DOCSLIB.ORG

Eirini Artemi (Hellenic Open University)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Eirini Artemi (Hellenic Open University) John of Damascus and the use of the letters of Paul in his writing An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith Juan Damasceno y el uso de las cartas de Pablo en su escrito Una Exposición Exacta de la Fe Ortodoxa João Damasceno e o uso das cartas de Paulo em seu escrito Uma Exposição Exata da Fé Ortodoxa Eirini ARTEMI1 Abstract: In this paper, we are going to present how John Damascenes used the Pauline Literature to make the treatise An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, mainly the part of Christology. John uses the Pauline epistles in order to speak about the Deity. God gives us the ability to know Him through a mirror. John uses more texts from Paul's epistles than texts of other Church fathers. The passages from epistles are the base for the development of John's dogmatic teaching and arguments. So, by this way, we will reach to the conclusions that the main points in the teaching of John's this work are the some of the main points in the theology of St. Paul mainly. The sin of Adam, and each one’s personal sins, all men are sinners and in need of redemption. In order to save mankind, God sent his Son into the world, born of a woman. Christ communicates his grace and justifies all who believe in him, and are baptized. Christ's grace includes the sending of the Holy Spirit, which constitutes the believer as an adopted child of God. Jesus is the fulfilment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament, and has established a New Covenant to replace that of Moses; therefore, Christians are not bound by the ceremonial and dietary laws, and circumcision, contained in the Law of Moses. This insight of Paul made Christianity into a religion open to all people. Keywords: Paul’s theology – John Damascenes – Son of God – Christology – Adam – Orthodox Faith – Moses. Resumo: Neste artigo, apresentaremos como João Damasceno utilizou a literatura paulina para redigir Uma Exposição Exata da Fé Ortodoxa, especialmente sua Cristologia. João se vale das epístolas paulinas tratar da Divindade. Deus nos dá a capacidade de conhecê-Lo através de um espelho. João usa mais textos das epístolas de Paulo do que 1 Hellenic Open University, Athens, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]. COSTA, Ricardo da, SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ, José María (coords.). Mirabilia 24 (2017/1) Manifestations of the Ancient and Medieval World Manifestaciones de los mundos antiguo y medieval Manifestações da Antiguidade e da Idade Média Jan-Jun 2017/ISSN 1676-5818 textos de outros Pais da Igreja. As passagens das epístolas são a base para o desenvolvimento de seus ensinamentos e argumentos dogmáticos. Assim, por este trajeto, chegaremos às conclusões de que os principais pontos do ensinamento do trabalho de João são alguns dos principais pontos da teologia de São Paulo. Através do pecado de Adão e de nossos pecados individuais, todos são pecadores e precisam de redenção. Para salvar a Humanidade, Deus enviou seu Filho, nascido de uma mulher, ao mundo. Cristo comunica Sua graça e justifica todos os que creem n’Ele e são batizados. A graça de Cristo inclui o envio do Espírito Santo, que constitui o crente como filho adotivo de Deus. Jesus, cumprimento de todas as profecias do Antigo Testamento, estabeleceu uma Nova Aliança para substituir a de Moisés. Portanto, os cristãos não estão vinculados às leis cerimoniais, dietéticas e à circuncisão, contidas na Lei de Moisés. Esta visão de Paulo fez do Cristianismo uma religião aberta a todas as pessoas. Palavras-chave: Teologia de Paulo – João Damasceno – Filho de Deus – Cristologia – Adão – Fé Ortodoxa – Moisés. ENVIADO: 10.02.2017 ACEPTADO: 22.03.2017 *** I. John Damascenes and his relationship with the Byzantine tradition John of Damascus or John Damascenes (675-749) is one of the great theologians of the Eastern and Western Church; a personage of prime importance in the history of Byzantine Theology, a great Doctor in the history of the Universal Church. He is best known for his battle against the iconoclasts in an attempt to defend and restore the use of icons and pictures of Christ to the Eastern Orthodox Church2. His theological synthesis made him a preeminent intermediary between Greek and medieval Latin culture. His father, Sarjun ibn Mansur, is mentioned by the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes for the year 690/1 as the General Logothete (treasurer)3 in the court of Caliph. So he was a Christian, but notwithstanding held a high office under the Saracen caliph, under Abd al-Malik, in which he was succeeded by his son. John is said to have owed his education in philosophy, mathematics and theology to an Italian monk named Cosmas, whom Sarjun had redeemed from a band of captive slaves4. The works of 2 John of Damascus, Pro Sacris Imaginibus Orationes tres, PG 94, 1227-1419. 