scholarly journals The Old Testament Prophecy of the Resurrection of the Dry Bones between the West and Byzantium

Arts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Yoanna Planchette
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Medieval Art ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Illuminated Manuscript ◽  
Mural Paintings ◽  
Last Judgment ◽  
Resurrection Of The Dead ◽  
East And West ◽  
Pictorial Representations

The imagery of the vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezek 37. 1–14) still fascinates theologians and historians of religion with its exegetical and liturgical significance. Rarely represented in medieval art, the iconography of this singular topic related to the Last Judgment deserves closer attention on the part of art historians. The aim of the present contribution is to remedy this situation by offering an analysis of the main pictorial representations of Ezekiel’s prophecy within the medieval East and West. This paper examines the evolution of the theme from the first pictorial evidence from Mesopotamia through the Roman late antique funerary sculpture into the Catalan and Germanic illuminated manuscript production from 11th and 12th centuries. Then, the field of the investigation broadens by taking into consideration the Byzantine artistic patterns of Ezekiel’s vision of the resurrection of the dead. Finally, this paper accents the multilayered contribution of the mural paintings from the Balkan cultural field. In order to reconsider this subject through the prism of the artistic interactions between East and West, the continuity of an ancient pictorial tradition that seems to have been previously neglected is highlighted.

Seven Sacraments Compositions in English Medieval Art

1929 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. McN. Rushforth
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Art ◽  
Medieval Art ◽  
Christian Art ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Great Tradition ◽  
Speculum Humanae Salvationis ◽  
Church Art ◽  
The Church

Émile Mâle says that medieval Christian art in its last period had lost touch with the great tradition of symbolism which had been so important in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and still largely dominated the art of the fourteenth. But there was one great symbolical idea which survived, and that was the harmony of the Old and New Testaments; and so we find among the most popular subjects of fifteenth-century Church art the concordance of the Apostles and Prophets in the Creed, and the series of parallels between the life of Jesus and episodes of Old Testament history, which were summed up and digested in the Biblia Pauperum and the Speculum Humanae Salvationis. The reason for the popularity of these subjects was, no doubt, their didactic value, and though Mâle does not develop this side of the subject, we may say that one, though not the only, characteristic of the religious art of the fifteenth century was that, instead of being symbolical, it became didactic. We find in this period a whole series of subjects which reduced the articles of Christian faith and practice to pictorial form, and seem to have been intended to illustrate the medieval catechism by which the teaching of the Church was imparted.

Manichaeism and Gnosticism in the Papyri

2011 ◽  
pp. 622-643
Author(s):  
Cornelia Römer
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
The People ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Church

The church fathers were appalled in particular by the Gnostics' condemnation of creation. But the fact that much of their teaching was in many respects not so far from Christian dogma must have disturbed the advocates of the “real” Christian church. In some of these Gnostic systems, Christ was the main savior figure; in others, it was the forefathers of the Old Testament who guaranteed salvation; in Manichaeism, it was the new Messenger of Light, the apostle Mani, who, coming after Christ, would finally give the right revelation to the people and excel Christ in doing so. This article deals with religious groups such as these as they existed in Egypt in the Roman and late antique periods. Papyrology has played a decisive role in our understanding of the religious movements of the first centuries ce in Egypt and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

MONASTERIES AS RURAL SETTLEMENTS: PATRON-DEPENDENCE OR SELF-SUFFICIENCY?

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 447-476
Author(s):  
Beat Brenk
Keyword(s):  
Late Antique ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Productive Activities ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
East And West ◽  
Economic Nature

This paper is an examination of the textual and archaeological evidence for the economic nature of late antique monasteries. It considers to what extent monasteries were dependent on patronage, and to what extent they engaged in agriculture and other productive activities, and so were linked economically to the landscapes which surrounded them. Sites in Egypt and especially the Levant are examined, with literary and papyrological evidence from both East and West

euergetism

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjan Zuiderhoek
Keyword(s):  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Public Buildings ◽  
Civic Society ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
East And West

