If I Suffer … Epistolary Authority in Ignatius of Antioch

1987 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Stoops
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Letter Writing ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Church Structure ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church ◽  
Writing Activity

Sometime during the second decade of the second century CE, Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was conveyed under guard to Rome where he expected to leave this world through the mouths of the beasts in the arena. Along his journey he stopped at Philadelphia and Smyrna. At each stop he received visitors from a number of churches in the area. He, in turn, wrote letters to those churches and to the church at Rome. The letters of Ignatius have been the subject of scholarly investigation for over a century. The authenticity of the middle recension of those letters is almost universally acknowledged. These letters have been studied for the light they can shed on church structure in Asia Minor at the beginning of the second century, the theology of Ignatius within its historical context, and the distinctive personality of Ignatius. One aspect of these documents which has implications for all other interests has not been satisfactorily explained, namely, how Ignatius understood his own letter writing activity. What gave Ignatius the audacity to interfere in the life of churches outside of Syria, and what kind of authority did he expect the admonitions contained in his letters to carry?

scholarly journals Tell us no secrets: St. Irenaeus’ contra-gnostic doctrine of communion

Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 85-94
Author(s):  
Don W. Springer
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
People Of God ◽  
Mystical Union ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Union With God ◽  
The Church

Discussion related to the potential for mystical union with God was largely absent from the writings of the Church Fathers prior to the late-second century. Toward the end of that century, however, the concept of communion with God emerged as a topic of interest in both early Christian and Gnostic literature. St. Irenaeus of Lyons was among the earliest Christian writers to critically reflect on the subject. He argued that participation with the divine was possible only in the “orthodox” churches and required three key elements: a life lived in connection to the Spirit of God, in community with the true people of God, while bearing evidence of godly piety and virtue. Whereas Gnostic conceptions of communion frequently included an emphasis on the reception of an exclusive, secret gnosis, Irenaeus’ paradigm offered a public, progressive path of ascent to God.

The Fall and Rise of Eutychus: The Church of Paul and the Spatial Habitus of Luke

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-245
Author(s):  
Eric C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Pierre Bourdieu ◽  
Second Century ◽  
First Century ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Spatial Practice ◽  
Michel De Certeau ◽  
Community Meeting ◽  
The Church

Abstract The story of Eutychus in Acts 20 seems to narrate a scene of a Pauline community, meeting for a communal meal and instruction in an insula building in Alexandria Troas. Some scholars have argued, however, that this tale was borrowed by Luke and appropriated to tell the story of Paul. When read through combined theoretical lenses from Michel de Certeau and Pierre Bourdieu, the story of Eutychus provides a window not into one of Paul’s communities, but into Luke’s own spatial practice, and the habitus of community that he knew from his own late-first-century context. Luke therefore repurposed the framework of the story, but also filled the story with his own experience and expectations of space and practice in his creative reconstruction of a Pauline vignette. The tale of Eutychus provides evidence of late-first-century or early-second-century urban Christianity in Asia Minor, not of a community from the life of Paul.

Ignatius and the Archives

1978 ◽  
Vol 71 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 97-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Schoedel
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Current View ◽  
Direct Information ◽  
Formal Authority ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

The well known passage about the “archives” and the “gospel” in Ignatius’ Letter to the Philadelphians (8.2) is one of the most intriguing glimpses given us of debate in the church early in the second century. Wide agreement about the meaning of the passage seems to have been reached, and the current view may be summarized more or less as follows: Ignatius recalls a conversation that picks up just after he had made a theological point during his visit to Philadelphia (he gives us no direct information on the subject of the discussion). His opponents had replied (according to most commentators) that if they did not find it in the “archives” (that is, the Old Testament), they did not believe it to be in the “gospel.” Ignatius had retorted that Scripture in fact supported him: “It is written” (γέγραπται). But his opponents had answered that his certainty was not well grounded: “That is just the question.” The passage concludes with a statement that may represent not so much what Ignatius said then as what he now regards as an appropriate way of ending such debates. The “archives” (he says) are Jesus Christ; or (as he rephrases it) the “inviolable archives” are Christ's cross, death, resurrection, and the faith that comes through him. If this is what the passage means, it represents a remarkable reliance on the “gospel” and the events of salvation as opposed to the formal authority of the (Old Testament) Scriptures.

Filsafatisasi Kristianitas Atau Kristianisasi Filsafat

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Edison R. L. Tinambunan
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Third ◽  
Integral Relationship ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Concrete Solution ◽  
The Church

