JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES最新文献

{"title":"The Coptic Act of Peter in Late Antiquity: Virginity, Disability, Intertextuality","authors":"Luke Drake","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Abstract:</p><p>In this essay, I argue that the Coptic <i>Act of Peter</i> (Papyrus Berolinensis 8502.4) is a late ancient Christian reformulation of an early Jewish temple tradition preserved in the book of <i>3 Maccabees</i>, according to which God preserves the sanctity of his temple by means of divine paralysis. I argue further that the implications of this intertextual relationship ought to influence how we interpret the <i>Act of Peter</i>—its narrative, themes, and theology—as well as how and where we might situate this apocryphal account in history. Instead of placing the Greek original in the second or third centuries, I locate it closer to the fourth or fifth, alongside a contemporaneous surge of orthodox exhortations and treatises on virginity—most likely in the context of the varieties of \"household asceticism\" that were prevalent in late ancient Syria and Asia Minor.</p></p>","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"79 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138715065","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":"Converting after Constantine: Firmicus Maternus and the Scriptures","authors":"Mattias Gassman","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915031","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Abstract:</p><p>The two extant works by the senator Julius Firmicus Maternus, a manual of astrology (<i>Mathesis</i>, ca. 337) and a ferocious attack on senatorial paganism (<i>De errore profanarum religionum</i>, 343–50), offer exceptional insight into the transformation of a convert's beliefs in the era of Constantine. Study of Firmicus's Christianity has long been hampered by distaste for his desire to see pagan cult annihilated and by the belief that he took essentially all of his scriptural knowledge from Cyprian's <i>Ad Quirinum</i> and <i>Ad Fortunatum</i>. Recent scholarship has dealt with the first issue. This article focuses on the second. Surveying Firmicus's biblical quotations and allusions, it demonstrates that he had extensive knowledge of biblical passages that Cyprian does not cite, ranging far beyond the Psalms (which Firmicus is generally thought to have known independently). He interprets Cyprianic texts in light of non-Cyprianic parallels, cites surrounding context, weaves in references to liturgical custom, and deploys well-known exegetical motifs such as the interpretation of Psalm 23 (LXX) in reference to Christ's descent and ascension. Combined with his heavy reliance on Cyprian for quotations, Firmicus's use of biblical passages and extrabiblical theological ideas suggests that he was widely read in scripture, but that had to hand only Cyprian's collections, with whose explanatory headings his ideas about coercion and his Christology engage. Firmicus's engagement with scripture, in part through Cyprian's mediation, thus illustrates the processes by which an upper-class convert could assimilate Christian ideas. His integration of astral language into his description of Christianity, in turn, undercuts modern generalizations about the Christianity of the Constantinian era. Far from being at home with pagan conceptions of the universe, Firmicus reworks them to exalt Christ and the cross above the stars themselves.</p></p>","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"198 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714488","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":"Fallen Angels in the Theology of Saint Augustine by Gregory D. Wiebe (review)","authors":"Travis Proctor","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915039","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;Fallen Angels in the Theology of Saint Augustine&lt;/em&gt; by Gregory D. Wiebe &lt;!-- /html_title --&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt; Travis Proctor &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; Gregory D. Wiebe &lt;em&gt;Fallen Angels in the Theology of Saint Augustine&lt;/em&gt; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021 Pp. xviii + 258. $100. &lt;p&gt;This book offers a thorough exploration of Augustine's understanding of fallen angels and demons, with special attention to their ancient demonological, angelological, and anthropological underpinnings. Wiebe focuses on three of Augustine's most important demonological works: &lt;em&gt;The City of God, The Literal Meaning of Genesis&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;The Trinity&lt;/em&gt;. Wiebe also gives due attention to the potential sources for Augustine's angelology and demonology, noting both Christian and non-Christian inspirations. Importantly, Wiebe pushes back against suggestions that Augustine's reflections on the moral import of demons resulted in their \"psychologizing\" (read: dis-embodiment); rather, Wiebe argues that \"Augustine's basic insight … [is] that the moral struggle with demons is only properly contained within the ecclesial body\" (3).