Frances Young: Doctrine and Scripture: their coinherence in the Catechetical Homilies of Cyril of Jerusalem

This short paper will consider the validity of Cyril's explicit understanding of the relationship between creed and scripture, in the light of his proof-texting use of scripture to confirm doctrine, as well as his recognition of false interpretation by heretics. It will then seek to uncover the basis of his doctrinal reading and articulate his implicit hermeneutic.

Donna Hawk-Reinhard: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Cyril of Jerusalem's Sacramental Theology

Cyril of Jerusalem, as catechist and mystagogue of his fourth-century See, focused on the orthodox formation of those in his care so that they would be able to live into their new identity as baptized and communing members of the catholic church. Of particular interest to Cyril is the transformative relationship between the Triune God and Christians; what he presents of his theology thus focuses on the relational dynamics within the Godhead as it pertains to sacramental theōsis. In this paper, I focus on Cyril's explicit and implicit use of the concept "like nature resting upon like nature" as the means for humans to participate in the divine nature. I demonstrate that Cyril's consistent and highly nuanced use of homoios is foundational to his expression of a Trinitarian theology which informs his sacramental theology. In particular, his use of the noun homoios is the means by which he carefully attends to the mystery of the unity of the divine nature of the Godhead while preserving the distinctiveness of the three persons (hypostases) within the Godhead. While Cyril only uses the phrase "like nature resting upon like nature" in his description of the Holy Spirit's descent upon Jesus at his baptism, I propose that this concept is central to his teachings on how, through baptism and eucharist, the Holy Spirit mysteriously sanctifies and deifies the catechumens so that they are transformed into faithful Christians.

Matthieu Cassin: Gregory of Nyssa and Cyril of Jerusalem on Lc 24:42var

Both Gregory of Nyssa and Cyril of Jerusalem are among the earliest testimonies to the longer variant of Lc 24:42 ("and a honeycomb"). Cyril uses this form in his exegesis of Ct 5:1, in Cat. XIV, 11; Gregory also uses the longer form in his Homilies on the Song of Song, when commenting on Ct 5:1 and conflates it with Jn 21:9, as in his homily De tridui spatio. The other patristic testimonies of Lc 24:42 var. are very different and do not use the honey detail at all; they mainly concern discussion about the real resurrection of the body. Patristic testimonies will also be compared with data from the manuscript transmission of the New Testament, in order to try to define the possible origin of such a variant reading in Lc 24:42.

Olga Shenkman: Choice and Will in the Catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem

Until now, patristic researchers considered Cyril of Jerusalem's († 387) catechetical instructions (the Procatechesis and the Catecheses ad illuminandos) mainly as a means to reconstruct liturgical processes in the church of Jerusalem in the 4th century. An approach with respect to the specific theological purposes of this catechetical work is, however, still rare.
In my presentation I will analyse the Procatechesis and the Catecheses in relation to the fundamental anthropological contents transmitted to the Photizomenoi during the fasting period. In particular, I will focus on the following questions: On which ideas of choice and free will does Cyril base his Catecheses? Which significance do these concepts have for the process of becoming a Christian?
The approach consists of two steps: Based on the observation that Cyril, in his instructions, prefers the prohairesis-term to the commonly - and also by Cyril himself - used autexousion-term, the concerned passages are firstly to be analysed semantically. In particular, it has to be illustrated to what extent his use of this terminology could indicate a Stoic background. Finally, it will be shown that with the famous proclamation gnothi seauton, Cyril precedes the acquisition of dogmatic knowledge with anthropological explanations that include protological, harmatological and soteriological aspects. Therefore, it becomes evident that particularly the anthropological statements concerning the human will are crucial to learn the dogmatic contents of Christian faith and hence to the process of becoming a Christian.

