JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES最新文献

{"title":"Divine Scripture and Human Emotion in Maximus the Confessor: Exegesis of the Human Heart by Andrew J. Summerson (review)","authors":"Kevin M. Clarke","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915037","url":null,"abstract":"<span><span>In lieu of</span> an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:</span>\u0000<p> <span>Reviewed by:</span> <ul> <li><!-- html_title --> <em>Divine Scripture and Human Emotion in Maximus the Confessor: Exegesis of the Human Heart</em> by Andrew J. Summerson <!-- /html_title --></li> <li> Kevin M. Clarke </li> </ul> Andrew J. Summerson <em>Divine Scripture and Human Emotion in Maximus the Confessor: Exegesis of the Human Heart</em> The Bible in Ancient Christianity 15 Leiden: Brill, 2021 Pp. xi + 147. $106.00. <p>Andrew J. Summerson meets Maximus on his own monastic and ascetical terms in his lucid monograph, <em>Divine Scripture and Human Emotion in Maximus the Confessor: Exegesis of the Human Heart</em>, treating exegesis and detachment in the <em>Quaestiones ad Thalassium</em> (hereafter, <em>Qu. Thal</em>.). Summerson offers the \"first part of a larger project to read and interpret Maximus's principle works\" (3). The brief book, which Summerson says owes much of its development to the guidance of his Augustinianum professor John Rist, is a significant contribution toward understanding Maximus's approach to exegesis and the ways in which his monastic context colors his approach to scripture. In many ways, the book is just as much about Maximus's approach to ἀπάθεια as it is to exegesis.</p> <p>Concerning the structure of the book, the table of contents provides a useful map to navigate the material, and Summerson opens each chapter with a clearly worded abstract. The back matter features nineteen pages of bibliographic entries and a modest index. Summerson employs a consistent method throughout. The chapters feature vibrant conversations between Maximus and his philosophical influences and patristic sources. <em>Divine Scripture and Human Emotion</em> thus will also interest scholars of Clement, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Evagrius.</p> <p>After the Introduction, Summerson divides his book into five chapters. Chapter One situates Maximus as a monk, providing a rather different picture of Maximus from that of Phil Booth, whom Summerson rightly criticizes as misrepresenting Maximus as a protesting dissenter, a move which obscures Maximus's theological pedigree in Summerson's view (7–9). More importantly, this chapter nullifies the dichotomy between monastic life and exegesis. Summerson is careful not to cast Maximus's ascetic claims as predominantly Stoic; rather, Summerson shows that Maximus's doctrine of εὐπάθεια goes beyond what one finds in the Stoics and continues the departure begun in Clement and Origen.</p> <p>Chapter Two makes the case for the \"thematic unity\" of the <em>Qu. Thal</em>., making connections between the ascetic life, the contemplation of creation, and exegesis in Maximus. This chapter showcases Summerson's rhetorical skill interacting with Maximus. There are many clever turns of phrase. Summerson identifies Christ the \"snake-charmer\" while also evincing an appreciation for Maximus's own self-deprecatory <em>tr","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Notion of Heresy in Greek Literature in the Second and Third Centuries by Alain Le Boulluec (review)","authors":"Nicolò Sassi","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915041","url":null,"abstract":"<span><span>In lieu of</span> an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:</span>\u0000<p> <span>Reviewed by:</span> <ul> <li><!-- html_title --> <em>The Notion of Heresy in Greek Literature in the Second and Third Centuries</em> by Alain Le Boulluec <!-- /html_title --></li> <li> Nicolò Sassi </li> </ul> Alain Le Boulluec <em>The Notion of Heresy in Greek Literature in the Second and Third Centuries</em> Edited by David Lincicum and Nicholas Moore Translated by A. K. M. Adam, Monique Cuany, Nicholas Moore, and Warren Campbell, with Jordan Daniel Wood Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022 Pp. 736. $205.00 <p>It goes without saying that any attempt to discuss in 1,000 words an almost 700-page work, especially one as rich and complex as Le Boulluec's <em>The Notion of Heresy in Greek Literature in the Second and Third Centuries</em>, can hardly be illuminating. In addition, since the first publication of the volume in French in 1985, innumerable scholars have thought with and commented on the book from a historical and philological point of view, breaking down in sequence the author's treatment of his major early Christian sources: Justin Martyr, Hegesippus, Irenaeus of Lyon, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, etc. Therefore, in what follows I will limit myself to pointing out some key ideas that Le Boulluec's work contributes to the field of studies on heresy, in both early Christianity and, more importantly in my view, in any discussion of heresy <em>tout court</em>, whether historical or constructive. It is my claim that these key ideas are still relevant today, and we should therefore be thankful to the editors and translators for offering up Le Boulluec's work in a new, elegant English version to scholarly attention once again.