Ancient Christianity Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Esame dei diversi linguaggi religiosi e delle diverse strategie ermeneutiche compresenti nella Apologia I.

Il libro di Cloe Taddei Ferretti verte sul rapporto interculturale tra due personaggi di spicco della tarda antichità: Ipazia di Alessandria, insigne filosofa pagana, e Sinesio di Cirene, suo allievo poi divenuto vescovo cristiano. Da... more

Il libro di Cloe Taddei Ferretti verte sul rapporto interculturale tra due personaggi di spicco della tarda antichità: Ipazia di Alessandria, insigne filosofa pagana, e Sinesio di Cirene, suo allievo poi divenuto vescovo cristiano. Da questo rapporto straordinario tra esponenti di culture a quel tempo in aspro conflitto scaturisce, per il nostro presente, un'utile lezione di convivenza armonica nella diversità.

L’esegesi di Basilio delinea un progetto antropologico capace di riformare evangelicamente tutto il complesso della polis umana e la creazione intera, dove un nuovo Adamo partecipi della comune ‘ricchezza’ nella libertà dell’amore. In un... more

L’esegesi di Basilio delinea un progetto antropologico capace di riformare evangelicamente tutto il complesso della polis umana e la creazione intera, dove un nuovo Adamo partecipi della comune ‘ricchezza’ nella libertà dell’amore. In un quadro di degrado sociale, che vede la massa dei ‘cittadini’ trasformarsi in massa di ‘indigenti’ sempre più affollata negli agglomerati urbani, beneficiaria di elemosine improduttive, la proposta cristiana di Basilio ha tutto il fascino e la concretezza delle utopie realizzabili, come possono essere suggerite dallo Spirito di Dio e accolte dagli uomini che Egli ama, spesso contro ogni convenienza, ecclesiastica o civile.
Nell'anno dedicato dalla Chiesa Ortodossa Rumena a San Basilio il Grande e ai Santi della Cappadocia questo testo fu elaborato su richiesta della "Commissione per l'ecumenismo e il dialogo" dell'Arcidiocesi cattolica di Udine, della Parrocchia rumeno-ortodossa di S. Basilio il Grande in Udine e dalla Chiesa Evangelica Metodista di Udine.

Este fascículo é fruto de todas as nossas lições na Italia e no Brasil. Esso é nada mais do que um cotejo de simples apontamentos colocados à disposição dos estudantes presentes com o objetivo de fornecer uma recapitulação essencial das... more

Este fascículo é fruto de todas as nossas lições na Italia e no Brasil. Esso é nada mais do que um cotejo de
simples apontamentos colocados à disposição dos estudantes presentes com o objetivo de fornecer
uma recapitulação essencial das normas morfológicas e sintáticas da língua copta
contemporaneamente a uma bibliografia essencial e indispensável, a uma crestomatia dos textos
extraídos do Velho e do Novo Testamento, da Biblioteca gnóstica de Nag Hammadi, dos Papiros
mágicos coptos e outros, também as tábuas de resumo que poderão revelar-se úteis como prómemória.

The depiction of Noah in Early Christian iconography lives two distinct phases. The first phase, only burial, covering the years between the end of the third century and the end of the fourth; the second, mainly of Church apparatus, was... more

The depiction of Noah in Early Christian iconography lives two distinct phases. The first phase, only burial, covering the years between the end of the third century and the end of the fourth; the second, mainly of Church apparatus, was born with the fifth century and lasted well beyond the seventh. In the first phase, the burial can be identified basically two modes of representation intended to express the same paradigm of salvation. In the narrative scene Noah is caught in the moment which includes the dove in her arms, while the ark is still at the mercy of the waves. In the typological scene Noah is a metaphor of the deceased, the ark of the grave. In the second phase, after the fifth century, the scene of Noah is also represented outside the context of burial: the symbolic function vanishes, while appearing the numerous narrative moments neglected by previous tradition, such as the construction of the ark, the entrance of the animals, the presence of seven other companions or of the drowned. Finally, although no longer tied to a concept of salvation staff, the theme of Noah's flood iconography remains as an issue of collective salvation of the community.

This chapter collects the evidence for engagement with the world soul in early Christian thought. The prevailing scholarly opinion is that Christians could not accept this philosophical idea due to its connection with the postulate of a... more

This chapter collects the evidence for engagement with the world soul in early Christian thought. The prevailing scholarly opinion is that Christians could not accept this philosophical idea due to its connection with the postulate of a divine cosmos. By means of a close analysis of key Christian authors between the second and the fourth century, the article partly corrects this consensus. Without fully embracing either the Platonic or the Stoic concept, Christian thinkers as diverse as the Gnostic author of the Acts of John, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Origen adopted elements of the world soul theory to articulate their Christologies. In a final part, the chapter follows these ideas into the fourth century where they continue to exercise some influence albeit in modified form.

