History of religion Books
Peeters Publishers Preaching the Gospel to the Hellenes: The Life
Book SynopsisOver the past forty years, major Patristic scholars have radically called into question the biographical and literary profiles of Gregory Thaumaturgus (the `Wonderworker’), considered for centuries the famous pupil of Origen and the charismatic bishop of Neocaesarea. Presenting a thorough reconsideration of the ancient sources on Gregory and the main works ascribed to him, Preaching the Gospel to the Hellenes demonstrates that the doubt cast on his traditional figure is unwarranted. The book re-establishes solid ground on which this important actor in Early Christianity can be placed and corroborates his engagement in confronting and evangelising pagans. Moreover, by taking a fresh look at information provided on Gregory by key Patristic authors and scrutinising the addressees of his works, this study sheds new light on the Christian cultural and social environment in Palestine and Asia Minor, as well as on the history of Christian theology between the third and fourth centuries.
£105.00
Peeters Publishers Die Sakramentsgemeinschaft in der Alten Kirche:
Book SynopsisWas bedeutet die Gemeinschaft von Brot und Wein, die wir in der Kirche Sakramentsgemeinschaft nennen? Dieser Begriff ist für vielen zu einem Problem geworden. Obwohl Kirche und Glaube in unserer Gesellschaft zu einem Randphänomen geworden sind, erhalten sie dennoch eine gewisse Anerkennung. Glaube und Spiritualität werden weithin anerkannt als wertvolle Hilfsmittel für die psychische Gesundheit. Die Kirche spielt immer noch eine wichtige Rolle, wenn die Humanität der Gesellschaft in Frage kommt – das Kirchenasyl ist wiederum sehr aktuell. Aber das Sakrament? Es gehört zum kirchlichen Traditionsgut, aber sonst? In der Antike ging man ganz umgekehrt vor. Gerade weil man das Sakrament teilte, wird man zur Kirche. Der gemeinschaftliche Genuss von Brot und Wein bildete den Grund für die kirchliche Existenz. Die gemeinschaft mit Christo bestimmte die Spiritualität. In dem vorliegenden Band wird diese altkirchliche Sakramentsgemeinschaft weiterhin untersucht. Wie funktionierte sie in der Praxis, lokal und weltweit? Wie sahen die Feiern aus? Wer nahm teil, wer nicht? Welche Entwicklungen gab es? So erscheint eine der ältesten Riten unserer Gesellschaft in einem neuen und hoffentlich auch inspirierendem Licht.
£55.10
Peeters Publishers Jewish-Christian Disputations in Antiquity and
Book SynopsisAncient and medieval literature has bequeathed to us dialogues between Jews and Christians. Though there can be no doubt that polemical exchanges existed between individuals in the context of private discussions or formal debates, the exact relation of the dialogical texts and historical reality is sometimes unclear. In the case of ancient Christian dialogues, contradicting analyses have been put forward. Some scholars think they represent reliable documents about the «real» debates. Others contend that such texts are purely literary entities, and that their purpose was self-definition. Certainly no general theory can be adduced to account for all early Christian dialogical texts against the Jews. The present book, however, tries to evaluate both views with a series of contributions on a neglected late antique Greek dialogue, the Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila (6th-7th c. AD). For the sake of comparison, the second part includes papers on a medieval latin dialogical text, the Dialogus written by Peter Alfonsi (11th-12th c. AD). The last part gathers studies about the less documented other side: Jewish polemical texts against Christianity. The book is introduced by a historiographical survey by William Horbury.
£93.00
Peeters Publishers John Chrysostom and Severian of Gabala:
Book SynopsisThe homiletic corpora of John Chrysostom and Severian of Gabala are major yet understudied sources documenting late antique Christianity. With their sermons on Genesis as focal point, the studies in this volume contribute in many ways to advancing the state of the art. S. Voicu offers a complete survey of research on Severian, including a check-list of his authentic works. S. Kim, J. Oosterhuis-den Otter and L. Sels-S. Van Pee contribute to text-critical research on Severian, P. Augustin to that of Chrysostom. Read together, the articles by R. Bishop, W. Mayer and P. Van Nuffelen offer fresh perspectives on the tensions between Chrysostom and Severian. H. Buchinger discusses what can be gleaned from their sermons about the liturgy at Constantinople. K. Papadopoulos engages with Severian's biblical exegesis while S. Miller and P. Molinié analyse the content of some of the sermons. As a whole, the volume offers fresh insights in the writings and thought of two important late antique Christian bishops and theologians and opens up many avenues for further research.
£113.05
Peeters Publishers Der Kommentar Cyrills von Alexandrien zum 2.
Book SynopsisDer Kommentar Cyrills von Alexandrien (gest. 444) zum 2. Korintherbrief des Apostels Paulus ist noch nie Gegenstand einer wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung gewesen. Das in Fragmenten erhaltene und ursprünglich aus mehreren Büchern bestehende Werk wird in der vorliegenden Studie erstmals vollständig und kritisch ediert sowie erstmals in eine moderne Sprache übersetzt. Die Studie präsentiert darüber hinaus einen umfassenden Einblick in die gesamte – sowohl griechische als auch syrische – Überlieferung des Kommentars und befasst sich ausführlich u.a. mit der Frage nach der Abfassungszeit des Werkes, nach seinem sprachlichen Profil sowie nach seinem ursprünglichen Aufbau und Umfang. Die – auf die Edition und die Übersetzung des Kommentars folgende – komplexe Analyse der sprachlichen und inhaltlichen Seite aller erhaltenen Fragmente der cyrillianischen Schrift bietet detaillierte Einblicke in die überaus originelle Ausdrucksweise des alexandrinischen Patriarchen sowie in sein exegetisch-theologisches Denken. Abgeschlossen wird die Studie mit einem zusammenfassenden Überblick über die wichtigsten Themen des Kommentars sowie mit einer Darstellung der hermeneutisch-exegetischen Prinzipien, denen Cyrill bei seiner Besprechung des paulinischen Textes gefolgt ist. Im Anhang der Studie werden die im besprochenen Kommentar begegnenden sprachlichen Formulierungen, die als spezifisch cyrillianisch bezeichnet werden können, lexikonartig dokumentiert.