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Chapter One, \"The Angels of God,\" explores the creation and distinctive nature of angels, with Wiebe judiciously tracing how these beings are situated within Augustine's broader understanding of God and creation. Chapter Two, \"The Fall of the Angels,\" analyzes the causes and consequences of the angels' rebellion against God, with vigilant attention to the logical consequences of the fall for angelic and demonic modes of embodiment and influence upon humans.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Chapter Three, \"Demonic Bodies,\" details demonic embodiment further. Notably, Wiebe analyzes how the embodiment of fallen angels and demons emerges as part of Augustine's discussion of their interaction with and temptation of humans. Chapter Four, \"Demonic Phenomena,\" explores Augustine's description of demonic appearances to humans, noting how Augustine limits demonic power to the corporeal sphere (i.e., the spaces in which their bodies can operate). Significantly, this functions to insulate the human will from demonic attack, thus providing human opportunity for resistance to demonic temptations.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Chapter Five, \"The Devil and His Body,\" shows how, according to Augustine, fallen angels and demons have created a rival \"symbolic order\" to that of God, as physically embodied in the religious institutions and practices of \"pagan\" Rome. Chapter Six, \"Pagan Demonolatry,\" deepens this investigation, demonstrating how Augustine contrasts the false, imitative \"religion\" of the demons with the salvific, authentic piety of the church.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The broader significance, and major strength, of this book is its insistence that fallen angels and demons were integral components of Augustine's broader theology, contra earlier interpreters who, as Wiebe n","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"198 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714686","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":"Politics and the Earthly City in Augustine's by Veronica Roberts Ogle (review)","authors":"Naoki Kamimura","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915035","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;Politics and the Earthly City in Augustine's&lt;/em&gt; by Veronica Roberts Ogle &lt;!-- /html_title --&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt; Naoki Kamimura &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; Veronica Roberts Ogle &lt;em&gt;Politics and the Earthly City in Augustine's&lt;/em&gt; City of God Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020 Pp. x + 201. $99.00. &lt;p&gt;In her 2020 book, &lt;em&gt;Politics and the Earthly City in Augustine's&lt;/em&gt; City of God, Veronica Roberts Ogle critically examines what the \"earthly city\" means as presented in Augustine's &lt;em&gt;City of God&lt;/em&gt; and draws attention to the \"psychagogic\" function of the rhetoric of the &lt;em&gt;City of God&lt;/em&gt;. She argues that the status of \"politics\" should be determined within a sacramental worldview. She also claims that Augustine expects his readers \"to work for an earthly peace understood in light of &lt;em&gt;amor Dei&lt;/em&gt; … in light of the needs of concrete human persons\" (183).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Augustine's &lt;em&gt;City of God&lt;/em&gt;, like other important works in his corpus, is a fascinating text that has addressed us with a \"great and arduous task,\" so to speak, the response to which has always been debated and questioned. Many who have discussed the implications of Augustine's model of two \"cities\" for our society indicate that Augustine's pessimistic emphasis on politics most aptly expresses his contempt for the political character of our lives. Indeed, Augustinian scholarship in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has been mired in debates over conflicting positions on the status of politics in Augustine's thought. Those who have worked in this area will know well that scholars such as Ernest Fortin, Herbert Deane, Robert Markus, John Milbank, Rowan Williams, Robert Dodaro, Gerald O'Daly, and Gillian Clark have argued over whether Augustine was a political realist, whether he positioned the political sphere as a neutral space, or whether he viewed the political in a pessimistic light. Ogle provides a valuable overview of this sequence of discussions in the Introduction. With the six chapters that follow and a brief conclusion, Ogle's book joins more recent attempts (e.g., those of Eric Gregory, Michael Bruno, Richard Dougherty, Michael Lamb, and Mary Keys) to articulate Augustine's multifaceted view of political philosophy and theology.