Despina Prassas - St. Maximus the Confessor's Quaestiones et dubia: Possible Rabbinic Sources

The interpretative style of Maximus the Confessor is something of a mixture of literal, allegorical, anagogical, tropological, and ascetical.  Yet, in the Quaestiones et dubia, to draw from Manlio Simonetti’s writing on biblical interpretation, the Confessor applies “scripture to the various circumstances of the community’s life . . . so as to adapt it to the needs and purposes with which it may not have had an immediate or obvious link.” In his interpretation of biblical and patristic texts, Maximus attempted to respond to questions that arose from the practical application of a text to the everyday life of the monastic community.  The ultimate goal was to educate his reader, where the word ‘educate’ could be understood in a variety of ways. Yet his scriptural interpretation was not entirely original.  Text studies have shown the similarities between Maximus’s interpretations and those of Origen, Evagrius and Didymus. Were there any other sources of his interpretations?   

During the first six hundred years of the Common Era, Jewish scholars used a variety of methods to comment on the understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures.  By 200 CE, these interpretations had been recorded into the Midrash, which is not only a collection of interpretations but a commentary on the process of the way in which the scholars at the time read scripture.   While the development of the middoh (primarily of Hillel and Eliezer) were highly influential in the way in which scripture would be interpreted, this paper will focus on the content of the interpretations, specifically those of Genesis and the similarities between the Genesis Rabbah and Maximus’s Quaestiones et dubia.  This paper will also address potential implications of this work  with regard to the question of the two vitae and the accessibility of rabbinic sources.  

Ioannis Papadogiannakis - Christian Identity in Seventh-Century Byzantium: the Case of Anastasius of Sinai

The seventh-century collection of Anastasius of Sinai contains 103 questions and answers that possessed great resonance for contemporary Christians addressing a broad range of issues that defined several important aspects of what it meant to be Christian in the seventh century Byzantium. As important and influential as this collection has been, it has been used so far mostly as a source for historians. By analysing the everyday negotiation of a broad range of sexual, dietary, liturgical, theological and cosmological issues as reflected in the collection, this paper will suggest a new way in which this collection has yet to be understood.

Ute Possekel - The Christology of Bardaisan of Edessa

Bardaisan of Edessa (d. 222) was an influential theologian of the early Syriac church, but due to later condemnations of his though his writings have not survived. Yet a careful reading of the extant fragments of his works (preserved in the writings of his opponents), and a close study of the patristic summaries and refutations of his teachings, enable us to access large portions of his thought. This paper will attempt to reconstruct Bardaisan’s christology from the relevant sources. In particular, it will address the question whether or not Bardaisan embraced a docetic christology.

Vitaly Permiakov - “On Earth As In Heaven”: the Festival of Encaenia in the Liturgy of the Church of Jerusalem After the 5th Century

In September of 335, the emperor Constantine has ordered the bishops gathered in Tyre for the council against Athanasius to proceed at once “into the new Jerusalem” (Socrates, Hist. eccl. 1.33.1) for the dedication of the newly constructed basilica and rotunda on the presumed site of Jesus’ burial and resurrection.  This momentous event has continued to influence the ecclesiastical life of the Holy City for the subsequent centuries, entering the liturgical calendar of Jerusalem, not as a mere annual commemoration, but as one of the pivotal festivals of the liturgical year, attended by numerous pilgrims and accompanied by an eight-day celebration (Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.26.4).  A few extant liturgical and homiletic texts of hagiopolite origin which can be firmly connected with the Jerusalem festival of Encaenia (Dedication), reflect the evolution of ideological framework underlying this celebration, from a commemoration of a single historical event to an exegetical and theological conceptualization of the church on earth (as a building and as synaxis) as the projection of a heavenly model/divine temple.  Liturgical texts (hymnography and prayers), as a “living literature” that were likely to have been in continuous use by the church of Jerusalem from 5^th/6^th centuries until after the Arab invasion represent one of the most intriguing but less studied sources for the self-understanding of an ecclesiastical community in the context of a developed sacred topography of the “holy places.”  

