Rod, Line and Net: Augustine on the Limits of diversity

2007 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 80-99
Author(s):  
Gillian Clark

Augustine of Hippo is especially appropriate for the theme of this volume. He is acknowledged as a Father and Doctor of the Church, that is, as an authoritative Christian writer from the early centuries of the Church, and as a major theologian. Patristics, the study of the Fathers, used to be where it all started in terms of Church teaching: wherever possible, doctrines and practices were traced back to the Fathers. In the last half-century of early Christian studies there has been much more emphasis on ecclesiastical history, on the intellectual and political detail of a specific historical context. So patristics is where it all starts in that we can see Church leaders working out their responses to problems and tensions that recur through the history of the Church. In the case of Augustine, there is an unusual range of evidence from his own sermons and letters and theological treatises, and from records of Church councils in Roman Africa from the years when he was bishop (395 to 430). On the older model of patristics, Augustine was taken as the source for some of the most extreme forms of Church discipline. His writings were conflated to produce coherent ‘Augustinian’ doctrine. Phrases and sentences, images and speculation, were taken out of context to be used for purposes he never envisaged. On the newer model of early Christian studies, we can trace Augustine’s reflections about when and how to discipline people who appear to be rejecting the fundamental Christian principles, love of God and love of neighbour.

Author(s):  
B. W. Young

The dismissive characterization of Anglican divinity between 1688 and 1800 as defensive and rationalistic, made by Mark Pattison and Leslie Stephen, has proved more enduring than most other aspects of a Victorian critique of the eighteenth-century Church of England. By directly addressing the analytical narratives offered by Pattison and Stephen, this chapter offers a comprehensive re-evaluation of this neglected period in the history of English theology. The chapter explores the many contributions to patristic study, ecclesiastical history, and doctrinal controversy made by theologians with a once deservedly international reputation: William Cave, Richard Bentley, William Law, William Warburton, Joseph Butler, George Berkeley, and William Paley were vitalizing influences on Anglican theology, all of whom were systematically depreciated by their agnostic Victorian successors. This chapter offers a revisionist account of the many achievements in eighteenth-century Anglican divinity.


Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 315-325
Author(s):  
Mariusz Szram

The bishop of Brescia, Philastrius, author of the first Latin catalogue of he­resies, written between 380 and 388, presented in his treaty an extremely large number of heterodox movements: 28 within Judaism and 128 in early Christianity. This comes as a result of a wide understanding of the term heresis. For Philastrius this term was synonymous with the term error, recognized as any deviation from the universal truth in the history of the world, inspired by Satan as “the father of lies”, ocurring primarily in Judaism and Christianity. Among the early Christian views defined by the bishop of Brescia as heresy five groups can be distinguished. The first group includes mainly the erroneous views on fundamental theological questions contained in the rule of faith, such as the concept of a creator God and saviour Jesus Christ. The second set of he­resies, closely related with the previous one, contains the erroneous doctrines of anthropology, such as questioning the resurrection of the human body or the view of the materiality of the human soul. The third group includes the views related to the misinterpretation of Scripture, especially exaggerated literal interpretations of the texts of the Old Testament, as well as the cosmological views which do not agree with descriptions contained within the Bible. The fourth group contains the moral issues related to the based on laxism or rigorism way of life, as well as to the attitude of lack of deference to the laws of the Church, but non-threatening the primary truths of the Christian faith. The fifth group of heresies includes the movements defined by the authors of the late patristic period as a schizm, while the term schisma is not at all used by the bishop of Brescia in his work. The semantic scope of the term heresis in Philastrius’ treaty went beyond the noncompliance with the regula fidei. According to the bishop of Brescia each offense – whether in doctrinal teaching or practice of life, as well as with regard to the understanding of the text of Scripture – is a heresy because it offends God and the Church. Therefore, in Philastrius opinion one should not differentiate between superior and minor error, but equally condemn them as attitudes directed against God as the Father of Truth.


