Asceticism and Christological Controversy in Fifth-Century Palestine

OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES General Editors Gillian Clark Andrew Louth THE OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES series includes scholarly volumes on the thought and history of the early Christian centuries. Covering a wide range of Greek, Latin, and Oriental sources, the books are of interest to theologians, ancient historians, and specialists in the classical and Jewish worlds. Titles in the series include: Augustine’s Commentary on Galatians Introduction, Translation (with facing Latin text), and Notes Eric Plumer (2002) The Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary’s Dormition and Assumption Stephen J. Shoemaker (2002) The Early Development of Canon Law and the Council of Serdica Hamilton Hess (2002) The Commentaries of Origen and Jerome on St Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians Ronald E. Heine (2002) Grace and Christology in the Early Church Donald Fairbairn (2003) Evagrius of Pontus: The Greek Ascetic Corpus Translation, Introduction, and Commentary Robert E. Sinkewicz (2003) Gregory of Nyssa and the Grasp of Faith Union, Knowledge, and the Divine Presence Martin Laird (2004) The SuVering of the Impassible God The Dialectics of Patristic Thought Paul L. Gavrilyuk (2004) Cyril of Alexandria and the Nestorian Controversy The Making of a Saint and of a Heretic Susan Wessel (2004) The Byzantine Christ Person, Nature, and Will in the Christology of St Maximus the Confessor Demetrios Bathrellos (2004) The Doctrine of DeiWcation in the Greek Patristic Tradition Norman Russell (2004) The Body in St Maximus the Confessor Holy Flesh, Wholly DeiWed Adam G. Cooper (2005) The Asketikon of St Basil the Great Anna M. Silvas (2005) Marius Victorinus’ Commentary on Galatians Stephen Andrew Cooper (2005) Asceticism and Christological Controversy in Fifth-Century Palestine The Career of Peter the Iberian CORNELIA B. HORN 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX26DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With oYces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York ß Cornelia B. Horn 2006 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Horn, Cornelia B. Asceticism and Christological controversy in Wfth-century Palestine: the career of Peter the Iberian / Cornelia B. Horn. p. cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-927753-7 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-19-927753-2 (alk. paper) 1. Petre, Iberieli, ca. 411-ca. 490. 2. Jesus Christ—History of doctrines—Early Church, ca. 30–600. 3. Asceticism—History—Early Church, ca. 30–600. I. Title. BR1720.P43H67 2006 270.2092—dc 22 2005030684 Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd., King’s Lynn ISBN 0–19–927753–2 978–0–19–927753–7 13579108642 Meinen Eltern, meiner Patin, und meinem Ehegatten Icon of Peter the Iberian (accompanying N. Y. Marr’s edition of the Georgian text, reproduced from the 1896 imprint in Pravoslavnyy Palestinskiy Sbornik, public domain) PREFACE This book is based on a dissertation which I defended in April 2001 at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC. I am grateful to my dissertation committee, the Revd Dr Sidney H. GriYth, the Revd Dr David W. Johnson, and Prof. Dr Robin Darling Young, for introducing me to the Weld of Early Christianity in general and, more particularly, for the guidance and expert advice they provided over the Wrst set of years of research and writing. Stimulating discussions with Fr GriYth guided me along the path. Prof. Young provided reliable support and challenging questions. I am very grateful in particular to Fr Johnson who proved to be an unfailing source of constructive criticism and encouragement. All throughout those years I have also found indefatigable assistance and friendship in Dr Monica Blanchard, academic librarian of the Institute for Chris- tian Oriental Research (ICOR) at The Catholic University of Amer- ica. She shared my enthusiasm in Peter the Iberian. I treasure her support greatly. In the later stages of the work on the original dissertation, I ben- eWted from the detailed advice and encouragement of Dr Janet Timbie and Prof. Dr Philip Rousseau. I also would like to record my thanks to Peter Stacha for his technical support and to two of my former colleagues, Dr Jason Zaborowski and Dr Robert Phenix, for their valuable editorial assistance on many a project related to Peter the Iberian. The text of the present book substantially expands upon and nuances the matter covered in the dissertation. As such it constitutes the Wrst-fruits of my close collaboration with Dr Robert Phenix over the last three years. I have reason to hope that our marriage will bring forth further scholarly fruits in years to come. I also gratefully wish to acknowledge the valuable advice and correction I received during that time from Dr Theresia Hainthaler and the Revd Dr Michel van Esbroeck, now of blessed memory. Both modelled for me scholarly dedication. For all remaining mistakes and infelicities of expression in this work, of course, I alone carry the burden of responsibility. I owe a daughter’s gratitude to my parents, Albert and Christa Horn, and that of a niece to my godmother, Agnes Horn. Without their moral, spiritual, and Wnancial support I would not have been viii Preface able to set out on this project and I would not have had the strength to carry through with it. Much appreciation is due to many other individuals as well as institutions who supported my research on Peter the Iberian in a variety of ways. First of all, I would like to thank the Program of Early Christian Studies, now the Center for the Study of Early Christianity, at The Catholic University of America and the Institute of Christian Oriental Research (ICOR) for providing a solid home base and granting me access to many of the rare materials otherwise unavail- able. I wish to acknowledge the support of the Lady Davis Founda- tion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for granting me a doctoral research fellowship for Weld-work in Israel during the academic year 1998–1999. While in Israel, I enjoyed scholarly contacts with Dr Michael Stone and Dr Konstantine Lerner, Department for Indian, Iranian and Armenian Studies, as well as with Dr David Satran and Dr Bruria Bitton-Ashkeloni, Department of Religious Studies, all at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Revd Sr Dr Kirsten StoV- regen Pedersen shared with me her insights concerning the history of the Christian communities in Jerusalem. I was hospitably received and graciously granted access to invaluable collections at the libraries of the E´ cole Biblique et Arche´ologique Franc¸aise of St. Stephen’s Monastery (Jerusalem), the Albright Institute (Jerusalem), the Greek Orthodox Patriarchal Library (Jerusalem), and the German Protest- ant Institute for the Study of the History and Archaeology of the Holy Land (Mount of Olives, Jerusalem). To the director of the latter institution, Dr Hanswulf Bloedhorn, I owe special thanks for the on-site training in evaluating archaeological discoveries which he provided, but even more so for his warm welcome and generous, inspiring friendship. Warm words of thanks are due to the Russian Orthodox Sisters of the Convent of Mary Magdala, Gethsemane, Jerusalem, and representative for all of them to Abbess Elizabeth and Mother Agapia (formerly Maria) Stephanopoulos for their kind hos- pitality during much of my stay in Israel. I feel honoured to publicly express my deep gratitude to the Maronite American Research Insti- tute (MARI) and its president, Ms Guita G. Hourani, for constant, creative, and unfailing support, especially while carrying out Weld- research in Lebanon. I wish to say a heartfelt word of thanks to the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, particularly to their Washing- ton chapter under the guidance of the local superior, Sr Marie William Lapointe, for welcoming me as a resident in their house and providing for me a place conducive to both study and personal growth. I will never forget the many early morning hours spent over coVee in discussions with Dr Myung-Ae Chung, forcing me to express my thoughts and insights in a way that is accessible to the Preface ix non-specialist in the Weld as well. My gratitude also extends to the members of the University of St Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and especially to my former colleagues in the Department of The- ology who from 2001 to the spring of 2004 have provided a stimulating and supportive environment, which made work on this book possible.

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