Euergetism is the modern scholarly term, derived from the ancient Greek euergetes (benefactor), to denote the phenomenon of elite gift-giving to cities (or to groups within them) in Greek and Roman societies. The term encompasses benefactions by Hellenistic kings and Roman emperors, but is mostly used to refer to the munificence of local civic elites. Recent scholarship stresses the transactional character of euergetism: benefactors donated or contributed to public buildings (including temples), festivals, and games, or they gave distributions of food or money or organized public banquets in exchange for publicly awarded honours: usually including an honorific inscription recording the benefaction and the accolades awarded to the donor in return, often accompanied by a statue of him or her. In Archaic and 5th-century bce Greece, cities mostly honoured foreign benefactors in this way, but from the 4th century bce onward, it became more and more normal for wealthy citizens to donate to their own city in exchange for public honours awarded by their fellow-citizens. Civic euergetism of this type became increasingly common in Greek cities during the Hellenistic period. Its greatest proliferation, however, was under Roman imperial rule during the 1st, 2nd and early 3rd centuries ce, when we have more inscriptions for benefactors in cities in both East and West than ever before. From the mid-3rd century ce onward, civic munificence starts to decline, though benefactions by the wealthy remain an aspect of late antique civic society.

The Concept and Task of Eschatology — Theological and Philosophical Reflections

1988 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Sauter
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
The State ◽  
Human History ◽  
Preceding Section ◽  
Last Judgment ◽  
The World ◽  
Resurrection Of The Dead ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Lutheran Orthodoxy ◽  
And Task

(1) The term ‘eschatology’ stems from Abraham Calov who entitled the twelfth and last section of his masterpiece of dogmatics, Systema locorum Theologicorum (1677), ‘EΣXATOΛOΓIA Sacra’. This final section, which concludes the Dogmatics of a leading representative of Lutheran Orthodoxy, deals with the ‘last things’ (de novissimis), specifically death and the state after death, the resurrection of the dead, the last Judgment, the consummation of the world, hell and everlasting death, and, finally, life everlasting. Calov does not define the artificial term ‘eschatologia’ which he himself had probably coined; he hardly even explains it in the course of his presentation, so that it remains a mere heading. Clearly it applies to the eschaton, namely ‘the end’, which, according to I Cor. 15.24, comes about when Christ, after subjugating all powers and authorities, delivers over the dominion to God the Father (quaestio 2). In the preceding section Calov had cited NT texts which explicitly or implicitly speak of the eschata, the last things, or of the last day/days as the conclusion of human history.

scholarly journals Intercultural musical dialogue in St John Passion by Sofia Gubaidulina

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-50
Author(s):  
Magdalena Stochniol
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Intercultural Dialogue ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
International Forum ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Special Place ◽  
Universal Values ◽  
East And West ◽  
Theological Message

Sofia Gubaidulina is one of the most important composers living today. Among her many works acknowledged and awarded prizes on the international forum, the diptych St John Passion and St John Easter [The Resurrection of Christ according to St John], the opus magnum of that outstanding Russian composer, occupies a special place. This work focuses the most important features of her music, such as a profound theological message based on a compilation of fragments from the Old Testament, Gospels and the Apocalypse of St John, as well as her musical rootedness in the cultural tradition of the churches of both East and West. Gubaidulina adapts the achievements of the artistic avant-garde in new and original ways, while at the same time she is an ardent champion of traditional universal values grounded in the message of the Bible and Christian cultural tradition. This paper presents St John Passion by Sofia Gubaidulina in the context of its theological and intercultural dialogue, as well as attempting to characterise the phenomenon represented by this composer, who raises anew reflection on the fate of humankind in the context of existential questions, while remaining faithful to the idea of high art, exquisite and open to various understandings of the idea of beauty.

scholarly journals Representation of Heaven and Beyond

Asian Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-151
Author(s):  
Hau-ling Eileen Lam
Keyword(s):  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Mural Paintings ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Pictorial Representations ◽  
Rich Content

The bi (“disc”) is an object that was originally made from jade, and became an independent motif that appeared widely in different pictorial materials during Han times. The bi disc is considered one of the earliest jade forms, and has been used for ritual purposes or as an ornament from the Neolithic period until today. This paper focuses on the Han Dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE), a period in which jade bi discs were extensively used and placed in burials of different ranks. Present finds show that images of bi discs also appeared widely in Han burials, in which they were depicted on coffins, funerary banners covering coffins, and mural paintings, and were also engraved on pictorial stones and pictorial bricks, these practices becoming more ubiquitous in the later Han period. By studying various images of bi discs in different burials throughout the Han period, this paper will explore the development and significance of different pictorial representations of bi disc in Han burial context, and also attempt to reveal the rich content and thoughts embedded in the form of bi discs during this period of time.

