Elena Ene D-Vasilescu - How evolutionistic were the Cappadocian Fathers?

In the multitude of theories about the relationship between evolution and creation, those which assert that the two are not contradictory are, in fact, the smallest in number.

That is surprising given the fact that the primary sources of both movements do not suggest anything to sustain an incompatibility between these two views. On the one hand, Genesis (I, 11) says: “Let the earth bring forth grass!” (but not ‘God created grass’). It means that the earth, and matter in general, was endowed with creativity, and that can imply evolution. 

Along the same lines of thought as those in the book quoted above, the thinkers of the early Christian era continue: "The earth germinates. It does not, however, sprout that which it has, but transforms [...] as much as God gives to it the strength to act" (St Basil the Great).

Earth is unable to be fertile by itself, but the Word of God intervenes with its active power to make it so; yet the role of the earth is important in the equation. Even more so is that of humankind.

On the other hand, Charles Darwin himself writes at the end of his The Origins of Species: 

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been 

originally breathed into [by the Creator] into a few forms or into one; and that, 

whilst this planet has gone on cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, 

from such so simple a beginning endless forms, most beautiful and most 

wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

My paper would be a call to rechecking these primary sources when any debate on the above topic takes place.

Ricardo Diez - El Tiempo en San Agustín

La cuestión del tiempo ha sido tratada por muchos pensadores en el Libro XI de Confesiones. Sin embargo, cuando se recurre a otros textos del obispo de Hipona esta problemática adquiere una riqueza que pasa muchas veces desapercibida. La urgencia de la tarea episcopal al escribir Confessio impide descubrir la imaginación que estimula la creatividad de Agustín. La ponencia buscará pensar la relación tiempo-eternidad hasta alcanzar la imagen de un Dios que crea mediante el recitado de un poema donde la palabra es creadora y el ritmo, experimentado como escandido latino, configura la temporalidad.

Scot Douglass - Reading and Time

Just as Heidegger inserted the problem of time into the question of Being, I am attempting to think the insertion of time into the event of reading.  This question not only implicates itself into the performance of all scholarship, it also permeates almost every aspect of patristic production.  That is, in the Father’s simultaneous commitments to develop theological thought, ground their output in previous texts and speak relevantly to their own generation, they wrestled with the complexities of time in their participation in living discourses.  Plato addressed this dynamic in its forward trajectory in The Phraedrus via the metaphor of the “textual orphan.”  The problem of reading and time, therefore, always functions forwards, backwards and sideways, touching upon questions of reception, production and the possibilities of engaging meaning.  This short communication will address these larger theoretical questions through the exemplum of the fourth-century Trinitarian crisis as worked out between the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople.  Select passages from Gregory of Nyssa, in particular, will be examined closely.  This short communication will engage the thought of the forthcoming volume Reading the Fathers (T. & T. Clark, June 2011; ed. by myself and Morwenna Ludlow and including contributions, in addition to ours, from Johannes Zachhuber, Virginia Burris, Tamsin Jones, Matthieu Cassin and David Newheiser). 

Volker Drecoll - Workshop: The Impact of Basil of Caesarea on the Theology of Gregory of Nyssa (Cassin/Drecoll) Paper belonging to the workshop: Volker Henning Drecoll: Basil and Gregory on Psalms

In the past, Basil’s Homilies on the Psalms have not been the subject of intensive scholarly discussion. The reason for this may be the fact that there is only the (not very reliable) Migne-edition (a new edition is in preparation for the Sources chrétiennes). Therefore, the character of the Homilies is quite unclear (real homilies, revised versions or literary works?). The beginning of the Homily on Psalm 1 is a general introduction on how to read psalms. Of course, we could imagine that this is simply the opening of a series of homilies on psalms – or we could assume that this introductory part was added before a later publication. In any case, this part is very important for determining Basil’s approach to the psalms. Gregory of Nyssa wrote two exegetical works on the Psalms: a) a (very short) exegesis of Psalm 6, and b) the Work “On the inscriptions of the Psalms”. In the last two decades, this work has received several translations and much scholarly attention (Heine, Reynard, Traverso, Rondeau). The work consists of two parts. The first part is a general analysis of the aim and the spiritual meaning of the Psalms (that deals especially with the five-parts-division of the Book of Psalms). The beginning of this part is an address to an unnamed person who asked Gregory for an exegesis of the inscriptions of the Psalms. Even if the identity of this person is unclear and perhaps only fictional or rhetorical (Gregory would presumably not have hidden the name of Macrina or Basil), this opening leads to the question of the identity the possible addressee of the work. 