£115.00
Peeters Publishers Christian Identity Formation according to Cyril
Book SynopsisThis study is an exploration of how Cyril of Jerusalem constructed Christian identity for those who were preparing to enter into full communion with the church at Easter. In order to include the full catechetical teachings of the fourth-century hagiopolite tradition, the study examined the history of liturgy arguments against Cyrillian authorship of the Mystagogic Catecheses and has found, based upon the most recent scholarship, no reason to date the text to after Cyril’s bishopric. Having also used codicological and textual critical analysis to support the claim of Cyrillian authorship, the study argues for a different preferred manuscript tradition than what is presented in the critical edition. Since Cyril provided an identity-clarifying attribute for the new Christians to associate with each of the rites of initiation, the study looks at the scholarly literature regarding Cyril’s sacramental theology. Taking the Jerusalem catechetical writings as a pedagogical unit and examining it through word studies and flow-of-thought analysis, this study constructs a new model for Cyril’s sacramental theology based upon his doctrine of theosis, which has not been examined with sufficient academic rigor to date. It demonstrates that not only does Cyril have a fully-developed doctrine of theosis, but his expression of theosis is Trinitarian, sacramental, and inseparable from his ethical and identity forming teachings.
£82.00
Peeters Publishers Metrical Discourses on Faith by the Blessed Mar
Book SynopsisEphrem the Syrian’s six Metrical Discourses on Faith reflect on issues central to or arising from the Arian controversy as it manifested in the Syriac-speaking churches: the unique status of the Son of God, the distinction between creator and creation, and especially the problem of human audacity in the quest for knowledge of God. Like Ephrem’s other works, these discourses are replete with biblical language and brimming with creative symbolism. However, being less terse and allusive in style than many of his other poems, they also serve as a crucial exposition of some of his most fundamental ideas and a relatively accessible introduction to his thought as a whole. This is the first complete English translation of the whole collection, accompanied by a detailed introduction and copious explanatory notes.
£999.99
Peeters Publishers Actes de Vatopédi. III: De 1377 à 1500
Book SynopsisLe troisième et dernier volume des Actes de Vatopédi, qui contient les actes datant de 1377 à 1500, est l’un des plus remarquables de la collection des «Archives de l’Athos». Le matériel documentaire du monastère de Vatopédi pour cette période est exceptionnellement riche et il éclaire des sujets souvent mal connus, tels que la confiscation des domaines monastiques par les Byzantins après 1371, la situation en Macédoine après sa reconquête par Constantinople en 1403, et le statut des monastères athonites et de leurs biens après la première et la deuxième conquête ottomane de la Macédoine, dans les années 1380 et 1420. Le volume commence par une introduction sur l’histoire du monastère et sur son domaine foncier durant la période considérée. Viennent ensuite la description, l’analyse, le commentaire et l’édition de 99 actes grecs, pour la plupart inédits, ainsi que de deux actes latins. On trouvera également des analyses commentées de 8 actes slaves et de 38 actes ottomans, ainsi qu’une note sur les biens du monastère d’après les registres fiscaux ottomans de la fin du XVe et du début du XVIe siècle. Un index général détaillé vient clore le volume. Enfin, un album séparé de 100 planches fournit les reproductions des documents édités et de deux sceaux. The third and final volume of the Actes de Vatopédi, including the documents dating from 1377 to 1500, is one of the most significant of the “Archives de l’Athos” series. The documentary material of the monastery of Vatopedi for this period is exceptionally rich and sheds light on a number of often little-known topics, such as the confiscation of monastic estates by the Byzantines after 1371, the conditions in Macedonia after Constantinople reconquered the province in 1403, and the status of the Athonite monasteries and their properties after the first and the second Ottoman conquest of Macedonia, in the 1380s and 1420s, respectively. The text volume begins with an introduction on the monastery’s history and real estate in the period in question. This is followed by the description, summary, commentary and edition of 99 Greek documents, most of them published for the first time, as well as of two Latin documents. The volume also includes summaries and commentaries of 8 Slavic and 38 Ottoman documents and a study on the monastery’s properties as known from the late 15th- and early 16th-c. Ottoman tax registers. Finally, the reader will find a very detailed general index. A separate album of 100 plates contains reproductions of the edited documents and of two seals.
£290.00
Peeters Publishers The Protevangelium of James
Book SynopsisThis book is the first modern collection of studies on important aspects of the Protevangelium of James. The volume opens with three chapters on introductory questions, such as the canonical or apocryphal status of the Protevangelium in early Christianity, its date, author and provenance, and the way it adapted and developed earlier traditions about the birth of Jesus. The subsequent chapters first focus on the protagonists Mary and Joseph, after which they discuss the Jewish aspects of the Protevangelium, Salome’s manual inspection of Mary, the place and nature of space in the Protevangelium, and the question of the text’s consistency and coherence. The final two chapters discuss a series of annunciation scenes in Christian and Islamic literature, which are often heavily dependent on the Protevangelium, and the latter’s reception in the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy. The Appendix looks at the Armenian apocryphal text entitled Script of the Lord’s Infancy, a witness to the great popularity enjoyed in Armenia by the early Syriac apocryphal stories of Christ’s birth and childhood. As has become usual, the volume concludes with an extensive bibliography and a detailed index.
£75.78
Peeters Publishers Another Athanasius. Four Sahidic Homilies
Book SynopsisMany Coptic literary texts are circulated under the name of Athanasius of Alexandria, the Alexandrian Archbishop and Theologian (ca. 296/298-2 May 373). Although there are strong evidences that most of these texts are falsely attributed to him, they are of extreme importance for the study of Coptic Christianity. The four homilies, edited and translated in this two volumes book, present 'Another Athanasius' to those who knew the history of their pseudo-Author. The homilies present Athanasius as a close friend of Pachomius, the Archimandrite of Upper Egypt (ca. 292-348). A visit of Pachomius to Alexandria is described in details. One homily relates about Athanasius' escape to Upper Egypt. Another homily contains fanciful acts of the Nicene council. The last homily presents Athanasius as a preacher while giving a long talk on the Christian household. This corpus of texts reveals the mental image of Athanasius in the Coptic mentality through centuries after his death.