</p> <p>Building and expanding on the argument of a classic in the field, the 1934 study by Walter Bauer, <em>Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im ältesten Christentum</em> (lit. \"Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity\"), Le Boulluec demonstrates that the notion of heresy is rooted in a myth of original, unitary right doctrine. According to this myth, the imagined Ur-orthodoxy later becomes corrupted by the advent of deviant and/or polluting doctrines. Heresy, in this framework, is always secondary. Le Boulluec's work does not just bring to light this myth within heresiological representations in early Christianity, but illuminates as well an ironic curiosity in the sources: the same historical data that hands down to us this way of representing heresy also hands down the refutation of this very myth. There was no original unity, the sources show, but rather original diversity, for \"the lack of any common pattern of exclusion demonstrates that the churches do not all have the same sense of their identity, and that norms of belonging change from one context to another\" (588). For many scholars this might not <strong>[End Page 586]</strong> be too remarkable of a claim, but, surprisingly enough, this is still not a given","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Athanasius' Use of the Gospel of John: A Rhetorical Analysis of Athanasius' by Wijnand Adrianus Boezelman (review)","authors":"Chibugo Lebechi","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915038","url":null,"abstract":"<span><span>In lieu of</span> an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:</span>\u0000<p> <span>Reviewed by:</span> <ul> <li><!-- html_title --> <em>Athanasius' Use of the Gospel of John: A Rhetorical Analysis of Athanasius'</em> by Wijnand Adrianus Boezelman <!-- /html_title --></li> <li> Chibugo Lebechi </li> </ul> Wijnand Adrianus Boezelman <em>Athanasius' Use of the Gospel of John: A Rhetorical Analysis of Athanasius'</em> Orations Against the Arians Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2021 Pp. xxi + 395. $144.95. <p>Wijnand Boezelman blends his portrayal of Athanasius of Alexandria with a critical examination of his renowned work, <em>Orationes contra Arianos</em>, focusing in particular on how the Gospel of John was incorporated into the discourse.</p> <p>There are seven chapters in the book. Chapter One, which also serves as the general introduction, discusses the life of Athanasius, his episcopacy, and the beginning of his connection with the Arian controversy. The author notes that Athanasius's personality inspires different shades of opinions among modern scholars, including the portrayal of the bishop as a political gladiator (2). Ecclesiastical politics, however, were influential in fourth-century debates, and Athanasius was \"a skilled dialectician\" who made use of the various rhetorical devices at his disposal (33). It is little wonder that he could draw upon his opponents' original teachings and use extracts from them to advance implications that suited his ideas.</p> <p>Chapter Two discusses the major concepts in the study, namely, the means of persuasion, which include <em>ethos, pathos</em>, and <em>logos</em>, corresponding to the three major elements of speech, namely, orator, text and audience (43). The reception of the Christology of John in the <em>Orationes contra Arianos</em> is also clearly presented, as well as the methodology of the study, which focuses on terminology, edition, and translation.</p> <p>Chapter Three examines the general concerns that provide more in-depth knowledge about the <em>Orationes contra Arianos</em>, which include its date of composition (ca. 339–45 <small>c.e</small>.) and genre, which is consistent with epideictic and invective styles (79–84). He also explains in this section the addressees of the <em>Orations</em>, which comprise three distinct audiences (85). Biblical hermeneutics also dominate the author's argumentation here. He submits that Athanasius believes that his hermeneutics of scripture is consistent with the tradition of his predecessors, which is built on the <em>regula fidei</em> (100–103). Boezelman also emphasizes Athanasius's own interpretive strategy, known as the \"Tripartite Rule\" (<em>Ar</em>. 1.54). This rule advocates that, in order to understand a biblical text correctly, one must take into account the \"time\" (καιρὸς), the \"person\" (πρόσωπόν), and the \"subject matter\" (πρᾶγμα) of the text (105–6). In <em>Ar</em>. 