Między Platonem a Plotynem. Wątki erotyczne w Dziejach miłości Bożej Teodoreta z Cyru = Between Plato and Plotinus. Erotic motifs in the Religious History of Theodoret of Cyrrhus

In the article, the author examines the importance of erotic terminology for the depiction of the relationship between monk and God in the hagiographical Religious History of Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus. He tries to prove that Theodoret made a conscious use of philosophical concepts of Eros in order to make the phenomenon of Syriac monasticism more intelligible for the contemporary pagan intellectuals. In the argument, the author first discusses Theodoret’s knowledge of Plato’s Symposium and Phaedrus, and the Enneads of Plotinus. Secondly, he examines the possible use Theodoret makes of those texts in the six topics where the erotic terminology appears (object and subject of love, contemplation, ascetism, contrition, community).

On Some Sources of the Izbornik of the 13th Century

The section highlights several sources of the Izbornik (“Miscellany”) of the 13th century (National Library of Russia, Q.п.I.18): Christian Topography by Cosmas Indicopleustes, Zlatostruj (Chrysorrhoas), Historia Ecclesiastica by Germanus of Constantinople. Also, it argues that the fragments of Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Gennadius of Constantinople came into the Izbornik from two (or more) preceding Russian exegetical compilations.

Sources of Fragments by the Iconoclastic Patriarch John Grammaticus (837–843): Leontius of Byzantium

This article analyzes two fragments by the last Iconoclastic Patriarch John Grammaticus (837–843). A number of parallels to the doctrine in the fragments have been identified, including Aristotle, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Basil of Caesarea, and John Philoponus. It is proposed that the main source of the fragments was a passage from the Epilyseis or Solutions Proposed to the Arguments of Severus by Leontius of Byzantium.

Theodoret's Theologian: Assessing the Origin and Significance of Gregory of Nazianzus’ Title

This study addresses the lack of critical analysis on Gregory of Nazianzus’ title of ‘the Theologian’. In doing so it addresses two areas: the origin of the title in theAddress to Marcian, and the significance of its attribution to Gregory by Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Alongside Theodoret, this study takes account of a range of usages in Christian and non-Christian authors in order to argue that the title was attributed to Gregory as part of a pre-existing Christian response encompassing Moses, John and the prophets and pagan theologians such as Orpheus and Homer.

The Monastic Paradox: Desert Ascetics as Founders, Fathers, and Benefactors in Early Christian Historiography

This is a study of three literary sources from the late fourth and early fifth centuries CE that depict the rise of monasticism, the anonymous History of the Monks of Egypt, the History of the Monks of Syria by Theodoret of Cyrrhus, and Sozomen’s Church History. Although each of these texts conveys what Peter Brown has termed the “myth of the desert,” i.e. a portrayal of monks as being part of another world, I argue that the same texts also reflect a “myth of the city,” in which the monastic movement is depicted as a civic institution with regard to its foundation, regulation, and influence in the world. What these texts reflect is an attempt from the side of Christian authors to make sense of the multifaceted phenomenon that was monasticism, creating a conceptual space where different ascetic expressions come together as one, as ‘monasticism’ or as a desert city.