The question of whether Gregory in his approach to the psalms was influenced by Basil’s Homilies has not yet been intensively discussed. This paper will compare a) the introductory parts that explain the aim of the exegesis of the psalms in general, their impact on ethics and spiritual ascent, and b) Basil’s explanations of the inscriptions with those of Gregory (Bas., Hom. Ps. VII,1 cf. Greg., GNO V/1, p. 121; Bas., Hom. Ps. XXVIII and XXIX cf. Greg., GNO V/1, p. 87f.; Bas., Hom.Ps. XXXII cf. Greg., GNO V/1, p. 94; Bas., Hom.Ps. XLIV cf. Greg., GNO V/1, p. 82; Bas., Hom.Ps. XLV cf. Greg., GNO V/1, p. 126; Bas. Hom. Ps. LIX cf. Greg., GNO V/1, p. 80). In this way it will be shown not only that Gregory was familiar with the approach of his elder brother, but also how he (considerably) modified it.

Andrew Dinan - The influence of Philo on some passages in Clement of Alexandria’s Protrepticus and Paedagogus

The influence of Philo on Clement of Alexandria’s Stromateis is now well known. Comparatively little work, however, has been devoted to Philo’s presence in Clement’s earlier works. This paper explores Philo’s influence on the Protrepticus and the Paedagogus. Passages to be discussed include: Prot. 10.103.4, Paed. 1.2.4.2–5.2, 3.11.53.4–54.1. The central question is: How and why does Clement incorporate material from Philo? Some consideration will be given to the following: Does Clement look to Philo predominantly or even exclusively for biblical interpretation? Does Clement ever depend upon more than one Philonic passage for his interpretation of a particular biblical text?     

Lesley-Anne Dyer - The Twelfth-Century Influence of Hilary of Poitiers on Richard of St. Victor’s De Trinitate

In recent years, books by Mark Weedman and Carl Beckwith on Hilary of Poitiers’ De Trinitate have encouraged patristics scholars to think anew about the nature and importance of Hilary’s contribution to Pro-Nicene Christianity. The struggle to know how to approach this text was shared by medieval scholars. While John Cavadini has discussed the use of Hilary by orthodox Carolingian scholars like Alcuin, Madigan has shown that high medieval scholars wrestled to reconcile the testimony of Augustine that Hilary was important with the questionable theology that they found in his text. The twelfth-century author, Peter Lombard compiles many quotations from Hilary, but these quotations are the source of multiple questions in the commentaries of Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventure. There are also reports that Gilbert of Poitiers, who was condemned in the twelfth century for his Trinitarian theology, studied “with” Hilary of Poitiers. It has been surmised that such language is figurative and refers to Gilbert’s reading of Hilary.

My paper examines a unique use of Hilary’s Trinitarian thought by the twelfth-century theologian, Richard of St. Victor, whose De Trinitate was revered and used for its orthodoxy throughout the scholastic period. Mark Weedman has argued that one of the key contributions that Hilary of Poitiers made to Pro-Nicene theology in the patristic period was his shift of discussion away from the eternity of generation towards the eternity of the divine substance. He also clearly connects divine eternity with divine infinity in a way that is unusual. My research has shown a remarkably similarity between this aspect of Hilary of Poitiers’ theology and one of Richard’s major Trinitarian improvements upon Anselm’s Perfect Being Theology, which was the explicit connection of the co-eternity of the Trinitarian persons with the aseity of the divine substance. This paper, therefore, explores one of the major positive influences of Hilary’s thought upon the medieval development of orthodox Trinitarian theology.

David DeMarco - The relationship of Gregory of Nyssa to Basil of Caesarea as seen in their treatments of Genesis 1

The exegesis of Genesis 1 is a very important starting point for discerning the relationship between Gregory of Nyssa and his older brother Basil. This is so not only because Gregory discusses the same subject as Basil, but also because he does so while self-consciously reflecting on his relationship to his brother. In the beginning of Gregory’s In Hexaemeron, he, in fact, calls Basil his father and teacher. He states that the part of the impetus for his work is the fact that there are lingering questions about Basil’s homilies on Genesis 1. He claims that people who have these questions have lost sight of Basil’s aim and audience. Basil had to address the uneducated, while still engaging the educated. By implication, however, Gregory’s primary audience is the educated. Furthermore, Gregory is concerned with demonstrating the coherent logical sequence in the creation account. Gregory feels these two reasons are sufficient justification for him to reach different conclusions from Basil. However, he does not want to compete with Basil, or to be seen as teaching authoritative doctrine for the church, but rather as engaging in an intellectual exercise. He asserts, though, that he will (like Basil) abide by a literal interpretation and not venture into the realm of allegory.

