Ambrose's Patriarchs
Author: Marcia L. Colish
Publisher:
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9780268023652
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe only monograph-length study of the patriarch treatises of Ambrose of Milan.
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Ambrose's Patriarchs
Author: Marcia L. Colish
Publisher:
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 216
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe only monograph-length study of the patriarch treatises of Ambrose of Milan.
Ambrose, Augustine, and the Pursuit of Greatness
Author: J. Warren Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2020-12-10
Total Pages: 309
ISBN-13: 1108846602
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSince Aristotle, the concept of the magnanimous or great-souled man was employed by philosophers of antiquity to describe individuals who attained the highest degree of virtue. Greatness of soul (magnitudo animi or magnanimitas) was part of the language of Classical and Hellenistic virtue theory central to the education of Ambrose and Augustine. Yet as bishops they were conscious of fundamental differences between Christian and pagan visions of virtue. Greatness of soul could not be appropriated whole cloth. Instead, the great-souled man had to be baptized to conform with Christian understandings of righteousness, compassion, and humility. In this book, J. Warren Smith traces the development of the ideal of the great-souled man from Plato and Aristotle to latter adaptions by Cicero, Seneca, and Plutarch. He then examines how Ambrose's and Augustine's theological commitments influenced their different critiques, appropriations, and modifications of the language of magnanimity.
Font of Life
Author: Garry Wills
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2012-04-02
Total Pages: 209
ISBN-13: 0199911894
DOWNLOAD EBOOKNo two men were more influential in the early Church than Ambrose, the powerful Bishop of Milan, and Augustine, the philosopher from provincial Africa who would write The Confessions and The City of God. Different in background, they were also extraordinarily different in personality. In Font of Life, Garry Wills explores the remarkable moment when their lives intersected at one of the most important, yet rarely visited, sites in the Christian world. Hidden under the piazza of the Duomo in Milan lies part of the foundations of a fourth-century cathedral where, at dawn on Easter of 387, Augustine and a group of people seeking baptism gathered after an all-night vigil. Ambrose himself performed the sacrament and the catechumens were greeted by their fellows in the faith, which included Augustine's mother Monnica. Though the occasion had deep significance for the participants, this little cluster of devotees was unaware that they were creating the future of the Western church. Ambrose would go on to forge new liturgies, new forms of church music, and new chains of churches; Augustine would return to Africa to become Bishop of Hippo and one of the most influential writers of Christianity. Garry Wills uses the ancient baptistry to chronicle a pivotal chapter in the history of the Church, highlighting the often uncomfortable relationship between the two church fathers and exploring the mystery and meanings of the sacrament of baptism. In addition, he brings long overdue attention to an unjustly neglected landmark of early Christianity.
Knowledge, Faith, and Early Christian Initiation
Author: Alex Fogleman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2023-10-31
Total Pages: 271
ISBN-13: 1009377396
DOWNLOAD EBOOKProvides a new history of catechesis in early Latin Christianity that foregrounds core questions of knowledge, faith, and teaching.
Enchantment and Creed in the Hymns of Ambrose of Milan
Author: Brian P. Dunkle
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2016-10-13
Total Pages: 278
ISBN-13: 0191092355
DOWNLOAD EBOOKEnchantment and Creed in the Hymns of Ambrose of Milan offers the first critical overview of the hymns of Ambrose of Milan in the context of fourth-century doctrinal song and Ambrose's own catechetical preaching. Brian P. Dunkle, SJ, argues that these settings inform the interpretation of Ambrose's hymnodic project. The hymns employ sophisticated poetic techniques to foster a pro-Nicene sensitivity in the bishop's embattled congregation. After a summary presentation of early Christian hymnody, with special attention to Ambrose's Latin predecessors, Dunkle describes the mystagogical function of fourth-century songs. He examines Ambrose's sermons, especially his catechetical and mystagogical works, for preached parallels to this hymnodic effort. Close reading of Ambrose's hymnodic corpus constitutes the bulk of the study. Dunkle corroborates his findings through a treatment of early Ambrosian imitations, especially the poetry of Prudentius. These early readers amplify the hymnodic features that Dunkle identifies as "enchanting," that is, enlightening the "eyes of faith."
