Uta Heil | University of Vienna (original) (raw)

Papers by Uta Heil

A range of apocryphal and pseudepigraphic texts from Late Antiquity points to the importance of S... more A range of apocryphal and pseudepigraphic texts from Late Antiquity points to the importance of Sunday as a holiday for baptized Christians. First and foremost is the so-called Letter from Heaven, which has experienced a broad and long-lasting reception up to modern times, although it was also criticized as a forgery from its beginning. Unfortunately, these texts have not received sufficient attention so far.

This volume presents various versions of the Letter from Heaven, as well as other texts (the pseudepigraphic Acts of the Synod of Caesarea; pseudepigraphic sermons of Eusebius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, and Basil of Caesarea; passages from the Didascalia or Diataxis of Jesus Christ; the Second Apocryphal Apocalypse of John; the Visio Pauli; a sermon of Sophronius of Jerusalem; and the Apocalypse of Anastasia), together with a translation and commentary. An introduction tells the story of this letter and integrates it and the other texts into the cultural history of Sunday. It becomes clear that Sunday as a day of rest and a feast day was not in the foreground of the development of an ecclesiastical festival calendar for a long time, although Emperor Constantine enacted a law on holiday rest on Sunday in 321 CE. Sunday, rather, marks the end of the Christianization of time and the calendar, when Easter, Pentecost, Christmas, and martyrs' feasts were already taken for granted. The authors of these texts obviously wanted to accelerate , which is why an anonymous person even resorted to presenting Christ himself as the author of this letter. Here, severe punishments are threatened to all who do not observe Sunday, who work as if it were a weekday, and who skip worship. The broad tradition shows that the letter was read and distributed despite all the criticism, and was even turned into an early form of a chain letter.

U. Heil (ed.), From Sun-Day to the Lord’s Day. The Cultural History of Sunday in Late Antiqui-ty and the Early Middle Ages (CELAMA 39), Turnhout: Brepols 2023, 13-26, 2023

Introduction into the History of Sunday as feast day after Constantine's law on Sunday rest.

Geschichte und Gott. XV. Europäischer Kongress für Theologie (14.-18. September 2014 in Berlin), hg.v. Michael Meyer-Blanck (Veröffentlichung der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft für Theologie 44), Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2016, 519-540, 2016

Examples of Augustine and Orosius about theological interpretation of historical desasters

Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 26 (2022), 403-445, 2022

With regard to the debate about the date of Easter around the year 200 A. D., Eusebius, Historia ... more With regard to the debate about the date of Easter around the year 200 A. D., Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica 5,23-25 refers to a council held in Palestine. This council appears to be referred to in a short passage within manuscripts containing works of Bede and Isidor or computistic texts. Yet there are differing versions of this text and the various publications containing and referring to it since the 16th century provide a confusing picture, with some dismissing it as a forgery. It can be assumed that one of these versions is a later reworking of the other, which in turn has never been published in its original form yet. After viewing these publications and the additional information contained therein, a search for manuscripts containing the texts was conducted. These were collated and the text of the two main versions constituted. While the first version as it is now available in the manuscripts also shows alterations of a later stage and cannot be dated earlier than the end of the 4th century, there is no reason not to assume the core of the text to be a contemporary or not much later recollection of a council in Palestine which dealt with the date of Easter, possibly as part of written correspondence regarding the issue as reported by Eusebius.

