Augustine’s commentary on Alypius’ curiositas at the gladiatorial show (6, 8, 13) recounts one of the most well-known stories in Augustine’s Confessiones. Despite the various interpretations or explications of the story in Augustinian scholarship, this paper argues that the story centres around Alypius’ curiositas as a function of Alypius’ preceding, morally deficient character. The author provides a fourfold, cumulative and philological case for this thesis. He develops this case by means of four evidences. First, Augustine uses the phraseology of animus forti temperantia (6, 7, 12), the virtuous character describing Alypius when he had overcome his love of the gladiatorial games. Second, Augustine distinguishes between “supreme” and “a surface level” virtue, the existence of which is best explained by its application in Augustine’s remark that Alypius had been audax rather than fortis. Third, Augustine uses the language of talis in reference to Alypius, a term describing sorts or kinds of things or persons; in this context, this is the language of character. Finally, Augustine’s use of adhuc implies that there is a type of character Alypius had been, the remedy of which was to acquire an animus forti temperantia. The author then argues that Augustine envisions that the healing of curiositas (as a vice) is from God, especially when a virtuous character – the means by which one is able to overcome curiositas – itself is articulated as a gift of God’s grace. The response to such healing, then, is gratitude. The author concludes that this paper contributes both to a more comprehensive interpretation of the Alypius narrative (6, 8, 13) as well as contemporary scholarship on Augustine’s relation to (psychotherapeutic) healing.

Augustine’s interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Lk 16 shows how much the parables of Jesus are open to a variety of interpretations and applications depending upon which part of the parable is emphasised. In Augustine’s writings the second part of the parable only is commented upon (the exception being ep. 157) to illustrate points about the afterlife and the fate of the soul. However, in his homilies we find him engaging with both sections of the parable (this life and the afterlife). We can note the dexterity with which Augustine handled diverse themes in the parable by selectively emphasising either the fate of the rich man in this life or the next or the fate of Lazarus in this life or the next. From these different perspectives Augustine could deal with questions of wealth and poverty either materially or spiritually. This research supports the notion that whatever Augustine had to say about almsgiving is to be understood within a soteriological context to urge his congregation to be rich in humility and poor in pride.

The sex aetates mundi constituted the defining framework for understanding biblical and salvation history in the Early Christian and Late Antique worlds. The origins of the idea that history can be divided into six epochs, each lasting roughly a thousand years, are commonly attributed to Augustine of Hippo. Although Augustine’s engagement with this notion significantly influenced its later popularity due to the prolific circulation of his works, he was by no means the sole progenitor of this concept. This bipartite study undertakes the first conspectus in English-speaking scholarship to date of the origins and evolution of the sex aetates mundi. Part I of this study traces the early origins of historiographical periodisation in writings from classical and biblical antiquity, taking account in particular of the role of numerology and notions of historical eras that are present in biblical texts. Expressions of the world ages in the writings of the Church Fathers are then traced in detail. Due consideration is afforded to attendant issues that influenced the six ages, including calendrical debates concerning the age of the world and the evolution of eschatological, apocalyptic, and millenarian thought. Overall, this article surveys the myriad intellectual and exegetical currents that converged in Early Christianity and Late Antiquity to create this sixfold historiographical and theological framework. The first instalment of this study lays the groundwork for understanding Augustine’s engagement with this motif in his writings, which is treated in Part II.

Caesarius of Arles in his role as bishop struggled to guide his growing Christian community amid the political and religious fragmentation of early sixth-century Gaul. This article examines the ways in which he shaped his pastoral pedagogy to address the ecclesiological challenges of the post-Roman world. In his own life, in retelling the lives of saints, and in publishing his sermons, Caesarius variously reconceptualized “example” in order to teach ordinary Christians how to live out their faith in a universal church – a stable, if idealized, community that brought comfort in uncertain times. His innovative pedagogy also reshaped the complex administration of the expanding Gallic church. Caesarius thus created a pedagogy of example to fit the needs of his post-Roman community.

In Hippolytus, in Cant. II, 3 we find the Georgian term შჯულ-ი (šǯul-i) several times. G. Garitte rendered it in his Latin translation always as lex, causing quite a bit of obscurity in Hippolytus’ lines. The solution appears when we recognize that it can be traced both to the Greek νόμος and to διαϑήκη. If we take this into account, the text now flows harmoniously with other passages in the works of Hippolytus and with the literal tenor of the terms chosen by the Greek epitomist from the Interpretatio Cantici canticorum of Hippolytus.