3.28–29, the \"scope\" (σκοπὸς) of scripture is another impo","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"239 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Speaking for and against the Imperial Portrait Statue in Late Antiquity: Libanius's Orations 19–22 and John Chrysostom's Homilies on the Statues (387 C.E.)","authors":"Sean V. Leatherbury","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Abstract:</p><p>In the city of Antioch-on-the-Orontes in 387 c.e., statues of the emperor Theodosius I and his family were destroyed by a crowd angered by a recent tax increase, resulting in a series of imperial punishments enacted upon the city. In the months after the event, two prominent residents, the pagan author Libanius and the Christian priest John Chrysostom, wrote (in the case of Libanius) and preached (in the case of Chrysostom) in response to the destruction of the statues and the ensuing punishments. This article focuses on the varied understandings of the power and presence of imperial portraits written into Libanius's and Chrysostom's texts. In contrast with Libanius's traditional understanding of the statue as a surrogate for the venerable subject it represented, Chrysostom instead argues that the living human is superior to the lifeless statue, as we are created \"in the image of God\" by the supreme artist himself. By marshaling Neoplatonic ideas and pagan critiques of statuary, as well as Christian doctrine, Chrysostom seeks to convince his congregants and later readers still attached to the imperial statue cult that the faithful, rather than graven images, are what matter. Writing in a period in which Christianity was ascendant, and in which some cult statues of the pagan gods were targeted for destruction, Chrysostom's homilies provide a unique window into late fourth-century conceptions of portrait statues, which though different from statues of divine subjects were potentially problematic sites of animation and veneration. Read closely against each other, Libanius's and Chrysostom's texts supplement our understanding of the factors behind the subsequent decline in the production and display of portrait statues, as well as changing ideas about three-dimensional representation in a Christian empire.</p></p>","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New Narratives for Old: The Historical Method of Reading Early Christian Theology, Essays in Honor of Michel René Barnes ed. by Anthony Briggman and Ellen Scully (review)","authors":"Shawn J. Wilhite","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915040","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;In lieu of&lt;/span&gt; an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:&lt;/span&gt;\u0000&lt;p&gt; &lt;span&gt;Reviewed by:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;!-- html_title --&gt; &lt;em&gt;New Narratives for Old: The Historical Method of Reading Early Christian Theology, Essays in Honor of Michel René Barnes&lt;/em&gt; ed. by Anthony Briggman and Ellen Scully &lt;!-- /html_title --&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt; Shawn J. Wilhite &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; Anthony Briggman and Ellen Scully, editors &lt;em&gt;New Narratives for Old: The Historical Method of Reading Early Christian Theology, Essays in Honor of Michel René Barnes&lt;/em&gt; Catholic University of America Studies in Early Christianity Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2022 Pp. xviii + 405. $75.00. &lt;p&gt;This &lt;em&gt;Festschrift&lt;/em&gt; quite seriously demonstrates a need to consider &lt;em&gt;method&lt;/em&gt; for the study of early Christian theology. A \"school\" of early Christian thought can quite possibly be derived from the direct influence of Michel René Barnes. Permeating his scholarship over the years, Barnes presents a concern for a consistent method of historical theology, a criticism of and charge for dogmaticians to consider historical matters more seriously, and an aim to renarrate and correct older systems of thought. In &lt;em&gt;New Narratives for Old&lt;/em&gt;, Anthony Briggman and Ellen Scully gather fellow peers and former students of Barnes to write in his honor. The book features Barnes's clarion call for methodology in historical-theological studies. The dedicatory focus of the &lt;em&gt;Festschrift&lt;/em&gt; seeks to appreciate Barnes's \"methodological clarity in the field of early Christian theology\" (vii). Whereas &lt;em&gt;Festschriften&lt;/em&gt; may vary in the quality of essays, this book reads with far more consistency and depth. For scholars of early Christianity interested in theology, this &lt;em&gt;Festschrift&lt;/em&gt; contributes to the field of knowledge in a manner similar to Barnes's original works by offering clarity of historical methodology and an attempt to model said method(s) for historical theology.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Before beginning the book, the editors provide a wonderful dedication to Barnes. They highlight three areas of his lasting contributions: he (1) redefined and renarrated our understanding of specific features in early Christian theology, (2) wrote three articles from the 1990s on method and patristic theology, and (3) demonstrated a commitment to and articulation of a historical-theological method. Barnes's contributions renarrated three areas of patristic thought, including the \"New Canon\" of Augustinian scholarship, neo- and pro-Nicene thought (even though the former term did not catch on like the latter), and the formation of early Christian Pneumatology. A recent book noted that Barnes's contribution to the \"New Canon\" shifted Augustinian scholarship away from psychological reflection toward a focus on exegesis and Trinitarian theology (see Kevin Grove, &lt;em&gt;Augustine on Memory&lt;/em&gt; [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021]). His first two essays in 1995 (\"De Régnon Reconsi","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tatian's Diatessaron: Composition, Redaction, Recension, and Reception by James W. Barker (review)","authors":"Charles E. Hill","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915036","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;In lieu of&lt;/span&gt; an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:&lt;/span&gt;\u0000&lt;p&gt; &lt;span&gt;Reviewed by:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;!