3 Theophanis, Chronographia, in Carolus de Boor (ed), t. 1 (Hildesheim, 1963), 365. 4 Anton Baumstark, Cosmas, In: The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, 1908): http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04403d.htm 24 COSTA, Ricardo da, SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ, José María (coords.). Mirabilia 24 (2017/1) Manifestations of the Ancient and Medieval World Manifestaciones de los mundos antiguo y medieval Manifestações da Antiguidade e da Idade Média Jan-Jun 2017/ISSN 1676-5818 John of Damascus gave him a foremost place among the theologians of the early Eastern Church, and, it could be underlined that he was in later times one of the highest authorities in the theological literature of the Greeks. This was not because he was an original thinker but because he compiled into systematic form the scattered teaching of his theological predecessors5. So, he lined up with Apostolic Tradition, theological heritage of the Church; its Holy Tradition, the decisions of Council, the church fathers' work and of course the Bible6. Generally, John Damascenes was a product of the general regional and international context of the East between Byzantine and Persian Empire7. ‘Much of the interest in studying John's theology lies in attempting to understand how John and the tradition to which he belonged coped with the transition from being the religious centre of the Christian Byzantine Empire to being the site of one of the holy places of the religion of Islamʼ8. John was a Melkite theologian. He was a very Christian immersed in the Arabic world but a supporter of the Christianity of the Byzantine emperor, or malkâ in Syriac. He wrote in Greek all his works, because the transition to Arabic as the language of learning in the region had not yet been accomplished. The latter happened after many years of his death9. 5 Fulbert Cayré underlined that the authority of the Fathers as spiritual and mystical guides, as well as teachers of sacred knowledge, has always been recognized by the Church; the teaching value of their writings goes beyond the systematization of doctrine, in spite of a modern tendency to enclose them within those systems. Protestantism, in all the form it took on in the sixteenth century, appealed to the ancient witnesses of Tradition in order to introduce its innovations in the Church. See Fulbert Cayré, The First Spiritual Writers (London, 1959), 124. 6 The term Tradition is referring to the truths of the Orthodox Faith. Holy Tradition is considered to be a source of Christian faith of the same authority and standing as that of the Bible. Basilius of Caesarea summarizes this teaching of Orthodoxy in the following words: ‘From the dogmas and the truth which the Church safeguards, some we have received from written teaching and some, which have secretly reached us, we received through the tradition of the apostles. Both have the same importance for the faith. And no one with even a meager knowledge of ecclesiastical teachings will raise objection... Since if we asserted that we should abandon as many practices that are unwritten, because supposedly they’re not of great importance, we would damage – without realizing it – the essence of the Gospel, or rather we would transform the Gospel into a name empty of meaningʼ. See Basil of Caesarea, De Spiritu Sancto, 27, 66, PG 32, 188A. 7 Timothee Baciyunjuze Mushagalusa, John of Damascus and heresiology: a basis for understanding modern heresy (Cape of Good Hope, 2008), 98. 8 Andrew Louth, St John Damascene: Tradition and Originality in Byzantine Theology: Tradition and Originality in Byzantine Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 6. 