This paper confines itself to several liturgical texts connected with the annual commemoration of the Encaenia of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which have been preserved in their entirety only in Old Georgian translation.  The hymnographic compositions which I use in this paper are found in the critical edition of the hagiopolite liturgical poetry known as the “Old Iadgari” (ed. E. Metreveli et al., Tbilisi, 1980).  I compare several hymnographic examples with the liturgical prayers of the Jerusalem origin from two of the most complete Georgian witnesses to the Jerusalem euchologion, mss. Sinai Georgian O.12 and Sinai Georgian O.54.  Through the comparative analysis of these texts I hope to demonstrate a growing self-understanding of the Jerusalem church through the change in perception of its foundational festival of Encaenia.  At the same time, it will be shown how effectively this liturgical literature could have been used as a vehicle for expressing theological ideas during the time of Chalcedonian and Origenist controversies,  which both most likely coincided with the time when these texts were composed.

Sara Parvis - Irenaeus, women and tradition

Irenaeus has been invoked from a feminist perspective both as a villain and as a hero in his views on women. On the one hand, he rejects and even laughs at a number of female-centred and female-friendly myths and practices among different Gnostic sects; on the other, women are at the centre of his concerns- he sees Mary as recapitulating Eve and reversing her disobedience, just as Christ recapitulates and reverses Adam’s.

In this paper, I will look at another aspect of Irenaeus’ treatment of women- his tacit but sympathetic addressing of their criticisms of mainstream Christianity within Against the Heresies. I will look at the ways he defends an active role for women within the Christian tradition, above all by his argument that right reading of Scripture demands a space in the church for women prophets. 

Paul Parvis - Did the Earth Move for You? Tertullian on Water Organs and Baptism

In a passage in De Baptismo 8.1 that has often been misunderstood and at times regarded as confused, Tertullian compares the operation of the Spirit in baptism to the working of air in a water organ. A consideration of how the portable water organ – the hydraulis – of antiquity actually worked, based on literary, pictorial, and direct archaeological evidence, helps to clarify where Tertullian saw the point of the comparison to lie. 

An analysis of the language he uses to describe the interaction – the ‘concorporation’ – of air and water in the sealed chest of the water organ points not to an analogy with soul and body (as Waszink, for example, thought), but rather to ancient seismological theory, in which earthquakes were often explained by the operation of air or air and water trapped beneath the earth. 

The vivid analogy that emerges from this discussion helps to cast light on Tertullian’s understanding of the way the Spirit is received in baptism and on the role of the baptizer – the organ-player – in the process. 

Cara Jean Polk - Literacy and Book Use in the Congregations of John Chrysostom

      In his work Ancient Literacy, William Harris examines Late Antique social and material evidence with a view to establishing the literacy rates of the period. Since Harris does not think the period was characterized by the social structures, ideological commitments, and technological advances necessary for mass literacy, he estimates that no more than 10-15% of the population was literate in Late Antiquity. The sermons of John Chrysostom suggest a higher rate of literacy, however, at least among the members of Chrysostom’s congregation.  This is because Chrysostom offers frequent praise for the activities of reading and studying Scripture.  Likewise his comments, especially regarding education, show he assumes many people in his congregation can engage in these activities. Moreover the evidence for book production technology and educational practices in Late Antiquity does not contradict the picture of literacy offered in Chrysostom’s comments and exhortations. Therefore, placed within their material and social contexts, Chrysostom’s sermons indicate substantial levels of basic literacy and potential for book-ownership among the Christian populations of late fourth- and early fifth-century Antioch and Constantinople.  

Kamala Parel-Nuttall - Clement of Alexandria's Ideal Christian Wife

This paper explores Clement of Alexandria’s rhetorical representation of the ideal Christian wife in his Paidagogos and Stromateis. Weaving together strands drawn from the Biblical and Greek moralist traditions, Clement presents Christian wifely virtue and behaviour as tangible and legitimate antidotes to the depravity of wealthy Alexandrian society. While Clement’s literary construction offers little evidence of the historical lives of the wives in his community, nevertheless it allows us to glimpse the social context to which he is responding. Clement’s ideal wife is central to his claim of Christian moral superiority. Christian moral rectitude is publically displayed in the behaviour and comportment of Christian wives. Clement’s representation of the ideal wife can therefore be seen as part of his larger endeavour to construct a distinct identity for his Christian community – one which consciously set itself apart from the cosmopolitan, commercial culture of late second and early third century Alexandria.