This programmatic material gives us Gregory’s account of his relationship to Basil and puts us in the position of being able to not only compare the works with each other, but also to compare Gregory’s self-presentation with his praxis. While Gregory's text could be largely comprehensible on its own, large sections of Basil's work, of course, lie in the background. What is interesting is that one can often find small sections in Basil that Gregory has significantly expanded upon and reworked. By looking at these sections, the commonalities and differences of assumptions and methods will become clearer. Some examples: The use of Aquila (unnamed) in Basil (GCS 12:2-4) and Gregory (GNO16:14f.) to develop different ideas of the initial creation, as well as Gregory’s further use of versions (GNO 28:12f). In the first homily (GCS 5:9-10) Basil asserts that God created by the decision of his will alone and Gregory expands on this (GNO 14:13f.). Finally, Gregory’s treatment of the upper waters is important in regard to his claim to stick to the literal interpretation, and to observe how he positions himself in relation to Basil.

Davide Dainese - Clement of Alexandria's Refusal of Valentinian ἀπόρροια

In the works of Clement of Alexandria the term “ἀπόρροια” has two different meanings, located in Strom. V (anthropological meaning) and in Fr. 23 (trinitarian meaning).

The first passage rejects the valentinian concept of ἀπόρροια, which Clement seems to replace, in Strom. VI, 16, 134-137, by the notion of “ἰδίωμα χαρακτηριστικόν of the Holy Spirit”. He chooses this solution to avoid problems posed by valentinian anthropology, conceiving an ontological relation between human soul and Holy Spirit. I will show how Clement develops his idea of participation in the Holy Spirit as he matures, resulting in his doctrine of the soul. Clement’s refusal of valentinian ἀπόρροια is noteworthy because this term will play a crucial role in Origen, and not only in his trinitarian doctrine (Clement’s Fr. 23), but also in his ecclesiology and anthropology. Hence that indicates an important difference between Clement and Origen, since it loosens the connection between the two authors. 

Miyako Demura - Origen and the exegetical tradition of Sarah-Hagar motif in Alexandria

Philo, Clement and Origen used Sarah-Hagar motif found in Genesis 16 for their allegorical interpretation. Sarah-Hagar motif  seems to be one of the most important theme in Alexandrian exegetical tradition, because it offered not only the clue to approach  stumbling block passages within the Biblical texts through allegorical interpretation, but also the notion that philosophy should serve as the handmaid of theology (philosophia theologiae  ancilla) to the Middle Ages.

In tracing the Alexandrian exegetical tradition of Sarah-Hagar motif represented by Philo, Clement and Origen, I recognize that they tackled this theme through biblical exegesis in their own concrete situation, and in this process, occurred gradually the distinction between them with reference to their hermeneutical method. 

Philo and Clement used Sarah-Hagar motif of Genesis 16 from philosophical and spiritual interest to show how to treat secular preliminary education in order to prevent the separation of belief and reason and encourage to seek virtues and wisdom. They often confronted their opponents within their community who reject secular education through allegorical interpretations of the Biblical texts. But when we turn to Origen, we recognize the distinctive feature of the use of allegoria fundamentally different from these two Alexandrian predecessors. Origen opens a new stage when he uses the Sarah-Hagar motif mainly from the interpretation of Pauline letter (Galatians 4:21-27) and contributes to the formation of exegetical method in the Middle Ages. 

In this paper, I would like to show how Origen uses allegorical interpretation based on Pauline exegetical method, and to outline how the Pauline letters were accepted and used in the context of the hermeneutical method taking new perspective in Pauline scholarship into consideration.

