History and Theology

This volume includes the studies presented at the international conference “History and Theology,” which was organized by the Faculty of Orthodox Theology at the University “Ovidius” in Constanta and conducted online on November 17-18, 2020. Through this conference, the organizers wanted to resume a previous initiative, from 2007, which sought to intensify communication and rapprochement between secular and church historians. As such, in 2007, 2008, and 2009, three international conferences were organized at the Faculty of Theology in Constanta in which lay researchers and theologians presented different results of their respective scientific projects. This volume includes 22 studies that analyze topics related to different historical periods. In the study “Anchor of Faith: The Cult of St. Clement in Eastern Europe (ca. 500 to ca. 1050),” Florin Curta and Ethan Williamson analyze the evolution and spread of the cult of St. Clement of Rome in Eastern Europe on the basis of hagiographic, liturgical, artistic, and archaeological evidence. According to the oldest preserved hagiographic texts, the place of martyrdom and the first miracles of St. Clement was the Cherson in the Crimea. His following there is documented as early as the sixth century. The rediscovery of his relics in 861 by Constatine the Philosopher led to the revitalization of the cult of this saint throughout Eastern Europe. In the tenth and early eleventh century, the veneration of St. Clement as a great mediator and miracle-worker spread to Moravia, Bulgaria, Poland, Kiev, and Constantinople.

The Labarum – from Crux Dissimulata and Chi-Rho to the Open Image Cross

Based on the testimony of emperor Constantine the Great himself, Eusebius of Caesarea presented a labarum in the form of crux dissimulata crowned with the Chi-Rho. The continuers of his Church History in the next century, Rufinus of Aquileia, Philostorgius, Socrates of Constantinople, and Sozomen, only kept the cross-shape of the banner, excluding the christogram. This might have happened because in two main sources informing about the vision of Constantine – the accounts of Eusebius of Caesarea and Lactantius – it was not only the monogram of Christ that played a significant role. The motif of the cross also appears in them, in the account of Eusebius directly, and Lactantius indirectly. Furthermore, Christians interpreted the cross explicitly as a sign of victory. Eusebius wrote about the cross as a symbol of immortality, a triumphant sign of Christ overcoming death. In the account of the bishop of Caesarea, on the other hand, Constantine’s supposed vision included a triumphal sign in the form of a luminous cross, or the symbol of the trophy of salvation. Numismatic evidence also cannot be ignored. Already during the reign of Constantine the Great, the Chi-Rho appeared on the coins both on the shields and on the labarum. However, starting from the reign of Constantius II, coins that were minted included the cross instead of the Chi-Rho on the labarum. It also began to be placed on the shields, in their central part, where the monogram of Christ used to be. Over time, the cross replaced the entire labarum. The iconography present on the coins may prove that the phenomenon of identifying the labarum or Chi-Rho with the cross was not limited to church historiography and was more widespread, although it should be remembered that coins continued to also be decorated with the letters Chi-Rho. Therefore, the representation of the cross did not replace this symbol. However, it cannot be ruled out that the increasingly common image of the cross on coins also contributed to the aforementioned perception of the labarum by church historians.

Decolonial Discourse on the Origins of the 20th Century American Pentecostal Movement

Many church historians have done research on the foundation of the 20th century American Pentecostal Movement. However, these church historians have not used a decolonial discourse. This article is a decolonial discourse on the origins of the 20th century American Pentecostal Movement. The article assesses four prospects regarding the originator of the movement in order to conclude who can be observed as the true originator of the movement. The first likelihood discards a human contribution and only admits God or the supernatural as founder of the movement. The second likelihood is that the founder of the movement is Charles Parham. The third likelihood is that both Charles Parham and William Seymour are the originators of the movement, in what is termed an interracial theory. Finally, there is also the likelihood that the founder was an African-American, namely William Seymour. After the discussion of all four possibilities, this article concludes that William Seymour is the true originator of the 20th century American Pentecostal Movement. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate through a decolonial discourse the African-American origins of the 20th century American Pentecostal Movement and the implications thereof.

