scholarly journals Eastern Church Fathers on Being Human—Dichotomy in Essence and Wholeness in Deification

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 575
Author(s):  
Olga Chistyakova
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Anthropology ◽  
Church Father ◽  
Byzantine Church ◽  
God's Image ◽  
Maximus The Confessor

The article traces the formation of Eastern Christian anthropology as a new religious and philosophical tradition within the Early Byzantine culture. The notion “Patristics” is reasoned as a corpus of ideas of the Church Fathers, both Eastern and Western. The term “Eastern Patristics” means the works by Greek-Byzantine Church Fathers, who in the theological disputes with the Western Church Fathers elaborated the Christian creed. Based on an analysis of the texts of Greek-Byzantine Church Fathers, the most important provisions of Eastern Patristics are deduced and discussed, which determined the specificity of Christian anthropology. In this context, different approaches of the Eastern Fathers to the explanation of the Old Testament thesis on the creation of man in God’s image and likeness and the justification of the duality of human essence are shown. Particular attention is paid to considering the idea of deification as overcoming the human dualism and the entire created universe, the doctrine of the Divine Logoi as God’s energies, and the potential elimination of the antinomianism of the earthly and Divine worlds. The article reflects the anthropological ideas of the pre-Nicene Church Father Irenaeus, the non-canonical early Christian work The Shepherd of Hermas, and the teachings on the man of the classical Eastern Patristics period by Athanasius of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus the Confessor.

Philosophical Insights on the Human Being in Greek-Byzantine Patristics

2021 ◽  
pp. 142-152
Author(s):  
Olga V. Chistyakova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Life Goal ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Eastern Christianity ◽  
Christian Anthropology ◽  
Byzantine Church ◽  
Christian Apologetics

The article traces the formation of a new religious and philosophical tradition of consideration of the human being. It was formed in the texts of representatives of Eastern Patristics at the epoch of Trinity and Christology theological discussions in Byzantium from the 4th to 7th centuries. The author presents the early Church Fathers’ ideas of the period of Christian apologetics, who laid the foundation for early medieval Christian anthropology. The work analyzes the significant issues, the solution of which allowed Greek-Byzantine Church Fathers to shape the an­thropological tradition of Eastern Christianity. In particular, the author notes the differences in the justification of the Eastern Church Fathers’ Old Testament point on the creation of man in the God’s image and likeness. The researcher stresses the diversity of concepts about the contradictory nature of the human as­sociated with the confrontation of the soul (spirit) and body. In this context, the principle of antinomianism is deduced as the primary method of theorizing about the person in their relationship with God and the created world. Special at­tention is paid to the Patristics interpretation of the idea of deification, compre­hended as the life goal of an individual, and, at the same time, as a process of re­alization of the highest purpose by unifying two contradictory worlds – Divine and earthly – into one harmonious Universe. Deification is derived as an oppor­tunity to overcome man’s duality and as his righteous path guiding each individ­ual to self-improvement, self-knowledge, and spiritual unity with the Creator. The article is based on the analysis of the sacred texts of Eastern Christianity, specifically by Irenaeus, Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus the Confessor.

scholarly journals St Maxim the Greek: Some notes on his understanding of the sacred time

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 329-368
Author(s):  
Neža Zajc
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Holy Trinity ◽  
Precise Understanding ◽  
Slavonic Language ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

St Maxim the Greek: Some notes on his understanding of the sacred timeBased on a manuscript by St Maxim the Greek, this article explores his specific under­standing of the relationship between language and biblical tradition. It gives some answers to questions concerning his theology, which are posed by his liturgical experience of the sacred time, which is based not on repeating the excerptions from the patristic authors, but is primarily founded on his accurate reading and in-depth perception of the Holy Bible. Maxim the Greek, who in his personal writings showed a detailed knowledge of both the Old Testament and Sla­vonic biblical texts, was thus not only able to separate the canonical from the non-canonical sacred texts, but also successfully classified the Christian teachings according to ethical value, from the Old Testament prophets to the apostles and the Church Fathers. With his hierarchy he also gave meaning to the ontological-eschatological dimension (three levels – appropriate to the Holy Trinity) of their spiritual efforts. His knowledge, which also reflects the precise understanding of dogmatic theological decisions of the first ecumenical church councils, ranks highest the learning that comes directly from the Son of God, which Maxim the Greek experienced through his theological-liturgical prayer practice.Maxim found theologically unambiguous formulations which most profoundly deter­mined the specific nature of his personal theology in the Byzantine hymnography dedicated to the Mother of God. All the mentioned facts lead the author to the further explore his specific Old Church Slavonic language, in which he managed to preserve not only the early Christian mentality but also the theological-liturgical characteristics of the ascetic and later monastic discipline that he learned in the monastery of Vatopedi at the Holy Mount Athos. The article concludes with the proposition that only through detailed study of the personal language of St Maxim the Greek can we arrive at a definition of his Theology. Św. Maksym Grek. Kilka uwag o jego rozumieniu czasu świętegoArtykuł poświęcony jest specyficznemu rozumieniu związku języka i tradycji biblijnej w manuskrypcie św. Maksyma Greka. Proponuje odpowiedzi na pytania dotyczącego jego teologii, jakie zostały zawarte w jego liturgicznym doświadczeniu świętego czasu, które nie polega na odtwarzaniu ekscerpcji z autorów patrystycznych, lecz jest przede wszystkim oparte na właściwym odczytaniu i dogłębnym rozumieniu Biblii. Maksym Grek, który w swoich pismach osobistych wykazuje szczegółową wiedzę na temat zarówno Starego Testamentu, jak i słowiańskich tekstów biblijnych, posiada umiejętność oddzielenia nie tylko tekstów kanonicznych od niekanonicznych, ale także z powodzeniem klasyfikuje nauki chrześcijań­skie zgodnie z ich wartością etyczną, od proroków Starego Testamentu do apostołów i Ojców Kościoła. Hierarchią tą nadaje także znaczenie wymiarowi ontologiczno-eschatologicznemu (trzy poziomy – właściwe Świętej Trójcy) ich wysiłków duchowym. Wiedza, która ujawnia się również w precyzyjnym rozumieniu decyzji dogmatycznych pierwszych ekumenicznych sobo­rów Kościoła, sytuuje najwyżej bezpośrednią naukę płynącą od Syna Bożego, której Maksym Grek doświadczył dzięki teologiczno-liturgicznej praktyce modlitewnej.W bizantyńskiej hymnografii odnajduje on jednoznaczne sformułowania teologicznie, poświęcone Matce Boskiej, które najdobitniej określają specyfikę jego osobistej teologii. Wszystkie wspomniane fakty wiodą do dalszych badań jego charakterystycznego języka staro-cerkiewno­-słowiańskiego, w którym stara się zachować nie tylko wczesną mentalność chrześcijańską, lecz także teologiczno-liturgiczne cechy ascetycznej, a później monastycznej, dyscypliny, której nauczył się w monastyrze Vatopedi na Świętej Górze Atos. Artykuł stawia tezę, że tylko szczegółowe badania języka św. Maksyma Greka pozwalają na zdefiniowanie jego teologii.

scholarly journals The synthesis of ancient philosophical doctrines on movement in the thought of St Maximus the confessor

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-176
Author(s):  
Vladimir Cvetkovic
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
The Third ◽  
Indirect Influence ◽  
Theological Thought ◽  
Maximus The Confessor

The paper aims to explore St Maximus the Confessor? teaching on movement in the light of his ancient philosophical sources. Maximus? employment of Neoplathonic terminology for the purpose of exposing his theological thought implies a direct or indirect influence of ancient thinkers on his work. In examining the themes of ancient philosophical heritage in Maximus, the paper proposes a fourfold division of his sources. The first source is pagan authors, such as Aristotle, Plotinus and Proclus, whom Maximus might know directly. The second source are ancient philosophical doctrines that through Christian authors such as Origen, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Nemesius of Emesa or Dionysius Areopagite already entered the Christian tradition, and which are transformed to a certain extent. The third source are the Christian Neo-Platonists of Alexandria Academy, like John Philoponus, Elias, David and Stephen of Alexandria who attempted to interprete previous philosophical tradition in conformity with certain Christian principles, and the fourth source are the Christian authors, who independently of previous philosophical traditions shaped their metaphysical views. The focus of the paper is on the first three sources.

scholarly journals TEOLOGIA ȘI ȘTIINȚA ÎN DIALOG. REPERE ȘI PERSPECTIVE

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-38
Author(s):  
Ion Marian CROITORU ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Norm ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spiritual Life ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
Christian Anthropology ◽  
Theology And Science ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Church