£89.00
Peeters Publishers Another Athanasius. Four Sahidic Homilies
Book SynopsisMany Coptic literary texts are circulated under the name of Athanasius of Alexandria, the Alexandrian Archbishop and Theologian (ca. 296/298-2 May 373). Although there are strong evidences that most of these texts are falsely attributed to him, they are of extreme importance for the study of Coptic Christianity. The four homilies, edited and translated in this two volumes book, present 'Another Athanasius' to those who knew the history of their pseudo-Author. The homilies present Athanasius as a close friend of Pachomius, the Archimandrite of Upper Egypt (ca. 292-348). A visit of Pachomius to Alexandria is described in details. One homily relates about Athanasius' escape to Upper Egypt. Another homily contains fanciful acts of the Nicene council. The last homily presents Athanasius as a preacher while giving a long talk on the Christian household. This corpus of texts reveals the mental image of Athanasius in the Coptic mentality through centuries after his death.
£79.00
Peeters Publishers Catalogue of Coptic and Arabic Manuscripts in
Book SynopsisA catalogue of the Coptic and Arabic collections at Dayr al-Suryan in Wadi al-Natrun, Egypt, to be published in multiple volumes, covering the following genre categories: Biblical Texts, along with Coptic Grammars and Lexica; Commentaries and Canons; Theology; Ascetic Discourses; Saints’ Lives and Sermons; and Liturgical Texts. In addition to introducing readers to the history and contents of the monastic library, this series collects data on approximately 1000 manuscripts, recording information on manuscript number and genre, works and contents, date, language, script, and material, scribes, patrons, and restorers, colophons and endowments, pages and numbering systems, dimensions, area of writing, and lines per page, cover and condition, and other details related to scribal practice and readers’ insertions. The result will serve as a foundation for further research on Coptic and Christian Arabic literature and on the monastery and its important library.
£130.00
Peeters Publishers Catalogue of Coptic and Arabic Manuscripts in
Book SynopsisA catalogue of the Coptic and Arabic collections at Dayr al-Suryan in Wadi al-Natrun, Egypt, to be published in multiple volumes, covering the following genre categories: Biblical Texts, along with Coptic Grammars and Lexica; Commentaries and Canons; Theology; Ascetic Discourses; Saints’ Lives and Sermons; and Liturgical Texts. In addition to introducing readers to the history and contents of the monastic library, this series collects data on approximately 1000 manuscripts, recording information on manuscript number and genre, works and contents, date, language, script, and material, scribes, patrons, and restorers, colophons and endowments, pages and numbering systems, dimensions, area of writing, and lines per page, cover and condition, and other details related to scribal practice and readers’ insertions. The result will serve as a foundation for further research on Coptic and Christian Arabic literature and on the monastery and its important library.
£123.92
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. C - Including Papers
Book SynopsisThis one-hundredth volume of Studia Patristica includes papers from the Sixth British Patristics conference, held in Birmingham in September 2016. Thirty-seven contributions from an international range of scholars provide new studies of many of the major subjects in patristic studies, from Tertullian to Maximus the Confessor by way of Origen, John Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine. One theme of the conference, which was held in conjunction with the European Research Council COMPAUL project, was the tradition and reception of the letters of the Apostle Paul. This is reflected in several papers, including an examination of patristic evidence for the authorship of Ephesians and an analysis of exegetical techniques employed in the Greek catena tradition on Galatians. Two longer contributions, by plenary speakers Frances Young and Jennifer Strawbridge, offer an extended consideration of the early Christian exegesis of particular Pauline Epistles.
£115.00
Peeters Publishers Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk, Vatican II and the
Book SynopsisThis volume offers a collection of essays, by internationally known scholars, on the Ukrainian-Canadian Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk and the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church during the Second Vatican Council. A number of essays describe the historical context of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church during and after the Council. Other essays focus on Met. Hermaniuk’s contributions during the Council, from his speeches on episcopal collegiality, ecumenism and the importance of the Eastern Christian Churches, to his work on the various conciliar commissions. Concluding sections of the volume then assess Hermaniuk’s efforts to promote the reception of the Council in his church. These essays critically engage and comment upon The Second Vatican Council Diaries of Met. Maxim Hermaniuk, C.Ss.R. (1960-1965), Eastern Christian Studies 15 (Leuven: Peeters, 2012). Two appendices include Met. Hermaniuk’s commentary on Orientalium ecclesiarum, plus an essay on the participation of the Ukrainian bishops at the Council.
£93.10
Peeters Publishers The Feast of the Desert of Apa Shenoute: A
Book SynopsisAn edition and translation of a trilingual manuscript recording the rite of a medieval liturgical procession at the White Monastery (Dayr al-Anba Shinudah) in Upper Egypt, accompanied by two introductions. Primarily in Coptic, with selected sections in Greek and Arabic, the original text is preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris (BN Copte 68), and it includes rubrics of biblical passages and a sermon by Shenoute meant to be read at different points during the procession. The first introduction situates the manuscript in relation to the history, archaeology, and ritual practice of the monastery. The second introduction provides a technical description of the manuscript and of the editorial methods used in producing the edition. The introductions, edition, and translation are supplemented by tables with selected images, an index of biblical citations, and a bibliography.
£130.00
Peeters Publishers La version copte du discours pseudo-éphrémien In
Book SynopsisCet ouvrage présente l’editio princeps, d’après les manuscrits IB 11.128-136 de la Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III de Naples, et M 578 du Morgan Library and Museum de New York, de la version copte d’un grec transmis sous le titre de Discours sur le très beau Joseph. Ce Discours appartient au corpus de l’«Éphrem grec», qui regroupe un grand nombre de textes attribués à Éphrem le Syrien, dont la plupart sont considérés comme inauthentiques. Par son contenu, le Discours s’inscrit dans le cadre de la littérature juive et chrétienne relative au patriarche Joseph, qui développe les chapitres 37 et 39 à 50 du livre de la Genèse. Il ne peut toutefois être identifié à aucune autre production littéraire connue consacrée au patriarche. Par le nombre et la diversité des témoins qui l’attestent, le Discours sur le très beau Joseph est parfaitement représentatif des problèmes critiques posés par la transmission et l’édition de l’Éphrem grec.