Noel Pretila - Re-appropriating 'Marvelous Fables': Justin Martyr's Strategic Retrieval of Myth in 1 Apology

Justin Martyr’s varied use of myth has led to conflicting opinions regarding his overall attitude to these stories. In particular, scholars have struggled reconciling how Justin could allude to them in any positive light when throughout his writings he denounced them on the grounds of their diabolical origin and purpose. The solutions that have been proffered to resolve this dilemma range from viewing these troublesome allusions as only ostensibly positive in nature (Chadwick) to declaring that the contradiction in his approach to myth the result of Justin’s rambling prose (Contreras).

  Unlike these previous assessments, I will contend that his diverse use of myth in 1 Apology reveals a dynamic pedagogy in which he incorporated certain aspects of these popular religious narratives and yet was able to declare Christianity’s separation from them as well. This dynamic form of pedagogy is confirmed by the flow of 1 Apology where Justin’s first sustained treatment of myth (§18-22) incorporates myth to illuminate Christian belief. This is then followed by a section (§ 23-29) where Justin focused solely upon separation from myth so to signal his readers that they must shift their trust from the narratives of the ancestral religion to Moses and the Prophets.   This switch begins in chapter 30 where Justin devoted a massive block of material (§ 30-53) to demonstrate how the predictions of Christ are most clearly seen in Moses and the Prophets. Although mythical allusions are altogether sparse within this section, it is my contention that there exists a typological correspondence between the pagan foreshadowings that Justin previously established in the first section (§21-22) with this section (§ 30-53). Finally, Justin concluded his pedagogy by employing a decisive separation from myth altogether in chapters 54 through 66. 

Julian Petkov - “The Apocalypse of St John Chrysostom”: Techniques of Camouflage in Apocryphal Literature

How does an apocryphal text promote itself to its intended audience? A well-tested rhetorical device to do so is to refer to a renowned authority or even to use the disguise of a famous author of ancient days – a phenomenon commonly described as pseudepigraphy. In the special case of Byzantine apocalypses, however, not only prophets and seers from the Old or the New Testament got posthumously involved in the production of eschatological treatises. Well known fathers of the church like John Chrysostom were repeatedly claimed to vouch for the message of an apocalyptic writing thus significantly contributing to its diffusion.

Some attributions even succeeded in vastly increasing the popularity of a notional patron as occurred with the Revelation of Methodius of Pathara, which became one of the most influential medieval apocalypses. Peaces of eschatological relevance were moreover inserted in the Vitae of popular saints like Basil the New. Now and then a sensational novel about a fictional saint like Andreas Salos remarkably popularized the incorporated apocalyptic material.

It will be worthwhile then to shed some light on how patristic pseudepigraphy was used to render apocryphal texts of the eschatological type more appealing and less suspicious - with the side effect of not only promoting apocalypses but also posthumously augmenting the authority of already distinguished fathers of church.

Aaron Pelttari - A Paratextal Approach to the Prefaces of Claudian and Prudentius

Claudian and Prudentius wrote individual prefaces to their longer hexameter poems. Because these prefaces are distinct from the main text in meter and subject matter, they should be regarded as paratexts, introductory material that stands apart from the text and informs its reading. The concept of the paratext was introduced by Gérard Genette and has never been applied systematically to the prefaces of these late antique poets, although Jean-Louis Charlet and others have discussed Prudentius’ prefaces individually, Fritz Felgentreu has provided a basic study of Claudian’s prefaces, and Reinhart Herzog has compared the allegorical techniques of both poets. In this paper, however, I look at what is particularly innovative in these prefaces. Unlike the proems common to all Greco-Roman poetry, these prefaces are not strictly speaking part of the poem itself. Rather, they allow their authors to speak more directly to their audiences. In this way, Claudian and Prudentius establish their own personas and introduce their readers to the poems that they have written. The reader in turn may--but need not--follow the author’s direction for the text. Whereas Claudian focuses upon himself as singer and panegyrist, Prudentius describes both himself and his reader in terms of a shared Christian narratives. Both poets, though, use this shared form to communicate more intimately with their audience. This technique, therefore, unites their poetry and is part of the broader cultural idiom of the late fourth century. The paratextual preface was an innovative poetic form, and it allowed these poets to comment upon their own production. Their self-reflection mirrors a greater interest in poetry’s use and in the audience’s active reception of the poetic text.

