Nikolai Lipatov-Chicherin: The place of the ‘Commentary on the prophet Isaiah’ within the corpus of works of St Basil the Great.

The place of the ‘Commentary on the prophet Isaiah’ within the corpus of works of St Basil the Great.The paper makes a new contribution to the ongoing debate about the question of authorship of the ‘Commentary on the prophet Isaiah’ attributed by manuscripts to St Basil the Great. It starts with outlining objections raised by Erasmus, Garnier and their followers and proceeds to demonstrate their basic errors. Then the paper evaluates the text in terms of its language, style, theological ideas, historical background and reflections of the author’s personality. From the point of view of the speaker the book not only meets formal criteria for a genuine work of Basil but occupies an important and organic position within his oeuvre. It provides a focal point for the development of many of his ideas reflected in subsequent writings and as such it is indispensable for understanding of the evolution of Basil’s personality and theological thinking.

Fr. Luke Dysinger, OSB: From scholia to gnomai: Evagrius Ponticus’ Pedagogy for the Cosmic Journey

There is a  perceptible movement in Evagrius’ texts from Christianized collections of gnomai to biblical/exegetical sentences (scholia), then to more obscure gnomai intended for a select group of gnostikoi.  This movement reflects Evagrius’ vision of the evolving cosmos and the evolving self: that is, his effort to see every text and life experience as a comprehensible part of an individual and universal epic.

Dominic J. O’Meara: Traces of Ancient Virtue in Eriugena?

Plotinus developed a theory of virtue in Ennead I 2 which was elaborated further by Porphyry in the Sentences ch. 32, a theory which can be found to some extent in Augustine and in some detail in Macrobius. In this paper I would like to discuss passages in Eriugena’s Periphyseon, in particular in Book V, where we may detect the presence of this theory of virtue, and to ask to what extent and in what ways the theory is integrated in Eriugena’s own vision of the human condition.

Agnieszka Kijewska: ERIUGENA READS ST. AUGUSTINE

Eriugenian scholarship often puts emphasis on the fact that his intellectual formation was strongly influenced by Greeks. Meanwhile, in his early De praedestinatione, Eriugena often refers to Augustine. This is obvious as the whole debate over predestination was triggered by Gottschalc of Orbais and arose from his interpretation of Augustinian teaching. In my presentation I try to analyze the way Eriugena uses Augustine’ s doctrine in his De praedestinatione. Eriugenian approach could be characterized as follows:1. Eriugena reads Augustine’s teaching in the context of Boethius’ methodology (division of knowledge, approach to science). The primary characteristic of Boethian method is starting with analysis of basic concepts, then introducing distinctions (predestination vs. foreknowledge) and then proceeding on the way of suitable reasoning and linguistic analyses. 2. Eriugena moves himself within the limits of Augustinan concept of the relationship between faith and reason. 3. He tries to determine the very genesis of the problem of predestination and finds its roots in the formula of Isidore of Sevilla about the double predestination which refers to Augustine through his disciples (Fulgentius).4. Eriugena profusely refers to Augustine’s dialogues, mainly to his De libero arbitrio. There Augustine puts an emphasis on the freedom of human will, against the background of antimanicheian polemics. Augustinian works written in the vain of antipelagian polemics (the right field of predestination debate) are sparsely present in De praedestinatione. 5. For the sake of proper understanding of the text under interpretation, Eriugena advocates referring to rhetorical and dialectical means (entymemat).

Deirdre Carabine: The Transcendence and Alterity of God in Eriugena and his Patristic Sources

In this presentation, I will survey Eriugena's sources, both Greek and Latin, and attempt a critical presentation of the theme of transcendence, and the concomitant negative theology, showing how his Greek and Latin sources (notably Dionysius), together with his own unique way of thinking, culminate in a rich tapestry of thought that has relevance twelve centuries after his death. Through discussing the Greek and Latin influences on Eriugena's presentation of the transcendence and otherness of God, I hope to show how Eriugena's negative ontology ultimately forms the core of his understanding of, on the one hand, revelation and creation (God becoming not-God), and, on the other: the final calling of all manifestation and multiplicity into unity (not-God becoming God / not-God). This strong Patristic thematic in Eriugena deserves detailed attention since its inspiration in his theology was manifold. The end result should be a re-evaluation of the importance of Eriugena's use of his patristic sources in relation to the great thematic of divine transcendence.

Adrian Guiu: The Great Conversation about Creation in Eriugena’s Periphyseon

This presentation will focus on the great conversation about creation found in Eriugena’s Periphyseon:  one goal is to see how he weaves together the various sources: his Hexaëmeron is in many ways unique because it echoes such a variety of ideas and voices.
The very preoccupation of Eriugena’s Hexaëmeron, as a physiologia which reads creation, is to discern the divine into the theophanies encountered in creation.
As we follow the conversation on creation and nature in the Periphyseon, we realise that Eriugena’s Neoplatonism is deeply Christian as it is deeply preoccupied with mediation through the incarnation in nature.

Ayse Icoz: ‘Fear of God’ as the Foundation of Morality in the Ethical Writings of Medieval Arabophone Christian Authors

Ethical writings produced by Arabic speaking Christians are intriguing examples of Christian Arabic literature. This paper will examine a common theme in the ethical works of two select medieval Christian authors who were the members of the Church of the East in the late tenth and early eleventh century, namely Elias of Nisibis (d. 1046) and ‘Amr ibn Mattā (c. 1050). Elias of Nisibis’ Kitāb Daf’ al-Hamm (The Book of Elimination of Sorrow) is written to provide a scheme of dealing with unwanted anxiety. The first chapter of this book is entitled as “The Merit of Godliness and the Defect of Impiety”. In this part, he depicts the essence of devoutness as ‘fear of God’ and explains its benefits in detail to achieve a virtuous life. ‘Amr ibn Mattā is the author of the voluminous theological encyclopedia called Kitāb al Majdal (The Book of Tower). The fourth chapter of the Kitāb al-Majdal is divided into seven subsections, each of which deals with a certain spiritual or moral practice. The first section of the fourth chapter in this work is entitled “al-Taqwā” (piety/fear of God) where the author describes ‘fear of God’ as the compulsory element of moral development.Considering both the Islamic intellectual setting and the Christian backgrounds of the authors and focusing on the linguistic features, sources and possible audiences of the texts, this paper will examine how ‘fear of God’ is explained in these two medieval Christian Arabic writings.