£79.90
Peeters Publishers La version copte du discours pseudo-éphrémien In
Book SynopsisCet ouvrage présente l’editio princeps, d’après les manuscrits IB 11.128-136 de la Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III de Naples, et M 578 du Morgan Library and Museum de New York, de la version copte d’un grec transmis sous le titre de Discours sur le très beau Joseph. Ce Discours appartient au corpus de l’«Éphrem grec», qui regroupe un grand nombre de textes attribués à Éphrem le Syrien, dont la plupart sont considérés comme inauthentiques. Par son contenu, le Discours s’inscrit dans le cadre de la littérature juive et chrétienne relative au patriarche Joseph, qui développe les chapitres 37 et 39 à 50 du livre de la Genèse. Il ne peut toutefois être identifié à aucune autre production littéraire connue consacrée au patriarche. Par le nombre et la diversité des témoins qui l’attestent, le Discours sur le très beau Joseph est parfaitement représentatif des problèmes critiques posés par la transmission et l’édition de l’Éphrem grec.
£68.65
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CI - Gregory of Nyssa's
Book SynopsisStudies on Gregory of Nyssa are flourishing. In this highly valuable bibliography, two areas stand out: mysticism and eschatology. The former has also been at the centre of a lively controversy, concerning the possibility that Gregory could be described as the actual initiator of mysticism. Eschatology, on its part, has received particular attention, especially in the areas of epektasis and apokatastasis. But these dimensions are connected, as shown by Gregory’s Commentary on the Song of Songs, a mystical text par excellence, which offers numerous eschatological insights, which this volume tries to present. The issue is all the more interesting in that Gregory’s eschatology is marked by a hermeneutical tension which is reflected in a dichotomy present in the studies devoted to it. Clearly, Gregory has been inspired by the apokatastasis of Origen, but for him, as for the Alexandrian, is it possible to speak of a universal salvation? If the human being is simply a soul which has to be restored to its initial state, what is the value of its history? And the body? And freedom? These questions seem to be linked to the tension between the “circular” dimension of apokatastasis and the “linear” dynamic of epektasis. This is approached through the lens of Christology and ontology, two areas which, in the context of Nyssa studies as a whole, are among the least studied. Therefore, the chapters of the book are aimed at covering the themes in such a way as to reveal the profound relationships between the two foci of theological reflection on the mystery of Christ: on the one hand, the Christological focus proper, on the other, the ontology which emerges from Christological and Trinitarian considerations. Thus, we shall be able to identify the influences and relations, intrinsic and systematic, between the thought about being, the protology and the eschatology, of classical origin, and the thought about Christ in which the divine and the human are united in and through history. This volume, therefore, is arranged in three main parts. The first, most fundamental, approximates to the question of the point of view of eschatology itself, seeking to indicate the importance of mysticism in its development. The second part of the volume is devoted precisely to Gregory’s Commentary on the Song of Songs, where the eschatological dimension is clearly highlighted. The third and last part of the volume is devoted to the apokatastasis. Here the different, even contrasting positions, are presented, providing, simultaneously, some tools which could assist a deeper penetration into the tensions of eschatology through the mystical perspective which is characteristic of the Commentary on the Song of Songs. In particular, the Christological and ontological elements linked to epektasis seem to promise a greater immersion into Gregory’s eschatology and appreciation of its theological significance, not despite its tensions but precisely by means of them.
£95.00
Peeters Publishers The Text of «Acts of the Apostles» in the
Book SynopsisThe purpose of this study is to ascertain the textual identity of the text of Acts as used by Origen (ca. 185-254 CE). The research includes an analysis and evaluation of Origen’s citations of and allusions to Acts, with that information providing the basis for reconstructing and analyzing Origen’s text of Acts, and thereby locating his text of Acts within the history of the transmission of the New Testament. The working hypothesis at the outset of this research is that Origen’s text of Acts should be most akin to the text of Acts found in MS 1739 with perhaps some intermittent Western readings and a few Byzantine readings. The assumptions of previous scholars suggest this hypothesis. The results of this research, to the contrary, show that Origen’s text of Acts is most akin to Codex Vaticanus (B03), following closely other Primary Alexandrian MSS, with no distinct Western readings, but in some cases, Origen shows knowledge of readings that reappear in some later secondary Alexandrian and Byzantine MSS of Acts.
£85.00
Peeters Publishers Christian Historiography between Empires, 4th-8th
Book SynopsisThis volume includes papers on Christian historiography in the Eastern Mediterranean. The contributors to this volume — specialists in Late Antique and Byzantine, Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, and Arabic studies — have investigated the construction of the Christian historiographic traditions from the fourth to the eighth century, at the geographic, linguistic and disciplinary borders. This volume should be read as complementary to the first two volumes in the Beyond the Fathers series, entitled New Themes, New Styles, and Apocalypticism and Eschatology in Late Antiquity.
£85.00
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CII - Including Papers
Book SynopsisThis volume contains fifteen papers presented at the seventh British Patristics Conference, held in Cardiff (Wales, UK) from 5 to 7 September 2018. The theme of the conference was Religion in Late Antiquity. The papers address topics such as transformation and innovation, interrelations between religions, and between religions and other areas of culture: philosophy, education, politics and science. Some deal with aspects of the pre-history of religion in late antiquity, others with the reception of late-antique religion in later periods of history. Consequently, alongside papers that treat more ‘traditional’ topics of Patristic Studies there are papers applying approaches and methodologies such as identity formation and reception theory. The volume thus offers a cross section of topics related to religion in late antiquity from the second to the thirteenth century and reflects the current state of research in this wide field. The papers are grouped in four sections, I. Ancient Philosophy, Early Christianity and Judaism; II. Christianity in its Cultural Context from the Second to the Fourth Century; III. Augustine and His Age; IV. The End of Antiquity and Beyond. Part I contains papers by Ilaria Ramelli, who compares pagan and Christians concepts of the ‘Logos/Nous One-Many’ in pagan and Christian philosophers of the second to fourth century, David Lloyd Dusenbury, who explores the concept of the World City in the thought of Nemesius of Emesa, and Susanna Towers, who compares the ‘Demoness’ found in eastern Manichaean texts with the pre-Rabbinic Jewish concept of Yetzer Hara. Part II begins with a paper by Josef Lössl on the juxtaposition of Greek and Barbarian Paideia in Tatian’s Ad Graecos. This is followed by a new discussion of the Cento attributed to Faltona Betitia Proba, in which Nicholas Baker-Brian situates the work firmly in the reign of Julian the Apostate and understands its criticism of Constantius II in this context. A third paper, by Zachary Esterson, compares the oeuvres of Victorinus of Pettau and Fortunatianus of Aquileia. A fourth, by James Wellington, offers a new, ontological, reading of Gregory of Nyssa’s refutation of slavery in In Ecclesiasten Homiliae IV; and in a final piece entitled ‘A Tale of Two Councils’, Sara Parvis compares the two Councils of Constantinople of 360 and 381. With Augustine, Part III moves from the fourth to the fifth century. In it, Philip Brown shows how Augustine’s sixth tractate on John contains an emerging ‘theology of friendship’. Georgiana Huian explores notions of ‘Deification’ in Sermo 23B (Mainz 13) also known as ‘Sermo Dolbeau 6’. Math Osseforth studies an example of intertextuality in the Confessions, the Vergilian concept of the Underworld. Marcin Wysocki compares strategies of survival in apocalyptic times in late-antique letter collections (Paulinus of Nola, Augustine, Jerome). Part IV contains papers from ‘the end of antiquity and beyond’. Georgios Siskos writes on Maximus the Confessor’s critique of Monothelitism, Michael Muthreich on an excerpt of Epistle VIII of the Dionysian corpus in Syriac, Helen Dayton on Nikitas Stithatos main work, 300 Kephalaia, and Andrej Kutarna on Theosis in John of Damascus and Thomas Aquinas.
£105.00
Peeters Publishers Flores Augustini: Augustinian Florilegia in the
Book SynopsisAugustine of Hippo was one of the first authors to give rise to the need for anthologies devoted to a single author. Today, over a hundred florilegia dedicated solely to Augustine’s writings are known. Over the course of the Middle Ages, several of these collections proved instrumental in giving access to the Bishop of Hippo’s large oeuvre, and in determining the direction of its reception. In fourteen chapters, this volume presents some important Augustinian florilegia, their sources, composition, context, afterlife, and the challenges inherent in editing and studying them. Beginning in Late Antiquity, with Vincent of Lérins and Prosper of Aquitaine, the volume discusses several medieval and early modern florilegia, both well-known and more marginal, and concludes with their use by Augustine’s modern editors. As such, this book contributes to a better understanding of the reception of Augustine throughout the Middle Ages and to the ways in which his exceptional auctoritas took shape.
£81.77
Peeters Publishers Vie et conduite des Bienheureux Justes-nus et de
Book SynopsisCe(s) volume(s) présente(nt) des éditions critiques et la traduction française de trois différentes traductions géorgiennes de la Vie et conduite des Bienheureux Justes-nus et de Zosime. Vie de Zosime fait écho au mythe de l'île des Bienheureux connu dans l’Antiquité classique dont elle donne une adaptation chrétienne. L'édition est accompagnée d'une introduction qui analyse la formation ainsi que la structure de ce texte et le rapport de dépendance entre les versions orientales. L'étude basée sur la confrontation des versions grecque, géorgienne, syriaque et arménienne rend claire la dépendance des traductions géorgiennes à leur modèle grec. Le projet de l'édition et de l'étude de la tradition géorgienne de la Vie de Zosime s'inscrit dans un projet «Zosime-Réchabites» mené au Centre des études orientales d'UCLouvain.
£80.16
Peeters Publishers Vie et conduite des Bienheureux Justes-nus et de
Book SynopsisCe(s) volume(s) présente(nt) des éditions critiques et la traduction française de trois différentes traductions géorgiennes de la Vie et conduite des Bienheureux Justes-nus et de Zosime. Vie de Zosime fait écho au mythe de l'île des Bienheureux connu dans l'Antiquité classique dont elle donne une adaptation chrétienne. L'édition est accompagnée d'une introduction qui analyse la formation ainsi que la structure de ce texte et le rapport de dépendance entre les versions orientales. L'étude basée sur la confrontation des versions grecque, géorgienne, syriaque et arménienne rend claire la dépendance des traductions géorgiennes à leur modèle grec. Le projet de l'édition et de l'étude de la tradition géorgienne de la Vie de Zosime s'inscrit dans un projet «Zosime-Réchabites» mené au Centre des études orientales d'UCLouvain.
£31.48
Peeters Publishers From High Priest to Patriarch: History and
Book SynopsisThe Ecclesiastical History of Bar ‘Ebroyo has long been recognized as a crucial source for the history of the Eastern churches in the Mongol period but it has hardly been appreciated as a literary work on its own. Over the past decades, further study on Bar ‘Ebroyo has permitted to dismiss his undeserved label of unoriginal epistomist and to reassess the value of his work. This book seeks to inject that perspective into the study of Bar ‘Ebroyo as an ecclesiastical historian and it argues that his Ecclesiastical History offers an original historical narration that encompasses geo-ecclesiology, theology and political theory. Often read as a mere abridgment of Michael the Great’s Chronicle, the Ecclesiastical History incorporates a number of additional sources and deploys specific narratological tools to convey a unique vision of history that results from the cultural, political and personal circumstances in which Bar ‘Ebroyo wrote his work. In short, the Ecclesiastical History shows how the long-lived tradition of the Church history writing was adjusted to respond to the specific challenges that the political and religious landscape of 13th century Middle East posed to the Syrian Orthodox community.
£96.00
Peeters Publishers Jacob of Serugh. Homily on the Apostle Thomas and
Book SynopsisThis volume offers a critical edition and translation of Jacob of Serugh’s Homily on the Apostle Thomas and the Resurrection of Our Lord that focuses on John 20:19–28. The introduction describes the twenty-nine manuscripts that preserve the homily, details the construction of a stemma, presents case studies of editorial decisions based on neo-Lachmannian principles, and explains the systems of punctuation, orthography, and diacritical points. It also draws attention to the reception of the homily by attending to the producers and users of the manuscripts as well as the homily’s transmission in exegetical, liturgical, and hagiographical collections. The apparatus and appendices highlight paratextual marginalia, excerpts of the homily in the Syriac “Masora,” the incorporation of the homily into a liturgical rite, additions to the homily, and section divisions in manuscript witnesses. Overall, the volume seeks to navigate between employing a neo-Lachmannian editorial praxis and addressing the interests of material philology.
