scholarly journals The repudiation of representation in Plato's Republic and its repercussions

1987 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 53-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Ninth Century ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church ◽  
Selection Of

This paper surveys a selection of texts from the fourth century B.C. to the ninth century A.D. and considers the continuing repercussions of Plato's famous attack on art for the present as well as the past. I propose to treat the subject in five sections:1. A brief consideration of the iconoclast controversy of the eighth and ninth centuries A.D., to highlight the theory behind the iconoclasts' rejection of pictorial art from the Church (and effectively from society).2. A general discussion of Plato's apparently iconoclastic argument in Republic 10, to suggest that it too, like the later iconoclasm, was rejecting certain implicit claims made about the value of representation as such.3. A closer analysis of the arguments in Republic 10 to clarify precisely what theories of art are vulnerable to them.4. A survey of some subsequent defences of art on the basis that it imitates nature, to show that Plato was right to say that a defence on those lines would not make art sufficiently important to justify the place we accord it in society (or the Church).

Past Belief

2019 ◽  
pp. 13-40
Author(s):  
Anthony Grafton
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Saint Augustine ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Early History ◽  
Ecclesiastical History ◽  
Royal Road ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

This chapter examines the centrality of early modern ecclesiastical history, written by Catholics as well as Protestants, in the refinement of research techniques and practices anticipatory of modern scholarship. To Christians of all varieties, getting the Church's early history right mattered. Eusebius's fourth-century history of the Church opened a royal road into the subject, but he made mistakes, and it was important to be able to ferret them out. Saint Augustine was recognized as a sure-footed guide to the truth about the Church's original and bedrock beliefs, but some of the Saint's writings were spurious, and it was important to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. To distinguish true belief from false, teams of religious scholars gathered documents; the documents in turn were subjected to skeptical scrutiny and philological critique; and sources were compared and cited. The practices of humanistic scholarship, it turns out, came from within the Catholic Church itself as it examined its own past.

Earth Satellites

1959 ◽  
Vol 63 (583) ◽  
pp. 394-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Time Scale ◽  
Space Travel ◽  
The Past ◽  
Scientific Exploration ◽  
Engineering Problems ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Selection Of

So much has been written, both of fact and fancy, about satellites and space travel in the past few years that the selection of material suitable for presentation to the members of a learned Society concerned mainly with purely aeronautical matters is a hazardous and difficult task. I propose in this paper to tackle it by restricting the subject severely to a description of the general characteristics of near earth satellites and the scientific exploration made possible by their use as observing platforms. The later sections of the paper have a bearing on the possibilities and engineering problems of space probes and space travel; I leave it to others to speculate on the likely time scale and types of such activities and attempt instead to make sure that the basic factors involved are made reasonably clear. To set the background it is important to review briefly the actual practical achievements up to the present time.

ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE ‘ARIAN CONTROVERSY’ IN THE FOURTH CENTURY

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-263
Author(s):  
David M. Gwynn
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Material Evidence ◽  
The Church ◽  
Archaeological Approach ◽  
Arian Controversy

The so-called ‘Arian Controversy’ that divided the Christian Church in the 4th c. has been the subject of considerable scholarly debate in recent decades. The literary sources from which the majority of our knowledge of the controversy derives are highly polemical and distorted, written almost exclusively from the perspective of those whose positions would come to be accepted as ‘orthodox’, and this in turn has directly influenced scholarly interpretations of the material evidence from this crucial period in the history of the Church. In this paper I wish to reconsider that material evidence and ask how an archaeological approach independent of the biases of our literary sources might broaden our understanding of the controversy and its impact upon the 4th c. Roman empire.

The Holy Spirit in Greek Patristic Thought

1954 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Mcintyre
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Holy Trinity ◽  
Generic Term ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

The subject of this paper abounds in historical problems of an extremely intricate nature—some of which arise through the theologically close association of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit with the doctrine of the Holy Trinity; but others of which are rooted in a number of more particular controversies in which the Greek Fathers were involved concerning the Holy Spirit. Among the latter are to be found such questions as the precise identification of the persons against whom many of the Greek writings were directed, for example, who the ‘Tropici’ were, with whom Athanasius deals in the Letters to Serapion, whether ‘Pneumatomachi’ was a generic term used to describe a variety of different heretics, or a proper name referring to an identifiable group existing in one particular place, whether Macedonius was a Macedonian, and so on. Included in the intricate historical problems raised in our period, there is that of accounting for the revival towards the middle of the fourth century of an interest in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit— whether it was due to the developing influence of asceticism, or simply a reaction to a latter-day Arianism working itself out belatedly in heresy concerning the Holy Spirit, or more subtly, whether it was due to a necessity felt by the Church to give substance to the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, now that the doctrine of the Trinity had replaced the doctrine of the Logos as her central and dominant doctrine.