The notion that christophanic exegesis is, essentially, a pre-Nicene tradition with little or no relevance for the study of later Christian literature is woefully inadequate: it minimizes the continued appeal to theophanies across much of... more

The notion that christophanic exegesis is, essentially, a pre-Nicene tradition with little or no relevance for the study of later Christian literature is woefully inadequate: it minimizes the continued appeal to theophanies across much of the fourth-century theological spectrum, and does not account for the pervasive and insistent references to theophanies in Byzantine hymnography. This article seeks to demonstrate that the christological exegesis of theophanies, widely recognized as an element of shared tradition, continued to function as a polemical ‘adjuvant’ in fourth-century anti-Jewish, anti-Arian, anti-modalistic, and anti-Apollinarian argumentation.

Data on the Christianity in the Illyrian-Albanian Territories before and after the Edict of Milan 313. With a Concentration on the Martyrology. Albanian In this article is given a general overview of the Christianity in the Illyrian... more

Data on the Christianity in the Illyrian-Albanian Territories before and after the Edict of Milan 313. With a Concentration on the Martyrology. Albanian
In this article is given a general overview of the Christianity in the Illyrian territories from the beginning until the time, after the Edict of Milano (313). With Illyrian territories, is meant here the lands where Albanian people live today. In the Center of this article is the martyrdom of the first Christians. Here are brought many details from their lives and their contribution to spreading the Christian religion and the legend about their sacrifice. After the Edict of Milano, the situation of Christians changed totally; Konstantin the Great gave the Christians the religious freedom, so it began e new period, which opened to the Christianity to become a religion of state in the Roman and later in the Byzantine Empire.

Anaphora 9.2 (2015): 71-102 The image of the ‘Good Shepherd’ is readily recognized as one of the primary images of early Christian art. The figure is well studied as an element of sarcophagi and catacomb art, but is less considered in... more

Anaphora 9.2 (2015): 71-102
The image of the ‘Good Shepherd’ is readily recognized as one of the primary images of early Christian art. The figure is well studied as an element of sarcophagi and catacomb art, but is less considered in baptismal contexts, probably due to its early and limited appearance in baptisteries (Ferguson 2009, 463; Jensen 2012,
183). This article reviews the development of the image and concept of the Good Shepherd and suggests a stronger role for the image in regard to early Christian baptism.

This Festschrift honors the life and work of John D. Turner (Charles J. Mach University Professor of Classics and History at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln) on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Professor Turner’s work has been of... more

This Festschrift honors the life and work of John D. Turner (Charles J. Mach University Professor of Classics and History at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln) on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Professor Turner’s work has been of profound importance for the study of the interaction between Greek philosophy and Gnosticism in late antiquity. This volume contains essays by international scholars on a broad range of topics that deal with Sethian, Valentinian and other early Christian thought, as well as with Platonism and Neoplatonism, and offer a variety of perspectives spanning intellectual history, Greek and Coptic philology, and the study of religions.

In the beginnings of Christianism, together with theological controversies and the construction of a rational discourse, other narratives appeared which took the form of Acts, Lives of Saints or novels. They dealt with the opposition... more

In the beginnings of Christianism, together with theological controversies and the construction of a rational discourse, other narratives appeared which took the form of Acts, Lives of Saints or novels. They dealt with the opposition between truth and falsehood through tales of miracles and magic. Some of these expressed the conflict between monotheism and the popular practices which tried to control the world of nature through magic. Although sorcerers and necromancers existed in the non-Christian world, and magic was severely controlled or even forbidden by the authorities in Imperial times, in Christian literature they played an important role as representing error in front of the truth of the Apostles who performed miracles. The life of Cyprian of Antioch, a magician who dealt with the devil, and the pious Justina, who refused his diabolical advances, was popular in Late Antiquity and was rewritten as a poem by the Empress Eudocia in the 5 th century. It is a tale of magic and power, where the most important feature is not the conversion and martyrdom of both characters, but the statement that Christ and the sign of the Cross are more powerful than any magic. The legend survived in the Middle Ages and probably influenced the myth of Faust. Resum: Als inicis del cristianisme, juntament amb les controvèrsies teològiques i la construcció d'un discurs racional, van aparèixer altres narracions en forma d'actes, vides de sants o novel·les. Mitjançant relats de miracles i màgia, presentaven l'oposició entre veritat i falsedat. Algunes d'aquestes obres expressaven el conflicte entre monoteisme i les pràctiques populars que pretenien controlar el món de la natura a través de la màgia. Per bé que en el món no cristià abundaven els bruixots i els nigromants, i que la màgia era severament controlada i fins i tot prohibida per l'autoritat en temps de l'Imperi, a la literatura cristiana tenia un important paper com a representació de l'error en oposició a la veritat dels Apòstols que feien miracles. La vida de Cebrià d'Antioquia, un mag que va fer un pacte amb