-- html_title --&gt; &lt;em&gt;Tatian's Diatessaron: Composition, Redaction, Recension, and Reception&lt;/em&gt; by James W. Barker &lt;!-- /html_title --&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt; Charles E. Hill &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; James W. Barker &lt;em&gt;Tatian's Diatessaron: Composition, Redaction, Recension, and Reception&lt;/em&gt; Oxford Early Christian Studies Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021 Pp. ix + 157. $85.00. &lt;p&gt;James Barker states his case for a major modification of the \"new perspective\" and a partial return to the \"old perspective\" on Diatessaronic studies. The Diatessaron, the first known harmony of the four Gospels, was composed by Tatian in Greek or in Syriac ca. 170–75 &lt;small&gt;c.e&lt;/small&gt;. Its Greek legacy is almost entirely lost, save for the famous Dura fragment (if indeed this is a copy of the Diatessaron). The Syriac version has left a commentary traditionally attributed to Ephrem, some Gospel citations by Aphrahat, and an eleventh-century translation of the whole work into Arabic. The Latin and later European harmonies are headed by the sixth-century Codex Fuldensis, created by Victor, Bishop of Capua, and his scribe. Victor had discovered a manuscript containing an &lt;em&gt;unum ex quattuor euangelium&lt;/em&gt;, which he determined must have been a copy of Tatian's Diatessaron. He had a new copy made, using Jerome's Vulgate for the text and equipping it with a reworked version of Eusebius's section and canon tables. Barker maintains that Victor's &lt;em&gt;Vorlage&lt;/em&gt; was written in Old Latin, and this is key to his theory that he hopes will represent the next advance in the field of Diatessaronic scholarship.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The \"old perspective,\" exemplified by William Petersen's &lt;em&gt;Tatian's Diatessaron: Its Creation, Dissemination, Significance, and History in Scholarship&lt;/em&gt; (Leiden: Brill, 1994), theorized a (perhaps very early) Old Latin Diatessaron. It sought for remnants of this translation in the many Latin and vernacular harmonies, glosses, and commentaries in places where they agreed with some eastern source, but disagreed with Fuldensis. The new perspective, developed especially by Ulrich Schmid, along with August den Hollander and Elizabeth Meyer, and accepted by most today, has abandoned the quest for an Old Latin Diatessaron. The entire western Diatessaronic tradition, it proposes, descends ultimately from the single volume, Codex Fuldensis. There are no routes around Fuldensis to an Old Latin version.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Barker thinks one route remains. Victor's &lt;em&gt;Vorlage&lt;/em&gt;, or one of its relatives, Barker supposes, survived long past the sixth century to produce a group of late medieval, western harmonies headed by the Middle Dutch Liège (ca. 1280) and Stuttgart (1332) harmonies and the Middle High German Zurich harmony (1300) (this combination hereafter S-L-Z). These harmonies share most of their content-related characteristics with Fuldensis and the rest, departing ","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"101 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revisiting the Date of the Acts of Peter: Engaging with Potential New Evidence from the History of Simon Cephas","authors":"Callie Callon","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Abstract:</p><p>Previous scholarly consensus held that the text preserved in the Latin <i>Actus Vercellenses</i> was a relatively faithful translation of a second-century Greek <i>Acts of Peter</i>. In partial support of this date was the posited intertextual relationship with the <i>Acts of Paul</i>, with particular attention given to the so-called \"<i>quo vadis</i>\" scenes related in both apocryphal acts. More recent scholarship has cast doubt on this, thus removing the <i>terminus ad quem</i> of a late second-century date that this posited relationship provided. Taking this as his starting point, Matthew Baldwin's work constitutes a formidable challenge to previous consensus of both the date and the faithfulness of the Latin translation. He argues that the <i>Vercelli Acts</i> should be understood as a fourth-century product in its own right and of no value for recovering an earlier <i>Acts of Peter</i>. While some brief counterarguments to this have been offered, to the best of my knowledge none have yet incorporated the fourth-century Syriac <i>History of Simon Cephas, Chief of the Apostles</i>, which has extensive parallels with the <i>Vercelli Acts</i>. Doing so lends additional evidence to the priority of the <i>Acts of Peter</i>, as well as potentially verifies scholarly argument regarding a redactional history of the <i>Acts of Peter</i> in the second century. As a fourth-century composition itself that includes material reflecting this date, it is also useful in comparison with details preserved in the <i>Vercelli Acts</i> that scholars have suggested attest to the preservation of earlier material. Taken together, these three avenues of discussion can potentially reinstate the consensus regarding the existence of a second-century <i>Acts of Peter</i> that is more or less faithfully preserved in the <i>Vercelli Acts</i>.