This outstanding collection of essays honour a distinguished scholar best known for her work on late medieval economy, demography, and estate management, and on the monastic community at Westminster. The uniting theme is the imprint of the church, especially the monastic church, upon society at large. Contributions range from the eighth to sixteenth centuries, with an emphasis on the later middle ages, looking at urban religion, monastic education, and the role of religious communities in stimulating economic growth. Westminster Abbey figures prominently, alongside essays on the effects of the Dissolution on nunneries, the role of sanctuary in local communities, and on individuals such as Matthew Paris and Robert of Knaresborough whose lives reveal much about medieval England. In a worthy tribute to a great medievalist, the contributors show us a world where the influence of the cloister reached into almost every aspect of daily life.

"Arguably the most distinctive feature of the early Christian literature," writes Bart Ehrman, "is the degree to which it was forged." The Homilies and Recognitions of Clement; Paul's letters to and from Seneca; Gospels by Peter, Thomas, and Philip; Jesus' correspondence with Abgar, letters by Peter and Paul in the New Testament--all forgeries. To cite just a few examples.
Forgery and Counterforgery is the first comprehensive study of early Christian pseudepigrapha ever produced in English. In it, Ehrman argues that ancient critics--pagan, Jewish, and Christian--understood false authorial claims to be a form of literary deceit, and thus forgeries. Ehrman considers the extent of the phenomenon, the "intention" and motivations of ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish forgers, and reactions to their work once detected. He also assesses the criteria ancient critics applied to expose forgeries and the techniques forgers used to avoid detection. With the wider practices of the ancient world as backdrop, Ehrman then focuses on early Christian polemics, as various Christian authors forged documents in order to lend their ideas a veneer of authority in literary battles waged with pagans, Jews, and, most importantly, with one another in internecine disputes over doctrine and practice. In some instances a forger directed his work against views found in another forgery, creating thereby a "counter-forgery." Ehrman's evaluation of polemical forgeries starts with those of the New Testament (nearly half of whose books make a false authorial claim) up through the Pseudo-Ignatian epistles and the Apostolic Constitutions at the end of the fourth century.
Shining light on an important but overlooked feature of the early Christian world, Forgery and Counterforgery explores the possible motivations of the deceivers who produced these writings, situating their practice within ancient Christian discourses on lying and deceit.

This book contains new critical editions of two early and important examples of the most popular Late Roman historical genres and the first ever English translation of Hydatius. The first, the Chronicle of Hydatius, is an account of the beginning of the collapse of the Roman Empire and the end of the world under the twin pressures of barbarian invasion and heresy between AD 378 and 468/9, written by a Spanish bishop who lived in the first independent barbarian state established within the Empire. The second, the Consularia Constantinopolitana, is a complex document of differing dates and hands which was continued down to AD 468 with the addition of many detailed historical entries. They provide an indispensable contemporary account of the fourth century AD. These editions, based on the first ever examination of all surviving manuscripts, are provided with detailed introductions and appendices.

This study provides a complete reassessment of the Messalian controversy of the fourth and fifth centuries AD. The Messalians were an ascetic group, their name (of Syriac derivation) meaning `praying people'. Their extraordinary claims and graphic spiritual vocabulary were considered heretical by the early Christian Church and were condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Dr Stewart reconstructs the history of the controversy from its beginnings, carefully avoiding all previous suppositions and flawed methodologies. He considers in depth the spiritual vocabulary which lies at the root of the controversy and which can also be found in the Greek pseudo-Macarian writings. He proves that the pseudo-Macarian vocabulary can be traced to a Syriac milieu and demonstrates this by comparisons with such early Syriac texts as the writings of Ephrem, Aphrahat, and especially the anonymous Liber graduum. In this light, the claims of the Messalians are shown to result from the influence upon Greek Christian culture of an equally orthodox tradition, the Semitic Syriac culture of the Christian East. Christian writers of both cultures were determined to show others a way to 'work the earth of the heart', an image favoured by pseudo-Macarius for its evocation of the patient labour of asceticism. The controversy was thus not indeed a question of heresy, but of misperceived differences of culture and of spiritual idiom.

St Jerome (ca. 347-419), translator and prolific commentator on the Old Testament, left a lasting and controversial mark on the history of biblical scholarship through his radical return to the "hebraica veritas," the 'Hebrew truth.' Yet, the extent of Jerome's Hebrew knowledge has been debated, and the actual role of Hebrew in Jerome's biblical exegesis has been little explored. This book shows how Jerome's Hebrew philology developed out of his training in classical literary studies, describes the nature of Jerome's command of Hebrew in light of his historical context and his use of Jewish sources, and explains how Jerome used Hebrew scholarship in his biblical interpretation. Jerome emerges as a competent Hebraist, limited by his context, yet producing work of enduring significance.

