Studia Patristica. Volume
LI. Including papers presented at the Conference ‘The Image of the Perfect
Christian in Patristic Thought’ at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv,
Ukraine, under Taras Khomynch, Oleksandra Vakula and Oleh Kindiy in 2009. Edited
by A. Brent, T. Khomych, O. Vakula and M. Vinzent. Leuven, Paris and Walpole,
MA.: Peeters, 2011. I-XV, 216 pages.
Studia Patristica 51
This volume presents selected papers from an international
conference held on September 11-12, 2009, at the Ukrainian Catholic University
in Lviv, Ukraine. The conference was jointly organized by the Departments of
Theology of the Ukrainian Catholic University and the University of Notre Dame
in Indiana, USA. The topic of the conference was patristic notions of Christian
perfection. The presentations discussed all epochs of patristic thought and
literature or explored the use of patristic ideas of perfection in modern
ecumenical dialogue and church social teachings. Contributors came from the
USA, Europe, the Ukraine, and Russia.
Fourteen papers from this conference
appear in this volume. They concern Christian texts and authors from the early
Christian through the late Byzantine eras. The presentation is divided
chronologically into five sections: the first two centuries (the Didache and the Martyrdom of Polycarp), the third century (Clement of Alexandria
and Origen), the fourth century (Gregory of Nazianzus and the Syrian Fathers),
the fifth century (Augustine, Leo the Great, and Pseudo-Macarius), and the
sixth century and Byzantium (Maximus the Confessor, Theodore the Studite,
Gregory Barhebraeus, and Theophanes of Nicaea). Each essay features an
abstract, a discussion, and a summary, is documented with footnotes, and varies
in length from seven to nineteen pages. This aim of this review is to provide a
summary or an idea of the contents of each contribution.
Many patristic authors discussed in these essays see Christian
perfection as a process.
In her study (pp.
45-59), Oleksandra Vakula argues that Origen of Alexandria considers Christian
perfection to be the return of the individual to God through Christ and the
scriptures. Self-knowledge of the logos
is the beginning of this process which is continuous and never-ending. The only
‘perfect Christian’ is a ‘disciple of Christ’ who has grown spiritually more
than other Christians and who can teach Christ to them. Dariusz Zagórski in his
contribution (pp. 63-75) shows that Gregory of Nazianzus carefully outlines in
his writings a process for Christian perfection that is based on his own attempt
to balance the active and the contemplative lives. This process is divided into
three stages: praxis negativa, or the
renunciation of sin and false belief about God; praxis positiva, or the practice of virtue; and contemplation of
God, which brings union with Him. Although few Christians attain full perfection,
Gregory believes that pastoral direction, the sacraments, and charity advance a
Christian through the stages of perfection.
Patristic Syrian commentators also
consider Christian perfection to be a process. Sebastian P. Brock in his essay
(pp. 77-94) discusses two Syriac authors who describe a process toward
Christian perfection: the creator of the late fourth century Book of Steps and the early fifth
century author John of Apamea. The first writer provides a bipartite and the
second a tripartite system of Christian perfection; both are based on New
Testament notions of spirituality. In her contribution (pp. 149-70), Mariya
Horyacha presents the method of Pseudo-Macarius which begins with baptism and
continues through various degrees by asceticism and by the grace of God. For
this Syrian author, Christian perfection involves the creation of a new Adam
and ultimately full union with Christ.
Other Christian authors discussed
see Christian perfection as mystical union with God. Herman Teule’s essay (pp.
195-203) argues that Gregory Barhebraeus considers Christian perfection to be
based on intimate knowledge of and union with God rather than ascetic
preparation. Dimitry Makarov in his study (pp. 205-16) demonstrates that Theophanes
of Nicaea believes in a three stage process of union with God: practice, which
consists of prayer, the Eucharist, and the exercise of virtue that prepare
humans for union with the divine; synergy, which involves a transcendent union
with God through divine grace; and interpenetration, which is the everlasting
experience of God’s glory. All humans have access to practice and synergy, but
the only human to achieve interpenetration in this life is the Theotokos.
Many contributors to this edited
collection discuss an aspect of Christian perfection. In his study (pp.
