{"title":"Against “Irenaean” Theodicy: A Refutation of John Hick’s Use of Irenaeus, written by David Hionides","authors":"Grayden McCashen","doi":"10.1163/15700720-12341602","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-12341602","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83484738","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 Shepherd of Hermas and the Pauline Legacy, written by Jonathan E. Soyars","authors":"B. Ehrman","doi":"10.1163/15700720-12341489","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-12341489","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88005737","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":"Contesting Aristotle: Science, Theology and the Resurrection of the Body in Methodius of Olympus’ De Resurrectione and the Dialogue of Adamantius","authors":"Dawn LaValle Norman","doi":"10.1163/15700720-BJA10034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-BJA10034","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The contest over the resurrection of the body used the scientific authority of Aristotle as ammunition on both sides. Past scholars have read Methodius of Olympus as displaying an anti-Aristotelian bias. In contrast, through close reading of the entire text with attention to characterization and development of argument, I prove that Methodius of Olympus’ dialogue the De Resurrectione utilizes Aristotelian biology as a morally neutral tool. To put this into higher relief, I compare Methodius’ dialogue with the anonymous Dialogue of Adamantius, a text directly dependent upon the Methodius’ De Resurrectione, but which rejects arguments based on scientific reasoning. Reading Methodius’ De Resurrectione with greater attention to the whole and putting it in the context of its nearest parallel text retells the traditional story of early Christian resistance to Aristotle. Methodius of Olympus’ characters, although they view scientific knowledge as subordinate to philosophy, see it as neutral in and of itself.","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86285332","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":"Sir 34:30 and Forensic Rhetoric in Augustine’s Conflict with the Donatists","authors":"Adam D. Ployd","doi":"10.1163/15700720-BJA10032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-BJA10032","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The book of Sirach plays a larger part within Augustine’s theology than has hitherto been appreciated. This article helps fill this lacuna by examining the role of Sir 34:30 – “What does the bath profit one who is baptized by a dead man?” – in Augustine’s conflict with the Donatists. In addition to showing the significance of this verse within the conflict, I further argue that it allows us to espy the forensic rhetoric that shapes much of Augustine’s anti-Donatist polemic. In particular, I point to techniques of inventio that provide not merely stylistic but also argumentative forms and approaches that Augustine deploys on several fronts.","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"353 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75495829","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":"Chrysostom’s Homily on the Word Koimeterion and on the Cross: A Translation and Commentary","authors":"David M. Friel","doi":"10.1163/15700720-12341486","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-12341486","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Chrysostom’s homily De coemeterio et de cruce (CPG 4337) was delivered during a full eucharistic synaxis on Good Friday in a cemetery outside the gates of late-fourth-century Antioch. It demonstrates both rhetorical and theological prowess. Chrysostom consoles his hearers by likening death to sleep and reflecting on the cemetery as a “sleeping place” (koimeterion). The text is notable for its theology of physical space, its conception of liturgical anamnesis, and its presentation of the Christus Victor atonement motif. The homily also highlights the liturgical role of the Holy Spirit, especially by alluding to the eucharistic epiclesis, and it chastises the congregation for their poor behavior during the communion rite. This article presents the homily’s full text in Greek with English translation, followed by a commentary that probes its major themes and liturgical aspects.","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90167009","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 Odd Future Participle at Pol. Phil. XIII: Reassessing the Authenticity and Unity of Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians","authors":"Otto H. Linderborg, V. Johansson","doi":"10.1163/15700720-12341485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-12341485","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The Letter to the Philippians is the sole surviving work of the early Christian bishop and martyr, Polycarp of Smyrna. Ever since the 17th century scholars have contested the authenticity and unity of the letter without reaching a settlement. However, new linguistic evidence allows for a reassessment of the controversy. The future participle πρεσβεύσοντα at Pol. Phil. XIII.1 is one of a mere four occurrences of FPs in the entire corpus of the Apostolic Fathers, and the use of the FP is exceedingly rare among low-register Judeo-Christian texts in general. The statistical analysis over a wide range of Ancient Greek literary texts conducted in this paper lends support to the conclusion that Pol. Phil. is a uniform text with a spurious