Early Christian poetry : a collection of essays /
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This collection of essays deals with the rise and development of early Christian poetry, discussing its techniques and its theoretical foundation. The individual papers concern specimina of Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Latin poetry and study the various and partly conflicting traditions from which it originated. The biblical examples, e.g. of the Psalms, held great authority, but on the other hand it was impossible to break away from the models of classical Greco-Roman poetry, although these were deemed dangerous because of the pagan content and excessive cult of literary art. The book shows how the problems involved were solved in different ways, which justified the use of pagan literary accomplishments for singing the praises of the Lord.
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1 online resource (xi, 318 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004312890 :
0902-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Violence in ancient Christianity : victims and perpetrators /
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Ancient Christianity had an ambivalent stance toward violence. Jesus had instructed his disciples to love their enemies, and in the first centuries Christians were proud of this lofty teaching and tried to apply it to their persecutors and to competing religious groups. Yet at the same time they testify to their virulent verbal criticism of Jews, heretics and pagans, who could not accept the Christian exclusiveness. After emperor Constantine had turned to Christianity, Christians acquired the opportunity to use violence toward competing groups and pagans, even though they were instructed to love them personally and Jewish-Christian relationships flourished at grass root level. General analyses and case studies demonstrate that the fashionable distinction between intolerant monotheism and tolerant polytheism must be qualified.
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1 online resource (viii, 252 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004274907 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The impact of scripture in early Christianity /
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One of the most conspicuous innovations of early Christianity within Greco-Roman culture is its reliance upon a collection of authoritative texts. The ultimate author of Scripture was thought to be God Himself, whose will could and should be sought and found in these holy writings. For this reason it is not surprising that very soon these texts not only became the object of careful attention and scholarly study, but also put their stamp on the various forms and manifestations of early Christian life, such as martyrdom, asceticism, liturgy, art, and literature. This multifarious influence of Scripture is the subject of The Impact of Scripture in Early Christianity . It contains fourteen contributions, predominantly in English, by Belgian and Dutch scholars which have been gathered in a thematically ordered collection.
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1 online resource (xiii, 278 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004313118 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christian faith and Greek philosophy in late antiquity : essays in tribute to George Christopher...
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This volume is a collection of thirteen essays offered in dedication to Professor C.G. Stead on his 80th birthday. Their theme is the philosophy underlying the presentation of Christian teaching in Late Antiquity. The essays deal with individual theologians (Augustine, Ambrose, Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory of Nyssa), with ideological background (Christian and Roman universalism), and with the discussion of particular texts. A bibliography and brief appreciation of Professor Stead's contribution to Patristic studies are included.
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English and German. :
1 online resource (x, 266 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 247-255) and indexes. :
9789004312852 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Demons and the Devil in ancient and medieval Christianity /
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This collection of essays approaches the role of demons and the devil in ancient and medieval Christianity from a variety of scholarly perspectives: historical, philosophical, and theological as well as philological, liturgical, and theoretical. In the opening article Gerd Theissen presents a wide-ranging overview of the role of the devil, spanning the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and patristic literature. The contributions that follow address texts on the devil, demons, and evil, and are drawn from ancient philosophy, the New Testament, early Christian apologetics, hagiography, and history. Covering primarily the patristic period, the volume also contains articles on medieval sources. The introduction discusses the different angles of approach found in the articles in an effort to shed fresh light on this familiar but also uniquely troubling theme.
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Based on a conference held Oct. 6-7, 2006 in Heeze, Netherlands. :
1 online resource (xii, 257 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004208056 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christians shaping identity from the Roman Empire to Byzantium : studies inspired by Pauline Allen /
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The essays collected in Christians Shaping Identity celebrate Pauline Allen's significant contribution to early Christian, late antique, and Byzantine studies, especially concerning bishops, heresy/orthodoxy and christology. Covering the period from earliest Christianity to middle Byzantium, the first eighteen essays explore the varied ways in which Christians constructed their own identity and that of the society around them. A final four essays explore the same theme within Roman Catholicism and oriental Christianity in the late 19th to 21st centuries, with particular attention to the subtle relationships between the shaping of the early Christian past and the moulding of Christian identity today. Among the many leading scholars represented are Averil Cameron and Elizabeth A. Clark.