scholarly journals “Jonah’s gourd” and its early Byzantine interpretations

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-51
Author(s):  
Dmitry Kurdybaylo ◽  
Inga Kurdybaylo
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Intellectual Culture ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Modern Reader ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
Bible Interpretation ◽  
Early Byzantine ◽  
Patristic Exegesis

Many modern scholars consider the Old Testament book of Jonah being written in a boldly parodic manner. The narrative engages many details that sound humorous for a modern reader. However, from the standpoint of late Antique and early Medieval patristic exegesis, it is often unclear whether Byzantine interpreters perceived such passages laughable or at least inappropriate for a prophetic writing. This study presents a few examples of early Byzantine commentaries to the episode with Jonah and a gourd (Jonah 4:6–11). None of the commentaries expresses any explicit amusement caused by the discussed text. However, the style, method, or context of each commentary appears to be passing the traditional bounds of Bible interpretation. The earlier interpreters adhere to the most expected moral reading of Jonah 4, but they use epithets, metaphors, or omissions, which produce the effect of paradox comparable to the biblical wording itself. The later commentaries tend to involve unexpected and even provocative senses. In such interpretations, God can be thought of as being able to play with a human or even to fool and deceive. What seems us humorous in the Bible, Byzantine commentators take primarily as a paradox, which they did not explain or remove but elaborate further paradoxically. The later an interpreter is, the bolder his paradoxical approach appears. The results of the study provide some clues to understanding how the interpretation of humorous, parodic, or ironical passages were developing in the history of Byzantine intellectual culture.

Bald Jonah and the Exegesis of 4 Kings 2.23

Traditio ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 125-144
Author(s):  
John B. Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Medieval Art ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Teaching Device ◽  
Northern European ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Visual Impact ◽  
Made In

In recent years, a good deal of attention has been paid to the place of typology in late medieval art. This way of thought so characteristic of the Middle Ages, in which Old Testament persons and events are seen to have a prefigurative relationship to those of the New, was a popular teaching device. It is nowhere better seen than in the Biblia pauperum or picture Bible, which originated in a mid-thirteenth-century Dominican milieu and was probably inspired by the altar piece of Nicholas of Verdun, made in 1181. The pages of these books contain drawings that show the typological relationship between Old and New Testament events by means of a center roundel depicting some episode of Christ's life, known as the anti-type, flanked by two Old Testament scenes, the types, which were thought to prefigure it. Appropriate Bible prophecies in banners heightened the visual impact of the drawings for the literate. From its inception, the Biblia pauperum was of enormous importance for northern European art, and its influence can be seen well into the Reformation.

The Trouble with Dreams

2020 ◽  
pp. 102-133
Author(s):  
Bronwen Neil
Keyword(s):  
Dream Interpretation ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Babylonian Talmud ◽  
Strong Belief ◽  
The Third ◽  
Desert Fathers ◽  
East And West ◽  
Early Islamic

This chapter is concerned with eastern monastic teachings on the meaning and significance of revelatory dreams, and the contemporaneous Talmudic tradition from Persia. The monastic sayings of the Byzantine East were focused on ascetics and were used predominantly as a guide for other ascetics. Eastern Christian monastics—men as well as women—and their lay followers, regularly received visions. In the first part of the chapter, the eastern monastic tradition of Byzantium is illustrated by various ascetic treatises from Evagrius, the Sayings of the Desert Fathers (and Mothers), and monastic writings from east and west Syria. The second part surveys late antique Jewish approaches to divination in dreams and the activity of the soul, examining the intersection of dream interpretation and rabbinic life in the Babylonian Talmud. A strong belief in the democratic nature of dream interpretation is evident here, especially in The Book of Blessings (Berakoth), according to which prophetic dreams were available to everyone, and professional interpreters were not needed to understand them. The third part contrasts these with early Islamic hadith on dreams and their interpretation.

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