Marianne Djuth - Augustine on the Saints: The Metaphysical Dynamics of the Living and the Dead

While recent studies have illuminated the social and cultural realities underlying the cult of the saints in late antiquity, this communication focuses on Augustine’s beliefs regarding the metaphysical status of the saints’ humanity after death and the interaction between the saints and temporal human beings.  Augustine’s representation of the lives of the saints in works such as his Sermons on the Saints, On the Care of the Dead, the City of God, and On the Predestination of the Saints and On Perseverance at the end of his life reveals the dichotomies in his thinking on the saints with which both he and his reader must contend.  The most striking dichotomies are those between popular, or lay, Christianity, and the intellectualized Christianity of a bishop like Augustine; the different historical periods to which Augustine’s works refer, namely, the persecution of the martyr-saints in the third century and faithful Christians in the fourth and fifth centuries; and the different metaphysical and spiritual frameworks of the here and now and the life to come.  Against the background of these dichotomies that surface in Augustine’s writings on the saints, I explore the coherence of Augustine’s doctrine of the saints with respect to the following three concerns: (1) a consideration of who the saints are, and what their status is after death, (2) the relevance of the interaction between the saints and temporal human beings for living a good life now in preparation for death, and (3) the effect that the doctrines of predestination and election have on Augustine’s determination of what can be known with respect to who is and is not saved among the saints.  The exploration of these concerns leads to the conclusion that for Augustine coherence is Christocentric in the sense that it implies balance and harmony between seemingly opposed claims and conviction.

John Dillon - The Genre of the Philosophic Letter in the Neoplatonic and Patristic Traditions

I  propose in this paper to examine the (rather fuzzy) genre of the philosophic letter – as opposed, on the one hand, to ordinary letters emanating from philosophers/theologians, and on the other, philosophic treatises couched in epistolary form (that is to say, with a personal dedication~) – in both the late Hellenic and Christan cultural tradition, to see if certain common features emerge, and if so, eho is learning from whom.

For this purpose I wish to adduce some representative letters of such figures as Iamblichus of Calchis, Libanius, and the Emperor Julian, on the Hellenic side, and St. Basil, St. Jerome. And ‘Dionysius the Areopagite’ on the Christian side.

The characteristics of a ‘philosophic’ letter should be: (a) brevity (as opposed to a treatise); and (b) while being addressed to a specific recipient (pupil, friend, or superior), being concerned not with personal details, but rather with general philosophical issues (whether ethical, political or metaphysical). The letter may be couched in the form of  a response to a request, but personalities should be kept to a minimum. I see such letters as in a way ‘philosophical calling cards, but they may also serve as contributions to serious philosophical or doctrinal issues. Such letters in the Christian tradition go back to the Apostolic era, and may well be independent of outside influences, but in later times I feel that there was much cross-fertilisation, and not all in one direction. Before Iamblichus, there is in fact very little evidence for the philosophic letter in the Platonist tradition.

Tina Dolidze - Equivocality of the Biblical Language in Origen

Despite extensive research which has been carried out on Origen, there is still a certain gap in research regarding term homonyma and allied words in his theological vocabulary. The present paper aims to put emphasis on these words as representing Origen’s theory of the equivocality of Biblical language, which is  an essential part of his  deeply creative hermeneutics. 

Jérémy Delmulle - Une réhabilitation méconnue de Cassien au xve siècle : le Liber aduersus errores sancti Iohanis Cassiani de Marco Michele de Cortona

Dans sa thèse publiée sous le titre Tradition and Theology in St. John Cassian (Oxford 2007) et surtout dans un article « Rehabilitating John Cassian. An Evaluation of Prosper of Aquitaine’s Polemic against the “Semipelagians” » (Scottish Journal of Theology, 58.3 [2005]), Augustine M.C. Casiday a admirablement montré comment la critique, presque totalement dénuée de fondement, que Prosper d’Aquitaine avait faite de la Collatio XIII de Cassien dans son Contra collatorem avait été déterminante pour l’ensemble de la réception de Cassien et comment elle avait contraint tous les lecteurs de l’ascète marseillais à accepter un filtre de lecture qui les conduisait immanquablement à considérer Cassien comme hétérodoxe, ou à tout le moins digne de soupçons. En démontant toute l’argumentation de Prosper dans le Contra collatorem, A. Casiday a mis en évidence la mauvaise foi du disciple d’Augustin et a ainsi pu “réhabiliter”, par une analyse très fine de sa théologie, la pensée de Jean Cassien, alors que même les derniers spécialistes de Cassien n’avaient pu se détacher de la censure prospérienne.