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1 online resource (xv, 520 pages) :
"Publications by Pauline Allen"--Pages 13-21.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004301573 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christus Medicus in der frühchristlichen Sarkophagskulptur : ikonographische Studien der Sepulkralkunst des späten vierten Jahrhunderts /
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This study deals with the representation of Christ's Healing Miracles in early Christian sepulchral art from Provence and Northern Italy. It sees the imagery through the contemporary exegetical writings and tries thus to uncover new strata of symbolic significance in early Christian art. The aim of the work is to reveal the complex theological concepts reflected in the relief decoration of a small number of late fourth-century sarcophagi and to cast thus light upon the spiritual climate of the sphere the persons who commissioned them were part of. It also links the narrative structure of representations of medical treatment and miracle scenes in ancient art with the Christian images and establishes new formal and iconographic connexions.
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1 online resource (xv, 212 pages, [32] pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 196-204) and index. :
9789004313040 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Die christlichen Lehrer im zweiten Jahrhundert : ihre Lehrtätigkeit, ihr Selbstverständnis und ihre Geschichte /
: A slight Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 1987. : 1 online resource (x, 279 pages) : Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-267) and index. : 9789004312739 : 0920-623X ; : Available to subscribing member institutions only.
De ieiunio I, II : zwei Predigten über das Fasten /
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Basil's sermons in Greek and Rufinus' Latin versions, with German commentary and translation of Rufinus' work.
Includes indexes. :
1 online resource (56 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. xiii-xiv). :
9789004312746 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Die Würde des Menschen : ein Beitrag zur Anthropologie in der alten Kirche /
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There can be no doubt that there is a link between early Christian statements on human dignity and the corresponding modern concept, as it appears ever more frequently in current bioethical debates. This study attempts to throw light on the surprisingly complex process of the emergence of such a Christian concept of human dignity in antiquity and portrays it as a process governed by contradictions and antagonisms: between biblical and platonic anthropology; between a platonic and a stoic perception of humanity; between gnostic and antignostic cosmology; between biblically based criticism of human culture on the one hand and heilsgeschichtlichem cultural optimism on the other hand; between Greek and Roman thinking. This history of the idea of the "dignity of man" is being recounted taking into consideration the complex matrix of Christian theory and practice (including issues such as worship, contraception and abortion), piety and theological reflection, ethics, liturgy and theological as well as cutural anthropology. *** Bei dieser Studie handelt es sich um den Versuch einer zusammenfassenden Darstellung der christlich-antiken Auseinandersetzung mit der Würde des menschlichen Lebens Diese wird nicht nur gegenwärtig etwa in der Bioethik wieder kontrovers diskutiert, sondern ist auch in der Antike ein Feld philosophischer und theologischer Überlegungen gewesen. Volp fragt, inwieweit sich in den Schriften der antiken christlichen Denker die Vorstellung einer mit einer besonderen Würde ausgestatteten gemein-menschlichen Natur findet, die Menschen von Tieren und von belebter und unbelebter Materie unterscheidet, und wie diese Natur gefaßt und begründet wird. Ausgehend von der These, daß diese Überlegungen nicht nur Auswirkungen auf die ethische und religiöse Praxis der Alten Kirche hatten, sondern umgekehrt auch entscheidend von ihr geprägt wurden, konzentriert sich die Arbeit nicht nur auf die theoretischen Äußerungen der Kirchenväter, sondern bezieht ethische Konkretionen (Schwangerschaftsabbruch, Umgang mit Menschen mit Behinderungen, Krieg) und den christlichen Kult mit in die Untersuchung ein. Zum Vorschein kommt ein überraschend komplexes Bild einer alles andere als selbstverständlichen geistesgeschichtlichen Entwicklung, deren Folgen bis in die heutige Zeit nachwirken.
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1 online resource (466 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 375-427) and indexes. :
9789047411277 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Tod und Ritual in den christlichen Gemeinden der Antike /
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The development of Early Christian rituals in connection with death and burial has so far not sufficiently been explored. Volp's study focuses on the surviving literary sources-both pagan and Christian-, together with inscriptions and other archaeological remains while taking into account recent results from science and humanities. A summary of death and ritual in the ancient Mediterranean religions is followed by detailed analyses of the Christian sources from the 2nd to the 5th century. Thus, basic developments are being discovered which led to and accompanied the forming of Christian rituals, such as ritual purity or the social structure of family and society. Being the first such interdisciplinary approach, it also represents the first monographic work on the topic since 1941.