Journal of Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity 4 (2022), 101-104, 2022

An essay on developments in Digital Humanities in historical and editorial research

Verkündigung und Forschung 67 (2022), 113-126, 2022

Research History on Intersectionality in Historical Studies

Ellora Bennett / Guido M. Berndt / Stefan Esders / Laury Sarti (eds.), Early Medieval Mili-tarisation, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2021, 196-210, 2021

In which respects did Christianity, or some Christians, or the Christian Church, support a kind o... more In which respects did Christianity, or some Christians, or the Christian Church, support a kind of militarisation in the early Middle Ages? One phenomenon could partially answer this question and exemplify this development, namely the so-called 'Schwertmission': the forced conversion to Christianity through the use of violence and the threat of war. This is a new phenomenon of the early Middle Ages, as neither waging a missionary war nor organising mass baptism is known in late antique Christianity. From the time of Constantine, however, it is taken for granted that the almighty God supports the good and orthodox Christian emperor in his campaigns and victories. 3 In addition, most Christians accepted that one could be a soldier and a good Christian at the same time, especially given that after Constantine the accompanying pagan rites lost their validity. Nevertheless, waging war with the aim of converting the conquered to Christianity was a new phenomenon, such as occurred during Charlemagne's Saxon wars. What led to the idea of 'Schwertmission'?

Joseph Verheyden / Daniela Müller (eds.), Imagining Paganism Through the Ages. Studies on the Use of the Labels “Pagan” and “Paganism” in Controversies (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 312), Leuven / Paris / Bristol, CT: Peeters, 2020, 55-82, 2020

According to the title, Orosius wrote his history, inspired by Augustine, against the pagans - ho... more According to the title, Orosius wrote his history, inspired by Augustine, against the pagans - however, paganism is not dealt with in his work in detail. The article tries to give an answer to this puzzling observation.

Veronika Wieser / Vincent Eltschinger / Johann Heiss (eds.), Cultures of Eschatology 1: Empires and Scriptural Authorities in Medieval Christian, Islamic and Buddhist Commmunities (Cultural History of Apocalyptic Thought 3/1 und 2), Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2020, 47-67, 2020

Applying the definition of apocalyptic texts proposed by John Collins, this article analyses the ... more Applying the definition of apocalyptic texts proposed by John Collins, this article analyses the thirty-ninth festal letter of Athanasius of Alexandria (328-373) with its famous list of biblical canonical writings. In the letter, Athanasius dismisses certain apocalyptic texts associated with Enoch, Isaiah and Moses as dispensable and even heretical. In contrast, the canonical apostolic writings were held to contain sufficient instruction from Christ, the true teacher. This position did not prevent the subsequent composition of further apocalyptic texts, one example of which, the Didaskalia of Christ, is presented in this article. Obviously, new themes and debates stimulated the continued production of apocryphal writings even after agreement had been reached on the canon of biblical texts.

Kirche und Kaiser in Antike und Spätantike. Festschrift für Hanns Christof Brennecke zum 70. Geburtstag (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 136), hg.v. Uta Heil und Jörg Ulrich, Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, 2017, 225-248, 2017

With his church buildings, Constantine is considered the inventor of the Holy Land. But what gave... more With his church buildings, Constantine is considered the inventor of the Holy Land. But what gave Constantine the idea to build these churches in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and how is his building programme to be interpreted? The essay presents some probably inaccurate theological interpretations and then presents its own assessment, which focuses on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Clerical Exile in Late Antiquity (Early Christianity in the Context of Antiquity 17), eds. Julia Hillner / Jörg Ulrich / Jacob Engberg, Frankfurt a.M. u.a.: Peter Lang 2016, 165-192., 2016

Origeniana Undecima. Origen and Origenism in the History of Western Thought. Papers of the 11th International Origen Congress, Aarhus 2013, ed. Anders-Christian Jacobsen (Bibli-otheca Ephemeridum theologicarum Lovaniensium 279), Leuven / Paris / Bristol, CT 2016: Peeters, 2016, 525-543, 2016

In the year 414 Orosius from Spain travelled to North Africa to visit Augustine. In this context ... more In the year 414 Orosius from Spain travelled to North Africa to visit Augustine. In this context he delivered his Commonitorium ad Augustinum de errore Priscillianistarum et Origenistarum and requested an answer from him to reaffirm orthodoxy in Spain.The paper focusses on the presentation of the errors of Origen in these two texts. Besides she considers the historical background and the relationship of these events to the so-called first Origenist controversy. It is still a matter of dispute what Augustine knew at which point of time about this controversy, and it can be called into question if Orosius from Spain was able to inform Augustine about the details of this controversy. Because of this it is far from clear whether and how this Origenist controversy influenced the presentation of wrong ideas of Origen in the Commonitorium of Orosius and in the answer of Augustine.

Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 123, 2012, 95-113, 2012

Seitdem Eduard Schwartz im Jahre 1905 aus der an sich lange bekannten syrischen kirchenrechtliche... more Seitdem Eduard Schwartz im Jahre 1905 aus der an sich lange bekannten syrischen kirchenrechtlichen Sammlung des Cod. Paris. Syr. 62 den Brief einer bis dahin unbekannten antiochenischen Synode veröffentlichte, die, wenn der Text keine Fälschung ist, kurz vor der Synode von Nicaea 325 n. Chr. stattgefunden haben muss, ist die Diskussion um die Echtheit dieses Textes, der die unmittelbare Vorgeschichte der Synode von Nicaea und vor allem die Rolle des Euseb von Caesarea darin in einem vollkommen neuen Licht erscheinen ließ, nie ganz verstummt. 1

Friedrich Loofs in Halle (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 114), hg.v. Jörg Ulrich, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, 2010, 39-62, 2010

Overview of Friedrich Loofs' contributions to the Realenzyklopädie as an example of the quality o... more Overview of Friedrich Loofs' contributions to the Realenzyklopädie as an example of the quality of patristic research of that time

Augustin Handbuch, hg.v. Volker Henning Drecoll, Tübingen, 558-564, 2007

Overview on the semipelagian debate especially in Gaul up to 529 CE.

Wiener Jahrbuch für Theologie, 2016

Das Christentum im frühen Europa

KönigThrasamund warnach Geiserich derjenige vandalische König mit der längsten Regierungszeit in ... more KönigThrasamund warnach Geiserich derjenige vandalische König mit der längsten Regierungszeit in Nordafrika (496-523). Seine Religionspolitik im Konfliktfeld zwischen-vereinfacht dargestellt-dem homöischen Glauben der vandalischen Invasoren und dem katholischen Glaubend er alteingesessenenB evölkerung war nicht gerade liberal, aber auch nicht so rigoros, wie sie phasenweise unter seinen Vorgängern gehandhabt wurde. Er erscheint als ein überzeugter Verfechter des homöischen Glaubens, dem es beid essenV erteidigung auch um die Sache ging,und ihm wurde mehrfach ein großes Interesse an Wissen und Weisheit bescheinigt,g erade auch in religiösen Fragen.¹ So wird auch derjenigeT ext mit seinem Namen in Verbindung gebracht,d er im Fokus dieses Aufsatzes steht.I nd er Ausgabed er CChr.SL 91 (Fraipont) ist er dem Inhaltsverzeichnis der ältestenH andschriftV atikan, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat.2 67 folgend betitelta ls Dicta regis Trasamundi. Seine Überlieferung ist allerdings nicht unproblematisch, insofern er sich nur bei Fulgentius vonR uspe in seinen Antworten aufdiesen Text erhalten hat.Erhat daher in der Rezeption und in der Sekundärliteratur als eigenständigerText bislang keine Beachtung gefunden, sondern wurde allenfalls im Zusammenhang mit den Antworten des Fulgentius und in dessen Unterteilungwahrgenommen.²

Theologie als Streitkultur

A range of apocryphal and pseudepigraphic texts from Late Antiquity points to the importance of S... more A range of apocryphal and pseudepigraphic texts from Late Antiquity points to the importance of Sunday as a holiday for baptized Christians. First and foremost is the so-called Letter from Heaven, which has experienced a broad and long-lasting reception up to modern times, although it was also criticized as a forgery from its beginning. Unfortunately, these texts have not received sufficient attention so far.