This article intends to provide a further contribution to the attribution of the Greek Scholia on the Corpus Dionysiacum by examining the Latin version by Anastasius Bibliothecarius. In particular, some Latin manuscripts have recently been identified, which retain many of the critical signs used by Anastasius in order to mark the scholia dating back to Maximus the Confessor. The collation of these cruces not only allows us to identify the contribution of Maximus as a scholiast of the Corpus Dionysiacum, but also to ascertain further the work of John of Scythopolis and to point out a possible way to research the contribution of other commentators of Pseudo-Dionysius.

The aim of this paper is to reconsider a recent hypothesis of M. Simonetti on Hermas and the Jewish scriptures.

This in-depth study of the apophatic dimension crafted by Gregory of Nissa is the translation on the epistemological level of a new ontology, developed in debates with Arianism, and intended to expand classical metaphysics on the meaning of relationship. In Neoplatonic philosophy silence protects the absolute nature of the First Principle leaving expressive mediation to degrees of intermediate ontologies. Through trinitarian revelation God is manifested as a communion of love within which the external Logos is identified with the divine essence itself, in a unity founded upon relationship and will. Beginning from this new trinitarian ontology, Gregory sees in contemplation and in adoration, made up of silence and word, the human response to a free creative act of divine love and thus cognitive instruments, paths of access to the personal relationship of union with the Beloved.

The anonymous author of the Syriac Liber Graduum never mentions his theological opponents. The article analyses a few examples taken from his biblical exegesis and from his most typical theological concepts and shows that these peculiar features are better explained as a hidden polemic against Marcionism, thus casting new light on the nature of the Liber Graduum and providing new data for the study of Syriac Marcionism.

This contribution presents some results of recent research carried out on the Spanish manuscript tradition of the Dialogues of Gregory the Great (590-604). After a panoramic review of the present state of philological research and the expectations that such investigations have raised in the last three decades, this article analyses the situation of the Iberian manuscript tradition in general terms and afterwards illustrates the results of the research carried out on the so-called fragment of the Barcelona Dialogues (CLA 1626), a folio in uncial characters that transmits a passage of the Homilies on the Gospels of Gregory but which, nevertheless, offers the opportunity for some reflections on the lexis gregoriana. This article also offers some details concerning three codices in Visigothic characters from the libraries of La Seu d’Urgell, Santo Domingo de Silos and the British Library of London, which are either complete or which conservelarge parts of the text. Finally, this investigation provides some hints concerning Spanish manuscripts in Carolingian characters which, as exemplars of the Vulgate text from the Frankish area, were completely unhelpful for the purpose of preparing a critical edition of the text.

Notwithstanding the fact that Novatian’s De trinitate follows Tertullian’s Adversus Praxean as a pre-eminent source, the former parted company with the latter on some crucial doctrinal points. This article examines Novatian’s approach to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in his De trinitate, analyzing at the same time its Stoicbackground. The paper illustrates how a meticulous research of Novatian’s De trinitate prompts scholars to discover hidden motives in ancient Christian literature.

It seems opportune to commemorate in ‘Augustinianum’ the centenary of the birth of Alan Turing, insofar as he is an outstanding figure whose theoritical insight gave birth to the computer revolution of the twentieth centur y. His theories are equally important for the methodology supporting studies in the humanities.

In Novatian’s De Trinitate there is a passage which, while it makes a reference to an “invidia mortalitatis”, has been to some extent the torment of editors and of translators. On the one hand, the genitive tends mostly to be read as objective, on the other, the text is manipulated at times (even in recent editions) on the basis of a lectio facilior derived from conjecture. The article summarizes the history of criticism relative to the above-mentioned passage, highlighting some of its limits. From there it searches for historical-philological bases of a reading of the passage in which the genitive is understood as subjective. The evidence gathered seems to point to an Origenist source, and that would lean us toward welcoming the invitation, already formulated by Manlio Simonetti, to new research inNovatian and his sources.