2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew V. Novenson

The question of the fate of Paulinism in late antiquity, a point of controversy in early Christian studies especially since Adolf von Harnack, has benefited from fresh attention in recent research, even as, simultaneously, there is ever less agreement among New Testament scholars on the question of what Paulinism actually is. This state of affairs comes sharply into focus in Todd Still and David Wilhite's edited volume Tertullian and Paul, the first in a new series from T&T Clark on the reception of Paul in the church fathers. Reading and assessing Tertullian and Paul is a sometimes dizzying experience of intertextuality. The reader encounters, for example, Margaret MacDonald reading Elizabeth Clark reading Tertullian reading Paul. What is more, Paul himself is reading, for example, Second Isaiah, who is reading First Isaiah, who is reading parts of the Pentateuch, and so on. One thinks of Derrida's notion of différance, in which any given text refers to other texts, which refer to still other texts, which refer to still other texts, and so on, ad infinitum.


Author(s):  
Anthony Grafton

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.


is generally compatible with the teaching of the common and vulgar pride in the power of this world’ Reformed church, and therefore with doctrines (cited Var 1.423). Readers today, who rightly query found in the Book of Common Prayer and the hom-any labelling of Spenser’s characters, may query just ilies, rather than as a system of beliefs. See J.N. Wall how the knight’s pride, if he is proud, is personified 1988:88–127. by Orgoglio. Does he fall through pride? Most cer-Traditional interpretations of Book I have been tainly he falls: one who was on horseback lies upon either moral, varying between extremes of psycho-the ground, first to rest in the shade and then to lie logical and spiritual readings, or historical, varying with Duessa; and although he staggers to his feet, he between particular and general readings. Both were soon falls senseless upon the ground, and finally is sanctioned by the interpretations given the major placed deep underground in the giant’s dungeon. classical poets and sixteenth-century romance writers. The giant himself is not ‘identified’ until after the For example, in 1632 Henry Reynolds praised The knight’s fall, and then he is named Orgoglio, not Faerie Queene as ‘an exact body of the Ethicke doc-Pride. Although he is said to be proud, pride is only trine’ while wishing that Spenser had been ‘a little one detail in a very complex description. In his size, freer of his fiction, and not so close riuetted to his descent, features, weapon, gait, and mode of fight-Morall’ (Sp All 186). In 1642 Henry More praised ing, he is seen as a particular giant rather than as a it as ‘a Poem richly fraught within divine Morality particular kind of pride. To name him such is to as Phansy’, and in 1660 offers a historical reading of select a few words – and not particularly interesting Una’s reception by the satyrs in I vi 11–19, saying ones – such as ‘arrogant’ and ‘presumption’ out of that it ‘does lively set out the condition of Chris-some twenty-six lines or about two hundred words, tianity since the time that the Church of a Garden and to collapse them into pride because pride is one became a Wilderness’ (Sp All 210, 249). Both kinds of the seven deadly sins. To say that the knight falls of readings continue today though the latter often through pride ignores the complex interactions of all tends to be restricted to the sociopolitical. An influ-the words in the episode. While he is guilty of sloth ential view in the earlier twentieth century, expressed and lust before he falls, he is not proud; in fact, he by Kermode 1971:12–32, was that the historical has just escaped from the house of Pride. Quite allegory of Book I treats the history of the true deliberately, Spenser seeks to prevent any such moral church from its beginnings to the Last Judgement identification by attributing the knight’s weakness in its conflict with the Church of Rome. According before Orgoglio to his act of ignorantly drinking the to this reading, the Red Cross Knight’s subjection enfeebling waters issuing from a nymph who, like to Orgoglio in canto vii refers to the popish captivity him, rested in the midst of her quest. of England from Gregory VII to Wyclif (about 300 Although holiness is a distinctively Christian years: the three months of viii 38; but see n); and the virtue, Book I does not treat ‘pilgrim’s progress from six years that the Red Cross Knight must serve the this world to that which is to come’, as does Bunyan, Faerie Queene before he may return to Eden refers but rather the Red Cross Knight’s quest in this world to the six years of Mary Tudor’s reign when England on a pilgrimage from error to salvation; see Prescott was subject to the Church of Rome (see I xii 1989. His slaying the dragon only qualifies him to 18.6–8n). While interest in the ecclesiastical history enter the antepenultimate battle as the defender of of Book I continues, e.g. in Richey 1998:16–35, the Faerie Queene against the pagan king (I xii 18), usually it is directed more specifically to its imme-and only after that has been accomplished may he diate context in the Reformation (King 1990a; and start his climb to the New Jerusalem. As a con-Mallette 1997 who explores how the poem appro-sequence, the whole poem is deeply rooted in the priates and parodies overlapping Reformation texts); human condition: it treats our life in this world, or Reformation doctrines of holiness (Gless 1994); under the aegis of divine grace, more comprehens-or patristic theology (Weatherby 1994); or Reforma-ively than any other poem in English. tion iconoclasm (Gregerson 1995). The moral allegory of Book I, as set down by Ruskin in The Stones of Venice (1853), remains gener- Temperance: Book II