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Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universität Bonn, 2001. :
1 online resource (xii, 337 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 273-309) and indexes. :
9789004313309 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Verleiblichung und Synergie : Grundzüge der Bibelhermeneutik bei Maximus Confessor /
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This volume examines the biblical hermeneutics of Maximus the Confessor (579/580-662). Although some aspects of the Confessor's hermeneutical approach had already been tackled, a comprehensive analysis was still missing. Accordingly, this book fills a gap in Patristic studies. The study consists of three chapters. The first one deals with the logoi theory of Maximus being the ontological nucleus around which his whole theological thinking is organized. The second chapter examines Maximus' understanding of mystical ascension. Equipped with the \'ontological\' and \'mystical\' foundation, the third chapter analyzes thoroughly the hermeneutics of Maximus as such, attempting to show its coherence and rootedness in the general christological perspective of the Confessor. This book will be of benefit not only for byzantinists and patrologists, but also for biblical scholars interested in the history of hermeneutics and exegesis as well as for historians of philosophy and medieval ideas.
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1 online resource (lxv, 323 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-315) and indexes. :
9789004313286 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Eingeordnete Freiheit : Freiheit und Vorsehung bei Origenes /
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Eingeordnete Freiheit compares Origen's notion of freedom of choice with the concepts of contemporary philosophers. The first chapter deals with the philosophical problem of freedom of choice throughout the history of Greek philosophy. In the second chapter Origen's writing on this topic is assembled, translated, analyzed and commented upon. The comparison between Origen and his contemporaries leads in chapter three to the conclusion that Origen's concept of freedom differs especially from the philosophical perspective, since human freedom does not stand in opposition to the inevitable pattern of the pronoia or heimarmene but to Gods care for every individual. Chapter four shows that the notion of oikonomia in Christian theology is based on the concept of providence in Origen.
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1 online resource (ix, 225 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-222) and index. :
9789004312951 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Maximus I. von Turin : die Verkündigung eines Bischofs der frühen Reichskirche im zeitgeschichtlichen, gesellschaftlichen und liturgischen Kontext /
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This volume deals with the sermons of St. Maximus I, Bishop of Turin about AD 305-420. It presents an exemplary study which, besides clarifying problems of dating and authorship, points out the importance of context for an appropriate interpretation of sermon literature. The sermons are thus placed in the contexts of contemporary history, of society and of liturgy. The liturgical contextualisation forms the core of the book. The author reconstructs the liturgical year of late-Antique Turin and takes it as the basis of a detailed diachronic analysis of the bishop's preaching from advent to pentecost. Additionally, the Feasts of the Saints are seen in their kerygmatic function. In a concluding chapter the author tackles such problems as the exegetical nature of preaching and the importance of the Bible.
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1 online resource (xviii, 342 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 288-327) and index. :
9789004313071 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The apostolic age in patristic thought /
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This volume deals with how Christians of the first centuries looked back on the period of the nascent Church. Thanks to the incomparable stature of its founder, Jesus Christ, who had descended from heaven and commissioned his Apostles, this period was authorative for all Christians in matters of doctrine, institutions, rites and morality, a new phenomenon in the Graeco-Roman world. Its implications are explored in sixteen essays dealing with various subjects such as liturgy, the canon of Scriptures, the role of miracles, art, monasticism, and ministry. All contributions, taking into account both the views of individual Church fathers and Gnostic and Manichaean texts, make a large amount of primary material available.
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1 online resource (xi, 257 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047404293 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Intellectus gratiae : die erkenntnistheoretische und hermeneutische Dimension der Gnadenlehre Augustins von Hippo /
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This is the first large scale study on the link between the concepts of intellect and grace in the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo. Its five chapters deal with Augustine's writings on grace as they focus on questions concerning epistemology and hermeneutics. Already non-Christian ancient philosophers identified intellectual perfection with salvation as caused by divine grace. Under their influence (I) Augustine developed also his biblical thought (II). The culmination of his concept of intellectus gratiae , however, came in the later works on sacraments (III), hermeneutics (IV) and against Pelagius and Julian of Eclanum (V). This study highlights that development and recommends the concept of intellectus gratiae as a possible key to Augustine's theological thought as a whole.
