Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte
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Edited by:
Christoph Markschies
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On behalf of:
Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
The series is devoted to Christian texts from the Greek-speaking parts of the ancient Roman Empire. Published since 1897 (first in Leipzig, then in Berlin) by the Royal Prussian Academy under the project Griechische Christliche Schriftsteller, which was continued by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy, the series offers large critical editions accompanied by historical introductions and indices of those works that have not been included in other major editions. When complete, the series will provide complete coverage of the first three centuries.
The second subvolume of Eusebius of Caesarea’s (ca. 265–340) Commentary on the Psalms contains all his surviving commentaries on Psalms 72–100, based on an analysis of the sole extant manuscript preserving the most complete known transmission (Codex Coisl. 44). Missing passages have been supplemented using relevant catena fragments.
Die kritische Neuedition aller erhaltenen Teile des Psalmenkommentars von Eusebius von Cäsarea stellte lange Zeit ein Desideratum dar, doch scheiterte sie bislang an der schieren Menge und teilweise komplexen Überlieferung des einzubeziehenden Materials. Nach mehr als zehnjähriger Bearbeitungszeit legt das Langzeitprojekt „Die alexandrinische und antiochenische Bibelexegese in der Spätantike" seit 2022 seine Ergebnisse in einer auf drei Bände konzipierten Ausgabe vor (der zweite Band erscheint in zwei Teilbänden). Der erste Band enthält die Kommentierungen zu Psalm 1–50, und zwar die in Katenen bewahrten Fragmente der Kommentare zu den Psalmen 1–36 und 38–50 sowie den integral überlieferten Kommentar zu Psalm 37. Letzterer ist innerhalb des umfangreichen Homiliencorpus des Basilius von Cäsarea tradiert worden und wird hier erstmals in einer auf den ältesten Handschriften basierenden kritischen Edition vorgelegt. Das bereits bekannte, in den Editionen Montfaucons und Pitras edierte Material aus den Katenen wurde nach aktuellem Forschungsstand auf seine Authentizität hin überprüft und auf Grundlage der relevanten Handschriften überarbeitet. Fragmente, die zuvor lediglich in einer verkürzten Version bekannt waren, wurden überarbeitet und ergänzt. Darüber hinaus wurden auch bislang unedierte Fragmente aufgenommen. Durch diese grundlegenden Verbesserungen und auch durch die übersichtliche, zeitgemäße Gestaltung des Textes und der Apparate wird die vorliegende Ausgabe in der Reihe GCS die bisherigen Editionen für die künftige Forschung auf dem Gebiet der spätantiken Philologie, Theologie und Literaturwissenschaft ersetzen.
This volume edits the commentaries by Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. 265–340) on Psalms 51–71, the part of the Second Psalter of David whose commentary by Eusebius has survived in its entirety. The new edition is based on the evaluation of the only textual witness of this tradition (Codex Coisl. 44) and also includes the relevant fragments of the Catechesis. This has made it possible to improve the previously known text in many places.
This volume is the first to make the full text of De lepra by church father Methodius of Olympus (d. 311 CE) available in a critical edition, both in its original language, Greek, and in the much more extensive Old Slavic translation from the tenth century CE. Both text critical editions are supplemented with a German translation and an introduction.
This volume forms the last part of a three-volume critical edition of the remains of the extensive psalm commentary by Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. 265–340). It contains commentary fragments on Ps 101–150 from the catenae transmission. Alongside familiar material that has been completely reworked and reviewed for its authenticity, there is a considerable number of fragments that had not been previously edited.
This edition offers one well-known and two previously unknown tractates by a Nestorian author writing at the turn of the fifth to the sixth century CE. Despite their apologetic orientation, they illustrate changes in intellectual discourse, including systematic references to Aristotle, and at the same time provide clear evidence of the existence of a Nestorian minority within the territory of the Byzantine Empire.
Procopius of Gaza (465/470–526/530) authored a comprehensive commentary on the first historical books of the Old Testament (CPG 7430). This volume is a German translation of the second part, the commentary on Exodus. The commentary features a range of excerpts, some of which originate from works that have been lost in the original, such as those by Origen and Didymus the Blind.
