An Eastern Orthodox Perspective on Economic Life, Property, Work, and Business Ethics

2001 ◽  
pp. 143-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley S. Harakas
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Moral Tradition ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Internet Ethics ◽  
Special Concern ◽  
The Church

Eastern Orthodox Christianity carries forward a moral tradition from the earliest Christian period, in the belief that scriptural and patristic teaching remains applicable to the contemporary economic sphere of life. The Church Fathers focused on the ownership of property and the ethical acquisition of wealth and its use; they stressed special concern for the poor and disadvantaged. Carried forward through the Byzantine and modern eras, these early Christian understandings now can be applied through a basic and elementary natural law morality to business activities. The Orthodox approach embodies traditional virtue and character ethics as well. The essay concludes by applying these Orthodox approaches to two current issues: the charging of interest and internet ethics.

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.

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.

Augustine and the Art of Gardening

2002 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 13-33
Author(s):  
Carol Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Simple Rule ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Garden Of Eden ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Ideal State ◽  
Adam And Eve ◽  
Book Of Genesis ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Ideal

Any description of man’s ideal state tells us a lot about the culture, society, and character of its author. Early Christian writers, as one might expect, tended to turn to Scripture, to the authoritative account in the book of Genesis of God’s creation of man and woman and of their life in the garden of Eden, in order to define their conception of the ideal life. There they discovered what to us, and perhaps to them, seems a rather strange, alien portrait of the life of two celibate naturists, at ease in a luxuriant garden which provided for all their needs. By some obscure and generally unspecified means, the Church fathers thought Adam and Eve were to be the founder members and originators of a society which, on condition it obeyed one simple rule, would become an immortal society.

scholarly journals Herezje wczesnochrześcijańskie – zagadnienia wprowadzające

Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 7-20
Author(s):  
Bogdan Czyżewski
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Times ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Church

In the times of the Church Fathers the notion of heresy was related to the false doctrine what became the cause of derogations from the unity of the Church. It was a false tenet about God, hence the Fathers of the Church tried to define not only mistakes created within the Church, but also to develop orthodox doctrine. Due to the vastness of the this subject authors and texts defining heresies were se­lected. Firstly, attention was drawn on the Greek term a†resij contained in pagan literature and the writings of the New Testament, which allowed to see what was the impact, especially the biblical definition of heresy, on the understanding of the early Christian writers, especially before the first Council of Nice in 325. It was also necessary to ask about the origin of heresy and its characteristics. Fathers af­firmed unequivocally that their creation were associated mainly with making the wrong choices. The result of this were incorrect relations of heretics to the truth and to the Church, wrong image of God and abiding in stubbornness. Fathers also attempted to define more precisely the scope of meaning of schism and heresy, which are concepts often used as synonyms.

scholarly journals Tell us no secrets: St. Irenaeus’ contra-gnostic doctrine of communion

Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 85-94
Author(s):  
Don W. Springer
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
People Of God ◽  
Mystical Union ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Union With God ◽  
The Church

Discussion related to the potential for mystical union with God was largely absent from the writings of the Church Fathers prior to the late-second century. Toward the end of that century, however, the concept of communion with God emerged as a topic of interest in both early Christian and Gnostic literature. St. Irenaeus of Lyons was among the earliest Christian writers to critically reflect on the subject. He argued that participation with the divine was possible only in the “orthodox” churches and required three key elements: a life lived in connection to the Spirit of God, in community with the true people of God, while bearing evidence of godly piety and virtue. Whereas Gnostic conceptions of communion frequently included an emphasis on the reception of an exclusive, secret gnosis, Irenaeus’ paradigm offered a public, progressive path of ascent to God.

scholarly journals THE PILGRIMAGE OF WEALTHY PIOUS CHRISTIAN WOMEN FROM ROME TO THE HOLY LAND IN THE FOURTH TO SIXTH CENTURIES AD

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-65
Keyword(s):  
Role Models ◽  
Spiritual Needs ◽  
Holy Land ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Christian Women ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Holy Places ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Church

This study examines the pilgrimage of Christian women ascetics in the early Christian period from the fourth to sixth centuries AD, focusing on wealthy Roman women who were influenced by the Church Fathers, such as Jerome and left their world, freedom, family and social class. They sold their properties in order to come to the Holy Land (the Land of the Bible) to visit the holy places and the desert hermits and to build monasteries, hospitals, hospices, orphanages and accomodations for old people through the Holy Land. The pilgrimage of women ascetics was a characteristic feature of the period. In spite of the difficult journey, these ascetic women came to fulfill their religious and spiritual needs. These women have been remembered throughout the ages for their faith, piety, tenderness, purity and devotion and have served as role models for women after them. This study examines the concept of pilgrimage in Christianity and the pilgrimage of the women ascetics and their religious and social accomplishments in the Holy Land.

Reformed Theology and the Church Fathers

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-23
Author(s):  
Aza Goudriaan
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Reception History ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
The Church

The purpose of this chapter is to describe and explain the inherent ambivalence of the reception of patristic writers in (early modern) Reformed theology by concentrating on the early modern period, when patristic authority was discussed intensely, and on those aspects of the reception history that are, more or less strictly, concerned with theology. The theological continuity between Reformed theology and the church fathers is visible most obviously in the adoption of early Christian creeds and in the fact that Reformed theologians commented upon and explained their own confessions by means of compilations of patristic testimonies. The pursuit of catholicity evidenced by numerous other publications and by the corresponding acceptance of patristic heresiology, however, had evident limitations, and was accompanied by caveats and criticisms that have been articulated from the sixteenth century onwards.

scholarly journals Origen Of Alexandria

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Arsanious
Keyword(s):  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Theologian ◽  
Origen Of Alexandria ◽  
High Esteem ◽  
The Church

Origen of Alexandria was an early Christian theologian who stands out as an anomaly amongst Church Fathers. He is considered to have entertained heretical views, yet is still held in high esteem by the Church today. The church Fathers were theologians whose writings and debates helped forge an approach for articulating the doctrines of Christianity. Why should Origen stand among these esteemed figures? Why should a heretic hold such acclaimed standing in the heart of the Church?

scholarly journals Our Common Breath: ‘Conspiration’ from the Stoics to the Church Fathers

2021 ◽  
pp. 55-68
Author(s):  
Phillip Sidney Horky
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis essay tracks a brief history of the concept of ‘co-breathing’ or ‘conspiration’ (συμπνοία), from its initial conception in Stoic cosmology in the third century BCE to its appropriation in Christian thought at the end of the second century CE. This study focuses on two related strands: first, how the term gets associated anachronistically with two paradigmatic philosopher-physicians, Hippocrates and Pythagoras, by intellectuals in the Early Roman Empire; and second, how the same term provides the early Church Fathers with a means to synthesize and explain discrete notions of ‘breath’ (πνεῦμα) through a repurposing of the pagan concept. Sources discussed include figures associated with Stoic, Pythagorean, and early Christian cosmologies.

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