£115.00
Peeters Publishers Claiming the Mantle of Cyril: Cyril of Alexandria
Book SynopsisEveryone knows the series of events that comprised the Nestorian Controversy, but who knows, leaving aside divine agency, how and why events unfolded as they did? In this book an answer is proposed in terms of normal human behavior. There are occasional noble acts, and banal activities, but also, as here, one finds a tangled web of plots, counter-plots, and downright lies that even sainted bishops might employ to defend what they held dear. Texts left by the participants, when closely examined, provide rich evidence of this. For instance there is the show trial of Eutyches; papal ultimata; fake capitulations; intentional late arrival; a universal council that never happened, etc. What drove events forward most of all was the defensive strategy Antiochene controversialists developed and refined. They could, they realized, use select texts of Cyril’s to co-opt Cyril’s authority. They could, that is, claim the mantle of Cyril.
£95.00
Peeters Publishers 'Exploring Finitude': Weakness and Integrity in
Book SynopsisThis book is the first exploration of an essential theme in the thought of the 7th c. East-Syriac solitary and mystic Isaac of Nineveh, that of creatural “weakness” (mihiluta), a term which, in Isaac, alludes to the ontological condition of exposure to limitation and suffering that characterizes all humans. Based on the analysis of Isaac’s edited and unedited writings in the original Syriac, the book sheds light on his understanding of creatural vulnerability and the phenomenology of the relationship with vulnerability that he outlines, with references to the authors who influenced him (Evagrius, the Syriac Pseudo-Macarian corpus, and others). The reader is thus introduced to Isaac’s view of human finitude which, if experienced and “inhabited”, can be taken on by the subject and disclose an experience of integrity. The solitary life, in this perspective, involves entering the mystery of suffering that marks every creatural life.
£105.00
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CIII - The Bible in the
Book SynopsisThis 103rd volume in the Studia Patristica series consists of 15 articles devoted to the translations and interpretations of the Bible in the Patristic period, and is the result of the Third International Patristic Conference, which was held at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (Lublin, Poland) on October 16-17, 2019. The articles presented in this volume cover the entire patristic period and discuss various issues related to the meaning and interpretation of the Bible in the Alexandrian milieu and among Egyptian Monks, in the works of Origen, Jerome, Cyril, Philastrius of Brescia, Augustine, Paulinus of Nola, John Chrysostom and Sergius the Stylite. The articles presented allow us to better understand what the Bible meant to the authors of the Patristic period, and how they used it in their lives and works.
£90.00
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CXVI - Papers presented
Book SynopsisThe successive sets of Studia Patristica contain papers delivered at the International Conferences on Patristic Studies, which meet for a week once every four years in Oxford. These papers range over the whole field, both East and West, from the second century to a section on the Nachleben of the Fathers. The majority are short papers dealing with some small and manageable point; they raise and sometimes resolve questions about the authenticity of documents, dates of events, and such like, and some unveil new texts. The longer papers put such matters into context and indicate wider trends. The whole reflects the state of Patristic scholarship and demonstrates the vigour and popularity of the subject.
£76.00
Peeters Publishers Hac Nocte in Aeternum Diem Renascentes Populi
Book SynopsisThe “Missale gothicum” (c.690-710) is arguably the most important manuscript witness in which the Exultet survives in its original Gallican context. Its Easter Vigil formulary contains, next to the Exultet, a Eucharistic “immolacio” closely related to the Exultet in structure and content, as well as several other prayers for the rites of light, initiation, and the Eucharist. It is shown that, while Exultet and immolacio reflect an identity of Easter Night as privileged night of initiation, the formularies for initiation seem to reflect an earlier practice of baptism during Epiphany. It is argued that Exultet and immolacio go back to a common predecessor (a paschal homily) that partially originated because the introduction of paschal baptism in fourth century Gaul made it necessary to reinterpret Christian initiation in light of the paschal events and to create a coherent theological understanding of the meaning of Easter Night as privileged night of initiation.
£45.78
Peeters Publishers 'Komt pelgrims, komt hier': Devotioneel drukwerk
Book SynopsisDit boek biedt een historische studie van het religieuze drukwerk voor plaatsgebonden devoties, gelegen op het grondgebied van het graafschap Vlaanderen en het hertogdom Brabant, vervaardigd in de periode van de zestiende tot de achttiende eeuw. Dankzij een hoge concentratie aan producenten en afnemers van drukwerk en de aanwezigheid van wijdvertakte communicatienetwerken stond gelovigen en bedevaartgangers in de talrijke cultusplaatsen in deze regio een ruime keuze aan devotioneel en promotioneel drukwerk ter beschikking. Aanvankelijk, vanaf de eerste helft van de zestiende eeuw, ging het voornamelijk om bedevaartvaantjes, maar vanaf de wederopbloei van de heiligenverering tijdens de contrareformatie werd het aanbod verrijkt met boekjes, gebedsblaadjes, bedevaartprenten en -vaantjes. Deze rijk geïllustreerde studie bespreekt de verschillende functies en betekenissen die de afnemers en gebruikers aan dit bedevaartdrukwerk hebben toegeschreven en welke veranderingen dit medium in de loop der eeuwen onderging. De auteur beschrijft de belangrijkste evoluties inzake inhoud, vorm, bestemming en reikwijdte van de verschillende informatiedragers binnen hun specifieke historische, ideologische, rituele en ruimtelijke context. Ondanks een lange traditie van etnografische belangstelling voor oude devotiegrafiek, bleef het onderzoek naar bedevaartdrukwerk tot nu toe gefragmenteerd. Het voorliggende werk geeft een ongezien volledig overzicht van het beeld- en tekstmateriaal dat in Brabant en Vlaanderen ten behoeve van het bedevaartwezen werd gedrukt. Zodoende legt het ook een brede basis voor verder onderzoek.