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;After showing the &lt;em&gt;status quaestionis&lt;/em&gt; and its correlation with her work in the Introduction, in Chapter One, \"The Parodic City,\" Ogle details how Augustine's \"earthly city\" is a \"counterfeit\" or \"shadow of the city of God\" (41), examining the argument in Books 11–14 of the &lt;em&gt;City of God&lt;/em&gt; and presenting &lt;em&gt;amor sui&lt;/em&gt; as the destructive logic contained in the earthly city. Chapter Two, \"The Sack of &lt;em&gt;Roma Aeterna&lt;/em&gt;,\" reveals Augustine's attempt, based on his psychagogical methods, to &lt;strong&gt;[End Page 575]&lt;/strong&gt; direct the reader's attention beyond the history of the","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138714698","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 Syriac World: In Search of a Forgotten Christianity by Francoise Briquel Chatonnet and Muriel Debie (review)","authors":"","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a915044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a915044","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"80 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139026457","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":"Augustine's Use of Didymus the Blind on John 5.19","authors":"Carl L. Beckwith","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a904928","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a904928","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Augustine cites the beginning of Didymus's De Spiritu sancto in his Quaestiones in Heptateuchum, which he began in 419. Some scholars think that Augustine read no more than the beginning of Didymus's work; others think that he read and made use of Didymus but have identified no textual correspondence between the two. I argue that Augustine's use of Didymus's De Spiritu sancto may be seen in his citation and interpretation of John 5.19. Augustine uses an unusual scriptural variant for the ending of John 5.19 twelve times. Nine of these occur in trinitarian works produced around 419–20. The variant also appears in Jerome's translation of Didymus's De Spiritu sancto. There is further evidence linking Augustine to Didymus's discussion of John 5.19. I argue that Augustine found the variant in Jerome's translation and that he made creative use of Didymus's construal of John 16.13 and 5.19 in several trinitarian writings produced around 419–20.","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"31 1","pages":"283 - 300"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48779531","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":"Hell Hath No Fury: Gender, Disability, and the Invention of Damned Bodies in Early Christian Literature by Meghan R. Henning (review)","authors":"Amy Hughes","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a904932","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a904932","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"31 1","pages":"387 - 389"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47805510","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":"Demonic Bodies and the Dark Ecologies of Early Christian Culture by Travis W. Proctor (review)","authors":"Sarah F. Porter","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a904936","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a904936","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"31 1","pages":"395 - 397"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43623615","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 Slow Fall of Babel: Languages and Identities in Late Antique Christianity by Yuliya Minets (review)","authors":"Alison John","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a904934","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a904934","url":null,"abstract":"identified and closely read, illuminating political connections and re-interpreting important events. As a result, every chapter is both thought-provoking and rewarding, offering new insights and perspectives for the study of an institution and a social group that, as the author convincingly shows, played a vital role in the history of the last centuries of the Roman empire in the West. Carlos Machado, University of St. Andrews","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"31 1","pages":"391 - 393"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44333781","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":"Christian Emperors and Roman Elites in Late Antiquity by Rita Lizzi Testa (review)","authors":"C. Machado","doi":"10.1353/earl.2023.a904933","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2023.a904933","url":null,"abstract":"context of the United States, such as with the modern hell house phenomenon and tours of hell in entertainment like the television sitcom The Good Place and the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. Thus, any impulse to dismiss such punitive imaginative constructions as primitive is untenable. Henning argues convincingly that centering non-normative bodies in a punitive framework—ancient or modern—does not contain sin and injustice. There is no containment because reducing suffering, non-normative bodies to tools that educate or entertain in a punitive frame “objectifies not only the female and disabled bodies of the damned, but the bodies of the viewers themselves” (149). Hell Hath No Fury makes a compelling case that images of hell—ancient or modern—affect how one views earthly bodies and justice in relation to those bodies. Amy Hughes, Gordon College","PeriodicalId":44662,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES","volume":"31 1","pages":"389 - 391"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42730473","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}