</p></p>","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"72 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138715219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Magical Practice ed. by Elisabeth R. O'Connell (review)","authors":"Michael Beshay","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915042","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;In lieu of&lt;/span&gt; an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:&lt;/span&gt;\u0000&lt;p&gt; &lt;span&gt;Reviewed by:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;!-- html_title --&gt; &lt;em&gt;The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Magical Practice&lt;/em&gt; ed. by Elisabeth R. O'Connell &lt;!-- /html_title --&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt; Michael Beshay &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; Elisabeth R. O'Connell, editor &lt;em&gt;The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Magical Practice&lt;/em&gt; London: The British Museum, 2022 Pp. v + 235. $64.95. &lt;p&gt;This volume (edited by Elisabeth R. O'Connell) represents the convergence of two significant trends in the historical study of religion in late antique Egypt. The first is the so-called \"material turn,\" a theoretical stream within the study of history placing emphasis on the enduring aspects of extant materials and the stories they tell about the people, cultures, and societies that produced, used, and transmitted them. The second is the specific attention to the scripts, objects, and devices traditionally labeled \"magic,\" with ample discussion of the constitution and utility of the category in relation to \"religion.\" Coptic magical texts, in particular, offer rich sources for investigating the materiality of ancient religions, since the majority of the scripts are contained in compilations that bear signs of many earlier impressions; thus, Coptic magical texts may be classified as both objects and traditions, existing at the crossroads of \"religion\" and \"magic.\" P. Brit. Mus. Hay 1–7, the subjects of this volume, are prime examples of such texts that harbor plentiful details for reconstructing the material and ritual history of late antique Egypt. Appropriately, the research contained here employs a multidisciplinary approach, from cultural and textual studies to the scientific analyses of leather, developing a robust historical profile of the manuscripts. The researchers intend this work to provide a model for similar investigations of ancient texts.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The volume is organized into eight chapters explaining various dimensions of the background, interpretation, and significance of P. Brit. Mus. Hay 1–7. Chapter One (by Elisabeth R. O'Connell) provides an introduction to the volume's contents, the Hay archive, and the study of \"magic\" in late antique Egypt. Topics move from the specific, defining the character and users of the Hay texts, to the general, describing Egypt's political, linguistic, and religious history from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages. The chapter's final sections focus on the context of magic in ancient Egypt and Coptic magic in particular. Both at the beginning and end, O'Connell alludes to a central finding of this study (elaborated in Chapter Two)—namely, the likely provenance of the Hay archive in western Thebes.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The next three chapters focus on the discovery and preservation of the manuscripts. Chapter Two (by Elisabeth R. O'Connell) details the ","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138717221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mirrors of the Divine: Late Ancient Christianity and the Vision of God by Emily R. Cain (review)","authors":"Derek King","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915043","url":null,"abstract":"<span><span>In lieu of</span> an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:</span>\u0000<p> <span>Reviewed by:</span> <ul> <li><!-- html_title --> <em>Mirrors of the Divine: Late Ancient Christianity and the Vision of God</em> by Emily R. Cain <!-- /html_title --></li> <li> Derek King </li> </ul> Emily R. Cain <em>Mirrors of the Divine: Late Ancient Christianity and the Vision of God</em> Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023 Pp. viii + 194. $83.00. <p>What does it mean to see God? For Christians, the matter is complicated. On the one hand, the Bible insists that no one can see God and live (Exodus 33.20). On the other hand, Jesus says the pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5.8). In <em>Mirrors of the Divine</em>, Emily Cain approaches the matter with care. She shows why this theme flourished in ancient Christianity and its significance for us today.</p> <p>Cain summarizes the book's argument in the Introduction: \"In this book, I focus on a selection of theological discussions on vision and mirrors, and I argue that these philosophical and theological speculations of vision of God are also the very location for important discursive struggles over claims of Christian identity, Christian agency, and Christian epistemology\" (6). Identity, agency, and epistemology moor the historical arguments, as they are markers that direct her engagement toward contemporary relevance.