This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Meaning and Normativity of Jerusalem Council’s Prohibitions in Relation to Textual Variants of Acts 15:20.29 and Acts 21:25. An Analysis and Comparison of Early Interpretations (2nd-5th Century) by Wojciech Paweł Rybka A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh 2017 2 Declaration I hereby confirm that the work contained within has been composed by me and that no part of it has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Signed: Wojciech Paweł Rybka 3 Abstract The thesis collects and analyses the very first (2nd-5th century) clear quotations, references and interpretations of Acts 15:20.29 and Acts 21:25. It consists of three parts: Part I, which is introductory in nature, presents and comments upon the textual variants of these biblical verses. Part II catalogues and analyses all the relevant texts referring to and commenting on Acts 15:20.29 and Acts 21:25. The purpose is to discover each ancient author’s understanding of the Jerusalem Council’s prohibitions, enumerated in the above verses of Acts. The writers and their texts are divided into three groups depending on which main textual variant of Acts 15:20.29 and Acts 21:25 they referred or quote. Part III presents in its first two chapters a synthesis of the above analyses, juxtaposing and summarizing early authors’ views on the meaning and normativity of the prohibitions. Then, the last chapter examines the potential influence of a variant of Acts 15:20.29 and 21:25 quoted or referred to (or preferred if more variants were known to a given author) by the writers on their understanding of the prohibitions. The thesis shows that despite different textual variants used by the early writers, their interpretations of the prohibitions, although often superficially different, have in a number of cases and on a deeper level more in common than one would preliminarily surmise. 4 Lay summary The Acts of the Apostles, as a part of the New Testament, has been read by millions of readers across the two millennia. Among these readers, the earliest ones (2nd-5th century) constitute a particular group who have an advantage of being chronologically, culturally and often also linguistically closer to the author of Acts than the other readers. This thesis presents and analyses the earliest clear quotations and references to three highly significant verses from Acts: 15:20; 15:29 and 21:25. All these verses contain a list of the prohibitions which, according to Acts 15, were imposed by the Jerusalem Council on the converts to Christianity of Gentile provenance. The presentation and analysis of the relevant early Christian texts is meant to reveal the ancient authors’ views on the meaning and validity of the prohibitions. Moreover, as the ancient writers quoted or referred to different manuscripts of these verses which presented slightly different lists of the prohibitions, the question of how a given variant of Acts 15:20.29 or 21:25 influenced a given author’s understanding of the prohibitions is also examined. 5 Table of contents Abbreviations..................................................................................................7 Introduction....................................................................................................14 Part I. The Text of the Apostolic Council’s prohibitions in the Bible..............26 Section I. Prohibitions in Acts 15:19-20: Textual analysis.............................26 Section II. Prohibitions in Acts 15:28-29: Textual analysis............................30 Section III. Prohibitions in Acts 21:25: Textual analysis................................33 Part II. Ancient authors’ understanding of the prohibitions in Acts 15:20.29 and 21:25: a survey and analysis.......................................................35 Chapter I. Authors referring to the Western text...........................................36 1. Irenaeus of Lyons...........................................................................36 2. Tertullian of Carthage.....................................................................49 3. Cyprian of Carthage........................................................................68 4. Pacian of Barcelona........................................................................75 5. Ephrem of Edessa...........................................................................81 6. Augustine of Hippo. ........................................................................84 Chapter II. Authors referring to the Eastern text. ..........................................99 1. Clement of Alexandria. ...................................................................99 2. Origen Adamantius of Alexandria. ...............................................108 3. Methodius of Olympus. ................................................................121 4. The final redactors of the Pseudo-Clementine literature...............126 5. The final redactor of Didascalia Apostolorum...............................133 6. The final redactor of Constitutiones Apostolorum.........................140 7. Council of Gangra.........................................................................148 8. Author(s) of Canons of Pamphilus from the Apostolic Council of Antioch..........................................................................................150 9. Epiphanius of Salamis..................................................................152 10. Cyril of Jerusalem.......................................................................157 11. John Chrysostom........................................................................162 12. John Cassian..............................................................................181 6 13. Hesychius of Jerusalem..............................................................184 14. Cyril of Alexandria.......................................................................191 15. Theodoret of Cyrus.....................................................................196 16. Socrates Scholasticus of Constantinople....................................204 Chapter III. Authors referring to both Eastern and Western texts................208 1. Ambrosiaster.................................................................................208 2. Gaudentius of Brescia...................................................................215 3. Jerome of Stridon..........................................................................221 Part III. A synthesis of ancient interpretations of Acts 15:20.29 and 21:25................................................................................................230 Chapter I. Ancient authors’ understanding of the meaning of the prohibitions........................................................................................231 1. Meaning of abstaining from offerings to idols................................231 2. Meaning of abstaining from blood.................................................233 3. Meaning of abstaining from what was strangled...........................235 4. Meaning of abstaining from πορνεία.............................................235 Chapter II. Normativity of the prohibitions according to the early Christian writers.......238 1. Normativity of abstaining from offerings to idols...........................238 2. Normativity of abstaining from blood.............................................244 3. Normativity of abstaining from what was strangled.......................249 4. Normativity of abstaining from πορνεία.........................................250 Chapter III. Influence of the textual tradition of Acts 15:20.29 and 21:25 on ancient authors’ understanding of the meaning and normativity of the prohibitions......................................................................................252 Conclusion...................................................................................................267 Bibliography.................................................................................................274 7 Abbreviations Adv. haer. Adversus haereses AJEC Anthropological Journal of European Cultures ACCS.NT Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament ACT Ancient Christian Texts ACW Ancient Christian Writers. The Works of the Fathers in Translation AncB Anchor Bible ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers Anton Antonianum Apol. Apologeticum ASE Annali di Storia dell’Esegesi BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia BGBH Beiträge zur Geschichte der Biblischen Hermeneutik BibTB Biblical Theology Bulletin BJRL Bulletin of John Rylands Library BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche