scholarly journals Interprétation de la lettre ταῦ sur le vêtement du Christ et du geste de l’ogdoade sur la mosaïque absidiale de l’église Santa Pudenziana à Rome

2011 ◽  
pp. 43-72
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Babraj ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
Greek Letter ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Relief Sculpture ◽  
The Church ◽  
Universal Nature ◽  
Written Sources

The author explores the interpretation of the Greek letter tau on the robe of Christ represented on the 4th-century apsidal mosaic in the church of Santa Pudenziana in Rome, as well as the sign of the Ogdoad that Christ makes with his fingers. He discusses the ancient written sources for the symbolic meaning of the letter, as well as the letters iota and gamma, also found in similar early Christian contexts, as well as the iconographic evidence for the use of the letter tau, seen as a cross in shape, in glyptics, amulets, inscriptions and relief sculpture on sarcophagi, among others. In the context of the Santa Pudenziana mosaic, the presence of the letter is significant for the interpretation of the representation as symbolizing the redemption of man through the Passion of the Lord. The sign of the Ogdoad should be seen as evocation of the universal nature of the resurrection of Christ for all mankind, making the presence of the tau on Christ’s robes in this representation entirely comprehensible.

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.

What Is Hidden in the Small Box? Narratives of Late Antique Roman Palestine in Dialogue

AJS Review ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-94
Author(s):  
Reuven Kiperwasser
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Narrative Tradition ◽  
Judaic Studies ◽  
Roman Palestine ◽  
The Church ◽  
Shared Narrative

This study is a comparative reading of two distinct narrative traditions with remarkably similar features of plot and content. The first tradition is from the Palestinian midrash Kohelet Rabbah, datable to the fifth to sixth centuries. The second is from John Moschos's Spiritual Meadow (Pratum spirituale), which is very close to Kohelet Rabbah in time and place. Although quite similar, the two narratives differ in certain respects. Pioneers of modern Judaic studies such as Samuel Krauss and Louis Ginzberg had been interested in the question of the relationships between early Christian authors and the rabbis; however, the relationships between John Moschos and Palestinian rabbinic writings have never been systematically treated (aside from one enlightening study by Hillel Newman). Here, in this case study, I ask comparative questions: Did Kohelet Rabbah borrow the tradition from Christian lore; or was the church author impressed by the teachings of Kohelet Rabbah? Alternatively, perhaps, might both have learned the shared story from a common continuum of local narrative tradition? Beyond these questions about literary dependence, I seek to understand the shared narrative in its cultural context.

Israël, Jésus et les apôtres : summa memoriae christiana

2020 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-226
Author(s):  
Simon Butticaz
Keyword(s):  
Social Memory ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis article aims at describing the Lukan project by applying – in the wake of other scholars – social memory theories to Luke’s double work. In particular, it argues that the type of memory and its criteria defined by Jan Assmann on the basis of the Deuteronomy can help explain the nature of the narrative composed by the auctor ad Theophilum as well as its originality in an early Christian context marked by a proliferation of books and other traditions of the origins of the Church (cf. Luke 1:1a.2.4).

Ressourcement and Theologies of Communion

2016 ◽  
pp. 682-700
Author(s):  
Gabriel Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Church

This chapter describes the contribution of a group of (initially French) theologians known for promoting the work of ressourcement: renewal of the Church through recovery of biblical and Early Christian sources. The work of Henri de Lubac and Yves Congar receives particular attention (although the contributions of others, such as Marie-Dominique Chenu and Jean Cardinal Daniélou are also discussed), and the group as a whole is placed against the background of the social, political, and ecclesiastical context of France in the first half of the twentieth century. This chapter highlights the centrality of ressourcement theologians to the work of Vatican II. The final sections of the essay focus on one of the most important consequences of their work at the council, the development of accounts of the Church as ‘communion’.

scholarly journals “Varii errores qui ab origine mundi emerserunt”. The semantic scope of the term “heresy” in Philastrius’ of Brescia Diversarum hereseon liber

Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 315-325
Author(s):  
Mariusz Szram
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church ◽  
Semantic Scope

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.

scholarly journals Mathematical-geographical intention in orienting mediaeval churches of the Serbian monastery Gradac

2011 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-158
Author(s):  
Milutin Tadic ◽  
Aleksandar Petrovic
Keyword(s):  
Virgin Mary ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Patron Saint ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Exact Analysis ◽  
John The Baptist ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

The subject of the paper is an exact analysis of the orientation of the Serbian monastery churches: the Church of the Virgin Mary (13th century), St. Nicholas' Church (13th century), and an early Christian church (6th century). The paper determines the azimuth of parallel axes in churches, and then the aberrations of those axes from the equinoctial east are interpreted. Under assumption that the axes were directed towards the rising sun, it was surmised that the early Christian church's patron saint could be St. John the Baptist, that the Church of the Virgin Mary was founded on Annunciation day to which it is dedicated, and that St. Nicholas' Church is oriented in accordance with the rule (?toward the sunrise?) even though its axis deviates from the equinoctial east by 41? degrees.

The Changing Role of Women in the Early Christian World

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-238
Author(s):  
Howard Clark Kee
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Sexual Boundaries ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
The Church

“[T]he vitality of the church is regained when it recovers the revolutionary insights of its founders, Jesus and Paul. In the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century and in the renewal movements that have taken place in both Roman Catholic and Protestant circles in the present century, it has been the fresh appropriation of the insights of Jesus and Paul about the inclusiveness of people across ethnic, racial, ritual, social, economic, and sexual boundaries that has restored the relevance and vitality of Christian faith and has lent to Christianity as a social and intellectual movement a positive, humane force in the wider society.”

scholarly journals The Pauline Epistles in Tertullian's Bible

2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew V. Novenson
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Reading First ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Pauline Epistles ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Early Christian Studies ◽  
The Church

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.

'Familia Christi': La eclesiología en el libro XII del 'Contra Faustum' de Agustín de Hipona

Augustinus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-369
Author(s):  
Enrique A. Eguiarte ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
The Body ◽  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Side Door ◽  
Enarrationes In Psalmos ◽  
Noah's Ark ◽  
The Church

The first part of this article, presents a bibliographic review of the works that in the last hundred years have addressed in a direct and central way Augustine’s Contra Faustum, making a more extensive description of the most important of them. Later the ecclesiological ideas of Book XII of Augustine’s Contra Faustum are approached, to discuss, Saint Augustine’s exegetical justification to make an spiritual interpretation of the Old Testament. Subsequently, the central ecclesiological figure of Book XII of Augustine’s Contra Faustum is addressed, namely, Noah’s ark, highlighting the symbolic meaning of the pure and impure animals, of the square and imperishable timbers with which the ark was built, of the ark’s side door and its relationship with the side of Christ, of the three levels of Noah’s ark and its ecclesial interpretation, of the greasy glue that joined the timbers as a symbol of unity and peace within the Church. The importance of the expression familia Christi as a name for the Church is highlighted, making an exposition of other augustinan works in which this expression is used. The theme of the Church as the body of Christ and the prosopological exegesis in Augustine’s Book XII of Contra Faustum is also addressed, as well as Saint Augustine’s interpretation of some characters of the Old Testament as figures of the Chruch in book XII of Contra Faustum. The article addresses indirectly to other contemporary Works of Contra Faustum, such as De Baptismo, Ad catholicos fratres and some sermons and enarrationes in Psalmos.

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