From the great commentary on the first historical books of the Old Testament (CPG 7430) by Procopius of Gaza (465/470–526/530), this volume includes the commentary on the book of exodus, published for the first time in the complete Greek text. Alongside Procopius’ continuous text is hidden a collection of excerpts from works whose original versions have been lost, including by Origen and Didymus the Blind.
This volume presents the late work of Theodoret of Cyros (ca. 393–466), his refutation of Christian heretics from Simon Magus to Eutychus, combined with an outline of Christian doctrine, in a modern critical edition with a source and parallel passage apparatus. The introduction includes a detailed discussion of the content, structure, and dating of these works, their sources, the biblical texts employed, and the history of transmission.
The most important of his writings was a church history, which supplemented and continued that of his eminent predecessor Eusebius. Later ecclesiastical historians and hagiographers, such as Rufinus of Aquileia, drew on Gelasius’ history extensively, although usually without attribution. It furnished them with a model for Nicene historiography and with material on topics such as the youth of the emperor Constantine, the discovery of the True Cross in Jerusalem, the Council of Nicaea, and the beginnings of Christianity in Ethiopia and Georgia. The fragments of Gelasius’ Ecclesiastical History are presented here systematically for the fi rst time. They are accompanied by the fragments of his doctrinal writings as well as all known testimonia about the bishop’s life and work. The edition is introduced by a thorough discussion of the sources and includes a facing English translation and notes.
Eusebius of Caesarea’s Onomasticon has been an essential source for the topography of the Holy Land. Based on Biblical texts and the works of ancient authors, the Onomasticon is still the starting point for establishing the localization of ancient cities. This new edition corrects many errors in the Klostermann edition (1902) and makes reference to new sources to establish the text.
The Genesis Commentary by Procopius of Gaza (465/470–526/530) is the first part of his major commentary on most of the historical books of the Old Testament (CPG 7430). For the first time, it is presented along with a translation into a modern language and annotated notes, supplementing the recently published critical edition (GCS NF 22).
Procopius of Gaza wrote a major commentary on most of the historical books of the Old Testament (CPG 7430). This volume presents the first section, devoted to Genesis, for the first time in the complete Greek text. Amidst Procopius's continuous text we find a collection of excerpts that is of extraordinary value as a source in places where the original work was lost due to Council decisions or historical events.
Books 6–10 of Cyril of Alexandria’s (c. 380–444 CE) monumental work of refutation “Against Julian” are being published for the first time in a modern critical edition with an extensive apparatus of sources and parallel texts. In addition, the volume includes all known Greek and Syriac fragments from the lost volumes as well as an extensive introduction to the transmission of the fragments.
The first five books of Cyril of Alexandria’s (c. 378–444 CE) monumental work of refutation “Against Julian” are being published here for the first time in a modern critical edition with an extensive apparatus of sources and parallel texts. The general introduction outlines the direct and indirect transmission of the work and also presents brief essays on Julian’s polemic against the Christians and on Cyril’s rebuttal.
The editio princeps of Codex Monacensis Graecus 314, the collection of Origen's Homilies on the Psalms was discovered by Marina Molin Pradel in april 2012. The Munich manuscript is the major text discovery on Origen, seventy years after the find of the Tura papyri in 1941. The 29 homilies provide the original Greek text of four Homilies on Psalm 36, translated by Rufinus into Latin at the beginning of the fifth century, together with twenty-five new sermons. Only parts of them were known through tiny excerpts preserved in the exegetical anthologies of the catenae. The list of the sermons essentially corresponds to the catalogue of Origen's Homilies on the Psalms in Jerome's Letter 33. It includes two homilies on Ps. 15, four on Ps. 36, two on Ps. 67, three on Ps. 73, one on Ps. 74, one on Ps. 75, four on Ps. 76, nine on Ps. 77, two on Ps. 80, and one on Ps. 81. Beyond recovering for us Origen as the great interpreter of the Psalms, the sermons throw new light on his life and thought, and provide insights into the situation of the Church in the third century CE.
The critical text has been edited by Lorenzo Perrone in cooperation with Marina Molin Pradel, Emanuela Prinzivalli and Antonio Cacciari.
