The Pietist movement in turn of the eighteenth century had a strong affinity for Origen -- in par... more The Pietist movement in turn of the eighteenth century had a strong affinity for Origen -- in particular in his doctrine of apoktastasis, often known as "universal salvation". One important English Pietist was Jane Leade, who received mystical visions as a young woman, and later went on to write Tracts promoting apoktastasis, Origen, Jacob Berhme, and the Kabbalah, all the while regarding herself as a faithful member of the Church of England. Her mentor was Rev. Rust, who wrote a substantial defense of Origen and his theology. Jane's writings were published in German, and circulated among Pietist there -- and in Pennsylvania, where a German printer published them for local promulgation. Jane wrote a commentary on the Book of Revelation in support of doctrines gleamed from Origen. Both Jane and Rust were reading Origen, not mediated accounts of his beliefs. It is important to recognize that Origen's writings were not suppressed, they enjoyed the same access as other Church Fathers in the PG and PL. He was on the edge of Greek Patristic literature, much like Eunomius, who also had his advocates.
Through an examination of Gregory's trinitarian theology in its historical context, the autho... more Through an examination of Gregory's trinitarian theology in its historical context, the author reveals the importance of the concept of power - or dynamis. The text also illustrates how power served as a fundamental concept in Greek philosophy and medicine.
A critical treatment of the content and influence of the earliest modern English-language scholar... more A critical treatment of the content and influence of the earliest modern English-language scholarship on Gregory of Nyssa, i.e., Cherniss and Cavarnos.
This article examines the literary appearance of a theological trope across three scholars in Fra... more This article examines the literary appearance of a theological trope across three scholars in Francophone texts written at approximately the same time: Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Daniélou, and Vladimir Lossky. The trope is that Gregory of Nyssa’s polemic against Eunomius of Cyzicus represents Gregory’s rejection of Origen’s hermeneutic for Christian philosophy and for “knowing God”. Each author constructs an antinomy between Gregory and “Eunomius” (who equals “Origen”); each author understands Gregory’s opponent “Eunomius/Origen” to be the personification of rationalism, evacuating Christian theology of its distinct religious content; each author takes Gregory’s relationship to philosophy to represent an exemplary Christian doctrinal and hermeneutical engagement with philosophy. Unlike Gregory, or Eunomius, the authors will decline to link their theology of “knowing God” (their théologie mystique) with their Trinitarian theology. The bracketing off of a doctrine of Trinity from a doctrine of “gnoseology” is conspicuous when the historical exemplar for true gnoseology is Gregory’s engagement with Eunomius, a controversy that argued – on both sides – gnoseology via Trinitarian theology (or vice versa).
reconstructions from much later material, it is still possible to hypothesize what that very sign... more reconstructions from much later material, it is still possible to hypothesize what that very significant prayer (in terms of the development of eucharistie prayer) may have been like. Given the comprehensive scope of this work and its usefulness as a guide to students and scholars alike, I wish that B. had included sections on ordination, a subject which he is eminently qualified to discuss, and on the development of the cult of the saints, a most important development in the evolution of the liturgical calendar. The book would clearly benefit from inclusion of these topics. Finally, by way of criticism, I would add that B.'s search for the origins of Christian worship is quite self-consciously devoid of theological judgments. In the final analysis, however, the volume of data gathered and analyzed in this work needs reflection, and the historian must participate in the search for theological criteria by which to judge it. Anyone, however, who is interested in the nature and development of Christian worship or even in Christian origins in general must be grateful to B. for providing a vade mecum that will be valuable for a long time to come.