£999.99
Peeters Publishers Wohltätigkeit im antiken und spätantiken
Book SynopsisWohltätigkeit gilt als eines der wichtigsten Merkmale des antiken und spätantiken Christentums. Im evangelischen Umfeld oft ahistorisch als Diakonie, im römisch-katholischen als Caritas und im orthodoxen meist einfach nur als Philanthropie bezeichnet, hat wohltätiges Handeln wesentlich zur Popularität des Christentums in der Spätantike beitragen. Deswegen hat sich die Patristische Arbeitsgemeinschaft im Januar 2019 in einem hier dokumentierten interdisziplinären Zugang diesem Thema angenähert. Neueste forschungs- und religionsgeschichtlichen Aspekte werden dabei ebenso berücksichtigt wie althistorische, byzantinistische und hagiographische Perspektiven auf ein zentrales Phänomen der frühen Christenheit.
£96.97
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CXVII - Papers presented
Book SynopsisThe successive sets of Studia Patristica contain papers delivered at the International Conferences on Patristic Studies, which meet for a week once every four years in Oxford. These papers range over the whole field, both East and West, from the second century to a section on the Nachleben of the Fathers. The majority are short papers dealing with some small and manageable point; they raise and sometimes resolve questions about the authenticity of documents, dates of events, and such like, and some unveil new texts. The longer papers put such matters into context and indicate wider trends. The whole reflects the state of Patristic scholarship and demonstrates the vigour and popularity of the subject. The sack of the "Eternal City" of Rome by the Visigoths led by the infamous Alaric on August 24, 410 caused great dismay throughout the Roman Empire. In addition to being a political and socio-economic disaster, it was mainly a symbolic shock - the 9/11 of Late Antiquity. Many wondered whether this tragic event heralded the end of an era. At the request of his dear friend Marcellinus, Augustine of Hippo (354-430) wrote his De civitate Dei, in which he offered an apologetic response to the external criticism that the Christian faith was responsible for the decline of the Roman Empire. At the same time, he answered the internal Christian concern that the fall of Rome also threatened the future of the Church. Augustine’s De civitate Dei is a comprehensive synthesis of theology, historiography, political philosophy, and so much more, which has been copied, read, consulted, quoted, interpreted and discussed by an extremely diverse audience: monks and politicians, historians and philologists, theologians and philosophers, Christians and non-Christians - past and present. This work is still food for thought, not only for the study of Late Antiquity in general and Augustine in particular, but also for the wider debates regarding religion, philosophy, history and politics. This volume offers a sample of the broad and diverse interest in this grandiose book that has undeniably influenced the culture and thinking of the West.
£81.00
Peeters Publishers The Cappadocian Fathers: Forerunners and
Book SynopsisThis monograph considers not so much the moments, thoughts, speculations with which the so-called 'Cappadocian Fathers' agreed and proposed a unified doctrine, but the points and moments, the doctrines in which they disagreed. Thus, it is not a new book on the Cappadocian Fathers considered as a unity, which surely would have come to a huge dimension, but asks the question: Is it possible to speak of agreement and, at the same time, of differentiation between these Fathers? Is it useful to change, at least in part, an established opinion, that of the 'Cappadocian theology'? The examination of the various problems leads to an affirmative answer. Concordia discors might be the true sense. So far, studies have mostly focused on the religious aspects and have shown little or no interest in the Cappadocians’ output as literature. Cultivated people with a background in paideia, which was the same as for non-Christian writers, these Fathers wished to have access to the literary forms that were most useful for their didactic activities (homilies), or also rhetorical use (epistolography or poetry): thus, literary activity should not be considered as extraneous to their speculative thought. Their interest in philosophy can be traced to their openness to pagan paideia, which had a long tradition in Christianity. Another question that arises is the need to clarify who exactly the ‘Cappadocian Fathers’ were. Naturally, Amphilochius, due to his relations with Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, but as it is justified by the similarities of many doctrines and by his biography, also Evagrius Ponticus, even though his personal affairs and the end of his life place him more within Egyptian rather than Cappadocian monasticism. A sketch of the Cappadocian’s Nachleben in the West, with a provisional edition of a Latin translation (6th century) of some Gregory of Nazianzus’ homilies and Christological epistles concludes the volume.
£120.00
Peeters Ongoing Renewal in the Church: Reflections from
Book Synopsis
£82.65
Peeters Publishers The Apostles Peter Paul John Thomas and Philip
Book Synopsis
£88.35
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CXIV - Papers presented
Book SynopsisThe successive sets of Studia Patristica contain papers delivered at the International Conferences on Patristic Studies, which meet for a week once every four years in Oxford. These papers range over the whole field, both East and West, from the second century to a section on the Nachleben of the Fathers. The majority are short papers dealing with some small and manageable point; they raise and sometimes resolve questions about the authenticity of documents, dates of events, and such like, and some unveil new texts. The longer papers put such matters into context and indicate wider trends. The whole reflects the state of Patristic scholarship and demonstrates the vigour and popularity of the subject.
£80.00
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CV - Papers presented at
Book SynopsisThe successive sets of Studia Patristica contain papers delivered at the International Conferences on Patristic Studies, which meet for a week once every four years in Oxford. These papers range over the whole field, both East and West, from the second century to a section on the Nachleben of the Fathers. The majority are short papers dealing with some small and manageable point; they raise and sometimes resolve questions about the authenticity of documents, dates of events, and such like, and some unveil new texts. The longer papers put such matters into context and indicate wider trends. The whole reflects the state of Patristic scholarship and demonstrates the vigour and popularity of the subject.
£75.00
Peeters Publishers The Real Israel Disembarked: The Phoenician
Book SynopsisThe quest for the historical Israel is fraught. But, by taking a closer look at the capitol of the Northern Kingdom some answers are possible. Through comparative analyses of archaeological sites in the Phoenician homeland and ancient texts, the Samaria’s history comes into higher relief and its Phoenician origins are evident. Far from being part of the putative Davidic Kingdom and Judah’s sister, Samaria was independent and worked with multiple groups up to the invasion of Assyria in 722BCE. Its ties to Phoenician cities are stronger than those to Judah. Shechem and Jezreel also reveal some interesting ties; those may be Israelite cities, but not in the traditional sense. Shaking up conventional ideas of the historical Israel, this volume also explores the importance of the Biblical text and the acts of mythopoesis that brought Samarians, Judaeans, and other groups under a new ethnic identity after Assyria’s invasion and beyond, Israel.