Iulius Africanus (3rd cent.) is a fascinating writer in a period of transition. Widely travelled, he belongs to the intellectual élite of the second sophistic. His two main works present a similar encyclopedic approach, but very different contents. He can be considered the “father of Christian chronography”, since he authored the first Christian world chronicle (Chronographiae). However, he also wrote a comprehensive and multifaceted manual of many fields of knowledge, where the religious character is open to debate. The preserved fragments of the Cesti treat military, technical, medical and many other topics. These texts are presented in an entirely new critical edition. The transmission of the texts as well as questions of authenticity are highly complex. Compared to the previous edition (Vieillefond 1970), considerable progress has been reached in terms of both, quantity and quality of the material. Hitherto unknown texts have been included, and in the case of dubious authorship all necessary information is provided for a realistic picture of the transmission. In the introduction, all relevant channels of transmission are discussed. The edition is accompanied by notes and a new English translation.
This edition of Origen’s homilies on the Book of Genesis in Rufin’s Latin translation is based on a new extensive analysis of medieval textual sources, which incorporates virtually all of the early manuscripts up to the 10th century. The critical and intertextual commentaries have been revised and expanded; this new edition diverges in more than 100 places from Baehrens’s older GCS edition (Origenes VI, 1920).
The volume contains the oldest and most comprehensive form of the Greek biography of St. Clement, Bishop of Rome and successor to St. Peter. It was put together by an unknown author, perhaps as early as the fifth century, certainly before the tenth, and was used as a reading by the Greek Church on the saint’s feast-day. Apart from its significance for the history of religion and language history, it is of particular interest to literary scholars.
Iulius Africanus has rightly been called the "Father of Christian Chronography". His world chronicle is one of the few works of Christian literature pioneering a new genre. Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages mainly articulated their reflection on history in the form of the world chronicle. The work has not been preserved in its entirety; the extant fragments have to be laboriously pieced together from the works of later authors. To date, there has not been a critical edition of this material, and the edition in use today dates back nearly 200 years (J.M. Routh 1814).
This new edition in the GCS series closes an old gap in the programme of this series - and at the same time marks a new beginning, because this is the first edition ever in this series to be published with an English translation. The edition establishes a completely new foundation for our knowledge of Early Christian historical thinking, and in addition provides an important component in our understanding of an important epoch, the "Imperial Crisis" of the 3rd century, in which the new world of Late Antiquity began to develop out of the Hellenic-Roman heritage.
The discussion about the beginnings of Transitus-Mariae literature (apocryphal texts about the life and death of the Mother of Jesus) is marked by two hypotheses. The first is marked by the history of dogma and sees this literature in the context of the development of dogmatic doctrine, while the second, alternative, approach sees the origins of this literature in the area of heterodoxy. A fragment of an obviously very ancient Coptic text raises the question of whether the hypothesis from the history of dogma dates the genesis of this literature too late, while at the same time questioning the hypothesis placing the origins of the literature in the area of heterodoxy.
The edition by Karl Holl (1866-1926) of the short anti-heretical text "Ancoratus" and the huge work "Panarion Omnium Haeresium" by the 4th century Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (Cyprus) is one of the most significant editions in the series "Greek Christian Authors" from the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy. Following the publication of corrected and expanded reprints (Vol. 1: 2007; Vol. 2: 1980; Vol. 3: 1985) the large complete index can now go to print. It contains detailed indexes of names, passages, words and subjects, together with an index of grammatical particularities.
The volume is based on a manuscript by Karl Holl, which, together with the rest of the edition, was continued after his death by Hans Lietzmann (1875-1942). In recent years it has again been thoroughly checked, revised and extended in the Berlin Institute.
This second volume finishes the first scholarly complete German translation of the approximately 50 texts from the manuscript find of Nag Hammadi and the texts of the Codex Berolinensis 8502 together with introductions by acknowledged specialists in the field of Coptic Studies (cf. Nag Hammadi Deutsch I, 2001). Most of the texts originated in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and include for example apocryphal Gospels (such as St. Thomas' Gospel) and important original Gnostic documents; they form one of the most important manuscript rediscoveries of the 20th century, and their importance for Biblical scholars and Church historians in particular can hardly be overestimated.