9 Francisco J. Romero Carrasquillo, ‘Aquinas' Reception of John's of Damascus (Mansūr Ibn Sarjūn) Philosophy of Religious Worshipʼ (Cordoba, 2016), 4, https://www.academia.edu/26549891/Aquinas_Reception_of_John_of_Damascus_Mans%C5%A 25 COSTA, Ricardo da, SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ, José María (coords.). Mirabilia 24 (2017/1) Manifestations of the Ancient and Medieval World Manifestaciones de los mundos antiguo y medieval Manifestações da Antiguidade e da Idade Média Jan-Jun 2017/ISSN 1676-5818 When John left his position at court of the Caliph and became monk in the monastery of St. Sabas in Jerusalem. He had a very good acknowledge of the teaching of Islam and of Christian theology, the theology of the Ecumenical Synods. So he had to face a new task, refining the teaching of Orthodoxy through Councils and defining it more precisely in this new situation of open controversy with Islam, this time. It should be noted that John who was not as a ‘remarkable individual who was able to reduce the amorphous mass of traditional Orthodoxy to some kind of scholastic form, but as the culmination of a tradition of definition that had entered on a new phase a decade or so before his birth, and consequently regard his works as the high point of this phase.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Review of Brian Mclaren, Finding Our Way Again: the Return of the Ancient Practices Michael A
    Recovering Ancient Church Practices: A Review of Brian McLaren, Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices Michael A. G. Haykin Michael A. G. Haykin is Professor of In this introductory volume for a new living in our culture, the book has to be Church History at The Southern Baptist series being published by Thomas Nelson judged a failure. Theological Seminary. He is also Adjunct entitled “The Ancient Practices Series” First, it needs to be noted that stylisti- Professor of Church History at Toronto (that will include volumes on prayer, the cally the book reads well and McLaren Baptist Seminary in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Sabbath, and tithing), well-known author is alert to the latest modes of expression, Haykin is the author of One Heart and and speaker Brian McLaren sounds a call though I must admit some of them grated One Soul (Evangelical Press, 1994), for the recovery of some of the spiritual on this reader. His use of the word “sexy,” Spirit of God: The Exegesis of 1 and riches of our Christian past, in particular for example—“the sexy young word 2 Corinthians in the Pneumatomachian those associated with what are called the spiritual” (19)—is very much in tune with Controversy of the Fourth Century spiritual disciplines. In this regard, his the ways in which that word has come (Brill, 1994), and Jonathan Edwards: book, Finding Our Way Again: The Return of to be used, though I for one have trouble 1 The Holy Spirit and Revival (Evangelical the Ancient Practices, is part of an interest dissociating it from meaning actual sex- Press, 2005).
    [Show full text]
  • Islam and Christian Theologians
    • CTSA PROCEEDINGS 48 (1993): 41-54 • ISLAM AND CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIANS Once upon a time an itinerant grammarian came to a body of water and enlisted the services of a boatman to ferry him across. As they made their way, the grammarian asked the boatman, "Do you know the science of grammar?" The humble boatman thought for a moment and admitted somewhat dejectedly that he did not. Not much later, a growing storm began to imperil the small vessel. Said the boatman to the grammarian, "Do you know the science of swimming?" On the eve of the new millennium too much of our theological activity remains shockingly intramural. Instead of allowing an inherent energy to launch us into the larger reality of global religiosity, we insist on protecting our theology from the threat of contamination. If we continue to resist serious engagement with other theological traditions, and that of Islam in particular, our theology may prove as useful as grammar in a typhoon. But what would swimming look like in theological terms? In the words of Robert Neville, "One of the most important tasks of theology today is to develop strategies for determining how to enter into the meaning system of another tradition, not merely as a temporary member of that tradition, but in such a way as to see how they bear upon one another."1 I propose to approach this vast subject by describing the "Three M's" of Muslim-Christian theological engagement: Models (or methods from the past); Method (or a model for future experimentation); and Motives. I.