This volume presents various versions of the Letter from Heaven, as well as other texts (the pseudepigraphic Acts of the Synod of Caesarea; pseudepigraphic sermons of Eusebius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, and Basil of Caesarea; passages from the Didascalia or Diataxis of Jesus Christ; the Second Apocryphal Apocalypse of John; the Visio Pauli; a sermon of Sophronius of Jerusalem; and the Apocalypse of Anastasia), together with a translation and commentary. An introduction tells the story of this letter and integrates it and the other texts into the cultural history of Sunday. It becomes clear that Sunday as a day of rest and a feast day was not in the foreground of the development of an ecclesiastical festival calendar for a long time, although Emperor Constantine enacted a law on holiday rest on Sunday in 321 CE. Sunday, rather, marks the end of the Christianization of time and the calendar, when Easter, Pentecost, Christmas, and martyrs' feasts were already taken for granted. The authors of these texts obviously wanted to accelerate , which is why an anonymous person even resorted to presenting Christ himself as the author of this letter. Here, severe punishments are threatened to all who do not observe Sunday, who work as if it were a weekday, and who skip worship. The broad tradition shows that the letter was read and distributed despite all the criticism, and was even turned into an early form of a chain letter.

U. Heil (ed.), From Sun-Day to the Lord’s Day. The Cultural History of Sunday in Late Antiqui-ty and the Early Middle Ages (CELAMA 39), Turnhout: Brepols 2023, 13-26, 2023

Introduction into the History of Sunday as feast day after Constantine's law on Sunday rest.

Geschichte und Gott. XV. Europäischer Kongress für Theologie (14.-18. September 2014 in Berlin), hg.v. Michael Meyer-Blanck (Veröffentlichung der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft für Theologie 44), Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2016, 519-540, 2016

Examples of Augustine and Orosius about theological interpretation of historical desasters

Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 26 (2022), 403-445, 2022

With regard to the debate about the date of Easter around the year 200 A. D., Eusebius, Historia ... more With regard to the debate about the date of Easter around the year 200 A. D., Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica 5,23-25 refers to a council held in Palestine. This council appears to be referred to in a short passage within manuscripts containing works of Bede and Isidor or computistic texts. Yet there are differing versions of this text and the various publications containing and referring to it since the 16th century provide a confusing picture, with some dismissing it as a forgery. It can be assumed that one of these versions is a later reworking of the other, which in turn has never been published in its original form yet. After viewing these publications and the additional information contained therein, a search for manuscripts containing the texts was conducted. These were collated and the text of the two main versions constituted. While the first version as it is now available in the manuscripts also shows alterations of a later stage and cannot be dated earlier than the end of the 4th century, there is no reason not to assume the core of the text to be a contemporary or not much later recollection of a council in Palestine which dealt with the date of Easter, possibly as part of written correspondence regarding the issue as reported by Eusebius.

Journal of Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity 4 (2022), 101-104, 2022

An essay on developments in Digital Humanities in historical and editorial research

Verkündigung und Forschung 67 (2022), 113-126, 2022

Research History on Intersectionality in Historical Studies

Ellora Bennett / Guido M. Berndt / Stefan Esders / Laury Sarti (eds.), Early Medieval Mili-tarisation, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2021, 196-210, 2021

In which respects did Christianity, or some Christians, or the Christian Church, support a kind o... more In which respects did Christianity, or some Christians, or the Christian Church, support a kind of militarisation in the early Middle Ages? One phenomenon could partially answer this question and exemplify this development, namely the so-called 'Schwertmission': the forced conversion to Christianity through the use of violence and the threat of war. This is a new phenomenon of the early Middle Ages, as neither waging a missionary war nor organising mass baptism is known in late antique Christianity. From the time of Constantine, however, it is taken for granted that the almighty God supports the good and orthodox Christian emperor in his campaigns and victories. 3 In addition, most Christians accepted that one could be a soldier and a good Christian at the same time, especially given that after Constantine the accompanying pagan rites lost their validity. Nevertheless, waging war with the aim of converting the conquered to Christianity was a new phenomenon, such as occurred during Charlemagne's Saxon wars. What led to the idea of 'Schwertmission'?