£82.45
Peeters Publishers Sharing Myths, Texts and Sanctuaries in the South
Book SynopsisThis volume is one of the few collections of studies that look at the South Caucasus—from the Black Sea in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east—as a shared cultural space. It explores contacts between Armenians, Georgians, Kurds and Muslims of the former Caucasian Albania, as expressed in texts, figurative arts and rituals. While focusing on the ancient Christian civilisations of Armenia and Georgia, it also investigates the interactions of Christianity with the ancestral religions of the South Caucasians, with Zoroastrianism, Islam and Yazidism. Apocryphal traditions represent a particularly convenient lens through which to observe cultural exchanges and blending. The first two chapters analyse the perception of sacred objects and sanctuaries in Armenia and Georgia and the representation of fabulous animals in the iconography of both countries. The next six investigate the contacts between Armenians and Georgians in the transmission of hagiographic texts relating to Christ’s Nativity, the early Christian saints and their images, as well as the Evangelisation of the Armenian and Georgian kingdoms. The penultimate two chapters study places of worship shared by diverse religions, the role of religious syncretism in the Islamisation of the south-eastern Caucasus and the function of apocrypha in the resistance to Islam. The final chapter examines the contextualisation of Islamic legends of Biblical origin in the topography of the Caucasus. The volume ends with a detailed index.
£125.60
Peeters Publishers William Whiston and the Apostolic Constitutions:
Book SynopsisWritten in the wake of Maurice Wiles’ Archetypal Heresy: Arianism through the Centuries, this book narrates the gripping account of William Whiston’s outsized affections for the Apostolic Constitutions. The Apostolic Constitutions, a collection of teachings concerning issues such as baptism, the eucharist, proper gender relations, and the ordination of bishops claim to have been given by the resurrected Jesus to his apostles during the forty days before his ascension back into the presence of God. In addition, the Apostolic Constitutions claim to have been gathered by Clement, understood to be the companion of the apostle Paul. Most scholars from Whiston’s seventeenth- and eighteenth-century world concluded that the Apostolic Constitutions was not, in fact, apostolical, no matter its claims. The consensus today, perhaps unanimous even, is of a similar nature: the Apostolic Constitutions consists of church orders emerging from the second and third centuries that were then assembled sometime during the fourth century when the apostles’ names, along with first-person pronouns, were added. William Whiston, however, concluded that the Apostolic Constitutions was the most sacred book of the New Testament. How then did William Whiston who, as the successor to Sir Isaac Newton as the Cambridge University Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, was a member of the intelligentsia of his day, come to such a conclusion? The pages of this book will answer this question. As the narrative unfolds it will become apparent that even though Whiston was wrong about the apostolicity of the Apostolic Constitutions, he nevertheless made important contributions to patristic scholarship as well as, and perhaps most important, religious liberty for all persons. Furthermore, even though Whiston was mistaken about the centerpiece of his project to restore primitive Christianity, some readers will appreciate his sincere desire to bring the reformation work of Martin Luther and others to completion.
£68.00
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CIV - Papers presented at
Book SynopsisThe successive sets of Studia Patristica contain papers delivered at the International Conferences on Patristic Studies, which meet for a week once every four years in Oxford. These papers range over the whole field, both East and West, from the second century to a section on the Nachleben of the Fathers. The majority are short papers dealing with some small and manageable point; they raise and sometimes resolve questions about the authenticity of documents, dates of events, and such like, and some unveil new texts. The longer papers put such matters into context and indicate wider trends. The whole reflects the state of Patristic scholarship and demonstrates the vigour and popularity of the subject.
£83.00
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CVI - Papers presented at
Book SynopsisThe successive sets of Studia Patristica contain papers delivered at the International Conferences on Patristic Studies, which meet for a week once every four years in Oxford. These papers range over the whole field, both East and West, from the second century to a section on the Nachleben of the Fathers. The majority are short papers dealing with some small and manageable point; they raise and sometimes resolve questions about the authenticity of documents, dates of events, and such like, and some unveil new texts. The longer papers put such matters into context and indicate wider trends. The whole reflects the state of Patristic scholarship and demonstrates the vigour and popularity of the subject.
£70.00
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CVII - Papers presented
Book SynopsisThe successive sets of Studia Patristica contain papers delivered at the International Conferences on Patristic Studies, which meet for a week once every four years in Oxford. These papers range over the whole field, both East and West, from the second century to a section on the Nachleben of the Fathers. The majority are short papers dealing with some small and manageable point; they raise and sometimes resolve questions about the authenticity of documents, dates of events, and such like, and some unveil new texts. The longer papers put such matters into context and indicate wider trends. The whole reflects the state of Patristic scholarship and demonstrates the vigour and popularity of the subject.
£78.00
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CVIII - Papers presented
Book SynopsisThe successive sets of Studia Patristica contain papers delivered at the International Conferences on Patristic Studies, which meet for a week once every four years in Oxford. These papers range over the whole field, both East and West, from the second century to a section on the Nachleben of the Fathers. The majority are short papers dealing with some small and manageable point; they raise and sometimes resolve questions about the authenticity of documents, dates of events, and such like, and some unveil new texts. The longer papers put such matters into context and indicate wider trends. The whole reflects the state of Patristic scholarship and demonstrates the vigour and popularity of the subject.
£73.00
Peeters Publishers Studia Patristica. Vol. CIX - Papers presented at
Book SynopsisThe successive sets of Studia Patristica contain papers delivered at the International Conferences on Patristic Studies, which meet for a week once every four years in Oxford. These papers range over the whole field, both East and West, from the second century to a section on the Nachleben of the Fathers. The majority are short papers dealing with some small and manageable point; they raise and sometimes resolve questions about the authenticity of documents, dates of events, and such like, and some unveil new texts. The longer papers put such matters into context and indicate wider trends. The whole reflects the state of Patristic scholarship and demonstrates the vigour and popularity of the subject.
£76.00