    [Show full text]
  • The Chalcedonian Christology of St John Damascene : Philosophical Terminology and Theological Arguments
    Durham E-Theses The Chalcedonian Christology of St John Damascene : philosophical terminology and theological arguments Metallidis, George How to cite: Metallidis, George (2003) The Chalcedonian Christology of St John Damascene : philosophical terminology and theological arguments, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1085/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY GEORGE METALLIDIS The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consentand information derived from it should be acknowledged. The Chalcedonian Christology of St John Damascene: Philosophical Terminology and Theological Arguments PhD Thesis/FourthYear Supervisor: Prof. ANDREW LOUTH 0-I OCT2003 Durham 2003 The ChalcedonianChristology of St John Damascene To my Mother Despoina The ChalcedonianChristology of St John Damascene CONTENTS Page ABBREVIATIONS 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 12 INTRODUCTION 14 CHAPTER ONE TheLife of St John Damascene 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Holy Fathers 7Th Council
    October 14, 2012 Sunday Sermon Fr Ambrose Young Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple Skete The Holy Fathers of the 7th Council Titus 3:8-15 Luke 8:5-15 In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. On this Sunday the Church celebrates the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council and asks us to reflect upon that Council and also the whole concept we Orthodox have of what we constantly refer to as “the Holy Fathers”. This Council of the Church—the last general universal Council of Holy Orthodoxy--was held in the year 787 and dealt with the whole controversy surrounding the use of sacred images or icons. This is an important Council for us to know about because in the West, at the time of the Protestant Reformation, images in churches were severely criticized and in many cases destroyed and forbidden. To this day most Protestant churches are very bereft and bare of sacred imagery other than the Cross, and some do not even have a Cross. Mormons even see the Cross as an emblem of shame and do not make use of it in their churches and temples, nor do they wear a cross. Even some very modern Catholic Churches—perhaps in order not to offend Protestants?—have gone in the direction of stripping themselves of sacred art of all kinds. But in Orthodoxy we continue to preserve and cherish our rich tradition of iconography and other forms of sacred art, seeing these as both theologically and spiritually necessary and also an essential component of ancient Christian civilization.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018 – 2019 Catalog TABLE of CONTENTS Dear Friends, We’Re Delighted to Welcome You to the 2018-2019 Ancient Ancient Faith Books 3 Faith Store Catalog
    2018 – 2019 catalog TABLE OF CONTENTS Dear Friends, We’re delighted to welcome you to the 2018-2019 Ancient Ancient Faith Books 3 Faith Store Catalog. Our company continues to grow, and Orthodox Study BibleNancy’s letter 49 our book list and product lines are growing with it. You’ll find many useful and beautiful items in these pages! Books from Other Publishers 50 Index to Books in the Catalog 57 To the left of this letter, you’ll see the Table of Contents to help you find whatever you are looking for, and each page Booklets and Brochures 59 includes our web address and phone number. Addition- Icons 64 ally, an alphabetical index of all the books we carry can be found on pages 57 and 58. Our webstore has complete 2019 Icon Calendar 72 information, pictures, sample chapters, and other details Greeting Cards 73 for every product, and you are always welcome to call us. We’re here to help! Jewelry 80 Prayer Ropes 83 Wholesale customers, remember that we have special dis- counts for you. These discounts vary by product and can Other Gifts 84 change for different seasons or promotions, so please log Children’s Gifts 90 into your wholesale account on our website or call us for the most up-to-date discounts on all products. Music 91 Audio and Other Media 93 We value your feedback on any item in our store, and we’re especially interested to hear from you about the Order Form 95 many new books, cards, icons, and gifts you’ll find in these pages.