Marius Portaru - Gradual Participation according to St Maximus the Confessor

Modern scholars have interpreted Maximus the Confessor's conception of participation in God in different ways, emphasising his Neoplatonic background, or his strictly Christian substitution with a theory of deification, or, finally, his cosmological dimension. The aim of this paper is to outline that a synthesis of all these components is possible by resorting to a diverse method of interpretation, which takes into account both the philosophical Neoplatonic frame and the Christian anthropological assumptions of Maximus’ vision.

A closer analysis of his vocabulary, limited not only to the traditional philosophical Greek terms for participation, is coroborated with observing the transposition of the Ps.- Dionysian participation through hierarchy into the “territory” of every single human being’s experience of God. In Maximus’ neo-Areopagitic and neo-Cappadocian understanding, the hierarchy of communicating the divine light, as appears in Dionysius, is transformed into a progressive knowledge of God by the soul. Admittedly, this could explain why Maximus does not take any serious advantage of the vision of a celestial and ecclesiastical hierarchy. God is the Being and every other perfection in every creature. He is all in all, wholly present to every human being and infinitely above all, yet his theophany through creation is different from deification, for the latter one is regulated by the human free will and love. In this interpretation, the role of the logoi of creatures in participation is limited and the Christological component depends very much on how the purpose of the Incarnation is conceived.

Jana Plátová - Die Fragmente des Clemens Alexandrinus in den griechischen und arabischen Katenen zu biblischen Büchern

In meinem Referat gebe ich aktuelle Übersicht der in den griechischen und arabischen Katenen erhalten gebliebenen Bruchstücke des Clemens und nehme Stellung zur Frage der Zugehörigkeit dieser Bruchstücke zur ClemensV verlorenen Schrift Hypotyposeis. Meine Aufmerksamkeit wird vor allem auf diejenigen Fragmente gerichtet werden, die in die Stählins Edition nicht eingesetzt worden sind. 

Matthew Pereira -From Augustine to the Scythian Monks: John Maxentius's Doctrine of Grace

A number of recent studies have assessed the relationship between the reconstruction of the past and the reception of tradition in collaboration with the formation of distinct ecclesial networks. The emergence of distinct religious identities situated within clusters, especially between the councils of Ephesus (431) and Constantinople II (553), were often defined by a social group’s adherence to a canon of privileged church fathers. The canonization of church fathers, often juxtaposed against a number of so-called heretical adversaries, increasingly became an integral component in social identity formation throughout the fifth and sixth centuries.

This present study analyzes John Maxentius’s reception of theological antecedents in his contest against Faustus of Riez and other opponents. Maxentius appropriates a select set of church fathers in order to construct a genealogical distinction between his own Scythian monastic network and his adversaries. In particular, Maxentius locates himself and his allies within the trajectory of Augustine of Hippo, whereas conversely, he bluntly situates Faustus of Riez and other adversaries within the lineage of Pelagius. 

Maxentius’s advances the Augustine - Pelagius binary in order to establish a clear distinction between himself and his opponents. Beyond merely engaging in rhetorical flourishes, Maxentius’s appropriation of Augustine and other church fathers significantly shaped his interrelated doctrines of the Incarnation, anthropology and divine grace. This present assessment attempts to disentangle Maxentius’s rhetorical constructions of the past from his praxis by examining and situating his writings within their historical context. This study attempts to demonstrate that Maxentius’s appropriation of Augustine should neither be reduced to fanciful historical reconstruction nor a passive reception of the past. Rather, Maxentius’s appropriation of Augustine, as evidenced throughout his writings, demonstrates a complex negotiation between reception, reconstruction and application, which together significantly shaped a collective identity among the Scythian monks.