2014 ◽  
pp. 31-31

Author(s):  
Н. Н. Грибов ◽  
Т. А. Марьенкина ◽  
Н. В. Иванова

В статье представлены предварительные результаты первых масштабных археологических исследований в нижней части Нижегородского кремля. Раскоп, заложенный в зоне воссоздания храма Святого Симеона Столпника, вскрыл культурные отложения двух периодов - XIII - начала XV в. и XVI - середины XVIII в. Впервые средневековая усадебная застройка Нижнего Новгорода зафиксирована на таком элементе волжской долины, как береговой склон. Выдающееся значение для нижегородской археологии имеют обнаружение стратифицированных культурных напластований XIII - начала XV в. и зафиксированный на стратиграфических разрезах перерыв в активном освоении городской территории, соответствующий большей части XV в. Предложена реконструкция истории освоения раскопанного участка. Выяснилось, что связанный с храмом малоизвестный нижегородский Симеоновский монастырь вряд ли существовал до строительства Нижегородского кремля. Наиболее раннее, предположительно, монастырское сооружение, возникшее после исчезновения усадебной застройки XIII - начала XV в., датировано концом XV - серединой XVI в. С этим периодом связано строительство деревянного моста, обеспечивавшего транспортное сообщение между «нагорным» и приречным районами города. Обнаружение остатков этого свайного сооружения существенно корректирует известную реконструкцию застройки кремлевской территории начала XVII в., выполненную по письменным источникам. Дано обоснование времени функционирования обнаруженного некрополя Симеоновского монастыря в пределах середины XVI - начала XVIII в., приведена общая характеристика изученных погребений. В общеисторическом контексте материалы исследований представляют интерес для изучения процессов, сопровождающих превращение удельных городских центров в города Московской Руси. The article presents preliminary results of the first large-scale archaeological research in the lower part of the Nizhniy Novgorod Kremlin. The excavation, laid in the area of the reconstruction of the Church of St. Simeon the Stylite, uncovered cultural layer of two periods - the XIII - early XV centuries and the XVI - mid XVIII centuries. For the first time, the medieval estate development of Nizhniy Novgorod was recorded on such an element of the Volga valley as the coastal slope. The discovery of stratified cultural strata of the XIII - early XV centuries and the break in the active development of urban territory recorded on stratigraphic sections, corresponding to most of the XV century, are of outstanding significance for Nizhniy Novgorod archeology. The reconstruction of the history of development of the excavated site is proposed. It turned out that the little-known Nizhniy Novgorod Simeon monastery associated with the temple hardly existed before the construction of the Nizhniy Novgorod Kremlin. The earliest, presumably, monastic structure that arose after the disappearance of the manor buildings of the XIII -early XV centuries., dated to the end of the XV - mid XVI centuries. This period is associated with the construction of a wooden bridge that provided transport links between the «Nagorny» and riverine districts of the city. The discovery of the remains of this pile structure significantly corrects the well-known reconstruction of the Kremlin territory of the beginning of the XVII century, made according to written sources. The justification for the functioning of the necropolis discovered Simeon monastery in the middle of the XVI century - beginning of the XVIII centuries, the general characteristics of the studied burials. In the general historical context, the research materials are of interest for studying the processes that accompany the transformation of specific urban centers into cities of Muscovite Russia.