This is a new and revised edition of the book first published 1980. It contains new introductory and concluding chapters as well as a Bibliography and updated Index. Furthermore, substantial corrections, updates, and changes have been made in the original text. The changes concern matters of language and style, they nuance the line of argumentation, and they update the discussion of major issues. The new chapters fill several scholarly gaps that have opened since the initial publication of this book in 1980. The new Introductory Chapter explores new venues and issues in the study and assessment of the Hekhalot literature and relevant passages in apocalyptic literature, and this in light of epistemological and ontological considerations. The Concluding Chapter discusses the ritual praxis of the experience of the Hekhalot mystics and its affitnity to magic, and this in terms of new approaches to ritual theory.

The a Supplements to Vigiliae Christianaea (TM) series was launched in 1987 with the publication of Tertullianus, "De Idololatria," a critical text with translation and commentary by J.H. Waszink and J.C.M. van Winden (partly based on a manuscript left behind by P.G. van der Nat). It seems appropriate, therefore, that the 100th volume to appear in the a Supplements to Vigiliae Christianaea (TM) series should be an updated reprint of J.H. Waszinka (TM)s monumental and authoritative edition of Tertulliana (TM)s "De Anima." This volume contains the complete contents of the first edition, to which we have added a brief overview of J.H. Waszinka (TM)s scholarly career, an English translation of the greater part of the introduction to his German translation of "De Anima" of 1980 and a list of corrections authorized by him.

In general, theological terms this study examines the interplay of early Christian understandings of history, revelation, and identity. The book explores this interaction through detailed analysis of appeals to "mystery" in the Pauline letter collection and then the discourse of previously hidden but newly revealed mysteries in various second-century thinkers. T.J. Lang argues that the historical coordination of the concealed/revealed binary ("the mystery previously hidden but presently revealed") enabled these early Christian authors to ground Christian claims - particularly key ecclesial, hermeneutical, and christological claims - in Israel's history and in the eternal design of God while at the same time accounting for their revelatory newness. This particular Christian conception of time gives birth to a new and totalizing historical consciousness, and one that has significant implications for the construction of Christian identity, particularly vis-a-vis Judaism.

Every case of sanctification is unique - as unique as the holy man or woman at its centre. Yet at the same time the problem posed is a general one: how does an individual become a Saint? In this bold and pioneering study the author answers the question by providing a detailed analysis of the case of the late twelfth- and early thirteenth-century Byzantine holy man, the Cypriot Saint Neophytos the Recluse.

How were ideas and experiences of transformation expressed in early Christianity and early Judaism? This volume explores the social and philosophical frameworks within which transformative ideas such as resurrection and practices of becoming a oea new beinga were shaped. It also explores the analogies and parameters by which transformation was being observed, noted and asserted. The focus on transformation helps to connect topics that tend to be studied separately, such as cosmology, resurrection, aging, gender, and conversion. The textual material is wide-ranging and there are new readings of core passages. Ideas and experiences of transformations in early Christianity and early Judaism Connects topics that tend to be studied seperately (cosmology, resurrection, aging, gender, conversion) With wide-ranging textual material

This volume discusses the development of disunity in the Philippian church as the occasion for Paul's response in his letter.
The first part of the book examines references and allusions to strife among the Philippians and tension between them and Paul. It demonstrates the pervasiveness of the theme of disunity in most sections of the letter. The second part correlates these findings with sections of the letter dealing with the Philippians' financial support for Paul. It treats such topics as Paul's attitude to money and the sociological composition of the church.
The book's aim is to draw attention to social and non-theological aspects of the Philippian situation, and make a contribution to a more theological study of Philippians.

This volume is a collection of scholarly studies honoring Prof.Dr. David. E. Aune on his 65th birthday. Its title, "The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context: Studies in Honor of David E. Aune," reflects Prof. Aune's academic training, interests, and extensive publications. The volume's studies investigate a range of topics within the Pauline correspondence, Gospels, Apocalypse of John, and other early Christian writings with insights drawn from Greco-Roman culture and Hellenistic Judaism. Thus, the studies make use of Greco-Roman literature, rhetoric, magic, medicine, moral philosophy, iconography, archaeology, religious cults, and social conventions while also utilizing social-historical, social-scientific, literary-critical, and rhetorical-critical methodologies, thereby adding an interdisciplinary dimension to the volume. These groundbreaking studies have been written by prominent international scholars and are published here for the first time.

Origen of Alexandria is the most influential thinker and writer of the Christian church after John the Evangelist and Paul the Apostle. This book charts his momentous impact on the structures, mindset, and doctrines of Christianity, from the third century when he wrote to the twenty-first century when his work has been enthusiastically revisited. It has been a long and enduring influence that has seen his star rise and wane many times over past centuries, but at each critical juncture of Christian reflection over the ages, he has been rediscovered and invariably offered important insights to contemporary issues.

