This article describes and analyzes the book by L. Novakovic, Resurrection, (London – New York 2016) which studies the complex topic of the resurrection of Jesus and its consequences, including, primarily, the faith of Christians in their own resurrection. The Author presents the contents of the book, and indicates the merits and limits of the research and the value of its conclusions.

This article examines the story of Jesus’ birth as it is presented in some of the so-called Apocryphal Infancy Gospels that have always aroused great interest in popular culture and in the arts. These texts describe the birth of Jesus by means of an important ‘narrative expansion’: the childbirth of Mary takes place in a cave, one or more midwives as well as two animals, the ox and the donkey, are added to the scene. These narratives do not relate the preaching of Jesus, his death on the cross and his resurrection, but they present the event of his birth as a new beginning for all mankind. In doing so they reflect early Christian questions concerning Jesus’ nature. Examining some characteristic elements of this narrative development of the birth of Jesus, this article tries to show how this nativity may correspond to the construction of a myth.

This short article is intended to contribute to the solution of a known locus desperatus of the Augustinian Confessions. The Author proposes that 8, 2, 3 should be read spirabat paululum iam instead of spirabat † popilios iam †. The conjecture is reminiscent of Catil. 61, 4 paululum etian spirans concerning Catilina’s death (Augustine remembers this famous Sallustian locus when he writes civ. 3, 27 vix paululum respirante civitate). Catilina’s death is a metaphor for the fall of Roman paganism, and for Marius Victorinus’s and Augustine's personal lives as well as their conversions. Ruggiero adds further evidence to Manlio Simonetti’s arguments as shown in the «Nota al Testo» (vol. I, 1992, pp. CLXIIICLXVIII) preceding his edition of Confessiones for the Italian collection “Lorenzo Valla”: common mistakes such as popilios iam were already in the edition’s manuscript.

This article analyses the Tractatus in psalmos 82, 83 and 84, reported in the two series that transmit Jerome’s homilies. The first part analyses the polemical terminology employed in regard to heretics and Jews, and the juxtaposition between the simplicity of the Christian style and the eloquence of rhetoricians. In the second part, the homilies of the two series are compared, and exegetical differences are pointed out. Lastly, an overview of a possible chronology of the Tractatus is proposed.

Written in 620 ca., the Pandectes of the Holy Scripture (CPG 7842-7844) of Antiochus, monk of the Great Laura of Saint-Sabas (Jerusalem), represents a remarkable example of the kefavlaia literary genre in the early Byzantine period. It includes, among its many patristic sources, a series of 26 passages borrowed from the Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch (CPG 1025), used in their recensio media. The quotations are distributed in 13 of the 130 total chapters of the work. The present study aims not only to evaluate the textual contribution of the Pandectes to the study of the Epistles of Ignatius, but also attempts a critical outline of its wide manuscript tradition and text.

Isidore of Seville did not leave behind any specifically trinitarian, Christological or pneumatological treatises. We find his theological doctrine evident in sections throughout his works although, as a result of the effort of a good compiler and synthesizer, it is not difficult to trace the passages in which the bishop of Seville deals with each one of these subjects. With regard to the doctrine on the Holy Spirit, the chapter dedicated to the third person of the Trinity in the first book of the Sententiae offers a fairly complete summary of the matter. The following pages are intended to present the content of that chapter and to place it within the context of the rest of Isidore’s theological output. Therefore, in addition to paying close attention to the text of the Sententiae, we will seek its dependence or influence, as the case may be, on other treatises of Isidore, mainly in these three: Etymologiae, De fide catholica and Liber differentiarum [II]. Augustine, Gregory the Great and the theological contribution of the Spanish councils are presented as Isidore’s main sources.

This study aims to delineate some aspects relating to Hosius of Corduba, especially in regard to the nexus between ecclesiastical politics and faithfulness to Nicene orthodoxy found on the margins of the often discussed concessions by the Spanish bishop to the pressures of Emperor Constantius II, when the former signed the homoiousian formula of the Council of Sirmium in 357. Through an analysis of the ancient historiographical witnesses, one notes a clear divergence between the Eastern and Western sources. While Hosius’s orthodoxy and sanctity are a given in the tradition of the Greek Church, Latin historiography considered him a crazy old man and traitor of the Nicene faith. These contrasting judgments come from the differing evaluations attributed to the Spanish bishop’s concessions when he was confronted by Constantius II: for those of the East, it is simply a question of ecclesiastical politics; for the West, faithfulness to Nicene orthodoxy involved taking a much greater risk. This note wishes to foster a reading of the Orthodoxy of Hosius that is more juridical than doctrinal.

