Volume 25, Issue 2

The present article offers the first edition of a hitherto unpublished Greek fragment from Cyril of Alexandria’s lost commentary on Hebrews. Moreover, the article provides a German translation of it and a discussion about its authenticity. A detailed theological analysis of the fragment that contains Cyril’s explanation of the Greek term ὁ πρωτότοκος (Hebr 1,6) concludes the article.

There has been a long-lasting scholarly debate on whether Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho reflects an authentic “Christian-Jewish dialogue.” Without claiming to provide an answer, this paper will focus on Dialogue , chapter 47 in order to point to a contemporary discourse between Christians and Jews that might form the background of Justin’s writing: In chapter 47, Trypho and Justin discuss whether there will be eternal salvation for Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah and continue to observe the law. Against other Christian opinions, Justin argues they will be saved provided they do not force their fellow Christians to observe the law to the same degree that they themselves do. While this is good evidence of an inner-Christian discourse on the salvation of Christ-believers who continue adhering to the law, the subsequent lines in chapter 47 suggest that those Jews who do not believe in Jesus Christ are part of the broader Christian-Jewish discourse on eternal salvation. This is because for Justin the crux in all attempts to make Christians observe the law (even the attempts of assumed Christ-believers) is they tend to replace faith in Christ with observance of law to the exclusion of the former. It is precisely the question of eternal salvation that motivates Justin and Trypho to start their discussion in the Dialogue (8,2–4).

In Greek Late Antiquity, the Biblical character of Job was portrayed in two different ways: as Job the impatient complainer and as Job the patient sufferer. The latter image has often been enriched by means of agonistic metaphors describing Job as the perfect athlete wrestling with the devil. Despite its pervasiveness, however, this image has only been studied in a sporadic and incomplete way. The article intends to bridge this gap by researching how Christian authors strategically used the image of Job as an athlete in order to increase his impact as a role model. First, it briefly explores this image in Biblical traditions and in the works of Origen, Basil of Caesarea, and Gregory of Nyssa. The main part of the article then focuses on the works of John Chrysostom and Severian of Gabala. It is necessary to ascertain which image(s) of Job each author presents and how this image is presented as well as to lay bare the function and relevance of the agonistic metaphors that are used to portray Job. To achieve this aim, the article offers a philological analysis of some crucial primary sources in their socio-cultural context. The agonistic metaphors have also been analysed according to the principles of cognitive-linguistic metaphor theory. In the end, the article shows how Chrysostom and Severian used Job as a model-athlete to incite their audience to strive for a perfect Christian life. It demonstrates that the agonistic metaphors are deeply significant for the portrayal of Job, since they incite the audience to view Job’s life, and consequently also their own life, from a new angle. By turning Job the passive sufferer into an active athlete who is the ultimate example of resilience, the metaphors shed a new light on Job’s suffering and thereby on the problem of theodicy.

The Historia monachorum in Aegypto is an anomaly among the vast corpus of translations produced by Rufinus of Aquileia, not least because it represents his only known experiment with the literary genre of monastic hagiography. This article explores the question of why he undertook this project at all and considers this issue of authorial intention in the broader context of Rufinus’ work as a church historian. In particular, I propose that he envisaged the Historia monachorum in Aegypto in part as a follow-up, or companion piece, to his recently completed Historia ecclesiastica and intended both writings to articulate cooperatively his vision of the monks of Egypt as prime movers in the Christianization of the fourth-century Roman Empire.

I propose to approach a selection of Jerome’s Letters with the theory of generic modes as established by Alastair Fowler and Klaus W. Hempfer, and with the concept of generic enrichment developed by Stephen J. Harrison. Using these concepts the epistolary genre, which is known for its open nature and diverse forms, can be approached from a shifted aesthetical perspective. My analysis focuses on two exemplary letters. In the first of these two letters, Jerome asks a friend to join him in his ascetic lifestyle in the desert (Hieronymus, Epistula  14). To illustrate the progress of his arguments Jerome employs traditional nautical metaphors and develops a literary celeuma . He does this by turning it into a model for the letter’s form and by extending the epistolary genre through a hymn-like mode. Thus, the author christianises the celeuma and turns it into a hymn. In the second letter, Jerome asks a Christian widow to leave Rome and to join him in Bethlehem (Hieronymus, Epistula  46). The author integrates a satirical mode in some passages that allude to the pagan and biblical traditions of satire. He therefore turns his satirical description into an argument supporting his purpose. Both the hymn-like elements and the satirical passages do not have the complete outer form of the according genres but do rather correspond to the concept of modes. The epistolary genre is therefore extended but not replaced by these modes and gains additional meaning through their integration.

In 418 Augustine encountered Emeritus, one of his Donatist adversaries, in Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell) in Mauretania Caesariensis. In the resultant work, Gesta cum Emerito , Augustine relived some of the arguments that had earlier been employed against the Donatist in 411, particularly by having Alypius read out passages of Aurelius’ 411 letter to Marcellinus, the imperial commissioner ( Epistula  128). Not only does Augustine shape our understanding of the 418 encounter but continues to take control of how the 411 confrontation was to be remembered. This paper will examine how Gesta cum Emerito saw the Donatist weakness in 411 being based upon their inconsistencies in dealing with schismatics, especially their treatment of Maximianists at the 394 synod in Bagaï, where Emeritus himself had condemned Maximian as “the toxic offspring of the viper’s seed.” The encounter gave Augustine an opportunity to highlight the Maximianists to an extent greater than the records of 411 indicate had been the case then.

The biblical argument plays a considerable role in Julian’s controversy against Christianity and has certainly contributed to the “invincible efficiency” of his work, as pointed out by his adversary Cyril of Alexandria. This paper focuses on two verses Gen 49:10 and Gen 6:2 invoked by Julian to prove that Moses has never spoken, either of the coming of Jesus, or of an Only-Begotten Son of God, and consequently that Christians are unfaithful to Moses. The specificity of this debate is that it concerns not only the interpretation of these verses, but the very form of the biblical text, its possible falsification or the existence of marginalia. In this second case, Cyril’s refutation in his Contra Julianum , as well as parallels in other Cyrillian works, helps to understand that Julian is referring to a biblical paratext, a rare element that enhances his reputation as a good connoisseur of the exegetical debates of his time, and provides a particularly interesting testimony about the material transmission of the biblical text.

Evaluating the Notitia Provinciarum , ambiguities regarding the transmission and the content are to be encountered. This paper attempts to gain a consistent view on this document in respect to facts conveyed and the presumptive historical context and to draw conclusions concerning the identity of Catholics in Vandal Africa. The relationship to the Historia Persecutionis by Victor of Vita and the Liber Fidei Catholicae has been surveyed. Assuming textual consistency of the document, conclusions concerning the contextual location have been drawn from its Incipit and hints inside. Linking it to events as reported in the Historia Persecutionis the meaning of appositions to names has been enlightened and a consistent understanding of the document has been demonstrated. Information regarding the identity of Catholics in Vandal Africa has been deduced from the results of this evaluation due to the fact of differences between the provinces in respect of the appositions. Thus, different views and decisions within the African Catholic Church in regard to Vandal rule and to the relationship to Catholic ecumenical Christianity become evident. In spite of a common confession of faith as documented in the Liber Fidei Catholicae , there was no common posture toward Vandal rule and toward Catholic ecumenical Christianity.