    [Show full text]
  • Maximus the Confessor and John of Damascus on Gnomic Will (Γνώμη) in Christ: Clarity and Ambiguity Paul M
    44 Maximus the Confessor and John of Damascus on Gnomic Will (γνώμη) in Christ: Clarity and Ambiguity Paul M. Blowers Emmanuel Christian Seminary Johnson City, Tennessee For years I have been perplexed as to why Maximus the Confessor, in his articulate christological formulations in the seventh century, ultimately decided that Jesus Christ, as fully human, had only a natural human will (θέλημα φυσική), and so forcefully ruled against the possibility that he also had a “gnomic” (or “deliberative”) will (γνώμη) in the manner of fallen human beings. In the words of Maximus’ own beloved predecessor, Gregory Nazianzen, “what is not assumed is not healed.”1 Tough not alone in this concern, I’ve made a regular pest of myself broaching this issue in numerous patristics conferences (most recently the 2011 Oxford Patristics Conference) anytime an essay on Maximus would even remotely touch on the matter. Te answer I get represents a fairly hardened scholarly consensus. Accordingly, Maximus, in working out his understanding of the Chalcedonian defnition, still required a certain asymmetry in the composite hypostasis of Christ, since it is the divine hypostasis of the Son who united with and divinized the humanity of Jesus. In this case only a “natural” human will could be truly deifed, not a gnomic will prone to vacillation. I agree with this consensus in general, and it has been strengthened all the more in an excellent recent study by Ian McFarland comparing Maximus’ doctrine of the will with that of Augustine. McFarland has cogently argued the plausibility of Maximus’ denial of γνώμη in Christ as a function of his strong sense that “natural” human will, as modeled in Christ, is not antecedently “constrained” by the will of the divine Creator but a manifestation of the gracious stability of human will in concert with deifying divine grace.
    [Show full text]
  • Knowledge, Language and Intellection from Origen to Gregory Nazianzen a Selective Survey
    Epistemological theories of the patristic authors seldom attract attention of the re- searchers. This unfortunate status quo contrasts with a crucial place of the theory EARLY CHRISTIANITY of knowledge in the thought of such prominent authors as Origen and the Cappa- ECCA 18 docian fathers. This book surveys the patristic epistemological discourse in its vari- IN THE CONTEXT ous settings. In the context of the Church history it revolves around the Eunomian controversy, Eunomius’ language theory and Gregory Nazianzen’s cognitive theory, where the ideas of Apostle Paul were creatively combined with the Peripatetic teach- OF ANTIQUITY ing. In the framework of Biblical exegesis, it touches upon the issues of the textual criticism of the Homeric and Jewish scholarship, which had significantly shaped Origen’s paradigm of the Biblical studies. Edited by Anders-Christian Jacobsen, Christine Shepardson, Jörg Ulrich Anna Usacheva Knowledge, Language and Intellection from Origen to Gregory Nazianzen A Selective Survey Anna Usacheva holds a PhD in Classical Philology and was a lecturer in Patristics and Ancient Languages at St. Tikhon Orthodox University (Moscow, Russia). Cur- rently, she is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Intellection and Language Knowledge, · Usacheva Anna Theology, Aarhus University (Denmark). 18 ISBN 978-3-631-73109-3 Epistemological theories of the patristic authors seldom attract attention of the re- searchers. This unfortunate status quo contrasts with a crucial place of the theory EARLY CHRISTIANITY of knowledge in the thought of such prominent authors as Origen and the Cappa- ECCA 18 docian fathers. This book surveys the patristic epistemological discourse in its vari- IN THE CONTEXT ous settings.