This article re-examines the attention scholars have given to the origins of monoergenism and monotheletism and proposes a rebuttal to the positions of J. Tannous who, in an article in Dumbarton Oaks Papers in 2014, holds that these doctrines represented in Syro/Palestine certain “regional doctrinal hegemonies, at least among Chalcedonian communities, and were not artificial concoctions”. For the author, on the other hand, the episcopal sees in these regions had to have been for the most part in the hands of monophysites, without in any way excluding the possibility that there were also Chalcedonian bishops and communities as well, as in the case of Abraham of Rusafa. Thus, for the Author, monoenergism and monotheletism, from an epistemological and theological point of view, were the last glimmer of Apollinarism which was continually re-emerging from the ashes and given a new life by Severian monophysitism.

The comments in this Note are not exhaustive, but intentionally offer a path (1. Feminine Typologies; 2. Testimonials relating to ministry; 3. Rites of Ordination (?); 4. The sacramental bond) wherein theological interpretation has a privileged place, deeply inscribed in the present commentary in regard to women’s problems and expectations in today’s Church. Although nothing certain and irrefutable emerges from the documentary evidence, in regard to women’s ministry, the situation of the Church has changed, as has the situation of women. The true sacramental bond concerns the theological understanding of ordained ministry. If this bond is reconnected to its original and constitutive character of service (diakonia), perhaps some of the reasons for excluding women will crumble. For there are women in the Church who continue to live and work within and for the Church.

The question of the role of women in the Church, in other words, of women’s ministries, is still conditioned today, especially in the Catholic Church, by theological a priori and by anachronism. This essay aims to discuss and to point out the difficulties arising from both of these factors.

In his Commentarium in Hieremiam, as well as in other contemporary works, Jerome accuses Pelagius of conducting a defamatory campaign against him by accusing him of Origenism, contempt for marriage (regarding such charges Jerome had already needed to defend himself!) and more generally, of wishing others ill. Did Jerome really seek to discredit his adversary, or were such accusations even circulating? This paper takes into consideration Pelagius’s surviving works and intends to give – within the limits admitted by the sources – an answer to this question, coming to the conclusion that the conflict between the two writers was not lacking in personal attacks, and that Jerome’s report is thus trustworthy.

In anticipation of a new edition of the Passio apostolorum Petri et Pauli (CANT n. 193), this article analyzes the recensio conducted by Lipsius for his edition of 1891. The review of the main variants highlighted by the editor reverses his thesis: they depend on innovations by reduction, not by interpolation. Such innovations could perhaps depend on early medieval liturgical use of the work. With regard to the methodology, the comparison with the Greek tradition of the work, as an external criterion of evaluation, appears misleading, since it is unlikely that Greek is the original language.

Replete with stories of gods and men interacting with animals, classical literature also affords a broad range of relationships between women and animals. Such a rich series of symbolic animals finds fertile ground in the biblical world, too. Apart from symbolic animals, early Christianity knows a direct contact with wild animals during the persecutions carried out by the Roman Empire. By analyzing the martyrdom of some women (Blandina, Perpetua and Thecla) in connection with the animals they had to face, we can note that animals acquire a symbolic meaning. They become the pieces of an allegorical and exegetical framework whose major purpose is to celebrate God.

This paper is intended as an offprint, focused on the history of studies, of a larger analysis about the so-called gammadia in the Roman catacombs and their computerized cataloguing which was the subject of my doctoral thesis. Over the centuries a basic confusion existed between gammadiae as symbols in the frescoes and in the mosaics, and the term as used in some biographies in the Liber Pontificalis. An important role was assigned to the illustrations in Antonio Bosio’s Roma Sotterranea, which conditioned the observations of all later authors, and to Antonio Quacquarelli’s studies which were based on a connection between gammadiae, numerology and patristics. Aided by recent opinions and studies, especially on the textiles from the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Israel, we can try to continue the analysis of gammadiae, searching for their real meaning.