Mais tandis que, en matière de grâce et de libre arbitre, l’orthodoxie de la doctrine d’Augustin et la déviance de celle de Cassien n’étaient remises en doute par personne, il s’est trouvé déjà, à la fin du Moyen Âge (dans les années 1470-1480), un franciscain toscan, Marco Michele, professeur de théologie et de philosophie à Cortona, pour tenter – c’est le premier exemple que nous en ayons – une véritable “réhabilitation” de Cassien : grand érudit, il a cherché à offrir à son monastère des copies des textes en questions (les Collationes et le Contra collatorem), tout en y ajoutant de sa main des préfaces, des commentaires, mais il s’est aussi adonné à la rédaction d’une œuvre originale : le Liber aduersus errores sancti Iohanis Cassiani, qui recense les points de la doctrine entière de Cassien qui ont été critiqués, pour prendre souvent sa défense.

Cette œuvre n’ayant encore fait l’objet d’aucune étude et étant même restée inédite (j’en prépare une édition critique), je me propose de présenter cette réflexion et ce travail incroyablement novateurs de Marco Michele sur Cassien sous l’angle de la réception difficile de la Collatio XIII, en étant attentif à l’aspect sans doute pédagogique du traité.

Britt Dahlman - The Collectio Scorialensis parva: an alphabetical collection of old apophthegmatic and hagiographic material

Two Greek manuscripts contain an inedited alphabetical collection of stories about Egyptian desert fathers. It is called Collectio Scorialensis parva (“the small Scorialensis collection”) after one of the manuscripts, Scorialensis R.II.1 (Revilla 21). Together with the other manuscript, Parisinus gr. 919, it also contains a larger collection of the Apophthegmata Patrum, the so called alphabetica-anonyma derivata. Other manuscripts preserve the latter collection in a later stage, where all or parts of the material in the Collectio Scorialensis parva have been incorporated. This material is of great interest and importance for the study of the textual history of several hagiographical works. Along with other texts it consists of chapters from the Historia Lausiaca and the Historia Monachorum in Aegypto transmitting ancient redactions, which differ very much from the printed texts. This paper will describe and analyse the contents of the Collectio Scorialensis parva, of which I am preparing an edition.

Luke Dysinger, O.S.B - An Exegetical Way of Seeing: Contemplation and Spiritual Guidance in Evagrius Ponticus

For Evagrius Ponticus spiritual guidance is an exercise in natural contemplation (theoria physiké) whereby biblical-exegetical methods are applied to the unique “salvation history” of the person seeking advice.  This workshop will explore the interrelationship between biblical exegesis and the monastic art of “reading the heart” in Evagrius’ writings, noting in particular the importance of Evagrius’ exegetical scholia for a correct interpretation of his letters.

Carly Daniel-Hughes - A Strange Sort of Monogamy?: Sexuality, Marriage, and Salvation in Tertullian

Tertullian’s final treatise on marriage, De monogamia, has long perplexed his modern readers, for in it he turns out not to applaud marital monogamy at all, but to suggest that sexual intercourse and childbearing are ungodly, potentially damning enterprises, permitted by God only as an “indulgence.” This conclusion is striking given his earlier pronouncement in his Ad uxorem that the marital bond of two Christian believers is to be cherished. Scholars have developed various explanations to address this seeming shift in perspectives on marriage often reading it as evidence of decline or “Montanist” heresy. As a result De monogamia has received little attention from scholars, who have not reflected upon the novelty of Tertullian’s argument in that work, which disparages carnal marriage, but upholds monogamy (and not, as we might expect, virginity). 

This paper examines Tertullian’s views on sexuality particularly as they are registered in De monogamia. I show how over his writings he repeatedly frames widowhood and chastity as corporal pedagogies that prepare and discipline the fleshly body for its salvation. More particularly, I suggest that rather indicating dramatic shifts in Tertullian’s sexual ethic, instead De monogamia reveals deep inconsistencies and tensions about sexuality and sexual difference that are by-products of his discourse on the resurrection of the flesh. Tertullian holds that sexual difference will obtain in the afterlife, but sexual desire will not, a view that emerges in order to ensure individual judgment and reflects Tertullian’s materialist convictions. This same negotiation around difference and desire, I will argue, emerges in and informs his construction of “monogamy.” Drawing out this point offers a richer understanding of his sexual ethics, and the gendered character of his soteriology.  