tensions and differences that existed between the so-called simple Coptic monks and those with gr... more tensions and differences that existed between the so-called simple Coptic monks and those with greater education. These differences can be explained in part as arising from tensions between two cultures, oral and literate. Oral culture permeates early desert monasticism. A greater attention to its formative influence, as William Graham has shown in relation to Pachomian monasticism, could help to nuance the extreme distinction proposed by Rubenson and others between learned and unlearned, literate and illiterate. Finally, regarding Antony's use of the Bible, it must be asked whether the allegorical method presented in the Letters was Antony's (and the other monks') preferred method of interpretation. In emphasizing Antony's preference for the allegorical and denigrating what he calls simple, literal interpretation, Rubenson neglects the importance of two basic aspects of the early monastic hermeneutic. First, there is the monks' use of sacred texts in battling the demons and in the process of discernment, something that is evident throughout both the Apophthegmata and the Vita, a practice that is both sophisticated and profound and which fits well with the understanding of the power of spoken language found everywhere in oral cultures. Second, and even more important, is the attention given by the monks toward fulfillment or realization of the sacred texts in their lives, their adherence to the commands of scripture. This practical attitude toward language (which is not the same as literalism), especially toward the language of sacred texts, can be seen throughout the early monastic sources. It signals not so much an inability or unwillingness to plumb the depths of scripture allegorically as a positive respect for praxis, a sense that understanding of Scripture was inseparable from engagement of the text through one's life. The ubiquitous and all-encompassing question heard on the lips of monks throughout the Sayings, "what am I to do?," suggests a tenacious attention they gave to "performance" of the sacred texts. Their embodiment of these texts in their lives is one of the qualities that their contemporaries found so compelling. The portrait of Antony as sacred exemplar, presented in the V¿fÃ-j and in the Apophthegmata, is consistent with this view. Douglas Burton-Christie, Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, California
This essay argues that without allowing for a legitimate extra-biblical reasoning for the appropr... more This essay argues that without allowing for a legitimate extra-biblical reasoning for the appropriateness of God's "simplicity," Christians will be compelled biblically to affirm that God, as such, has a body-or at least Christians will have to accept this as a theologically possible reading of Scripture that cannot be ruled out. Barnes first cites ancient philosophical sources that argue that God has no parts but is utterly simple. In Barnes's quick sketch, the main role is given to Plotinus and especially to the summation found in Alcuinus's Didaskalon X.7 (Alcuinus is known also as Albinus). Barnes then examines readings of Israel's Scriptures that indicate the bodiliness of God (YHWH). Most importantly, divine bodiliness comports with the "plain sense" of Scripture. Here he draws upon such works as Benjamin Sommer's The Bodies of God, Stephen Moore's "Gigantic God," and Tryggve Mettinger's The Dethronement of Sabaoth; and he also makes reference to the work of the Jewish kabbalist scholar Gershom Scholem. Barnes carefully investigates such passages as Exodus 33, in which God is clearly presented as having bodily parts, including a "face." As Barnes notes, the Fathers' arguments for why God does not have a body are tied completely to their arguments for why God exists simply. To Elise Brand Barnes, 1957-2018. May she be greeted by Lazarus, who once was poor. "… the Law revealed to Moses never enjoined us to believe that God is incorporeal, nor even that he has no image or figure, but only that God is, and to believe in him and pray to him alone." Baruch de Spinoza "… the unity, the simplicity, or inseparability of all the properties of Deity, is one of the chief perfections I conceive him to possess…." René Descartes "Selecting [Scriptural] texts means ultimately creating theology, not describing the ideological world that dominated in the past."
This article examines the literary appearance of a theological trope across three scholars in Fra... more This article examines the literary appearance of a theological trope across three scholars in Francophone texts written at approximately the same time: Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Daniélou, and Vladimir Lossky. The trope is that Gregory of Nyssa’s polemic against Eunomius of Cyzicus represents Gregory’s rejection of Origen’s hermeneutic for Christian philosophy and for “knowing God”. Each author constructs an antinomy between Gregory and “Eunomius” (who equals “Origen”); each author understands Gregory’s opponent “Eunomius/Origen” to be the personification of rationalism, evacuating Christian theology of its distinct religious content; each author takes Gregory’s relationship to philosophy to represent an exemplary Christian doctrinal and hermeneutical engagement with philosophy. Unlike Gregory, or Eunomius, the authors will decline to link their theology of “knowing God” (their théologie mystique) with their Trinitarian theology. The bracketing off of a doctrine of Trinity from a ...
The Pietist movement in turn of the eighteenth century had a strong affinity for Origen -- in par... more The Pietist movement in turn of the eighteenth century had a strong affinity for Origen -- in particular in his doctrine of apoktastasis, often known as "universal salvation". One important English Pietist was Jane Leade, who received mystical visions as a young woman, and later went on to write Tracts promoting apoktastasis, Origen, Jacob Berhme, and the Kabbalah, all the while regarding herself as a faithful member of the Church of England. Her mentor was Rev. Rust, who wrote a substantial defense of Origen and his theology. Jane's writings were published in German, and circulated among Pietist there -- and in Pennsylvania, where a German printer published them for local promulgation. Jane wrote a commentary on the Book of Revelation in support of doctrines gleamed from Origen. Both Jane and Rust were reading Origen, not mediated accounts of his beliefs. It is important to recognize that Origen's writings were not suppressed, they enjoyed the same access as other Church Fathers in the PG and PL. He was on the edge of Greek Patristic literature, much like Eunomius, who also had his advocates.
Through an examination of Gregory's trinitarian theology in its historical context, the autho... more Through an examination of Gregory's trinitarian theology in its historical context, the author reveals the importance of the concept of power - or dynamis. The text also illustrates how power served as a fundamental concept in Greek philosophy and medicine.
