Volume 20, Issue 2

Abstract: In contrast to those who argue simply that Athenagoras’s discussion of the prophets and inspiration is Hellenic, sourced in Philo as well as in Plato and Plutarch, this paper claims that there are other sources to consider that are equally informative. Athenagoras manifests alliance and dependence upon the Septuagint, other Jewish sources, the New Testament and second-century Christian sources, especially Ignatius and Justin. Athenagoras is a Christian philosopher. We would expect to see such a broad-based platform of resources for his theological construction. A simple classification of Greek, Hellenistic or Philonic for his notion of the inspired prophets is incomplete, unreflective of his own ingenuity, and fails to adequately account for his Judaeo-Christian heritage. It also minimizes the elegance of this early Christian attempt to theologize about the Jewish prophets in a gentile world. In Athenagoras we have an explanation of the prophets and inspiration that (1) clearly positions them preeminently as rational, doctrinal Christian authorities above the poets, philosophers, and human opinions; (2) constructs his community’s theology with an artistic flair that selectively and critically weaves together both pagan and Judaeo-Christian sources; so that (3) he might win a hearing from both his imperial and ecclesiastical audience.

Abstract: In this article I wish to present a textual comparison between paragraphs in the rabbinic Avot deRabbi Natan and in the Apophthegmata Patrum , or Sayings of the Desert Fathers . I will argue that these passages in the two anthologies, rabbinic and Christian-monastic, share interesting features which will repay careful literary analysis. In this specific case, the comparison to the Christianmonastic text helps underline the textual process that shaped the two versions of the rabbinic text, a process that without this comparison would be difficult to reconstruct. This article picks up on a few sources already mentioned very briefly in my book (Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, Early Christian Monastic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013]) and elaborates extensively on them. Rabbinic sources are quoted according to the manuscript version as found in Ma’agarim: The Historical Dictionary Project of the Academy of the Hebrew Language , online: http://maagarim.hebrew-academy.org.il/Pages/PMain.aspx. The Apophthegmata Patrum is quoted in Greek based on the edition of Jacques P. Migne (PG 65:71–440) based on MS Paris Gr.  1599, and translated according to Benedicta Ward, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection (Rev. ed.; Cistercian Studies Series 59; London: Mowbrays, 1981).

Abstract: Recent scholarship has argued that the Letter of Peter to James that stands at the head of the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies has an origin distinct from the rest of the text that follows. The present article builds upon this premise by locating the letter amidst the contested nature of Petrine authority and tradition in the second century, as evidenced in a variety of other texts. One of the distinct features of this letter is its focus on proper ἑρμηνεία, in this instance not of the Hebrew scriptures, but instead of Peter’s “books of preachings,” which are being twisted by some unnamed opponents. This recognition of interpretive polysemy as a dangerous problem that must be restrained by a fixed κανών passed down through a ritualized process has close parallels to the arguments put forward by Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria against their opponents.

Abstract: The article sheds light on the expansion and development of the Julianist confession as a branch of the miaphysite creed opposed to Severian Miaphysistism in Syrian, Armenian and South Arabian regions starting with the sixth century. It focuses on the legitimacy of episcopal elections and consecrations. The consecration of Julianist bishops was often disputed and the Julianists tried different methods of creating legitimacy for their episcopal consecrations. One way was to circumvent the ecclesiastical canons and thus create new rules. Another way was to adhere strictly to the canons and search for patrons with undisputed legitimacy. In the Syriac-speaking East the Julianist movement, dominated by monastic circles, soon abandoned the canons and created new rules, while in the borderlands between Armenia and Syria the Julianists found support from the Armenian Church until 726 C. E. The article also follows the historical traces of Julianism in South Arabia and Iraq.

Abstract: As soon as Maximos Confessor had died on August 13th 662 due to the effects of dismemberment—his punishment, following a charge of high treason against him and his students—he was seen and revered as a martyr and saint by his followers. During their seven-year banishment, after the first trial in the year 655, those punished interpreted their deliberately accepted punishment as martyrdom, which they documented in literary works, which were later called lawsuit protocols. They modeled the texts upon early Christian martyr trials, and used many elements of the theology of martyrdom for self-identification. By doing so, the group of Palestinian monks that followed Maximos tried to defend themselves against the charges brought against them, arguing that their ecclesiastical, political, and theological enemies were like the persecutors. Because the motives of the punished are very clear, unlike those of the early Christian martyrs, it remains to be seen, whether or not the death of Maximos Confessor really is a martyrdom, especially considering the political and ecclesiastical intrigues as well as the provocative theological stubbornness of Maximos himself.