology and Eastern Christian spirituality and psychology, and deepens that very process by briefly analyzing develop- mental theories of such as Sigmund and Anna Freud, Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Erik Erikson, John Watson, Wal- ter Bandura, William Kessen, Harry Stack Sullivan, and John Bowlby. These are set alongside prominent psychological theories in Greek patristic and monastic literature from the Philokalia as well as such ancient figures as Sts. Basil the Great, Isaiah the Solitary, Philotheos of Sinai, Hesychios the Priest, Symeon Metaphrastis, Diadochos of Photiki, Anthony the Great; and, in the modern period, Archbishop Chrysos- tomos of Etna, John Boojamra, Anthony Coniaris, and others. The author focuses in particular on patristic-monastic notions of psyche, nous, dianoia, logos, and theosis, which are ana- lyzed to find where there are possible semantic overlaps with analogous terms in the psychological literature of today. Eastern Christian parents, in seeking to fulfill their role as pneumatophors, must practice theosis and strive to help their children grow into that practice by means of de-deification of the ego, rejection of the logismoi, and acquisition of self-control and a spirit of repentance.

This study provides a new account of how the Song of Songs became one of the most popular biblical texts in medieval Western Christianity, through a close and detailed study of its interpretation by late antique Latin theologians. It has often been presumed that early Latin writers exercised little influence on the medieval interpretation of the poem, since there are so few extant commentaries from the period. But this is to overlook the hundreds of citations of and allusions to the Song in the writings of influential figures such as Cyprian, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine as well as the lesser-known theologian Gregory of Elvira. Through a comprehensive analysis of these citations and allusions, it is argued that contrary to the expectations of many modern scholars, the Song of Songs was not a problematic text for early Christian theologians, but was a resource that they mined as they debated the nature of the church and of the virtuous life. The first part of the volume considers the use of the Song in the churches of Roman Africa and Spain, where bishops and theologians focused on images of enclosure and purity invoked in the poem. In the second part, the focus is late fourth-century Italy, where a new ascetic interpretation, concerned particularly with women’s piety, began to emerge. This erotic poem gradually became embedded in the discursive traditions of Latin Late Antiquity, which were bequeathed to the Christian communities of early medieval Europe.

The question of the actual and exact nature of, on the one hand, the pre-Christian and Hellenic and, on the other, the Greco-Roman and Patristic Christian conceptions of the possibility of contact between the Human Mind and the Supreme Deity, as well as of the objective reality of the phenomena, the genera and the experiences they refer to, are considered by way of detailed analyses of the Attic Greek text of Plato’s Republic (the Politeia) and the Latin texts of St. Augustine’s Confessions and De Trinitate (On the Trinity), and also of various translations of these works. The metaphysics, the cosmologies and the anthropologies found by way of these studies are then compared to one another, and briefly contrasted with the widely held presuppositions of the present day and age, i.e. of Modernity.

Courtney J. P. Friesen explores shifting boundaries of ancient religions by way of the reception of a popular tragedy, Euripides’ Bacchae . As a play staging political crises provoked by the arrival of the “foreign” god Dionysus and his ecstatic cult, audiences and readers found resonances with their own cultural moments. This dramatic deity became emblematic of exuberant and liberating spirituality and, at the same time, a symbol of imperial conquest. Thus, readings of the Bacchae frequently foreground conflicts between religious autonomy and political authority, and between ethnic diversity and social cohesion. This cross-disciplinary study traces appropriations and evocations of this drama ranging from the fifth century BCE through Byzantium not only among “pagans” but also Jews and Christians. Writers variously articulated their religious visions over against Dionysus, often while paradoxically adopting the god’s language and symbols. Consequently, imitation and emulation are at times indistinguishable from polemics and subversion.

The late Antique mosaic of Orpheus decorated a small room, approximately 18 m2 in area, connected with two even smaller ones, in 4 m2 and the other 2 m2 in area, belonging most likely to a small funerary chapel (or tomb) discovered in the ancient necropolis by the Damascene Gate in Jerusalem; it was discovered in 1901 by H. Vincent.
The author proposes a new interpretation of the iconographic program of the Orpheus myth used by wealthy Christians in a sepulchral context (see Olszewski M.T. «Orphée endeuillé de la mosaïque funéraire de Jérusalem», in Rey Mimoso-Ruiz, B. ed., Actes du colloque «Orphée entre Soleil et ombre», à l’Institut Catholique de Toulouse du 16 au 17 novembre 2007, Inter Lignes, numéros spécial – mars 2008, pp. 205-214, 226). He also proposes a new interpretation of the role Orpheus played in Roman funerary art, concentrating on the importance of the play on words and the visual and textual punning that was popular in ancient art and especially in funerary art. He rejects the popular interpretation of Orpheus as Christ in the Roman catacombs and proposes to interpret the image as that of Orpheus, bard of the departed souls, without any ahistorical connection with Christ. The program of the mosaic from Jerusalem is thus explained as a play on the words Orpheus-orphanos and Chiron (Chi-Rho) and Pan [Παν(τοκράτωρ)].The frequently used Christian funerary formula of resting in peace, Christ or the Lord corresponds
perfectly with the mood created around the mythical bard.
Orpheus’ universal role as singer and musician moving even the most stony of hearts, extolling the beloved departed, is absolutely justified in the context of a 6th-century Christian tomb. Orpheus is a popular and neutral figure, meaning that in effect it does not constitute a threat to Christian theology and can be tolerated by the educated Christians of Jerusalem.

On this essay, we will present to the reader Justin Martyr, a II century Christian philosopher and theologian. To accomplish this task, we will give a brief summary of the use of the term διδάσκαλος in the Greek poetic and philosophical literature, in Flavius Josephus and the New Testament. Onwards, we will reconstruct the essential elements of Justin's philosophical school at Rome. Aditionally, we will present Justin's biographical data and a critical analysis of his legal procedure and conviction, as transmited by the Acta Iustini, Rescencion A. Finally, we will do a stylistic analysis of Justin's Apology.

Resumo: No presente artigo, apresentaremos ao leitor a figura de Justino Mártir, filófofo e teólogo cristão do século II. Para tanto, apresentaremos um breve resumo do emprego do termo διδάσκαλος na literatura poética e filosófica grega, em Flávio Josefo e no Novo Testamento. A seguir, reconstruiremos os elementos essenciais da escola filosófica de Justino, em Roma. Adicionalmente, apresentaremos os elementos biográficos conhecidos sobre Justino e analisaremos criticamente o registro de seu processo judicial e condenação, conforme transmitidos pela Recensão A dos Acta Iustinus. Finalmente, realizaremos uma análise estilítica da Apologia, de Justino.