This is the first study for more than seventy years to consider the early monasteries of Cornwall through a combination of evidence --written sources (the first hagiography of Brittany and Cornwall, ecclesiastical documents, Anglo-Saxon charters, Domesday Book), place-names and material remains. The main emphasis is on identifying the sites of these monasteries, and tracing their survival to later periods; Dr Olson also considers the origin and progress of monasticism in south-west Britain, and looks at the monasteries' characteristics and, in a broader context, their place in Church and society.

Memory is the least studied dimension of Augustine's psychological trinity of memory-intellect-will. This book explores the theme of 'memory' in Augustine's works, tracing its philosophical and theological significance. The first part explores the philosophical history of memory in Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus. The second part shows how Augustine inherits this theme and treats it in his early writings. The third and final part seeks to show how Augustine's theological understanding of Christ draws on and resolves tensions in the theme of memory. The place of memory in the theological anthropology of Augustine has its roots in the Platonic epistemological tradition. Augustine actively engages with this tradition in his early writings in a manner that is both philosophically sophisticated and doctrinally consistent with his later, more overtly theological writings. From the Cassiacum dialogues through De musica, Augustine points to the central importance of memory: he examines the power of the soul as something that mediates sense perception and understanding, while explicitly deferring a more profound treatment of it until Confessions and De trinitate. In these two texts, memory is the foundation for the location of the Imago Dei in the mind. It becomes the basis for the spiritual experience of the embodied creature, and a source of the profound anxiety that results from the sensed opposition of human time and divine time (aeterna ratio). This tension is contained and resolved, to a limited extent, in Augustine's Christology, in the ability of a paradoxical incarnation to unify the temporal and the eternal (in Confessions 11 and 12), and the life of faith (scientia) with the promised contemplation of the divine (sapientia, in De trinitate 12-14).

This lively book not only unpacks the history of Christianity, but also explains how church history is created and organized. Different from traditional church history textbooks, the book: Has a global emphasis, rather than an exclusively Euro-American one; Explains the discipline of church history in addition to the content; Is readable, engaging, and inviting to new students; Makes church history accessible rather than stressing obscure dates and names. Conceptually, this book is revolutionary. The story of Christianity is never complete: it only expands. By allowing fresh players into the story, broadening our perspective to include women, the working class, heretics, and priests outside mainstream "orthodoxy," we become open to new ways of understanding. And these new perspectives enhance our comprehension of the endlessly surprising story of Christianity's past.

This social history of earliest Christianity radically re-evaluates both the methods and models of other studies. Justin Meggitt draws on the most recent research in classical studies on the economy and society of the Roman Empire. He examines the economic experiences of the Pauline churches, and locates Paul and the members of his communities within the context of the first century Roman economy. He explores their experiences of employment, nutrition and housing. He uncovers and describes the unique responses that they made to such a harsh environment. And he questions whether, from the outset, Christianity included a number of affluent individuals.A thoroughly researched and ground-breaking study.>

Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity examines the various ways in which Christian intellectuals engaged with Platonism both as a pagan competitor and as a source of philosophical material useful to the Christian faith. The chapters are united in their goal to explore transformations that took place in the reception and interaction process between Platonism and Christianity in this period. The contributions in this volume explore the reception of Platonic material in Christian thought, showing that the transmission of cultural content is always mediated, and ought to be studied as a transformative process by way of selection and interpretation. Some chapters also deal with various aspects of the wider discussion on how Platonic, and Hellenic, philosophy and early Christian thought related to each other, examining the differences and common ground between these traditions. Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity offers an insightful and broad ranging study on the subject, which will be of interest to students of both philosophy and theology in the Late Antique period, as well as anyone working on the reception and history of Platonic thought, and the development of Christian thought.

Most surveys of religious tolerance and intolerance start from the medieval and early modern period, either passing over or making brief mention of discussions of religious moderation and coercion in Greco-Roman antiquity. Here Maijastina Kahlos widens the historical perspective to encompass late antiquity, examining ancient discussions of religious moderation and coercion in their historical contexts. The relations and interactions between various religious groups, especially pagans and Christians, are scrutinized, and the stark contrast often drawn between a tolerant polytheism and an intolerant Christianity is replaced by a more refined portrait of the complex late antique world.

Discipleship - that being a Christian is about learning and discovering, acting and responding, choosing and collaborating - is both a primordial Christian theme and a re-discovery of the mid-twentieth century. But how does one discover its meaning? For some it means programmes - like turning out a product, ignoring the individuality of each's path. Others emphasize the group, forgetting that every community's richness is valuing its members' diversity. Is discipleship the way of the loner and community-ignoring? But social beings learn discipleship in communities. Community is not simply the club of like-minded individuals but should model a new way of being. To uncover what discipleship means, we must read the New Testament with the awareness that how we see the world of the early Jesus followers is radically different from the inherited theological underpinning of many churches. Discipleship and Society in the Early Churches takes our historical awareness seriously, and examines what biblical, historical, and archaeological research can tell us about discipleship today.

