Polykoiranie II (Philo Judaeus, Early Christian Apologists, Pseudo-Dionysius)

2021 ◽  
pp. 70-99
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Bennington
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria ◽  
Islamic Thought ◽  
The One ◽  
Eusebius Of Caesarea ◽  
Pseudo Dionysius

The chapter pursues invocations and quotations of the same line from Homer in Philo Judaeus’s On the Confusion of Tongues, and subsequently among the second-century CE Christian apologists Clement of Alexandria, Tatian, pseudo-Justin, Eusebius of Caesarea, and the pseudo-Dionysius, and their various attempts to Christianize pagan and Judaic sources. The complexity of the “One” in the concept of “one God” is analysed in Christianity, Judaism, and Islamic thought, and shown to have a significant stylistic presence in Derrida.

The Power of God in Some Early Christian Texts

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Edwards
Keyword(s):  
First Principles ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria ◽  
Philosophical School ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Common ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
Power Of God

This chapter delineates a typology of the power of God in early Christian sources, including the New Testament, Justin Martyr, and other apologists of the second century, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Athanasius. It argues that any investigation of the concept of dunamis in early Christian writings must begin with an acknowledgement of the Scriptures, maintaining that late antique Christianity should be considered as a distinct philosophical school, which had its own first principles, interpreted its own texts, and gave its own sense to terms that it used in common with other schools. Thus, a specifically Christian notion of divine power could have been born of reflection on the common ‘reservoir’ of Christian thought, any other influence being strictly secondary.

VALENTINIAN VARIATIONS ON LK 12,8-9/MT 10,32

2003 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-455
Author(s):  
Winrich Löhr
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Gospel Of Luke ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria

AbstractClement of Alexandria has preserved a fragment of Herakleon, disciple of Valentinus, which comments on Lk 12,8-9 (11) par. The article interprets Herakleon's fragment as a piece of subtle second century Gospel exegesis, considers it in the context of the early Christian exegesis of Lk 12,8-9 par. and compares it with another Valentinian exegesis of the same verse which is related by Tertullian. Some conjectures as to the form of Herakleon's commentary are attempted: Apparently he first quoted the lemma and then commented on it, carefully discussing verse after verse. Method and form of the fragment are close to Herakleon's 'hypomnemata' on the Gospel of John. Our piece, however, probably formed no part of these 'hypomnemata'—Herakleon being the first known Christian exegete who commented both on the Gospel of Luke (taking into account the Synoptic parallels) and the Gospel of John.

Producing Descent/Dissent: Clement of Alexandria's Use of Filial Metaphors as Intra-Christian Polemic

1997 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-104
Author(s):  
Denise Kimber Buell
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Culturally Specific ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria ◽  
Authoritative Discourse

In the second century, Christians vied with each other to produce an authoritative discourse on Christian identity. Some early Christians deployed historically- and culturally-specific notions of procreation and kinship in their struggles with each other over claims to represent the truth of Christian biblical interpretation, practices, and doctrine. The extant writings of the late second-century Christian author Clement of Alexandria offer a generous range of contexts for exploring the nuances of this practice. This study comprises one facet of a larger investigation into early Christian use of procreative and kinship imagery in discourses about Christian identity in the second century CE.

The Heresy of Tatian—Once Again

1968 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. W. Barnard
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Justin Martyr ◽  
The One ◽  
Spiritual Pilgrimage ◽  
Christian History

Tatian, the second century Christian apologist, is something of an enigma to students of early Christian history and doctrine. How far was he influenced by his teacher Justin Martyr? What caused him to become an extreme exponent of the encratite heresy? Did his heretical views only develop after Justin's death, and were these the cause of his leaving Rome? or were these views only a development of tendencies which existed from the beginning? The answers which we give to these questions will largely depend on the view we take of, and the date we assign to, the one apologetic work of his which is extant—his Oration to the Greeks, a violent polemic against Graeco-Roman culture in the course of which Tatian reveals, in somewhat cryptic manner, his own theological views and gives a brief account of his own spiritual pilgrimage.