Augustine and Tradition
Author: David G. Hunter
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Published: 2021-11-23
Total Pages: 585
ISBN-13: 1467462640
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn indispensable resource for those looking to understand Augustine’s place in religious and cultural heritage Augustine towers over Western life, literature, and culture—both sacred and secular. His ideas permeate conceptions of the self from birth to death and have cast a long shadow over subsequent Christian thought. But as much as tradition has sprung from Augustinian roots, so was Augustine a product of and interlocutor with traditions that preceded and ran contemporary to his life. This extensive volume examines and evaluates Augustine as both a receiver and a source of tradition. The contributors—all distinguished Augustinian scholars influenced by J. Patout Burns and interested in furthering his intellectual legacy—survey Augustine’s life and writings in the context of North African tradition, philosophical and literary traditions of antiquity, the Greek patristic tradition, and the tradition of Augustine’s Latin contemporaries. These various pieces, when assembled, tell a comprehensive story of Augustine’s significance, both then and now. Contributors: Alden Bass, Michael Cameron, John C. Cavadini, Thomas Clemmons, Stephen A. Cooper, Theodore de Bruyn, Mark DelCogliano, Geoffrey D. Dunn, John Peter Kenney, Brian Matz, Andrew McGowan, William Tabbernee, Joseph W. Trigg, Dennis Trout, and James R. Wetzel.
The Third Gender and Aelfric's Lives of Saints
Author: Rhonda L McDaniel
Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications
Published: 2018-03-31
Total Pages: 307
ISBN-13: 1580443109
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn The Third Gender, McDaniel addresses the idea of the "third gender" in early hagiography and Latin treatises on virginity and then examines Aelfric's treatment of gender in his translations of Latin monastic Lives for his non-monastic audiences. She first investigates patristic ideas about a "third gender" by describing this concept within the theoretical frameworks of monasticism and then turns to creating a historical and theological cultural context within which to locate an interpretation of Aelfric's portrayals of male and female saints.
Christian Grace and Pagan Virtue
Author: J. Warren Smith
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 2011-01-27
Total Pages: 340
ISBN-13: 0195369939
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWarren Smith examines the neglected biblical, liturgical and theological foundations of Ambrose's thought on ethics. Earlier studies have found little that was distinctively Christian in Ambrose's image of the virtuous person. Smith shows that, although like the pagans he emphasized moderation, courage, justice, and prudence, for Ambrose these characteristics were shaped by the church's beliefs about God's salvific economy.
To Cast the First Stone
Author: Jennifer Knust
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2018-11-13
Total Pages: 464
ISBN-13: 0691169888
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe story of the woman taken in adultery features a dramatic confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees over whether the adulteress should be stoned as the law commands. In response, Jesus famously states, “Let him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” To Cast the First Stone traces the history of this provocative story from its first appearance to its enduring presence today. Likely added to the Gospel of John in the third century, the passage is often held up by modern critics as an example of textual corruption by early Christian scribes and editors, yet a judgment of corruption obscures the warm embrace the story actually received. Jennifer Knust and Tommy Wasserman trace the story’s incorporation into Gospel books, liturgical practices, storytelling, and art, overturning the mistaken perception that it was either peripheral or suppressed, even in the Greek East. The authors also explore the story’s many different meanings. Taken as an illustration of the expansiveness of Christ’s mercy, the purported superiority of Christians over Jews, the necessity of penance, and more, this vivid episode has invited any number of creative receptions. This history reveals as much about the changing priorities of audiences, scribes, editors, and scholars as it does about an “original” text of John. To Cast the First Stone calls attention to significant shifts in Christian book cultures and the enduring impact of oral tradition on the preservation—and destabilization—of scripture.