David Perry - Cyprian's letter to Fidus: a new perspective on its significance for the history of infant baptism

The letter of Cyprian to Fidus has long been held up as unimpeachable evidence that to be baptised as an infant was normal practice in the early Church. Aland said: of the letter “…we must conclude that infant baptism at this time in Africa was not only a Church rule but a Church requirement”. But what if that evidence does not relate to normal practice? it means that all infant baptisms before the late fourth century were baptisms of necessity and explains why, as D F Wright pointed out, “we cannot give the name of anyone before the fourth century not in an emergency situation who was baptised as an infant”. 

My paper demonstrates that letter 58/64 refers to a baptism which is neither routine nor clinical. It is an emergency or precautionary baptism of people of all ages, including infants, in exceptional circumstances. How exceptional we can gauge by reading Cyprian’s De Mortalitate alongside letter 58/64. Once we accept that a plague was raging at the time Cyprian wrote his treatise and Fidus wrote to Cyprian and Cyprian replied, we find everything falling into place. Once the plague ceased, the normal catechumenal and baptismal disciplines will have restarted. The traditional reluctance to baptise clinically will have reasserted itself, as we see in the case of St Augustine’s childhood illness and as affirmed in the Canons of Neo-Caesarea (c. 314CE).

If what I have brought to light is accepted, Cyprian’s letter 58/64 will no longer serve as evidence for the baptism of healthy infants in the middle of the 3^rd century CE.

Matthew Pereira - From Augustine to the Scythian Monks: John Maxentius’s Doctrine of Grace

A number of recent studies have assessed the relationship between the reconstruction of the past and the reception of tradition in collaboration with the formation of distinct ecclesial networks. The emergence of distinct religious identities situated within clusters, especially between the councils of Ephesus (431) and Constantinople II (553), were often defined by a social group’s adherence to a canon of privileged church fathers. The canonization of church fathers, often juxtaposed against a number of so-called heretical adversaries, increasingly became an integral component in social identity formation throughout the fifth and sixth centuries.

This present study analyzes John Maxentius’s reception of theological antecedents in his contest against Faustus of Riez and other opponents. Maxentius appropriates a select set of church fathers in order to construct a genealogical distinction between his own Scythian monastic network and his adversaries. In particular, Maxentius locates himself and his allies within the trajectory of Augustine of Hippo, whereas conversely, he bluntly situates Faustus of Riez and other adversaries within the lineage of Pelagius. 

Maxentius’s advances the Augustine - Pelagius binary in order to establish a clear distinction between himself and his opponents. Beyond merely engaging in rhetorical flourishes, Maxentius’s appropriation of Augustine and other church fathers significantly shaped his interrelated doctrines of the Incarnation, anthropology and divine grace. This present assessment attempts to disentangle Maxentius’s rhetorical constructions of the past from his praxis by examining and situating his writings within their historical context. This study attempts to demonstrate that Maxentius’s appropriation of Augustine should neither be reduced to fanciful historical reconstruction nor a passive reception of the past. Rather, Maxentius’s appropriation of Augustine, as evidenced throughout his writings, demonstrates a complex negotiation between reception, reconstruction and application, which together significantly shaped a collective identity among the Scythian monks.

Adam Powell - Irenaeus and God's Gifts: Reciprocity in Against Heresies, III and IV

This paper is exploratory in that it endeavours to discuss Irenaean theology in light of anthropological theories of reciprocity.  The field of anthropology has benefitted greatly from the theories of gift exchange presented by individuals such as Marcel Mauss, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Maurice Godelier.  Their ideas often address the role of reciprocity in the development of bilateral relationships.  Appropriately nuanced applications of gift exchange and its effects on human relationships can also inform our understanding of the bond between humans and the Divine.  Reciprocity implies balance, and gift theory helps explain the interplay between obligation, altruism, social order, and power.  

For Irenaeus, the relationship of God to humanity is characterised by an ontological gap.  By virtue of having been created, humans are of a different essence than that which is uncreated.  That does not mean, however, that humanity and its creator were engaged in an asymmetrical relationship.  In discussing this, Irenaeus speaks of gifts many times, particularly in the third and fourth books of Against Heresies.  Where the Latin is translated as donum or munus, the bishop is essentially listing inalienable gifts given unilaterally from God to humanity or the catholic church.  These gifts include spiritual gifts, adoption, incorruptibility, glory, eternal life, and the Paraclitum.