Il Dio Creatore nelle testimonianze esamerali di Teofilo di Antiochia e Clemente di Alessandria

Augustinianum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-44
Author(s):  
Matteo Monfrinotti ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early Christian ◽  
Working Through ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria ◽  
The World ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
The Creation ◽  
God The Father ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Way

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 First Resurrection Appearance and the Ending of Mark's Gospel

1972 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Trompf
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Second Line ◽  
Mary Magdalene ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Christian Literature ◽  
The Common ◽  
The One

Early Christian literature leaves us with apparently conflicting traditions about the first appearance of the risen Lord, although these traditions can be reduced to at least two main classes. On the one hand, some writers give Peter pride of place; he heads the list in Paul's ‘official’ παράδοσις of I Corinthians xv, and takes priority in both Luke (xxiv. 34) and the late second-centuryGospel of Peter(xiii. 57 – xiv. 60). On the other hand, some connect women with the first appearance; Matthew presents an albeit brief account of Jesus meeting the three women who had visited the tomb (xxviii. 9–10), whilst John (xx. 11–18) and the longer ending of Mark (xvi. 9) single out Mary Magdalene as the special recipient of the first appearance. As appearances of the resurrected kúpios came to acquire importance for the early Church in establishing apostolic authenticity and leadership, it is surprising that this second line of tradition persisted along with the contradictory ‘pro-Petrine’ material. Was it a source of embarrassment for those wishing to give pre-eminence to Peter? The question has usually been evaded because of the common supposition that Matthew was the first to ‘invent’ the tradition of such an appearance to women, so as to overcome ‘the impasse presented by Mark's (empty tomb) story’ before passing on towards the great summation of his Gospel; but it is also possible to affirm that Matthew (who is pro-Petrine enough, cf. xvi. 17–19) made astonishingly little out of this appearance, sparing as his comments are.

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.

Sexual Defilement in Early Christian Texts

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moshe Blidstein
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Sexual Ethics ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The Family ◽  
Main Target ◽  
Christian Society

Chapter 7 demonstrates that sexual sin became the main target for purity discourse in early Christian texts, and attempts to explain why. Christian imagery of sexual defilement drew from a number of traditions—Greco-Roman sexual ethics, imagery of sexual sin from the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple texts, and both Jewish and pagan purity laws, all seen through the lens of Paul’s imagery of sexuality and sexual sin. Two broad currents characterized Christian sexual ethics in the second century: one upheld marriage and the family as the basis for a holy Christian society and church, while the second rejected all sexuality, including in marriage. Writers of both currents made heavy use of defilement imagery. For the first, sexual sin was a dangerous defilement, contaminating the Christian community and severing it from God. For the second, more radical current, sexuality itself was the defilement; virginity or continence alone were pure.

Connecting Gospels

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Single Field ◽  
Vantage Points ◽  
Canonical Texts ◽  
Normative Status ◽  
Two Bodies ◽  
Shed Light

By the late second century, early Christian gospels had been divided into two groups by a canonical boundary that assigned normative status to four of them while consigning their competitors to the margins. The project of this volume is to find ways to reconnect these divided texts. The primary aim is not to address the question whether the canonical/non-canonical distinction reflects substantive and objectively verifiable differences between the two bodies of texts—although that issue may arise at various points. Starting from the assumption that, in spite of their differences, all early gospels express a common belief in the absolute significance of Jesus and his earthly career, the intention is to make their interconnectedness fruitful for interpretation. The approach taken is thematic and comparative: a selected theme or topic is traced across two or more gospels on either side of the canonical boundary, and the resulting convergences and divergences shed light not least on the canonical texts themselves as they are read from new and unfamiliar vantage points. The outcome is to demonstrate that early gospel literature can be regarded as a single field of study, in contrast to the overwhelming predominance of the canonical four characteristic of traditional gospels scholarship.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Otto
Keyword(s):  
Early Christian ◽  
Hebrew Scriptures ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria ◽  
Christian Literature

As an allegorical interpreter who perceived some of the spiritual teachings embedded in the Hebrew scriptures, Philo did not match the image of the stereotypical Jew constructed by Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Eusebius. Neither, however, did he fulfill their criteria to be considered a legitimate Christian. This chapter argues that Philo functions in early Christian writings as neither a Christian nor a Jew but is situated in between these two increasingly differentiated identities. Acting as a third term in the equation, Philo the “Pythagorean,” the “predecessor,” and the “Hebrew,” mediates between the categories of Christian and Jew while ensuring that the two identities remain rhetorically and conceptually distinct. An epilogue briefly traces the varying depictions of Philo in later Christian literature, including accounts of his baptism by the apostle John and his transformation into Philo Judaeus, Philo the Jew.

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