This work examines early Christian self-definition and response to the world, according to the book of Acts. The author argues that early Christian self-definition and mission are intertwined. In other words, early Christian identity was at the same time the nascent faith's response to the world of paganism and Judaism. This book examines the historiography of Acts, the history of Redemption, the socio-ethnic and theological dimensions of earliest Christian self-definition, and the concepts of conversion, identity and mission. The work's specific contribution lies in its exploitation of Luke's distinctive use of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, given its paradigmatic function in the Acts narrative, to ""legitimize"" a new Christian self for the early Christians, set in critical relation to the drama of their (Jewish) heritage. The author submits that this posture of the world is determined by Luke's understanding of the experience of God's new redemption in Jesus as the defining factor in the identity of Christians.

This translation of a major document in patristic Christology, the first translation since the 19th century, is based on the modern critical edition of Theodoret's Greek text. Theodoret was a leading theologian of his time in the Antiochene tradition, and in the "Eranistes" (written in 447) he offers a lengthy exposition of his Christology, coupled with a refutation of the so-called Monophysite Christology that, despite its condemnation at the General Council held at Chalcedon in 451, survives to this day, having been embraced by several large churches of the East. The "Monophysite" controversy caused a tremendous rift between East and West, and the "Eranistes" portrays the hostility and the stubborn resistance to the thought of others that afflicted both sides in the conflict. The "Eranistes" is written in the form of three dialogues between two characters: Orthodox , who represents Theodoret's thought, and Eranistes, who is presented as a heretic. In two dialogues Theodoret argues that the Word of God was immutable and impassible in his divine nature, and that Christ experienced change and passion only in his human nature. A third dialogue argues that, in the union of the divinity and humanity in the one person of the Word incarnate, the natures remained unmixed. To bolster his arguments Theodoret incorporates extensive citations, not only from orthodox ecclesiastical writers, but also from the heretic Apollinarius and the suspected Arian, Eusebius of Emesa. The texts of many of these citations are known only from the "Eranistes" and are therefore witnesses to the development of patristic Christology. Critical issues in Antiochene and Alexandrian Christology are broached by Theodoret in the text and are further discussed by the translator in the introduction and notes.

The Collectio Avellana (CA) has an extraordinary richness and variety of content. Imperial rescripts, reports of urban prefects, letters of bishops, and exchanges of letters between popes and emperors, some of which only this compilation preserves, constitute an exceptional documentary collection for researchers of various sectors of antiquity. This volume is the first publication to reconstruct the history of this compilation through the fascinating questions that it poses to the scholar. There are essays on its general structure, and on some of the most singular texts preserved therein. Other papers offer a comparison between this compilation and the other canonical collections compiled in Italy between the fourth and sixth centuries, as well as between the CA and other contemporary literary products. Adopting a new approach, some contributions also ascertain who could physically have access to the materials that were collected in the CA, and where the compiler could find them. All these fresh studies have led to new hypotheses regarding the period in which the collection, or at least some of its parts, took shape and the personality of its author.

The Psalms, along with the Gospels, were the staple diet of early Christians eager to develop their spiritual life. From the school of Antioch we are fortunate to have at least partial commentaries on the Psalms from its four major figures, including Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia in the early fifth century and later regarded as "The Interpreter" by the Syriac church. A work of his early career, this Psalms commentary shows Theodore under the influence of his master Diodore in adopting a historical interpretation, referring individual psalms to David's life, later kings of Israel, Assyrians, and Babylonians, but rarely to Christ. This commentary illustrates the typical hermeneutical strengths and weaknesses of Antiochene interpretation. Biblical and patristic scholars in a range of disciplines will be pleased to have this significant work available from The Interpreter. Paperback edition available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org).

The Fourth Century was crucial to both the Christian Church and Judaism: it saw the formulation of Christian doctrine and the completion of the Palestinian Talmud. Christianity was now the favoured religion of the Roman Empire, but Judaism remained a vital force. In this meticulously researched study Leopold Lucas explores the arguments and attitudes of the Church Fathers from Basil to Augustine. A picture emerges of a strenuous intellectual struggle between Christians and Jews. Thanks to their political ascendancy, the Christians emerged victorious. But the same pressures that excluded the Jews from authority in the Christian State resulted in their preservation as a necessary and hence tolerated minority faith in Mediaeval Europe.

St. John Chrysostom delivered his "Homilies on Genesis" sometime between A.D. 385 and A.D. 388, while still a priest at Antioch. In the homilies in this volume - the last of three - Chrysostom concludes his examination of the lives and virtues of the Old Testament patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph as recounted in the last three chapters of Genesis. Known for his eloquent preaching, Chrysostom delivered these final 22 homilies after Pentecost. His motive for examining the accounts of the lives of the patriarchs is to show how the just forebears of the Israelites, in a time when both the Law and the Gospel were yet unpreached were able to live Christian lives with only simple trust in God and the balanced, almost ingenuous, manners of antiquity. His interest in the events and characters of Genesis is largely moral, even moralistic; he tends to see Scripture as hagiography. His style of commentary, although not really thorough exegesis, arises out of his deep conviction of the divine inspiration of Scripture, hence the habitual attention to detail, "not idly or to no purpose" being his frequent comment on the precision of the text. As an exegete, Chrysostom may seem disappointing to those grounded in the methods of modern biblical scholarship, since he largely ignores any sense of Scripture other than the literal and is generally unaware of how to resolve difficulties and appreciate subtleties that a knowledge of the original text would provide. What he lacks in scientific accuracy, however, he more than compensates for with his earnest practice of pastoral care. This final volume of the homilies includes a general index for these volumes and an index of biblical citations, the latter indicating the rich scriptural diet Chrysostom's congregation - who came daily for his homilies - enjoyed.