95-111), Boudewijn Dehandschutter outlines fourth and fifth century Syrian
writers’ views on the expulsion of lust from the Christian on his or her way to
perfection. For Aphrahat, Ephrem Syrus, and the author of the Book of Degrees, lust should be overcome
by a moderate asceticism and by the restoration of the purity that Adam enjoyed
before his sin. In her essay (pp. 115-32), Marcela Andoková sets forth the view
of Augustine of Hippo as presented in his sermones
ad populem that Christian perfection involves toleration of sinners within
the Christian community until the Day of Judgment. Krzysztof Tyburowski
presents in his paper (pp. 133-47) the importance that Leo the Great gives in
his sermons to fasting and almsgiving in attaining Christian perfection. George
C. Berthold in his communication (pp. 173-9) explains the role of the Lord’s
Prayer in the thought of Maximus the Confessor on Christian perfection. For
Maximus, this prayer helps Christians overcome temptation and establish the
proper relationship to the Father which ultimately admits humans to the mystery
of deification.
The
author of the first paper in the collection (pp. 3-13), Taras Khomych, finds
two aspects of Christian perfection in the Didache.
The first, found in Did. 1.4 and 6.2,
concerns ethical admonitions, while the second, appearing in Did. 10.5 and 16.2, relates to the
holiness of the eschatological community of the faithful. Khlomych contends
that this second meaning of perfection should be understood in the sense of
John 17:23 that the perfected Christian community represents Restored Israel.
Since both aspects of perfection are based on ethical personal behavior and
proper relations between community members, the two views of perfection are
compatible.
Some of the included essays develop subtle aspects of Christian
perfection. Jan M. Kozlowski argues in his contribution (pp. 15-22) that the
author of the Martyrdom of Polycarp
presents Polycarp as the ideal Christian gymnosophist who, like contemporary
Indian gymnosophists, overcame a painful death by fire. This is a variation of
the ideal of the martyr as the perfect Christian. For Kozlowski, this
presentation is a device to win the text’s pagan readers to Christianity. Oleh
Kindiy’s essay (pp. 25-43) examines the views of Clement of Alexandria on
Christian service. Through a semantic study, Kindiy establishes two categories
of service in Clement’s writings: menial, or regular physical service based on
ethical attainment, and theological, which involves biblical vocations such as
preaching, the three regular divisions of the church’s ministry between the
deacon, priest, and bishop, and a soteriological understanding of Christ’s ministry.
For Kindiy, service is an aspect of Christian perfection (p. 25). Thomas
Cattoi’s paper (pp. 181-94) outlines Theodore the Studite’s theology of icon
veneration. This concerns the understanding of the nature of Christ and the
Incarnation upon which the perfection of human nature is based.
These papers are worthy additions to patristic studies. But some
stand out as having special interest. Taras Khomych’s description of the
eschatological aspect of Christian perfection in the Didache is an important argument for the existence and importance
of this aspect of the text that often is not recognized. Oleh Kindiy’s
discussion of Clement of Alexandria’s views of service is an original
contribution to understanding early Christian notions of service; the essay’s
footnote references to Clement and other early Christian topics also make this
essay valuable. Sebastian Brock’s paper continues his decades-long research of
Syriac literature and culture. The second half of Brock’s contribution
discusses imagery found in Syriac sources touching on Christian perfection. A
virtue of Boudewijn Dehandschutter’s discussion is its overview of earlier
Christian views of lust and the passions with appropriate documentation before
the essay’s discussion of Syrian authors’ views. Mariya Horyacha’s essay on
Pseudo-Macarius is a well-structured presentation of the identity of the writer
(a Syrian ascetic who wrote in Greek c. 375 A.D.) and his views of
anthropology, Christian perfection and its attainment, and false notions of Christian
perfection. The essay’s footnotes provide excellent bibliography on Pseudo-Macarius
and topics associated with him. A particular interest of Herman Teule’s study
of Barhebraeus is the author’s argument that the Syrian scholar borrowed from
Islamic sources for his notions of mysticism (pp. 196, 202). Thomas Cattoi’s
essay on Theodore the Studite and Dimitry Makarov’s essay on Theophanes of
Nicaea are good introductions to Middle and Late Byzantine theology.
Thomas Brauch, Mount Pleasant, MI
Thank you, Thomas, for your careful reading of this volume.
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