    [Show full text]
  • Second Dutch Translation of the Vitae Patrum) in Middle Dutch, Manuscript on Paper
    Vaderboec (second Dutch translation of the Vitae Patrum) In Middle Dutch, manuscript on paper. Southern part of the Northern Netherlands, probably Limbourg, c. 1475-1500 188, paper, no watermarks discernible; modern foliation in pencil on rectos in the upper right corner on each leaf, but only less faint on the first, each tenth and the last leaf (1, 10, 20, 30 ... 160, 170, 180, 188); mostly in quires of ten leaves, collation: i10 lacking 1 and 2 (ff. 1–8, no loss of text), ii–xviii10 (ff. 9–178), xix8 (ff. 179–186), xx4 lacking 3 and 4 (ff. 187–188, loss of text); no catchwords, signatures in the lower right corners of the rectos of ff. 150 = second leaf of quire xvi (“q2”), 159 = first leaf of quire xvii (“r1”), 160 (“r2”), 170 (“s2”), 179 (“t1”), 180 (“t2”), 187 (“v1”) and 188 (“v2”); written on top line in a littera hybrida by one hand (first rubric, on f. 1v, possibly by another hand, in a littera textualis), ruled in pale brown ink, no prickings present, 1 column ( justification 144 x 86 mm.), on 26–27 lines, six eleven- to seven-line red-and-blue duplex initials with pen-flourishes (ff. 2r, 30r, 77v, 100r, 116r, 146r), several seven- to four-line red or blue lombards with pen-flourishes, some three-line red or blue lombards without pen-flourishes,one two-line red lombard with pen-flourishes, several two- and one-line red or blue lombards without pen-flourishes, paragraph signs in red, majuscules in text stroked in red, rubrics in red, in good general condition, quire iii (ff.
    [Show full text]
  • Optical Imagery in Eastern Christianity and the Theological Anthropology
    “Become All Eye”: Optical Imagery in Eastern Christianity and the Theological Anthropology of Pseudo-Macarius By Justin Anthony Arnwine Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in Religion May, 2015 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: David A. Michelson, Ph.D. Robin M. Jensen, Ph.D ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ὁ εἰπών, Ἐκ σκότους φῶς λάμψει, ὃς ἔλαμψεν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν πρὸς φωτισμὸν τῆς γνώσεως τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν προσώπῳ Χριστοῦ.” — The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians 4.6 I have nothing but humblest thanks for the support of my family, friends, and Vanderbilt University: To my mom and dad who have had the utmost patience with me and love for me throughout my time in graduate studies, I give my love and thanks. To my brothers who have provided suitable distractions for me to take my mind off of my studies once and a while, I give my love and thanks. To Julia and Mark, my colleagues and friends, without whose camaraderie throughout the writing process I would have been lost, I give my thanks. To Brad and Taylor who contributed so much to the daunting editing process, I give my thanks. To Professor Jensen who instilled in me an appreciation for the intersection between theology and material culture, I give my thanks. To Professor Michelson who encouraged my love for the history of the late antique world and early Christianity and mentored me every step of the way, I give my thanks.
    [Show full text]
  • The Divine in the Theological Thinking of Saint John of Damascus in Relationship with Relevant Teachings of Theodore Abu Qurrah
    154 International Journal of Orthodox Theology 10:4 (2019) urn:nbn:de:0276-2019-4077 Dimitris Athanasiou The Divine in the Theological Thinking of Saint John of Damascus in relationship with relevant Teachings of Theodore Abu Qurrah Abstract Saint John of Damascus is considered to be one of the most significant personalities of the Orthodox Church, as well as the Christian world in general. As a teacher of the church through his writings, he tried to express clearly the teachings of Church so that they could be transferred effectively to it's active members. Around this frame, the teaching about divinity is included. John as an absolute theologian of the church, tried to explain this teaching Dimitris Athanasiou PhD in about divinity and transfer it to the Theology at the University world of God in the most possible of Athens, Greece The Divine in the Theological Thinking of Saint John of Damascus in 155 relationship with relevant Teachings of Theodore Abu Qurrah way. Putting things on a right basis, he approaches the whole issue under the Biblical observation, and earlier theology of Fathers as well. On the other hand, Abū Qurrah was also a symbolic personality of the Orthodox Church, who was raised around an Arab- Islamic environment, so the majority of his writings was basically in the Arabic language, while at the same time he was en gagged in defending the Christian faith, due to Islamic challenges. It was about two persons acting around the same geographical and cultural frame. That is why comparing the study of their Theological thinking is fairly essential for research.