</p> <p>The outline of the book is simple and clear. She begins with an extensive background of ancient theories on sight. Ancient philosophers were primarily interested in how we internally processed external stimuli. Many thought the process was material, too. In \"extramission,\" for example, \"our vision is sent out to meet the light\" (20). In \"intromission\" and \"atomism,\" on the other hand, \"particles stream from an object toward the viewer\" (24). The difference illustrates well the dynamic of the activity and passivity involved in vision. Along with the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, these ancient views are foundational for later thought on vision that Cain turns toward next. <strong>[End Page 590]</strong></p> <p>Cain next examines vision in two influential Christian thinkers: Tertullian of Carthage and Clement of Alexandria. She argues that Tertullian uses a philosophically inconsistent view of the world, mixing the Stoic and Epicurean theories of visual perception, to create a spiritual hierarchy (64). Considering spiritual identity, Cain specifically examines how Tertullian applies this to gender, suggesting that gendered embodiment is important for one's seeing God and therefore one's place in the hierarchy. Clement, though, sees baptism as a kind of \"cataract surgery,\" thereby opening up a kind of spiritual vision for the baptized believer (75–79). Like Tertullian, Cain argues that Clement merges different ancient theories of vision to make his point (84). Cain then moves to an excursus on mirrors and their role in self-reflection. She distinguishes the \"philosopher's mir","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"268 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Christianity and the Contest for Manhood in Late Antiquity: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Masculinity by Nathan D. Howard (review)","authors":"Richard Flower","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915045","url":null,"abstract":"<span><span>In lieu of</span> an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:</span>\u0000<p> <span>Reviewed by:</span> <ul> <li><!-- html_title --> <em>Christianity and the Contest for Manhood in Late Antiquity: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Masculinity</em> by Nathan D. Howard <!-- /html_title --></li> <li> Richard Flower </li> </ul> Nathan D. Howard <em>Christianity and the Contest for Manhood in Late Antiquity: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Masculinity</em> Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023 Pp. xvi + 338. $120.00. <p>When the emperor Julian's relationship with Antioch soured during his stay there on his way to Persia, his response was characteristically idiosyncratic: he penned his <em>Misopogon</em>, or <em>Beard Hater</em>, and had it posted up publicly for all to see. In this incredibly sarcastic treatise, he issued a mock apology for his appearance, including his philosophical beard and shaggy chest-hair, contrasting it with the depilated bodies of the Antiochenes, which were \"smoother than women\" (346A). He similarly compared his own austere, bookish lifestyle with the city's love of luxury, with excessive eating, drinking, dancing, and theater-going. Moreover, Julian claimed that his devotion to <em>paideia</em> and \"manliness\" (ἀνδρεία) in resisting desires were instilled during his youth by his tutor Mardonius, who was both a Scythian barbarian and a eunuch. In a reversal of expectations, Mardonius understood proper masculinity much better than the so-called \"men\" of Antioch.</p> <p>Nathan D. Howard's book examines the deployment of similar discourse by three of Julian's Christian contemporaries, the \"Cappadocian Fathers\" Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Despite being vehemently opposed to the pagan emperor, the trio enjoyed the same elite educational background as him and were keen to present themselves (and other figures they approved of) as <em>pepaideumenoi</em>, paradigmatic examples of cultured, aristocratic men who formed the ruling class of the later Roman empire. Howard therefore situates these bishops firmly within a classical tradition of constructing the ideal Greek man, while also demonstrating some distinctively Christian elements of their rhetoric, most notably in the celebration of asceticism, the incorporation of biblical <em>exempla</em>, and the deployment of these ideas for invective against enemies of Nicene theology, especially \"Heterousian\" heretics. The substantial Introduction establishes important context, exploring a wealth of different factors involved in the characterization of elite men during the preceding centuries. Howard focuses in particular on the agonistic culture of public oratory and performance during the \"Second Sophistic,\" drawing on studies of the construction of masculinity and <em>aretē</em> (\"excellence\") in this period, especially the work of Maud Gleason and Erik Gunderson. The Introduction does, however, range much more","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}