The aim of this article is to show that the trinitarian theology of Origen of Alexandria shares the same theoretical structure as the henology of Plotinus. In particular, there is a strong correspondence between the trinitarian hypostases in Origen and the moments of the One in Plotinus: the Father is the One; the Son-Logos is the Intelligence; finally, the Holy Spirit is the Soul. Both Origen and Plotinus seem to assume the ontological difference between God, who, on the one hand, comes before the generation of the Son, i.e., before the distinction between Father and Son, and who is indeed God, and, on the other hand, God who is the Father as he generates the Son and who, by doing so, distinguishes himself from himself. The system of ideas which represents the basis of both the theology of Origen and the henology of Plotinus is evidently a Platonic one.

Augustine of Hippo wanted to establish differences in everyday life between the Catholic Church and other religious movements. With this goal in mind, the Bishop of Hippo reflected upon the eating habits of a good Christian. Through analysis of different works of the Augustinian corpus it can be observed how he approached food from a dual point of view: a hierarchical difference between “earthly food and heavenly food” and rules that should govern the habits of faithful Christians, among them fasting.

According to John Cassian, God bestows his supernatural grace only upon men who transcend Christian legalism and take up Christ’s consilium perfectionis. God’s grace is merited by men who strive to perfection. In so doing, they place themselves sub gratia Christi. For Cassian, the true Christian community is composed solely of ascetics who have set themselves apart from ordinary Christians in order to attain the highest good to which human nature must aspire – theperennial contemplation of God. As Cassian has it, it is the main concern of the ascetic bishop to convey to ordinary Christians the call to perfection.

Pope Gregory the Great’s homilies and letters document his fight against simony, widely spread among all patriarchates, where sacraments, first of all Holy Orders, were sold, and where one could become a bishop solely through the donations and support of influential people. The Pope asked both laity and bishops to help in eradicating this terrible plague which he considered a real heresy, inasmuch as it debased the dignity of the priesthood and the action of Holy Spirit and undermined the unity of the Church. In an eschatological perspective he invited bishops and laity to cooperate in his reform of ecclesiastical custom according to the Holy Scriptures, the tradition of the Church Fathers and canon law.

The popularity of the Nag Hammadi texts has not been exhausted in the field of Gnostic studies over the last thirty years. The Gospels or Acts of female characters or marginalised male characters were the main sources scholars used to draw the picture of ancient dual mythology. The ongoing fascination with Coptic manuscripts gave birth to a new branch of scholarship in contemporary history when the Codex Tchacos was unveiled. Judas scholarship began in themiddle of the last decade (2004-2006), even though it is claimed that the Codex Tchacos was unearthed in the 1970s. What kind of process did the ancient manuscript go through since its discovery? Where do readers stand with the new gospel? What is the future direction of Judas studies? This article not only chronologically discloses the ideas of individual scholars based on a field survey, but also argues that Judas studies can be developed beyond the general conclusion of second-century Sethian Gnosticism.

It is futile to say that scholars have worn themselves out in an attempt to give a name to the pagan philosopher with whom Macarius Magnes argues in the Apocriticus. The first to take up the question, Crusius, a follower of Wagenmann, Hauschildt, Harnack and Goulet, identified him as Porphyry. This identification was refuted by Möller, Salmon, Zahn and Frassinetti, who thought of Julian the Apostate; and by Duchesne and Crafer, followed, in part by Pezzella, who proposed Hierocles. Following the studies by Corsaro, who, advised by Borzì, argued with good reason the impossibility of giving a precise name to the pagan philosopher, the vexata quaestio seemed to come to an end. In a recent intervention, Digeser reproposed the identification of Hierocles, going back, in large part, and not without some original notions, to the arguments of Duchesne and Crafer. It is the intent of this contribution to demonstrate the insufficient credibility of this identification.

Clement of Alexandria’s Quis dives salvetur is the first text of Christian literature expressly devoted to the problem of the relationship between wealth and poverty. Clement’s discourse clarifies how he considers the Scriptures as the basis of all pedagogy, inasmuch as they are normative in themselves and esteemed for the absolute value in them that transcends any contingency related to temporal, cultural, historical or sociological situations. This article offers a study of the reception of the Old Testament and New Testament in Clement’s work, focusing on a particular scriptural text, Mk 10:17-31, that is primary and foundational for all of his thought.