A critical treatment of the content and influence of the earliest modern English-language scholar... more A critical treatment of the content and influence of the earliest modern English-language scholarship on Gregory of Nyssa, i.e., Cherniss and Cavarnos.
This article examines the literary appearance of a theological trope across three scholars in Fra... more This article examines the literary appearance of a theological trope across three scholars in Francophone texts written at approximately the same time: Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Daniélou, and Vladimir Lossky. The trope is that Gregory of Nyssa’s polemic against Eunomius of Cyzicus represents Gregory’s rejection of Origen’s hermeneutic for Christian philosophy and for “knowing God”. Each author constructs an antinomy between Gregory and “Eunomius” (who equals “Origen”); each author understands Gregory’s opponent “Eunomius/Origen” to be the personification of rationalism, evacuating Christian theology of its distinct religious content; each author takes Gregory’s relationship to philosophy to represent an exemplary Christian doctrinal and hermeneutical engagement with philosophy. Unlike Gregory, or Eunomius, the authors will decline to link their theology of “knowing God” (their théologie mystique) with their Trinitarian theology. The bracketing off of a doctrine of Trinity from a doctrine of “gnoseology” is conspicuous when the historical exemplar for true gnoseology is Gregory’s engagement with Eunomius, a controversy that argued – on both sides – gnoseology via Trinitarian theology (or vice versa).
reconstructions from much later material, it is still possible to hypothesize what that very sign... more reconstructions from much later material, it is still possible to hypothesize what that very significant prayer (in terms of the development of eucharistie prayer) may have been like. Given the comprehensive scope of this work and its usefulness as a guide to students and scholars alike, I wish that B. had included sections on ordination, a subject which he is eminently qualified to discuss, and on the development of the cult of the saints, a most important development in the evolution of the liturgical calendar. The book would clearly benefit from inclusion of these topics. Finally, by way of criticism, I would add that B.'s search for the origins of Christian worship is quite self-consciously devoid of theological judgments. In the final analysis, however, the volume of data gathered and analyzed in this work needs reflection, and the historian must participate in the search for theological criteria by which to judge it. Anyone, however, who is interested in the nature and development of Christian worship or even in Christian origins in general must be grateful to B. for providing a vade mecum that will be valuable for a long time to come.
tensions and differences that existed between the so-called simple Coptic monks and those with gr... more tensions and differences that existed between the so-called simple Coptic monks and those with greater education. These differences can be explained in part as arising from tensions between two cultures, oral and literate. Oral culture permeates early desert monasticism. A greater attention to its formative influence, as William Graham has shown in relation to Pachomian monasticism, could help to nuance the extreme distinction proposed by Rubenson and others between learned and unlearned, literate and illiterate. Finally, regarding Antony's use of the Bible, it must be asked whether the allegorical method presented in the Letters was Antony's (and the other monks') preferred method of interpretation. In emphasizing Antony's preference for the allegorical and denigrating what he calls simple, literal interpretation, Rubenson neglects the importance of two basic aspects of the early monastic hermeneutic. First, there is the monks' use of sacred texts in battling the demons and in the process of discernment, something that is evident throughout both the Apophthegmata and the Vita, a practice that is both sophisticated and profound and which fits well with the understanding of the power of spoken language found everywhere in oral cultures. Second, and even more important, is the attention given by the monks toward fulfillment or realization of the sacred texts in their lives, their adherence to the commands of scripture. This practical attitude toward language (which is not the same as literalism), especially toward the language of sacred texts, can be seen throughout the early monastic sources. It signals not so much an inability or unwillingness to plumb the depths of scripture allegorically as a positive respect for praxis, a sense that understanding of Scripture was inseparable from engagement of the text through one's life. The ubiquitous and all-encompassing question heard on the lips of monks throughout the Sayings, "what am I to do?," suggests a tenacious attention they gave to "performance" of the sacred texts. Their embodiment of these texts in their lives is one of the qualities that their contemporaries found so compelling. The portrait of Antony as sacred exemplar, presented in the V¿fÃ-j and in the Apophthegmata, is consistent with this view. Douglas Burton-Christie, Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, California
This essay argues that without allowing for a legitimate extra-biblical reasoning for the appropr... more This essay argues that without allowing for a legitimate extra-biblical reasoning for the appropriateness of God's "simplicity," Christians will be compelled biblically to affirm that God, as such, has a body-or at least Christians will have to accept this as a theologically possible reading of Scripture that cannot be ruled out. Barnes first cites ancient philosophical sources that argue that God has no parts but is utterly simple. In Barnes's quick sketch, the main role is given to Plotinus and especially to the summation found in Alcuinus's Didaskalon X.7 (Alcuinus is known also as Albinus). Barnes then examines readings of Israel's Scriptures that indicate the bodiliness of God (YHWH). Most importantly, divine bodiliness comports with the "plain sense" of Scripture. Here he draws upon such works as Benjamin Sommer's The Bodies of God, Stephen Moore's "Gigantic God," and Tryggve Mettinger's The Dethronement of Sabaoth; and he also makes reference to the work of the Jewish kabbalist scholar Gershom Scholem. Barnes carefully investigates such passages as Exodus 33, in which God is clearly presented as having bodily parts, including a "face." As Barnes notes, the Fathers' arguments for why God does not have a body are tied completely to their arguments for why God exists simply. To Elise Brand Barnes, 1957-2018. May she be greeted by Lazarus, who once was poor. "… the Law revealed to Moses never enjoined us to believe that God is incorporeal, nor even that he has no image or figure, but only that God is, and to believe in him and pray to him alone." Baruch de Spinoza "… the unity, the simplicity, or inseparability of all the properties of Deity, is one of the chief perfections I conceive him to possess…." René Descartes "Selecting [Scriptural] texts means ultimately creating theology, not describing the ideological world that dominated in the past."