Matthew Drever - Imitating the example of the Divine: exemplum and the imago dei in Augustine’s De Trinitate

In De Trinitate Augustine’s christology develops in conjunction with a couple of well-known pairings: exemplum/ sacramentum and scientia/ sapientia.  Recently, a strong case has been put forward for the centrality of the exemplum/ sacramentum pairing.  In this paper I will explore this pairing, and Augustine’s interpretation of exemplum in particular, as he develops it in conjunction with his claims on the imago dei.  The paper will focus on De Trinitate 7.3.5, which is a central passage where Augustine succinctly lays out the contrasting ways exemplum operates vis-à-vis the imago dei in the human soul and in the Son.  The passage is suggestive of the fluidity in Augustine’s use of exemplum/ sacramentum, and so has wider ramifications for how we interpret such pairings in De Trinitate.  We will see that in part Augustine moves outside the well-trod interpretation that exemplum refers to the outward, moral reform of the person and sacramentum to the inner, spiritual redemption of the soul.  

In the passage Augustine refers exemplum to both the Son’s imaging of the Father and to Christ’s humble obedience to God.  We ought to imitate not only the humble example of Christ but also the example of the Son who, in being the divine image, imitates the Father.  The context of this latter claim—inner, trinitarian relations—is clearly spiritual, and suggests Augustine is using exemplum to address issues that go beyond historical, moral action.  In this context, he draws on the Christ Hymn in Philippians 2:6-11 and the concept of imitatio to describe how the Son is an exemplum for human beings.  This further complicates Augustine’s use of exemplum, suggesting again a more nuanced meaning than simply that which pertains to the outward, moral actions of the person.

One of the key implications of this use of exemplum is its potential to help account for how Augustine develops the ideas of relation and participation: specifically, how he makes sense of the distinct ways the soul and the Son participate in the Trinity through their imaging of God.

Maria Doerfler: Keeping it in the Family: The law and the Law in Ambrose of Milan’s Letters

The question of the proper relationship between Christianity and its “elder brother,” Judaism, has troubled Patristic writers from the tradition’s very beginnings.  The Mosaic law played a central and particularly challenging role in these discussions:  few sought to dismiss it entirely, yet strategies for its incorporation into a narrative of Christian identity varied.  This paper examines one of Ambrose of Milan’s exegetical endeavors to make sense of Jewish/Christian “family relations.”  By reading the Hebrew Scriptures intertextually with Roman civil law, Ambrose could affirm Jews as co-heirs to the Kingdom while simultaneously stripping them of any claim to their heritage.  

Jérémy DELMULLE: Establishing an Authentic List of Prosper’s Works

À la suite de l’atelier consacré à Prosper d’Aquitaine, qui avait réuni au Congrès de 2007 trois communications d’A.Y. Hwang, d’A.M.C. Casiday et de R. Harden-Weaver, Alexander Y. Hwang (Presbyterian Theological Seminary de Louisville, KY) a proposé de rassembler un groupe de chercheurs spécialistes de cet auteur, à l’occasion de la parution, en 2009, de sa monographie Intrepid Lover of Perfect Grace. The Life and Thought of Prosper of Aquitaine et surtout de la publication, la même année, dans le CSEL, du De uocatione omnium gentium, par D. Weber et R.J. Teske.

Dans le cadre de cet atelier, qui s’est donné, entre autres buts, celui d’étudier ce De uocatione nouvellement édité, œuvre essentielle dans la pensée sur la grâce et la prédestination, mais dont l’attribution à Prosper a longtemps été débattue et l’est encore quelquefois, je me propose de réfléchir à la notion d’auctorialité, en tentant d’établir, à partir d’une définition détaillée des critères permettant d’assurer l’attribution d’une œuvre à un auteur, et tant sur la base d’études récentes qu’en suggérant de possibles nouvelles attributions, une liste des œuvres qui sont indubitablement attribuables à Prosper et d’analyser, à travers leur tradition manuscrite, l’évolution de certaines attributions et l’influence que celles-ci ont pu avoir sur la conception que l’on s’est faite de Prosper ou de telle de ses oeuvres.

Maria Doerfler: Entertaining the Trinity Unawares: Genesis 18 and the Patristic Imagination

Abraham’s encounter at Mamre (Genesis 18:1-16) captivated the Christian imagination from the tradition’s very origins.  The story hints at God’s self-disclosure in a triad of visitors – a theophany that evoked the presence of the Logos or even the Trinity. This paper examines late ancient exegetical trajectories, focusing upon the interaction between text and expositor in light of the latter’s socio-historical context.  For Patristic exegetes, the Mamre account contained profound spiritual truth if read through the right doctrinal lens, while presenting a foothold for heresy to the unwary.  Changing visions of Trinitarian orthodoxy thus gave rise to new strategies of reading.