A mediados del siglo XIX el historiador alemán Johan Gustav Droysen denominó a la etapa histórica que se inaugura tras la muerte de Alejandro Magno (321 a e.c) como helenismo, término con el que quiso sintetizar la idea de un mundo... more

A mediados del siglo XIX el historiador alemán Johan Gustav Droysen denominó a la etapa histórica que se inaugura tras la muerte de Alejandro Magno (321 a e.c) como helenismo, término con el que quiso sintetizar la idea de un mundo mediterráneo caracterizado por la expansión de la cultura griega 1. En la tesis de Droysen la particularidad de una cultura y una literatura de carácter global en el Mediterráneo Oriental hicieron posible el cristianismo. En otras palabras, el cristianismo surge del helenismo "y de él tomó las direcciones más notables de su primer desarrollo" 2. Sin embargo, aunque exitosa, está forma de entender el desarrollo histórico dejaba fuera lo que de hebreo tenía el cristianismo primitivo. Crítico de Droysen, Arnaldo Momigliano, eminente historiador italiano nacido en 1908, judío por un lado, ciudadano de un Estado cristiano por otro, entendió el cristianismo en términos sincrético 3. Ambas tradiciones, la judía y la griega, habrían logrado condensar una expresión religiosa novedosa. Hoy día los historiadores parecen haber llegado a un consenso en cuanto a dos puntos. Primero, aunque en esencia el cristianismo es doctrinalmente griego el trasfondo judío no se puede negar. Segundo, aunque surgido en un espacio cultural determinado, la Palestina judía del siglo I e.c., el contexto helenístico y grecorromano no se debe ignorar. Así pues, partiendo de esas dos premisas este taller pretende aportar herramientas teóricas para comprender las condiciones socio-políticas en que se inserta el surgimiento del cristianismo. Por tanto, dividimos la presentación en dos bloques. En el primero se describen las características de la etapa helenística (ss. II a.e.c-I e.c.) tanto a escala macro, mediterráneo oriental, como a escala micro, Palestina. La segunda se

The schism led by Novatian in the Roman church in the spring of 251, when he had himself consecrated bishop in opposition to Cornelius, was quickly condemned, but its impact was felt across the Mediterranean. Although none of his... more

The schism led by Novatian in the Roman church in the spring of 251,
when he had himself consecrated bishop in opposition to Cornelius, was
quickly condemned, but its impact was felt across the Mediterranean. Although none of his contemporaries accused Novatian of doctrinal deviations (the schism was caused by his rigorist ideas regarding the readmission of the lapsi), the charge of heresy fell upon him, which led to his excommunication and the subsequent condemnation of his followers. The aim of this paper is not to reconstruct the history of the schism, on which there is an abundant scholarship, but to study the strategies carried out by Novatian’s adversaries to make him not only a schismatic, but a dangerous heretic for the entire Christian community. The richness of the documentation allows us to observe the making of Novatian the Heretic in real time. Most responsibility in this is due to Cyprian of Carthage, who carried out an international campaign
to discredit Novatian and his companions. In this way, a disciplinary
conflict of local character was given a global dimension, involving Africa,
Gaul, Spain, Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor, with long-lasting effects – the
Novatianists remained active well into the fifth century.

Dossiers d'archéologie, 405, 2021, p. 72-75.

El relato de la pasión de Cristo fue una herramienta apologética fundamental para los primeros cristianos pues los proveía de una perspectiva soteriológica y, a la par, reflejaba las experiencias políticas y sociales de las comunidades... more

El relato de la pasión de Cristo fue una herramienta apologética fundamental para los primeros cristianos pues los proveía de una perspectiva soteriológica y, a la par, reflejaba las experiencias políticas y sociales de las comunidades redactoras.
Los episodios del arresto y muerte de Jesús eran narraciones claramente destinadas a la polémica con los externos, judíos y gentiles, pero también con las otras vertientes cristianas. En base a esta noción proponemos analizar el episodio de las discípulas de Jesús ante el sepulcro vacío en una perspectiva histórica que explique las alteraciones sufridas a raíz de las posturas e intereses de los diferentes redactores. Para esto abordaremos una franja temporal que abarca desde mediados de la década del 70 del siglo i hasta finales del siglo ii. Comenzaremos el análisis con el Evangelio de Marcos, primer testimonio del episodio de la tumba vacía. El mismo es una novedad proveniente del círculo cristiano-helenista de Antioquía, pues Pablo no parece haberlo conocido en sus cartas. Luego procederemos a considerar las versiones propuestas por los evangelios de Mateo, Lucas, Juan, la Epistula Apostolorum y el Evangelio de Pedro. Como elemento de cierre y balance recurriremos a la opinión del crítico pagano Celso.