This article examines the literary appearance of a theological trope across three scholars in Fra... more This article examines the literary appearance of a theological trope across three scholars in Francophone texts written at approximately the same time: Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Daniélou, and Vladimir Lossky. The trope is that Gregory of Nyssa’s polemic against Eunomius of Cyzicus represents Gregory’s rejection of Origen’s hermeneutic for Christian philosophy and for “knowing God”. Each author constructs an antinomy between Gregory and “Eunomius” (who equals “Origen”); each author understands Gregory’s opponent “Eunomius/Origen” to be the personification of rationalism, evacuating Christian theology of its distinct religious content; each author takes Gregory’s relationship to philosophy to represent an exemplary Christian doctrinal and hermeneutical engagement with philosophy. Unlike Gregory, or Eunomius, the authors will decline to link their theology of “knowing God” (their théologie mystique) with their Trinitarian theology. The bracketing off of a doctrine of Trinity from a ...
A treatment of Fourth and early Fifth century Latin theologians of "Nicene" sympathies -- other t... more A treatment of Fourth and early Fifth century Latin theologians of "Nicene" sympathies -- other than the "big three": Hilary, Ambrose and Augustine. Latin trinitarian theology as a theological tradition in itself.
The new uncovering of a "trajectory" in Christology which is continuous from the NT until now: "V... more The new uncovering of a "trajectory" in Christology which is continuous from the NT until now: "Virtue Christ". Quote: There is one question about Jesus the Christ that has been active and central during the entire history of Christianity: how – in what ways – does Jesus function as the moral exemplar for those who ‘believe in him’?
An account of the influence of Harold Cherniss and Peter Cavarnos in scholarship on Greek philoso... more An account of the influence of Harold Cherniss and Peter Cavarnos in scholarship on Greek philosophy in Gregory's psychology during the 'sixties, 'seventies, and early 'eighties. How Gregory was perceived, and how that perception shaped the questions in scholarship. The influence of "authorities". A WORK IN PROGRESS
The modern "rediscovery" of Gregory of Nyssa -- especially Gregory the "Mystic" -- occurred in th... more The modern "rediscovery" of Gregory of Nyssa -- especially Gregory the "Mystic" -- occurred in the Nineteen-Forties largely due to three books, all written in French, and all in less than ten years: Von Balthasar's book Presence and Thought, Danielou's book on Gregory the mystic, and Lossky's book on the Vision of God. This essay examines these three works, their relationship to one another, and posits a common intention that reveals a unity among them. Why was Gregory so interesting, even attractive as a theologian, to these three authors?
A critical treatment of the content and influence of the earliest modern English-language scholar... more A critical treatment of the content and influence of the earliest modern English-language scholarship on Gregory of Nyssa, i.e., Cherniss and Cavarnos.
Accepting Christ's violent death as integral to the Christian doctrine of salvation, I locate tha... more Accepting Christ's violent death as integral to the Christian doctrine of salvation, I locate that "mean story" within the context of other "mean stories" that are occasions of meaning-giving in life and literature. I offer a Christology which accepts and builds upon the existential fact of our radical openness to violence -- physical, emotional and spiritual loss. A bit of James Agee, a bit of Flannery O'Conner, some "Shane", and a lot of Athanasius' On the Incarnation. An old talk brought out to be completed.
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There is one question about Jesus the Christ that has been active and central during the entire history of Christianity: how – in what ways – does Jesus function as the moral exemplar for those who ‘believe in him’?