One can note that science tends to turn man into a master of the external and material, yet at the cost of turning him, on the level of his inner and spiritual life, into a slave of instincts altered by sin. All these, without a moral norm, become a power of destruction for man and represent issues addressed not just by bioethics, where the opinion of ‘theologians’ is consulted as well, but especially by the Church and by the Orthodoxy. The pressure of events imposes the issue of the recognition or, according to some, reformulation of the bases of ethics. Yet, this ethics ought to be constrained to a revision founded neither just on the progress of science, whose truths are partial, nor on the principles of rationalist or positivist philosophy, which try to convince man that he is no different from all the other living beings and needs to be treated in the same way as them, but on the reality of the religious fact, and, moreover, on the evidence of God’s Revelation and, implicitly, of Christian anthropology, based on the fact that man bears God’s image, not the image of man himself, as a society attempting to exclude God in an absolute manner wills to herald. According to the Holy Church Fathers, one must pursue not a concordism or discordism of theology and science but their dialogue from a theological and, implicitly, eschatological perspective. The first, namely theology, relies on the knowledge of God and the receiving of the supernatural gifts by the action of the divine uncreated energies, by means of man’s collaboration with God, which supposes man’s commitment to advance on the steps of the spiritual life: cleansing, illumination, deification. The second, namely science, relies on knowing the surrounding world and on putting to use the natural gifts, also given by God to man, and by which man investigates the reasons of things, recognising God’s power, wisdom and presence. Therefore, to theology correspond the spiritual knowledge and wisdom from Above, while to science correspond lay knowledge and the wisdom from the outside or from below.

scholarly journals CONCEPT OF PRACTICES OF JEWISH AND EARLY CHRISTIAN MEDICINE

2020 ◽  
pp. 129-138
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Main Attention ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Sick People ◽  
Sanitation And Hygiene ◽  
The Church

The article examines the theological and philosophical origins of Jewish and early Christian medicine. We have shown that the basis of the medical practice of the ancient Jews and early Christians were the books of the Old Testament. The principles of nutrition, sanitation and hygiene have been considered in detail in the context of the topic. We also have analyzed the rules of care for sick people and the means used by the Jewish people in the treatment of infectious diseases. It has been shown that in order to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, Jews isolated an infected person from close contact with other people, thus avoiding the spread of various diseases and epidemics. Some Jewish works of the post-biblical period contain a description of the development of philosophy and ethics in medicine; the main ones are the Midrash, the Mishnah and the Talmud. In the article we also have analyzed conceptual medical foundations set forth in the Pentateuch of the Moses and the Talmud. It has been shown that the main attention of Jewish treatment practitioners was focused on disease prevention, as they attached great importance to the principles of ritual purity, which in turn was directly related to public hygiene. We also have studied a number of works of the early church fathers, who initiated the practice of caring for the physically ill. As a result, it was found that in the writings of the church fathers there are many mentions of surgery and treatment of mental illness.

scholarly journals THEOLOGY AND SCIENCE IN DIALOGUE. SIGNPOSTS AND PERSPECTIVES

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 39-61
Author(s):  
Ion Marian CROITORU ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Life ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Depth Of Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
Christian Anthropology ◽  
Theology And Science ◽  
The Difference ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Church

One can note that science tends to turn man into a master of the external and material, yet at the cost of turning him, on the level of his inner and spiritual life, into a slave of instincts altered by sin. All these, without a moral norm, become a power of destruction for man and represent issues addressed not just by bioethics, where the opinion of ‘theologians’ is consulted as well, but especially by the Church and by the Orthodoxy. The pressure of events imposes the issue of the recognition or, according to some, reformulation of the bases of ethics. Yet, this ethics ought to be constrained to a revision founded neither just on the progress of science, whose truths are partial, nor on the principles of rationalist or positivist philosophy, which try to convince man that he is no different from all the other living beings and needs to be treated in the same way as them, but on the reality of the religious fact, and, moreover, on the evidence of God’s Revelation and, implicitly, of Christian anthropology, based on the fact that man bears God’s image, not the image of man himself, as a society attempting to exclude God in an absolute manner wills to herald. According to the Holy Church Fathers, one must pursue not a concordism or discordism of theology and science but their dialogue from a theological and, implicitly, eschatological perspective. The first, namely theology, relies on the knowledge of God and the receiving of the supernatural gifts by the action of the divine uncreated energies, by means of man’s collaboration with God, which supposes man’s commitment to advance on the steps of the spiritual life: cleansing, illumination, deification. The second, namely science, relies on knowing the surrounding world and on putting to use the natural gifts, also given by God to man, and by which man investigates the reasons of things, recognising God’s power, wisdom and presence. Therefore, to theology correspond the spiritual knowledge and wisdom from Above, while to science correspond lay knowledge and the wisdom from the outside or from below. At the basis of these acts is the difference between Uncreated and created, between Uncreated and created energies. Thus, the Holy Fathers distinguish between observations from natural sciences and their consecrated philosophical interpretations, yet which they signal and condemn if these interpretations do not converge with the theological perspective, in other words, with the divine Revelation, because the texts of the Holy Scriptures are inspired by God and what is included in them is situated at a different depth of knowledge than what belongs to human knowledge.