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Originally presented as the author's thesis--Regensburg, 1996. :
1 online resource (xii, 501 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 427-466) and indexes. :
9789004313057 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Die Eucharistie ist Jesus : Anfänge einer Theorie des Sakraments im koptischen Philippusevangelium (NHC II 3) /
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Given the concept of salvation through knowledge in Valentinian Gnosis, which is basically anti-materialist, one would not expect concrete physical rituals to play a large role in its practice. The Nag Hammadi Gospel of Philip is widely recognized as a Valentinian text, yet it contains portions of a treatise on the value of baptism, anointing, and the eucharist. The text, which arguably comes from the end of the second century, presents the first developed theory and justification of these sacraments in Early Christianity. The present study reconstructs this theory from the fragmentary text and considers its consequences for the organization of the community. Thus, the book is also an attempt to address the problem of institutionalization in early Christian communities.
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Slightly Revision of the author's thesis--Universität München, 2005. :
1 online resource (xii, 550 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 505-531) and indexes. :
9789047421634 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Arché : a collection of patristic studies /
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During the past forty years J.C.M. van Winden OFM, Emeritus Professor of Early Christian Literature at Leiden University and editor of Vigiliae Christianae , has built up an impressive body of published research on early Christian thought and related areas of Greek and Jewish philosophy. In this volume in honour of his 75th birthday his more important contributions, originally published in a wide range of journals and other publications, have been collected together. These are grouped together in five categories: The archè in early christian thought, Essays on the Church Fathers, Philonica, Plotiniana, Essays on the relation between Greek and Patristic Thought. The volume includes a hitherto unpublished survey article on early Christian exegesis of 'the beginning' in Gen. 1:1 (in German), English translations of five contributions originally published in Dutch, and a complete bibliography of Pater van Winden's scholarly work.
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1 online resource (xiii, 331 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004313088 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Preaching after Easter : mid-Pentecost, Ascension, and Pentecost in late antiquity /
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The studies collected in Preaching after Easter examine the festal history and homiletics of Mid-Pentecost, Ascension, and Pentecost in the late antique Mediterranean world. Articles on individual sermons or the work of individual preachers such as John Chrysostom, Augustine of Hippo, Peter Chrysologus, Leo the Great, and Severus of Antioch exhibit the richness of late antique festal preaching. Questions of authenticity, heresiology, and theological, exegetical, or liturgical history are addressed with methodological rigor. Complementary contributions that deal with ancient Jewish-Christian dialogue, art-historical reception, and contemporary liturgical theology illustrate the wide ramifications of ancient Christian festal practice. Students and scholars of these feasts and the interpretive traditions devoted to them will find this volume to be an indispensable source of information and analysis.
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"Papers delivered at a conference with the same title held in Leuven in March 2013." :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004315549 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Parabiblica Latina : Studien zu den griechisch-lateinischen Ubersetzungen parabiblischer Literatur unter besonderer Berucksichtigung der apostolischen Vater /
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The author presents a comprehensive historical examination of the early Christian graeco-latin translations of the biblical 'apocrypha' and 'pseudepigrapha'. The analysis of the translation techniques employed yields a distinction between 'literal' and 'adaptive' translations on the hand and translations associated with the textual tradition of the bible and those not associated with it. Whereas the former can be distinguished by the respective handling of textual macrostructures, the latter 'biblical' translations were subject to constant revision according to their original and thus always display a number of different versions. Als erster Schritt hin zu einer Geschichte der christlichen Übersetzungsliteratur werden hier die lateinischen Übersetzungen griechisch erhaltener "Apokryphen" und "Pseudepigraphen" erstmals umfassend historisch einzuordnen versucht und einer übersetzungstechnischen Analyse unterzogen. Obwohl keine dieser Übersetzungen wirklich sklavisch wörtlich vorgeht, ergibt sich dabei doch ein relativ deutlicher Unterschied zwischen ,wörtlichen' und ,literarischen' Übersetzungen einerseits und mit der biblischen Überlieferung assoziierten und nicht damit assoziierten andererseits: Lassen sich die ersteren beiden primär anhand ihres Umgangs mit textlichen Makrostrukturen auseinanderhalten, zeichnet sich die biblische Überlieferung durch ständig neue Rückbindung einer Übersetzung an ihr Original in Form unterschiedlicher Revisionen aus.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004315976 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.