Who Convened the First Council of Nicaea: Constantine or Ossius?

The ancient church historians affirmed that it was Constantine himself who convened the Council of Nicaea. However, a chronological examination of the contemporary documents shows that the convocation of Nicaea was quite different. This essay aims to examine the origin of the idea of holding the Nicene council. According to the available data, Ossius of Cordoba convened the great episcopal council that was to be held at Ancyra but ultimately occurred in Nicaea. Although Constantine’s participation was decisive for the success of Nicaea, the study of the historical sources indicates that the original idea of holding the council that ultimately occurred at Nicaea must be credited to Ossius.

James Cone, white supremacy, and the Baptist narrative

James Cone’s most substantial claim against white theologians is that white supremacy is historically embedded in their theology. This article argues that not only is white supremacy embedded in theology but it may also be a factor in the way white church historians construct a historical narrative that marginalizes the contributions of the black church.

Greek Athonite Text of the Life of Metrophanes of Voronezh

According to its contents, the newly found manuscript, Cod. Athous Panteleemon. gr. 283, is of interest for the Russian church historians and the researchers of the cultural and literature relations between Athos and Russia, since the author and copyist of the book Jacob Neaskytiotes included hitherto unknown Greek translations of Rus’ian hagiographical and liturgical texts and other materials on Russian, Serbian, and Bulgarian history of Athos. The Codex comprised the Akolouthia for Rev. Antony the Ross (Service to Antonii of the Pecherskii monastery), his Life, the Service for Feodosii (Theodosios), the Hegoumenos of the Pecherskii Monastery, the Life of Mitrofan (Methrophanes) of Voronezh, and other works. The book dated from July 1848. The methods of palaeographic and codicological analysis allow the one to trace the history of the book. Textological methods lead the one to the conclusion of the Russian origin of the texts which became a milestone for the creation of Jacob Neaskytiotes’ fundamental corpus of the Athonias. The text of the Greek translation of the Russian hagiographic monument originates from the second Russian edition of the Life of Mitrofan of Voronezh. There the text is much enlarged and revised in comparison with the first edition of hagiographic materials of 1832, the year of canonization of Mitrofan in Russia.

Grip kirkes veggmalerier: 1600-tallskirken som møtested og grensepost for teologi og kongemakt

On the island Grip in Western Norway there is a stave church with wall paintings from 1621. The motives are from both the Old and the New Testament, and as the paintings were made in the period of Lutheran orthodoxy, their message has been understood to support the central Lutheran ideas concerning grace and faith. However, the 17th century was also the period when absolute monarchy developed, and some church historians claim that the church was the area where this form of government first was realized. Based on the assumption that the church can be seen as a meeting place of heavenly and earthly power, this article discusses whether it is likely that the wall paintings could be read by the congregation in a way that also supported the power of the actual king in Denmark-Norway. If that should have been the case, the interpretation would rely on a much older tradition of reading, the medieval quadriga.

The Development of a Parish Network and the Beginnings of Decanal Structure in the Diocese of Kraków until the end of the Twelfth Century. An Attempt at a Summary

The Polish version of the article was published in “Roczniki Humanistyczne,” vol. 56 (2008), issue 2. The paper is an attempt to sum up studies to date on the development of the parish network and the organisation of deaneries in the Diocese of Kraków until the end of the twelfth century. Historians at large and Church historians in particular who dealt with these issues in the 1990s put forward a hypothesis concerning the establishment of deaneries and a number of temples in the Krakow diocese before 1200. The paper confronts this hypothesis with the claims of historians. In the recent years, either indirectly or directly, they have addressed the development of the territorial organisation of the Kraków diocese until the end of the twelfth century. The paper offers a critical appraisal of their findings. In conclusion, the hypothesis is put forward that the establishment of the network of deaneries in the Kraków diocese was a one-time action. The initiative was most obviously Bishop Gedko’s in the 1170s, as a result of which there appeared over 1200 churches in the territory of the Kraków diocese.