Abstrak: Filsafat telah memiliki perjalanan panjang dalam hubungannya dengan Kristianitas. Sumbangan filsafat untuk Kristianitas begitu banyak terutama dalam kaitannya dengan teologi. Tulisan ini meneliti soal integrasi filsafat dalam Kristianitas yang selama ini sering diperdebatkan. Periode apologi yang dimulai pada awal abad kedua sampai dengan pertengahan abad ketiga Masehi, memberikan suatu penjelasan konkrit untuk permasalahan ini. Melalui para apologet, yang sebelumnya adalah filsuf, bahkan mampu melangkah lebih jauh dalam penemuan kebijaksanaan yang sesungguhnya yang merupakan obyek dan tujuan filsafat. Bahkan mereka sampai pada suatu pemikiran bahwa filsafat adalah ranah semai yang mempersiapkan filsafat yang sesungguhnya, yaitu Kristianitas. Berkat para apologet, filsafat menjadi bagian penting dalam Kristianitas, bukan saja di bidang teologi, tetapi juga di dalam ranah eksegese, hermeneutika dan terlebih-lebih di dalam hidup. Penulis Kristiani setelah periode apologi mengintegrasikan filsafat dalam tulisan dan di dalam rumusan iman. Berbagai terminologi filosofis yang diintegrasikan ke Kristianitas belum tergantikan sampai dengan saat ini. Kata-kata Kunci: Filsafat, filsuf, teologi, apologi, apologet, kebijaksanaan. Abstract: Philosophy is having a long journey in its relationship with Christianity. There is much influence of philosophy on Christian thinking, but especially on theology. This article researches the integrity of philosophy within Christianity, an integral relationship which has always been debated. During the period of the Apologies, which was begun at the beginning of the second century up to the middle of the third century, an important concrete solution to this debate was given. Through the Apology Fathers of the Church who previously were philosophers, had the capacity to go farther in finding real wisdom, which is the subject and the goal of all research in philosophy. They were able to reach a consideration that their philosophy was a field seed which had prepared for the real philosophy, which is Christianity. Through the apologies, philosophy created an important partnership with Christianity in the areas of theology and biblical exegeses, and even in hermeneutics and way of life. After the period of the Apology Fathers, Christian writers integrated philosophy in a certain way into their writings, even as a formula of faith. And some philosophical terminology, which was integrated into Christianity, could not be replaced after this time. Keywords: Philosophy, philosopher, theology, apology, apolog, virtue.

Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Howgego
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Public Official ◽  
Public Identity ◽  
The People ◽  
Roman Provinces ◽  
Explicit Representations ◽  
The Subject ◽  
A Current

‘Identity is Now Seen Not as an Eternal given, but as something actively constructed and contested in a particular historical context, based on subjective, not objective criteria.’ For all that it may be a contingent construct, identity is a powerful driver of action, as we know all too well from our own experience. Identity matters. Coins have been described, in the words of Fergus Millar, as ‘the most deliberate of all symbols of public identity’. Yet the Roman historian will look in vain for any good introduction to, or systematic treatment of, the subject. That, in a nutshell, is the need which this volume seeks to address. It is worth emphasizing the words deliberate and public. It is relevant to recall the late second-century BC inscription which states the reasons why the people of Sestus decided to use its own bronze coinage. The first reason given is so that the city’s coin type should be used as a current type. In this context at least, coins were seen as a deliberate advertisement of public identity. What coinage most obviously provides is an enormous range of self-defined and explicit representations of public/official/communal identities, principally civic in nature. The material thus largely allows us to avoid the thorny problems associated with externally defined, implicit, and private identities. A public medium like coinage is not the place to look for overt opposition to Roman rule. And it invites, rather than answers, the question of to what extent public identities might have been understood as covert ‘resistance’ to Rome, to what extent they represented a self-definition designed to accommodate or play up to Roman attitudes, and to what extent they may even have been inspired or promoted by Rome itself. Identity has been a major focus of research in recent decades, for the obvious reason that it is particularly an issue when under threat. That consideration applies as much to our own scholarly context as it does to our subject, the Roman empire. The advent of the Euro has inevitably drawn attention to money in this context. Naturally there are major differences between now and then.

scholarly journals Ekonomiczne aspekty funkcjonowania nosokomeionów we wczesnym Bizancjum

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 41-63
Author(s):  
Ireneusz Milewski
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Field Research ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Treatment Information ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Homes For The Elderly ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

Economical aspects of nosokomeia in early Byzantium In the 4th century, an époque of intensive Christianisation of the Roman Empire, a new form of providing aid to fellow neighbours appeared, namely charity organizations. Although there were several types of them, in practice the differences between them were quite seamless. Depending on needs, hospital functions were carried by ksenodochia (inns for Christian pilgrims and other travellers), ptochotrophia (shelters for the poor), gerokomia (homes for the elderly) and most of all nosokomia specialised in treating the sick. Also, the Church legislator of the time (synods and councils) and the secular lawmaker (the emperor) did not differentiate the scope of activities of the aforementioned institutions. Since the sick, the poor or pilgrims (or any other exhausted travellers), no matter their age, were able to find shelter or help in each of those institutions, they were commonly perceived as identical. The sources we have, however, do not provide an answer to the question of how this issue was regulated in practice, if only due to the prevention against spreading various diseases (separating the contagiously ill, including most of all lepers, from less severe cases). The sources we know do not also provide an explicit answer to another important question, namely whether in such types of Christian charitable institutions also pagans, Jews or even „heretics” were able to find treatment. Information on the subject of early Byzantine hospitality are found mainly in hagiographic, papyrus or normative texts of the time (mainly in the legislature of emperor Justinian). The geographical range of Christian charitable institutions in the period of our interest is considerably well known, yet it is a different case in terms of attempts to estimate their numbers and size. In that matter, if we were to count individual foundations mentioned in the sources as well as those known from field research, it would turn out that in the whole Eastern Roman Empire only several dozens of such institutions had been functioning since the beginning of the 7th century; numbers, which undoubtedly are considerably underestimated. We already find them since the 20s of the 4th century in Egypt and later on in Asia Minor, in Syria, Palestine and obviously in the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople. In greatest numbers the Christian charitable institutions were established most of all in large cities or in the case of specialised medical centres such as leprosoria (homes for lepers), in their nearby areas. They were run mostly by the local clergy (presbyterians or deacons) or monks, who would also take care of financing them. Money (as well as other goods) needed for their functioning were collected by means of small contributions and most of all through sizeable donations and last will testaments made by affluent founders.