2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Du Plooy

The Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika 1859-2002: Fulfilment of a calling for the benefit of the Kingdom of God? The Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika was founded on 11 February 1859 in Rustenburg. This article looks at a number of subthemes from the history of the GKSA. These sub-themes represent a random choice but are relevant to the topic. Though not meant to cover the entire field, the following sub-themes are discussed: • The historical context within which the Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika originated in 1859. • The fundamental calling of the church to proclaim the Word of God in its purest form, and the importance of providing sound, scholarly education and training to theological students. • The calling to actualise the unity of the church, with reference to the relationship among the three major Afrikaans-speaking reformed denominations, ecumenism and unity across ethnic and language boundaries. • The calling to ensure justice in society, with brief reference to the Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika and the ideology of apartheid. • The calling to bear testimony among people in society.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 81-101
Author(s):  
Cristiana Facchini

This article is devoted to Leon Modena’s anti-Christian polemical work Magen ve-herev (1643 ca.) as a useful source for the reconstruction of notions about the historical Jesus in the early modern period. In this work, Modena depicts Jesus in a sympathetic way, placing his religious activity against the backdrop of second Temple Judaism. Modena’s Jesus is fully Jewish, and Magen ve-herev offers different perspectives on the religious and historical context of Jesus’ life, and on the development of Christianity. The text is interpreted not exclusively against the backdrop of Jewish anti-Christian polemics but as the result of an increasing interest in the history of Christianity and ecclesiastical history, mainly as a response to the religious strife that resonated in the Republic of Venice and its ghetto.


Author(s):  
G. Sujin Pak

In identifying the history of Christ and the Gospel as the prime content of sacred history, Luther exhibited widespread Christological exegesis of the Old Testament prophets. Calvin read the original histories of the Old Testament prophets analogically to serve as a mirror of God’s providential activity with the church. Metaphor in particular functioned in distinctly different ways in their exegeses. While for Luther, Old Testament metaphors overwhelmingly pointed to the advent of Christ and the Gospel, for Calvin, metaphors—in direct distinction from allegorical reading—served as visual signposts of meaning precisely delimited by authorial intention, the prophet’s historical context, and the literary properties of the text. Such distinctions become consolidated along confessional lines in the next generation so that Christological exegesis and the interpretation of the Old Testament metaphors served as a prime site of Lutheran and Reformed confessional polemics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 232-265
Author(s):  
Silvia Suciu ◽  

The art market is a system by which the artwork reaches the public - collectors, museums, public institutions. Thus, the artwork becomes “merchandise” and its journey begins in the artist’s workshop and ends by being shown to the public. During centuries, the art market has registered many changes, according to different factors, such as: political regimes, economical and social crises, artistic tastes of the collectors. Until the 16th century, the public of the artwork was the church, the royal families or the aristocracy; in time, the work of art gained a wider audience. At the beginning, the transactions on the art market were made between the artist-producer and the commissioner-buyer. The market evolved and between the artist and the commissioner have interfered other persons or institutions such as the merchant, the dealer, auction houses, galleries. There are collectors in the history of art that started from the idea of making their own collections, building up powerful empires that promote and sell artists and their works. Depending on centuries or historical moments, the “rules of the game” have changed, and the evolution of the art market has led to the evolution of collective and individual perception of the artwork. As the rules and principles of the actual art market begun in Netherlands, in 16th-17th centuries, this article intends to study the historical context that has led to the evolution of the art market.


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