Krastu Banev - ‘You cannot see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live' (Exod. 33:20). The Dangerous Face of God in Fourth-century Patristic Theology

A vision of God is a dangerous business. In the fourth century, Cyril of Jerusalem located the danger at Baptism or, as he put it, ‘at the border’ (μεθόριον) of the church. (Procat. 12) For him this danger issued from the Eucharistic mystery which he defined as ‘a most fearful sacrifice’ (φρικωδέστατoς θυσία). (Cat. 5.9) Gregory of Nyssa saw not just Baptism and the Eucharist, but theological discourse itself as a dangerous affair, especially for those already baptised. For him the danger was not at the border but on the rising steps of ascent towards God. The example he famously used to illustrate this point was the life of Moses to whom God had said on Sinai: ‘You cannot see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.’ (Exod. 33:20). To remain alive, the baptised who are ever to face God should not question his essence, John Chrysostom emphatically maintained against the theological speculations of Eunomius, but learn from the angels to worship him ‘with great fear’ (μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς φρίκης). (De incomprehensibili 1.312) From worship to theology and back: fourth-century catechetical instructions and patristic homilies abound with references to a danger inherent in the vision of God. In the present paper I will focus on the nature of the danger itself, and will study the patristic understanding of its localisation. Following in the trajectory of Rudolph Otto’s Das Heilige, I will approach the divine not as a human concern but as a ‘wholly other’ reality and will inquire of the fourth century authors how they understood this reality as dangerous. The proposed initial comparison between three key authors – Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom – will disclose several revealing but little examined differences in the way the topic was approached in the fourth century.

Georgia Frank - Gazing upon the Feet: The Ascension of Jesus in Fourth- and Fifth-Century Preaching and Pilgrimage

This paper examines the role of the senses in ancient Christian retellings of Jesus’ ascension to heaven (Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:9-10). The episode prompted later interpreters to focus on the apostles’ sensory perceptions, who were the last to see Jesus with the “eyes of the body,” and those of the angels, who first saw Jesus in heaven. As this paper shall argue, both preachers and pilgrims puzzled over what value--if any-- the physical senses might still hold for lay Christians in a post-Ascension world.  This paper shall focus on sermons from the Feast of the Ascension by John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, and Proclus of Constantinople, as well as the writings about the rituals at the holy site, as described by Eusebius, Egeria, Cyril of Jerusalem and Paulinus of Nola). 

Krastu Banev - ‘You cannot see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live' (Exod. 33:20). The Dangerous Face of God in Fourth-century Patristic Theology

A vision of God is a dangerous business. In the fourth century, Cyril of Jerusalem located the danger at Baptism or, as he put it, ‘at the border’ (μεθόριον) of the church. (Procat. 12) For him this danger issued from the Eucharistic mystery which he defined as ‘a most fearful sacrifice’ (φρικωδέστατoς θυσία). (Cat. 5.9) Gregory of Nyssa saw not just Baptism and the Eucharist, but theological discourse itself as a dangerous affair, especially for those already baptised. For him the danger was not at the border but on the rising steps of ascent towards God. The example he famously used to illustrate this point was the life of Moses to whom God had said on Sinai: ‘You cannot see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.’ (Exod. 33:20). To remain alive, the baptised who are ever to face God should not question his essence, John Chrysostom emphatically maintained against the theological speculations of Eunomius, but learn from the angels to worship him ‘with great fear’ (μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς φρίκης). (De incomprehensibili 1.312) From worship to theology and back: fourth-century catechetical instructions and patristic homilies abound with references to a danger inherent in the vision of God. In the present paper I will focus on the nature of the danger itself, and will study the patristic understanding of its localisation. Following in the trajectory of Rudolph Otto’s Das Heilige, I will approach the divine not as a human concern but as a ‘wholly other’ reality and will inquire of the fourth century authors how they understood this reality as dangerous. The proposed initial comparison between three key authors – Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom – will disclose several revealing but little examined differences in the way the topic was approached in the fourth century.

Donna Hawk-Reinhard - Cyril of Jersusalem's Sacramental Theosis

While secondary literature has stated that Cyril of Jerusalem’s theology contains evidence of theosis  (making divine), demonstration of this concept within his catechetical and mystagogical texts has not been explored in detail.  By examining Cyril’s use of words within the semantic range of koinonia  (communion, fellowship), his use of the verb theopoieo  (to make divine, deifying), and how the individual is incorporated into communion with both the divine Trinity and the church through the sacraments, I shall demonstrate that Cyril expressed a theology which is undergirded by a rich doctrine of theosis.  Furthermore, this implicit doctrine of theosis  is the hermeneutical key to understanding the different rhetorical strategies that Cyril employed in his teachings on baptism and the eucharist.