A Case for Mixed-Audience with Reference to the Warning Passages in the Book of Hebrews discusses the nature of the warnings in Hebrews and how these warnings relate to the theological question of the eternal security of believers. The main argument is that these warnings are intended to target a particular segment of the author's community, about whose appropriation of and subsequent attitude toward the Christian message he was deeply concerned. That is to say, while the book of Hebrews is addressed as a message of encouragement to the community as a whole, its warnings are aimed at a certain element in the community whose salvation is threatened by a possible dangerous course of action. The book implies that while the author is persuaded that the majority in the community are genuine believers, there are some about whose salvation he doubts; hence the «case for a mixed-audience. What is threatened, therefore, is not a salvation already possessed, but the salvation of those in danger of coming up short. Theologically, the work falls within the sphere of the Calvinistic-Arminian debate regarding the assurance of salvation and the perseverance of the saints. It argues strongly for the Calvinistic position, but does so within the confines of the discipline of biblical studies, and lends extensive exegetical support to the Calvinistic position on the warning passages. The book is highly recommended for Bible College and seminary students and professors, as well as pastors and lay leaders who must give answers to their parishoners on those tough warning passages in Hebrews.

Every case of sanctification is unique - as unique as the holy man or woman at its centre. Yet at the same time the problem posed is a general one: how does an individual become a Saint? In this bold and pioneering study the author answers the question by providing a detailed analysis of the case of the late twelfth- and early thirteenth-century Byzantine holy man, the Cypriot Saint Neophytos the Recluse.

Jonas of Bobbio was an Italian monk, author, and abbot, active in Lombard Italy and Merovingian Gaul during the seventh century. He is best known as the author of the Life of Columbanus and His Disciples, one of the most important works of hagiography from the early medieval period, that charts the remarkable journey of the Irish exile and monastic founder, Columbanus (d. 615), through Western Europe, as well as the monastic movement initiated by him and his Frankish successors in the Merovingian kingdoms. In the years following Columbanus's death numerous new monasteries were built by his successors and their elite patrons in Francia that decisively transformed the inter-relationship between monasteries and secular authorities in the Early Middle Ages. Jonas also wrote two other, occasional works set in the late fifth and sixth centuries: the Life of John, the abbot and founder of the monastery of Reome in Burgundy, and the Life of Vedast, the first bishop of Arras and a contemporary of Clovis. Both works provide perspectives on how the past Gallic monastic tradition, the role of bishops, and the Christianization of the Franks were perceived in Jonas's time. Jonas's hagiography also provides important evidence for the reception of classical and late antique texts as well as the works of Gregory the Great and Gregory of Tours.This volume presents the first complete English translation of all of Jonas of Bobbio's saints' Lives with detailed notes and scholarly introduction that will be of value to all those interested in this period.

The Slave Metaphor and Gendered Enslavement in Early Christian Discourse adds new knowledge to the ongoing discussion of slavery in early Christian discourse. Kartzow argues that the complex tension between metaphor and social reality in early Christian discourse is undertheorized. A metaphor can be so much more than an innocent thought figure; it involves bodies, relationships, life stories, and memory in complex ways. The slavery metaphor is troubling since it makes theology of a social institution that is profoundly troubling. This study rethinks the potential meaning of the slavery metaphor in early Christian discourse by use of a variety of texts, read with a whole set of theoretical tools taken from metaphor theory and intersectional gender studies, in particular. It also takes seriously the contemporary context of modern slavery, where slavery has re-appeared as a term to name trafficking, gendered violence, and inhuman power systems.

For almost 300 years, the dominant trend in New Testament interpretation has been to read the Acts of the Apostles as a document that argues for the political possibility of harmonious co-existence between 'Rome' and the early Christian movement. Kavin Rowe argues that the time is long overdue for a sophisticated, critically constructive reappraisal. For Luke (the author of Acts), he says, politics is the embodied and concrete shape of God's apocalypse, or revelation, to the world. To understand Luke's political vision, therefore, we must examine how the narration of God's identity shapes ecclesiology: theological truth claims and the core practices of Christian communities are bound together in the very nature of things. Recognizing this interconnection requires a radical reassessment and rereading of Acts. No longer can Acts be seen as a simple apologia that articulates Christianity's harmlessness vis-a-vis Rome. Rather, in its attempt to form communities that witness to God's apocalypse, Luke's second volume is a highly charged and theologically sophisticated political document. Indeed, argues Rowe, Luke aims at nothing less than the construction of a new culture - a total pattern of life - that inherently runs counter to the constitutive aspects of Graeco-Roman society.