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Introduction Greek and Latin Epistolography and Epistolary Collections in Late Antiquity CRISTIANA SOGNO, BRADLEY K. STORIN, and EDWARD J. WATTS Letters have long been an object of attention for scholars of ancient history, and yet the privileged relationship between epistolography and historiography—one that extends back to antiquity itself—has often been uneasy. For instance, ancient readers of Cicero’s let- ters to Atticus thought they offered an actual history of the late Republic, but modern read- ers in the nineteenth century, guided by the imperatives of scientific historiography, viewed letters differently. Rather than treating letters as literary documents that, like narrative his- toriography, used a reconstruction of the past to develop certain historical themes and illus- trate the character of individuals, these modern historians mined letters for the raw mate- rial, so to speak, of unmediated information on which they could base an accurate reconstruction of the classical and postclassical past. Letters were understood to be unbiased “captured conversations”—a counterpoint to the digressions, biases, and thematic concerns complicating the use of ancient narrative historiography. In reaction to the tendency to treat letters as unprejudiced documents, recent decades have witnessed a renaissance of interest in ancient letters as literary artifacts. Among Anglo- American classicists, Michael Trapp spearheaded this new approach to epistolography with his anthology of Greek and Latin letters.1 Trapp’s sophisticated introduction and selection of letters point out the painfully obvious difficulty of defining what a letter is. Eschewing -Der rida’s provocative definition of the letter as “not a genre but all genres, literature itself,”2 Trapp and other historians began to treat ancient epistolography as a distinctive literary genre, seeking to issue a broad and inclusive definition that would nonetheless resist dilution into meaninglessness.
    [Show full text]
  • De Fide Orthodoxa: an E
    St. John of Damascus 650 - 754 AD DE FIDE ORTHODOXA: AN E St. John of Damascus 650 - 754 AD DE FIDE ORTHODOXA: AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH ■ DE FIDE ORTHODOXA: AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH file:///D|/Documenta%20Chatolica%20Omnia/99%20-%20Provvisori/mbs%20Library/001%20-Da%20Fare/00-index.htm2006-06-01 18:06:30 St. John of Damascus DE FIDE ORTHODOXA: AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH :Index. St. John of Damascus 650 - 754 AD DE FIDE ORTHODOXA: AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH General Index ■ BOOK I ■ BOOK II ■ BOOK III ■ BOOK IV file:///D|/Documenta%20Chatolica%20Omnia/99%20-%20Provv...ary/001%20-Da%20Fare/0-SJohnDamascusDeFideOrthodoxa.htm2006-06-01 18:06:30 SJOHNDAMASCUSDEFIDEORTHODOXA: BOOK I , Index. BOOK I Index CHAPTER I. That the Deity is incomprehensible, and that we ought not to pry into and meddle with tire things which have not been delivered to us by the holy Prophets, and Apostles, and Evangelists. CHAPTER II. Concerning things utterable and things unutterable, and things knowable and thinks unknowable. CHAPTER III. Proof that there is a God. CHAPTER IV. Concerning the nature of Deity: that it is incomprehensible. CHAPTER V. Proof that God is one and not many. CHAPTER VI. Concerning the Word and the Son of God: a reasoned proof. CHAPTER VII. Concerning the Holy Spirit, a reasoned proof. CHAPTER VIII. Concerning the Holy Trinity. CHAPTER IX. Concerning what is affirmed about God. CHAPTER X. Concerning divine union and separation. CHAPTER XI. Concerning what is affirmed about file:///D|/Documenta%20Chatolica%20Omnia/99%20-%20P...01%20-Da%20Fare/1-SJohnDamascusDeFideOrthodoxa0.htm (1 of 2)2006-06-01 18:06:30 SJOHNDAMASCUSDEFIDEORTHODOXA: BOOK I , Index.
    [Show full text]