The Berlin Working Group on Coptic Gnostic Writings was founded by Hans-Martin Schenke more than 30 years ago. This research team has produced numerous original German translations, text editions and commentaries and many other publications, and has established itself as one of the world's leading research centres for the Nag-Hammadi texts and other Coptic texts.
The book presents diplomatic transcriptions (in Greek) and translations (in German and English) of all the known textual fragments which can be attributed to what is known as the Gospel of Peter and the Apocalypse of Peter or which scholars are discussing as possible elements of these texts. In addition, the documentation of the texts in ancient times is considered, and there is a brief discussion of the philological problems involved. With concordances.
Karl Holl’s edition of the anti-heretical text by the late Classical Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (Cyprus) is a classic among the editions of Greek Christian writers from classical antiquity. The work itself, which the author published under the eloquent title of ‘Medicine Chest against Heresies’, contains a large number of original texts, not preserved elsewhere, produced by various Christian groups which were rejected as heretical by the majority of the Church. With great zeal, Epiphanius described above all the teachings and lives of gnostic groups, but he also turned his attention to other movements, for example the Monists. In his edition, the Berlin-based ecclesiastical historian Karl Holl attempted to produce a legible and grammatically correct text from the difficult manuscript sources; in the critical apparatus, he provided a rich factual commentary. Even though critics were annoyed by his frequent interference with the source texts, still the latest major English translation uses Holl’s text. Two volumes appeared during Holl’s lifetime (in 1915 and 1922). After his death in 1926, Hans Lietzmann published a third volume in 1933. In 2006, a fourth volume, containing a detailed index, was published.
While the 2nd and 3rd volumes have been available since 1980 and 1985 respectively as a corrected reprint with addenda by Jürgen Dummer, the first volume, with important information on Jewish sects and the Gnostics, has long been out of print. It is now also available again in a corrected version.
This anonymous ecclesiastical history, written in the 5th century and traditionally ascribed to Gelasius Cyzicenus, deals with the age of Emperor Constantine (ruled from 306 - 337).
The critical historical edition of the Greek text presents the anonymous compilation on the basis of all the extant manuscripts and takes particular account of research into the sources. The volume is provided with a comprehensive introduction together with indexes of locations, names and words.
The present first volume and the imminent second volume will present the first complete scholarly German translation of the approximately 50 texts from the manuscript find of Nag Hammadi and the texts of the Codex Berolinensis 8502 together with introductions by acknowledged specialists in the field of Coptic Studies. Most of the texts originated in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and include for example apocryphal Gospels (such as St. Thomas's Gospel) and important original Gnostic documents; they form one of the most important manuscript rediscoveries of the 20th century, and their importance for Biblical scholars and Church historians in particular can hardly be overestimated.
The Berlin Working Group on Coptic Gnostic Writings was founded by Hans-Martin Schenke more than 30 years ago. This research team has produced numerous original German translations, text editions and commentaries and many other publications, and has established itself as one of the world's leading research centres for the Nag-Hammadi texts and other Coptic texts.
This title from the De Gruyter Book Archive has been digitized in order to make it available for academic research. It was originally published under National Socialism and has to be viewed in this historical context. Learn more here.
This title from the De Gruyter Book Archive has been digitized in order to make it available for academic research. It was originally published under National Socialism and has to be viewed in this historical context. Learn more here.
This title from the De Gruyter Book Archive has been digitized in order to make it available for academic research. It was originally published under National Socialism and has to be viewed in this historical context. Learn more here.
This title from the De Gruyter Book Archive has been digitized in order to make it available for academic research. It was originally published under National Socialism and has to be viewed in this historical context. Learn more here.
This title from the De Gruyter Book Archive has been digitized in order to make it available for academic research. It was originally published under National Socialism and has to be viewed in this historical context. Learn more here.
This title from the De Gruyter Book Archive has been digitized in order to make it available for academic research. It was originally published under National Socialism and has to be viewed in this historical context. Learn more here.