Plato in the Folk-lore of the Konia Plain

1912 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 265-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. W. Hasluck
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

The recognition of Plato by the Arab philosophers, and consequently by the Seljouks of Roum, has long been the accepted explanation of the fact that his name is popularly associated with a remarkable spring (Eflatoun Bounari = Plato's spring) with ‘Hittite’ ruins some fifty miles west of Konia, the Seljouk capital, and with a spring at Konia itself: the connection has not hitherto been made clear. Stray references to Plato in the description of this part of Asia Minor by the Turkish geographer Hadji Khalfa (1648) seem to throw some fresh light on the subject.These references are three in number. The first records the existence of a ‘tomb of Plato the divine’ in the citadel at Konia. This is also mentioned earlier by the thirteenth-century geographer Yakut, one of Hadji Khalfa's acknowledged sources: Yakut adds that the tomb was ‘in the church by the mosque.’

scholarly journals Meneropong Teks dalam Konteks: Katekimus Heidelberg P/J 53

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-102
Author(s):  
Freddy Gunawan
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Reformed Tradition ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church ◽  
Contemporary Context

Katekismus Heidelberg merupakan salah satu warisan tradisi iman Reformed yang memuat pengajaran yang begitu kaya dan limpah mengenai doktrin Allah Roh Kudus. Secara eksplisit, pengajaran tentang doktrin Allah Roh Kudus dalam Katekismus Heidelberg memang hanya terdapat dalam P/J 53. Namun, hal ini tidak berarti bahwa pengajaran doktrin Allah Roh Kudus dalam Katekismus Heidelberg hanya termaktub di dalam bagian ini saja. Tulisan ini mencoba menganalisis kekayaan doktrin Allah Roh Kudus, secara khusus P/J 53, dalam tiga konteks: konteks masa lalu yang menjadi latar belakang terbentuknya Katekismus Heidelberg, konteks makro dan mikro P/J 53 secara tekstual, dan relevansinya bagi konteks masa kini, khususnya Indonesia. Kata-kata kunci: Katekismus Heidelberg, P/J 53, Roh Kudus, penghiburan, penyertaan, konteks masa lalu, konteks tekstual, konteks masa kini English:  The Heidelberg Catechism reflects a rich heritage within the Church that adheres to the Reformed tradition. It contains a rich strain of doctrine pertaining to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Explicitly, within the Heidelberg Catechism, the teaching regarding the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as a Member of the Godhead is found only in Question/Answer 53. Of course, this does not mean that the only teaching on the subject of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit within the Heidelberg Catechism is recorded in this section alone. The purpose of this essay is an attempt to conduct an analysis of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, specifically Q/A 53, from three different contexts: the historical setting which reflects the historical context in which the Heidelberg Catechism was formulated, a macro and micro textual analysis of Q/A 53 within the context of the Heidelberg Catechism, and finally, the relevancy of the document for the contemporary context, especially focusing upon the Indonesian context. Keywords: Heidelberg Catechism, Question/Answer 53, The Holy Spirit, Consolation, Abiding, Historical Context, Textual Context, Contemporary Context

A.I. Solzhenitsyn Apropos of Russia’s Future: Specific Outlook Features Depending on Different Historical Context

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 327-334
Author(s):  
Inga V. Zheltikova ◽  
Elena I. Khokhlova
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Future ◽  
Pessimistic Attitude ◽  
Personal Qualities ◽  
Images Of The Future ◽  
The Church

The article considers the dependence of the images of future on the socio-cultural context of their formation. Comparison of the images of the future found in A.I. Solzhenitsyn’s works of various years reveals his generally pessimistic attitude to the future in the situation of social stability and moderate optimism in times of society destabilization. At the same time, the author's images of the future both in the seventies and the nineties of the last century demonstrate the mismatch of social expectations and reality that was generally typical for the images of the future. According to the authors of the present article, Solzhenitsyn’s ideas that the revival of spirituality could serve as the basis for the development of economy, that the influence of the Church on the process of socio-economic development would grow, and that the political situation strongly depends on the personal qualities of the leader, are unjustified. Nevertheless, such ideas are still present in many images of the future of Russia, including contemporary ones.

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