The Missing Rhetorical History Between Quintilian and Augustine

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-376
Author(s):  
Mike Duncan
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Classical Rhetoric ◽  
Rhetorical History ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
Rhetorical Force ◽  
Apostolic Church

Current histories of rhetoric neglect the early Christian period (ca. 30–430 CE) in several crucial ways–Augustine is overemphasized and made to serve as a summary of Christian thought rather than an endpoint, the texts of church fathers before 300 CE are neglected or lumped together, and the texts of the New Testament are left unexamined. An alternative outline of early Christian rhetoric is offered, explored through the angles of political self-invention, doctrinal ghostwriting, apologetics, and fractured sermonization. Early Christianity was not a monolithic religion that eventually made peace with classical rhetoric, but as a rhetorical force in its own right, and comprised of more factions early on than just the apostolic church.

Christus Virgo

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
Sissel Undheim
Keyword(s):  
Moral Status ◽  
The Other ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

The description of Christ as a virgin, 'Christus virgo', does occur at rare occasions in Early Christian and late antique texts. Considering that 'virgo' was a term that most commonly described the sexual and moral status of a member of the female sex, such representations of Christ as a virgin may exemplify some of the complex negotiations over gender, salvation, sanctity and Christology that we find in the writings of the Church fathers. The article provides some suggestions as to how we can understand the notion of the virgin Christ within the context of early Christian and late antique theological debates on the one hand, and in light of the growing interest in sacred virginity on the other.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Otto
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Philo Of Alexandria ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Text Production ◽  
Church Father ◽  
Intellectual Formation ◽  
The Relationship

Between the second and the sixteenth centuries CE, references to the Jewish exegete Philo of Alexandria occur exclusively in texts written by Christians. David T. Runia has described this phenomenon as the adoption of Philo by Christians as an “honorary Church Father.” Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith and recent investigations of the “Parting of the Ways” of early Christianity and Judaism, this study argues that early Christian invocations of Philo reveal ongoing efforts to define the relationship between Jewishness and Christianness, their areas of overlap and points of divergence. The introduction situates invocations of Philo within the wider context of early Christian writing about Jews and Jewishness. It considers how Philo and his early Christian readers participated in the larger world of Greco-Roman philosophical schools, text production, and the ethical and intellectual formation (paideia) of elite young men in the Roman Empire.

Das frühe Christentum und die Bildung

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udo Schnelle
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Literary Production ◽  
Roman Religion ◽  
Literary Genres ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Urban Congregations ◽  
Intellectual Level

Early Christianity is often regarded as an entirely lower-class phenomenon, and thus characterised by a low educational and cultural level. This view is false for several reasons. (1) When dealing with the ancient world, inferences cannot be made from the social class to which one belongs to one's educational and cultural level. (2) We may confidently state that in the early Christian urban congregations more than 50 per cent of the members could read and write at an acceptable level. (3) Socialisation within the early congregations occurred mainly through education and literature. No religious figure before (or after) Jesus Christ became so quickly and comprehensively the subject of written texts! (4) The early Christians emerged as a creative and thoughtful literary movement. They read the Old Testament in a new context, they created new literary genres (gospels) and reformed existing genres (the Pauline letters, miracle stories, parables). (5) From the very beginning, the amazing literary production of early Christianity was based on a historic strategy that both made history and wrote history. (6) Moreover, early Christians were largely bilingual, and able to accept sophisticated texts, read them with understanding, and pass them along to others. (7) Even in its early stages, those who joined the new Christian movement entered an educated world of language and thought. (8) We should thus presuppose a relatively high intellectual level in the early Christian congregations, for a comparison with Greco-Roman religion, local cults, the mystery religions, and the Caesar cult indicates that early Christianity was a religion with a very high literary production that included critical reflection and refraction.

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