Architecture and élite identity in late antique Rome: appropriating the past at Sant'Andrea Catabarbara

2013 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 279-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Kalas
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Physical Layers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Elite Identity ◽  
Elite Status ◽  
The Church

The conversion of a fourth-century secular basilica into the church of Sant'Andrea Catabarbara in Rome during the 470s invites a discussion of how architectural adaptation contributed to the identity of its restorer, Valila. More than a century after the praetorian prefect of Italy, Junius Bassus, founded the basilica in 331, a Goth named Valila, belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, bequeathed the structure to Pope Simplicius (468–83). References to Valila's last will in the church's dedicatory inscription were inserted directly above Junius Bassus's original donation inscription, inviting reflections upon the transmission of élite status from one individual to another. The particularities of Valila's legacy as a testator, as indicated in the references to his will in the Sant'Andrea Catabarbara inscription and confirmed by a charter he wrote to support a church near Tivoli, suggest that he sought to control his lasting memory through patronage. Valila's concern for a posthumous status provides a context for interpreting the interior of the Roman church. Juxtaposed to the church's fifth-century apse mosaic were opus sectile panels depicting Junius Bassus, together with scenes of an Apollonian tripod and an illustration of the exposed body of Hylas raped by two nymphs originating from the earliest phase of the basilica. The article proposes that Valila nuanced his élite identity by preserving the fourth-century images and thereby hinted that preservation fostered both the accretion of physical layers and the accrual of multiple identities by a Gothic aristocrat in Rome.

scholarly journals AGENTS IN THE PROCESS OF INCULTURATION: FRIEND OR FOE?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Okelloh Ogera
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
African Christianity ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
Simple Question ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

Purpose: This article looks at the role played by agents: the people responsible for articulating and implementing inculturation in Africa. The article asks the simple question of are these agents useful or a hindrance in the process of inculturation? The article begins by identifying these agents then discusses the challenges they face in the process of inculturation. The article concludes by giving a way forward and that is an integrated approach in inculturation.Methodology: This study will review the available literature on the subject with a view to examining what previous research says concerning the role of the agents, that is human beings, in the process of inculturation. This was done with the main objective of examining the challenges that he agents of inculturation face, and concluding by exploring an integrated approach to inculturation, where all the agents are brought on board. Findings: This study found out that if inculturation is to truly take root in African Christianity, it must bring on board all actors, not just Church leaders, and trained theologians, but also the laity. All these actors also need to overcome some of the challenges that have hindered the prospects of inculturation which include but not limited to fear of syncretism, lack of enthusiasm by some Church leaders, answering the question of culture in a post-modern and globalized world.Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This paper will offer unique contributions to policies and practices governing the attempts to make the Church in Africa truly African by proposing a re-evaluation of the way inculturation has been carried out in the past. This has tended to be spearheaded by professional theologians and some church leaders, neglecting the biggest constituency in the entire process, and that is the consumer of inculturational processes; the laity.

scholarly journals Life of Saint Nikephoros of Sebaze as an Illustration of the Perception of the Iconoclastic Era by the Byzantines in Later Times (Including Russian Translation of the Life)

2020 ◽  
pp. 284-296
Author(s):  
Tatyana Senina
Keyword(s):  
Russian Translation ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Philosophical Hermeneutics ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
The Past ◽  
Imperial Palace ◽  
Individual Traits ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