Written in 620 ca., the Pandects of the Holy Scripture (CPG 7842-7844) by Antiochus, monk of the Great Laura of Saint-Sabas (Jerusalem), represents a remarkable example of the kefavlaia literary genre in the Early Byzantine Period. It includes, among its many patristic sources, a series of 26 passages borrowed from the Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch (CPG 1025), as found in their recensio media. The quotations are distributed in 13 of the 130 total chapters of the work. This second part of the study aims to propose the critical text of the Epistles of Ignatius contained in the Pandects and so to cast light on Antiochus’ use of his sources in creating his own work.

The image of wine has a “spiritual sense”, which helps the faithful to understand the principles of their belief. Its mystery is connected with the theme of “sober inebriation”, developed by Philo of Alexandria and Origen, and culminating in Ambrose. The good wines that the bride enjoys before the groom’s arrival are a symbol of the good doctrines of the OT, whose teachings are however inferior to the revelation of the incarnate Christ. Good, sweet wine, meanwhile, refers to the doctrines of the NT interpreted spiritually, the logos that helps us begin to know Christ, to bind ourselves to him in ecclesial unity and to love our neighbour. It also leads us to the “winepress”, i.e. renouncing superfluous land, becoming “full of must” and inebriated, so that we can dedicate ourselves to contemplation. The vine has a Christological value and catechetical function, dating back to John 15.1, which is often quoted with Saint Paul. The place where the vine is born and develops is the soul; the Logos supports its flowering in those who, by their free will, choose to flourish. The cluster of grapes refers to Christ, or to the victory of the righteous; the many grapes that he contains are believers. The vineyard is a symbol of the church formed by the pagans, of the commandments of God, or of the good things that God gave to man, who did not preserve them, having been stripped of them by the devil. The guardians of the vineyard are angels or priests.

Early Christian authors were challenged by the impenetrable question of the origin of the world, but persevered in tracing the creation of the universe back to the one and only God. Part of their response was to defend the truth of God, the Father and Creator by meditating and commenting on the biblical account of the six days of creation. The commentaries on the Hexameron which we have are by Theophilus of Antioch and Clement of Alexandria. Theophilus, author of the oldest commentary on Genesis 1:1-25, pursues a primarily apologetic aim in favour of Christian monotheism and of faith in God who, through his Logos, is the Creator of all things; Clement, through statements scattered throughout his works, confirms in opposition to Gnostic-Marcionite ditheism that God the Father, working through the Logos, created the universe according to a plan of salvation whose fulfillment will be redemption at the end of time. Exegesis is combined with theology and – on the basis of a philosophical substratum which also includes predominantly Judaic traditions – translates into principles which will later open the way to protological reflection.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the teaching of Clement of Alexandria on marriage is closely related to the author’s soteriology and cosmology. The study focuses on the Third Book of Stromateis, which provides insight into the different Christian views on marriage at the end of the second century. Study of the Third Book of Stromateis also reveals Clement’s unique method of argument, by means of which he corrects the theological positions of his opponents. Last but not least, Clement’s discussions of family life provide a window onto the social life of the Late Empire from the point of view of a second-century Christian philosopher.

In 2014 the coptologist Bentley Layton published a corpus of texts with the title The Canons of our Fathers. Rules of Shenoute. Our article proposes an analysis of these “rules” of the Egyptian abbot Shenoute (348-466 AD). This collection is characterised by the explicit intention of disciplining the conscience of each member of the community. This intention can be discerned in the particular use of curses and in a series of precepts that regulate the monk’s interior life prohibiting certain inner conditions that only the monk himself can detect. This strategy of “internalisation” appears to be original to the rule of this community.

The Homilies on the Beatitudes are believed to be Gregory of Nyssa’s earliest existing homilies, dating most probably from the Lenten season of 378. In them we can clearly see, although still at an early stage, his thoughts on the problem of evil in the world and its effects on human nature. Reading the homilies from this angle, one can show his original ideas on the introduction of sin in human nature, on the state of the man enslaved by sin and on sin’s effects on him. Gregory also gives some useful and practical suggestions as to how sin can be overcome. Even though in later homilies he goes more deeply into these themes, and sometimes his thought develops and points to different conclusions, it is here in this first set of homilies that we start to see his ideas on sin and redemption taking shape.