Dieses Buch enthalt die Vortrage die auf der Konferenz, die im Januar 1991 in Berlin stattfand, der Patristischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft gehalten wurden. Bei der christlichen Exegese zwischen Nicaea und Chalcedon handelt es sich um die Arbeit am Bibeltext wahrend der Hochzeit der Vatertheologie. In den Hauptvortragen fasst der Patristiker Ulrich Wickert (Berlin) in einer Uberschau "Horizonte und Grundaspekte" ins Auge; der klassische Philologe Christoph Schaublin (Bern) charakterisiert die "pagane Pragung der christlichen Exegese"; der Neutestamentler William Horbury (Cambridge) handelt von "Jews and Christians on the Bible: Demarcation and Convergence". Die Kurzvortrage befassen sich mit Ahtanasius (Christopher Stead - Cambridge), Apollinaris (Ekkehard Muhlenberg - Gottingen), Asterius (Wolfram Kinzig - Cambridge), Theodoret (Silke-Petra Bergjan - Munchen), Hieronymus (Ralph Hennings - Heidelberg), Augustinus (Dietmar Wyrwa - Berlin). Dieser Index zeigt, dass ausser dem genuin christlichen Kern auch das judische und heidnische Erbe der Vaterexegese zur Sprache kam.

Annotation Christian authors in late antiquity frame their retellings of saints' lives as implicitly saintly acts, holy rituals that would lead to salvation.

A monumental work in scope and content, Aloys Grillmeier's Chirst in the Christian Tradition offers students and scholars a comprehensive exposition of Western writing on the history of doctrine. It covers the Council of Chalcedon (451) to Gregory the Great (590-604), with Part Two focusing on the Church of Constantinople in the sixth century.

This volume examines the early Church's methods of theological argumentation concerning the metaphorical texts of the Bible. Ps 45 presents some of the oldest biblical evidence for the divinity of Christ and was often cited in christological and trinitarian controversies. In the 4th century the conflict between the traditional interpretation of the Church and linguistic methods erupted. In the course of the debate with Arian exegesis the significance of metaphor and the possibility of speaking of God were conceived anew. This study is based on dogmatic, exegetical and spiritual texts ranging from Justin to Cyril of Alexandria and Theodoret of Cyrus. It shows how the various forms of argumentation interact: how scholarly theology was mediated through preaching, and pastoral and catechetical interests affected christological reflection.

The relationship between theology and philosophy in Gregory of Nyssa's thought is a subject of great controversy. This study on one of Gregory's key writings does not however focus on the study of the source material, but discusses instead the philosophical implications of Gregory's ideas. Thus it is possible to place Gregory's principles in a broader context while maintaining the differences with philosophy. In the first part of the work, the Prooemium of the De Vita Moysis is examined. Following the classical rhetorical tradition, Gregory here starts off with the central themes of the entire work. The second part is devoted to the concept of theoria. This is explored through discussions of the eternity of God, "language theory", human striving towards God, and biblical interpretation. In the last chapter these structures of the notion of theoria are further examined in the light of the theophany in the De Vita Moysis.

This volume deals with the correspondence between Augustine and Jerome, discussing the way the letters were handed down to posterity, as well as their contents. In the first part it is shown that Jerome and Augustine both published a collection of the correspondence. In addition a list of manuscripts is given. The second part deals with the conflict between Augustine and Jerome. Not only their discussion whether the Hebrew Bible or the Septuagint should be considered canonically authoritative for the Church, but also their argument on the right exegesis of the quarrel between Peter and Paul in Antioch, whether Christians should observe the Jewish Ceremonial Laws (Gal. 2,11-14). The book is of particular interest for scholars in Patristic and Jewish Studies, giving a fresh approach to this important correspondence.

St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Athanasius' great successor, tells us: "Our Father Athanasius, of hallowed memory, who adorned the throne of the Church of Alexandria for the whole of forty-six years and arrayed an unconquerable and apostolic knowledge in battle against the sophistries of the unholy heretics and greatly gladdened the world with his writings as by a most fragrant perfume, and all bear witness to the accuracy and piety of his teaching . was a man worthy of trust and deserving a confi dence, since he did not say anything not in agreement with Holy Scripture." The present volume consists of a collection of essays which represent original research into the writings of St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria (295 - 373). Th ese essays respond to challenges arising out of the contemporary scholarly studies of St. Athanasius' theology and writings. Th e new perspectives in Athanasian studies, which these essays off er, are closer to the original theological legacy of this great Alexandrian Father of the Church who has come down in the history of the Church as the "canon of orthodoxy." Modern "critical research and discussions" have too oft en tended to obscure the Athanasian legacy and bar contemporary theology from the amazing blessings that this great ecumenical teacher and Father of the Church has bequeathed to all Christian generations.

Through this comprehensive Handbook, the reader will obtain a balanced and cohesive picture of the Early Church. It gives an overall view of the reception, transmission, and interpretation of the Bible in the life and thought of the Church during the first five centuries of Christianity. The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004098152).

A comprehensive introduction to classical rhetoric as practised in the hellenistic period. The three sections define the major categories of rhetoric, analyze rhetorical practice according to genre, and treat individual writers in the rhetorical tradition.

In addition to the classical literary corpus, Chrysostom, like many other educated Christians, relied upon the Scriptures as an equally important source. Focusing on the use which writers made of the Scriptures in order to convey their moral, social, and theological ideas, this study is unique in that it offers a detailed analysis of patristic rhetoric against the background of the scriptural corpus. A close examination of a wide range of Greek exegetical and homiletic writings, in particularly the newly-available edition of the Greek Catena, reveals that the Fathers wrote and preached in accordance with well-established literary conventions. Chrysostom, his Antiochene colleagues and his Alexandrian rivals approached the biblical text with a full appreciation of the methods formulated by their predecessors. The evidence of the exegetes' meticulous and calculated use of the biblical text contradicts the present scholarly tendency to describe the homiletic literary output as spontaneous and free-flowing. For the first time, Chrysostom is examined not in an isolated way, but in the wider context of Antiochene and Alexandrian exegesis, and their respective theological ideologies. When studying the wider aspects of the Fathers' methods of interpretation, it becomes clear that the study of ideas cannot be separated from the study of their modes of expression.