This paper argues, however, that at least two profound examples of reciprocity also exist in Against Heresies.  First, III.20.2 mentions God becoming accustomed (adsuesceret) to humanity and humanity becoming accustomed to God.  Another form of inalienable gift (beneficium) is discussed in IV.14.1 which implies an act of service in both directions, God serving humanity and humanity serving God (‘contractual exchange’).  Instead of a chance to ‘participate’ in God, it may be that the gifts from God create a sense of obligation in the individual, an acknowledgement of the difference in status between the two parties.  Through reciprocity, humanity comprehends its relationship with an overtly social deity.  

Ioannis Papadogiannakis - Aspects of Question-and-Answer Literature in Late Antiquity: Ambrosiaster, Anastasius of Sinai and Ps. Athanasius

Question-and-answer literature has emerged as an exciting field of research that can help illuminate a wide range of issues from contemporary debates, modes of instruction, exegetical practices to ancient notions of authorship, and editorial practices. The focus of this workshop is some extremely influential collections from Ambrosiaster, Anastasius of Sinai and Ps. Athanasius addressing cumulatively the compositional methods of these collections, some of the issues that arise in them, the hitherto unexplored relationship between them (Anastasius and Ps. Athanasius), and the ways in which they have yet to be understood. 

Ana Palanciuc - The modes of being in Maximus Confessor's Ambigua

In the Ambigua, Maximus the Confessor develops a theory of the modes (tropoi) of being that reminds the writings of Gregory of Nazianzus and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, but also the Neoplatonic School in Athens. Although the question of existence is never considered as such, the entire patristic tradition followed by Maximus correlates the existence with the essence. The existence is an aspect of the conditions of internal possibility of ousia, an ousia integrating all manifestations of ousia-einai. In the maximian reformulation, the mode of being receives the role of specifying the participation to being, in order to bring into existence the good contained in its own logos and toward which the essential properties are oriented: coming to being on the same way as the logos comes as "logos of the being", inside and with ousia, maintaining the logos irrigated by its essential properties.

István Perczel - The Pseudo-Didymian De trinitate, Proclus and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

1. L. Mingarelli found an anonymous Trinitarian treatise, which he, on the basis of many parallels with the De spiritu sancto of Didymus of Alexandria, extant in Jerome’s translation, attributed to Didymus. This attribution went unchallenged for a while, but at present a number of scholars are rejecting it. However, even those who reject Mingarelli’s attribution, date the De trinitate to the end of the fourth century.

2. A number of observations contradict this early dating, namely the following. Many texts in De trinitate constitute close literary parallels with Theodoret, Cyril of Alexandria, the Definition of Chalcedon, Ambrose, Augustine, Plotinus, and Proclus.  Some among these are fifth-century authors and texts. One might argue, as it has been argued, that Theodoret or Cyril might have read and used our author and it is not easy to prove that the truth is the other way round. However, it would be difficult to argue that Augustine was influenced either directly or indirectly by the very text of the De trinitate. Finally, in the case of the Proclian parallels it would be as difficult to try to prove that Proclus used the De trinitate as it is to argue that he used Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. Thus, on the basis of these data, the De trinitate should be considered a late fifth-century, if not later, text.

3. An analysis of the Proclian paraphrases in the De trinitate shows that the author of the De trinitate has used some of the Proclian texts (namely the Platonic Theology and the Elements of Theology, eventually the De malorum subsistentia) that the author of the Dionysian Corpus also used. Moreover, the way these Proclian texts were adapted to express tenets of Christian theology is also analogous in the two writings. 

4. The De trinitate and the Dionysian Corpus have a shared vocabulary and also a similar idiosyncratic way of citing verses of the Holy Scripture.

5. References in the Dionysian Corpus to another treatise by the same author, entitled Theological Outlines (theologikai hypotypōseis) seem to refer to passages in the De trinitate.

5. On this basis it will be argued the that the De trinitate is to be identified with the Theological Outlines referred to in the Dionysian Corpus.