Introduction. This work is concerned with the perception of the iconoclastic era in the Life of St. Nikephoros of Sebaze preserved in the form of enkomion written by an anonymous author presumably in the mid 10th century, and to clarify some details of Nikephoros’ biography. Methods. Source research and analysis, philosophical hermeneutics, comparative textological and historical research are the methods employed in this work. Sources on the subject include the edition of the Life of St. Nikephoros by F. Halkin, Lives of St. Patriarch Methodios, St. Nicetas of Medikion and St. Makarios of Pelekete, the Chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor. Analysis. The life of St. Nikephoros written in the 10th century by a monk of the monastery of Sebaze illustrates how the iconoclastic era was seen by the next generations who no longer found living witnesses of those times. The hagiographer knows almost nothing certain about his hero, except that he was a monk, suffered for icons in the epoch of the second iconoclasm, and founded a monastery. For ordinary monks in the 10th century, the iconoclastic heresy was associated with the names of emperors Leo III, Constantine V and Leo V, which testifies to the success of the myth created by iconodules in the 9th century that the iconoclastic heresy, unlike the others, was not born in the church environment, but appeared in the imperial palace and was implanted by the authorities without much support from believers. Silence about the last iconoclast emperor Theophilos can be presumably attributed to the success of his posthumous rehabilitation. The past is completely mythologized in the Life: all bishops, priests and monks ardently struggled for their faith, enduring torment and hardship; nothing is said about the Orthodox believers who had fallen into heresy. The hero of the Life itself represented a composite character of a Christian ascetic and confessor of iconoduly completely devoid of individual traits. Results. The analysis of the life shows that by the 10th century the iconoclastic era began to be perceived by believers – at least, by ordinary monks – as the time of epic exploits, and the knowledge of historical events became fragmentary and was based on myths and legends distributed in the church environment rather than real facts. Appendix. The article is accompanied by Russian translation of the Life of St. Nikephoros of Sebaze with a scientific commentary.

African Theology of Reconstruction: The Painful Realities and Practical Options!

Exchange ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masiiwa Ragies Gunda
Keyword(s):  
Coming Out ◽  
African Theology ◽  
African People ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Out Of Africa ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
External Forces ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Church ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractReconstruction theology in Africa has been the latest theological project coming out of Africa, beginning in 1990 it has gradually established itself and from 2003 a number of publications have come out on the subject. This paper seeks to make an addition to this growing list of publications. In this paper, I question the validity of the blame of external forces for all the woes that Africa is going through now. I instead propose that a functional reconstruction theology should primarily tackle the evil that we commit against ourselves. When we deal with this evil we have a likelihood of bringing African people into a proper unified group that can stand together against foreign elements. I also take issue with the selection of Nehemiah as the model upon which we can do our reconstruction theology. It is in this context that this paper suggests the prophet Amos over and above Jesus as the right model needed to confront the sort of problems we face as Africans. There is need for the church in Africa to undergo a reconstruction of its own after which the church can lead in the African reconstruction. This paper brings to the fore the painful realities of internally perpetrated evils, which are bigger than has been appreciated in many earlier contributions.

Late Roman Iconography and Style

2021 ◽  
pp. 199-221
Author(s):  
Susanna McFadden
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Wall Paintings ◽  
Work Of Art ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Church ◽  
Late Roman

Discussions of late Roman style and iconography sometimes tend to emphasize the liminality of visual culture in late antiquity; monuments representative of the period such as the Arch of Constantine are neither fully “classical” nor “medieval” in their form and content; hence, the instinct to compare its style and iconography with that of the past or future monuments is hard to resist. The result of this lure to dichotomize is often a focus on what a late Roman work of art is not, rather than what it is (i.e., how an artwork or monument functions in its contemporary moment). This chapter therefore presents the wall paintings from the late third- to early fourth-century domus underneath the Church of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo on the Caelian Hill in Rome as a case study of a particular moment in late Roman visuality so as to better understand how engagements with iconography and style in the context of the late Roman home activate “modern” meanings and experiences.

‘Tree and flower and leaf and grass’: anachronism and J.R.R. Tolkien’s botanical semiotics

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-92
Author(s):  
Lynn Forest-Hill
Keyword(s):  
Lord Of The Rings ◽  
The Past ◽  
Literary Theories ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Selection Of

Tolkien’s use of plants in his works has, over many years, been the subject of limited critical attention in spite of the diversity and complexity of that use. This paper examines a selection of Tolkien’s best-known botanical references from the perspectives of various literary theories, to reveal the significance of anachronism in The Lord of the Rings. This in turn highlights the levels and forms of interpenetration by the past into the present of Middle-earth. Although the past is explicit throughout the work, attention to plants associated with specific characters and events reveals a subtext of anxiety in which the past is constructed variously as a threat, a cause or a remedy, according to the familiar, mythic, ethical or symbolic connotations of the plants depicted within the framework of Middle-earth.

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