Joseph Verheyden / Daniela Müller (eds.), Imagining Paganism Through the Ages. Studies on the Use of the Labels “Pagan” and “Paganism” in Controversies (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 312), Leuven / Paris / Bristol, CT: Peeters, 2020, 55-82, 2020

According to the title, Orosius wrote his history, inspired by Augustine, against the pagans - ho... more According to the title, Orosius wrote his history, inspired by Augustine, against the pagans - however, paganism is not dealt with in his work in detail. The article tries to give an answer to this puzzling observation.

Veronika Wieser / Vincent Eltschinger / Johann Heiss (eds.), Cultures of Eschatology 1: Empires and Scriptural Authorities in Medieval Christian, Islamic and Buddhist Commmunities (Cultural History of Apocalyptic Thought 3/1 und 2), Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2020, 47-67, 2020

Applying the definition of apocalyptic texts proposed by John Collins, this article analyses the ... more Applying the definition of apocalyptic texts proposed by John Collins, this article analyses the thirty-ninth festal letter of Athanasius of Alexandria (328-373) with its famous list of biblical canonical writings. In the letter, Athanasius dismisses certain apocalyptic texts associated with Enoch, Isaiah and Moses as dispensable and even heretical. In contrast, the canonical apostolic writings were held to contain sufficient instruction from Christ, the true teacher. This position did not prevent the subsequent composition of further apocalyptic texts, one example of which, the Didaskalia of Christ, is presented in this article. Obviously, new themes and debates stimulated the continued production of apocryphal writings even after agreement had been reached on the canon of biblical texts.

Kirche und Kaiser in Antike und Spätantike. Festschrift für Hanns Christof Brennecke zum 70. Geburtstag (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 136), hg.v. Uta Heil und Jörg Ulrich, Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, 2017, 225-248, 2017

With his church buildings, Constantine is considered the inventor of the Holy Land. But what gave... more With his church buildings, Constantine is considered the inventor of the Holy Land. But what gave Constantine the idea to build these churches in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and how is his building programme to be interpreted? The essay presents some probably inaccurate theological interpretations and then presents its own assessment, which focuses on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Clerical Exile in Late Antiquity (Early Christianity in the Context of Antiquity 17), eds. Julia Hillner / Jörg Ulrich / Jacob Engberg, Frankfurt a.M. u.a.: Peter Lang 2016, 165-192., 2016

Origeniana Undecima. Origen and Origenism in the History of Western Thought. Papers of the 11th International Origen Congress, Aarhus 2013, ed. Anders-Christian Jacobsen (Bibli-otheca Ephemeridum theologicarum Lovaniensium 279), Leuven / Paris / Bristol, CT 2016: Peeters, 2016, 525-543, 2016

In the year 414 Orosius from Spain travelled to North Africa to visit Augustine. In this context ... more In the year 414 Orosius from Spain travelled to North Africa to visit Augustine. In this context he delivered his Commonitorium ad Augustinum de errore Priscillianistarum et Origenistarum and requested an answer from him to reaffirm orthodoxy in Spain.The paper focusses on the presentation of the errors of Origen in these two texts. Besides she considers the historical background and the relationship of these events to the so-called first Origenist controversy. It is still a matter of dispute what Augustine knew at which point of time about this controversy, and it can be called into question if Orosius from Spain was able to inform Augustine about the details of this controversy. Because of this it is far from clear whether and how this Origenist controversy influenced the presentation of wrong ideas of Origen in the Commonitorium of Orosius and in the answer of Augustine.

Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 123, 2012, 95-113, 2012

Seitdem Eduard Schwartz im Jahre 1905 aus der an sich lange bekannten syrischen kirchenrechtliche... more Seitdem Eduard Schwartz im Jahre 1905 aus der an sich lange bekannten syrischen kirchenrechtlichen Sammlung des Cod. Paris. Syr. 62 den Brief einer bis dahin unbekannten antiochenischen Synode veröffentlichte, die, wenn der Text keine Fälschung ist, kurz vor der Synode von Nicaea 325 n. Chr. stattgefunden haben muss, ist die Diskussion um die Echtheit dieses Textes, der die unmittelbare Vorgeschichte der Synode von Nicaea und vor allem die Rolle des Euseb von Caesarea darin in einem vollkommen neuen Licht erscheinen ließ, nie ganz verstummt. 1

Friedrich Loofs in Halle (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 114), hg.v. Jörg Ulrich, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, 2010, 39-62, 2010

Overview of Friedrich Loofs' contributions to the Realenzyklopädie as an example of the quality o... more Overview of Friedrich Loofs' contributions to the Realenzyklopädie as an example of the quality of patristic research of that time

Augustin Handbuch, hg.v. Volker Henning Drecoll, Tübingen, 558-564, 2007

Overview on the semipelagian debate especially in Gaul up to 529 CE.

Wiener Jahrbuch für Theologie, 2016

Das Christentum im frühen Europa

KönigThrasamund warnach Geiserich derjenige vandalische König mit der längsten Regierungszeit in ... more KönigThrasamund warnach Geiserich derjenige vandalische König mit der längsten Regierungszeit in Nordafrika (496-523). Seine Religionspolitik im Konfliktfeld zwischen-vereinfacht dargestellt-dem homöischen Glauben der vandalischen Invasoren und dem katholischen Glaubend er alteingesessenenB evölkerung war nicht gerade liberal, aber auch nicht so rigoros, wie sie phasenweise unter seinen Vorgängern gehandhabt wurde. Er erscheint als ein überzeugter Verfechter des homöischen Glaubens, dem es beid essenV erteidigung auch um die Sache ging,und ihm wurde mehrfach ein großes Interesse an Wissen und Weisheit bescheinigt,g erade auch in religiösen Fragen.¹ So wird auch derjenigeT ext mit seinem Namen in Verbindung gebracht,d er im Fokus dieses Aufsatzes steht.I nd er Ausgabed er CChr.SL 91 (Fraipont) ist er dem Inhaltsverzeichnis der ältestenH andschriftV atikan, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat.2 67 folgend betitelta ls Dicta regis Trasamundi. Seine Überlieferung ist allerdings nicht unproblematisch, insofern er sich nur bei Fulgentius vonR uspe in seinen Antworten aufdiesen Text erhalten hat.Erhat daher in der Rezeption und in der Sekundärliteratur als eigenständigerText bislang keine Beachtung gefunden, sondern wurde allenfalls im Zusammenhang mit den Antworten des Fulgentius und in dessen Unterteilungwahrgenommen.²

Theologie als Streitkultur

Program, 2019

The Christian Sunday as a day of rest is one central identity marker of a society shaped by Chris... more The Christian Sunday as a day of rest is one central identity marker of a society shaped by Christianity. However, the development of a Christian Sunday culture took several centuries until the early Middle Ages, although al-ready in 321 AD, Constantine had decreed a law to rest on the sacred Sun-Day. One reason was probably an intentional distancing from both Jewish Sabbath observation and beliefs in pagan Tagwählerei (unlucky days) and comparable astrological practices. Later on, when this anti-pagan issue diminished, and when pagan cults and calendars lost importance, a Sunday observance and veneration emerged as one element among other aspects of Christianization and sacralization of the Christian society in Late Antiquity, including holy places and holy peo-ple. Especially the sixth century seemed to be an important “watershed” in this respect, when new apocryphal literature and pseudepigraphy dealing with Sunday produced. The elevation of Sunday reflected a unification of feasts that were formerly variously celebrated within different social and religious groups.