interpolation in the form of the bulk of chapter XIII.","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90045577","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":"Satan and Circumcision: The Devil as the ἄγγελος πονηρός in Barn 9:4","authors":"Isaac T. Soon","doi":"10.1163/15700720-BJA10035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-BJA10035","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This study argues that the ἄγγελος πονηρός in Barn 9.4 was Satan. James Carleton Paget, Adolf Hilgenfeld, Ferdinand Prostmeier and Geza Vermes gestured toward this interpretation, but none offered evidence for this identification other than assertion. In Barnabas, there is a constellation of ideas that connect circumcision with Satan, namely circumcision with pagan idolatry (9.6), idolatry to demons (16.7), and finally idolatry and demons to Satan’s ultimate rule (18.1; 20.1). Satan is also related to other obsolete Jewish cultic practices (2.4, 6; 16.1–2, 7). Barnabas also repeatedly describes the devil with the adjective πονηρός. Additionally, the fourth-century papyrus PSI VII 757r reads ἄγγελος ὁ πονηρός, identifying the angel as Satan. The “Ethiopianisation” of Satan as “the black one” (as argued by Clare Rothschild) confirms this reading. Since “Ethiopians” practiced circumcision, the devil as a “the black one” associates Satan with circumcision.","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88197149","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":"Modelling a Christian Academy: Christ, Disciples, and Biblical Scholarship in Origen’s Commentary on Matthew","authors":"J. Solheid","doi":"10.1163/15700720-BJA10018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-BJA10018","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This paper addresses evidence in Origen’s Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew of the Alexandrian’s self-understanding of his scholastic practices. Drawing on Origen’s interpretation of the parables in the Gospel, I argue that Origen exploits the motif of Jesus explaining the parables to his disciples as a model for his own school enterprise in Caesarea. In light of this observation, I will begin by examining the echoes of the classroom environment found in Origen’s Matthew Commentary building on the work of Guido Bendinelli and Lorenzo Perrone. Paying particular attention to stylistic features, such as the use of the first-person plural, I will map the classroom dynamic in the making of the commentary. Then, I will focus on Origen’s hermeneutical approach to Jesus’ parables, especially the distinction he draws between Jesus engagement with the “crowds” and his private teaching to the disciples. Underpinning the Matthew Commentary was Origen’s attempt to model his school against the conceptual backdrop of the Jesus-disciple dynamic and the Greco-Roman philosophical school tradition.","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81117309","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":"Antithesis and Paradox in the Epistle to Diognetus","authors":"M. Freeman","doi":"10.1163/15700720-BJA10031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-BJA10031","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This paper examines the use of antithesis and paradox in the Epistle to Diognetus. The text employs these rhetorico-philosophical techniques in order to provoke interest in readers, whether pagan or Christian, and lure them toward deeper inquiry and understanding of the truths the author thinks Christianity teaches. That is, the anticipated effects of antithesis and paradox as classical rhetorical tools, as described by ancient rhetoricians and philosophers, promotes the overall protreptic goal of the text. The antitheses capture the audience’s attention, while the pervasive use of paradoxical language and reasoning guides it toward deeper inquiry about Christianity. Not only are Christian existence and God’s plan of salvation paradoxical, but the author’s very understanding of how to comprehend these paradoxes contradicts the expectations created by classical philosophical notions of paradox.","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73893631","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":"On an Alleged Senatus Consultum against the Christians","authors":"Mattias Gassman","doi":"10.1163/15700720-BJA10033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-BJA10033","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000A passage in Macarius Magnes’ Apocriticus (2,14 Volp) has recently been adduced to support the long-controverted hypothesis that a senatus consultum was issued against the Christians in the year 35. The note reviews the evidence and finds it wanting. Of the texts usually adduced, Tertullian, Apologeticum 5,1–3 does not describe a senatus consultum, Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica 5,21,4 and the Greek and Armenian Acta Apollonii say nothing about Tiberius, and Jerome, Chronicon 35–36 post Christum appears to be an elaboration from Tertullian. The Macarian passage, in turn, refers to a “common judgment” and describes the condemnation of Christians by all respectable persons, especially the senatus populusque Romanus. It does not describe the promulgation of a formal senatus consultum.","PeriodicalId":44928,"journal":{"name":"VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE","volume":"215 6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83251633","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}