Vox Patrum

Review: Augustyn z Hippony, "O kłamstwie", przekład, wprowadzenie i komentarz ks. Łukasz Libowski, Wydawnictwo Scriptum, Kraków 2022, pp. 239

2023-05-04T09:12:11+02:00

Review of the book: Augustyn z Hippony, "O kłamstwie", transl and ed. Rev. Łukasz Libowski, Wydawnictwo Scriptum, Kraków 2022, pp. 239

Review: Ks. Bartłomiej Bartosik, "Teoria i praktyka. Teologia darów duchowych w komentarzach Teodoreta z Cyru do listów Pawłowych i w 'Dziejach miłości Bożej'", Horyzonty Dogmatu 25, Wydawnictwo „scriptum”, Kraków 2022, pp. 295

2024-03-15T12:21:46+01:00

Review of the book: Ks. Bartłomiej Bartosik, Teoria i praktyka. Teologia darów duchowych w komentarzach Teodoreta z Cyru do listów Pawłowych i w "Dziejach miłości Bożej", Horyzonty Dogmatu 25, Wydawnictwo „scriptum”, Kraków 2022.

Review: Blake Leyerle, "The Narrative Shape of Emotion in the Preaching of John Chrysostom", Christianity in Late Antiquity 10, University of California Press, Oakland (California) 2020, pp. 213

2024-03-15T12:21:50+01:00

Review of the book: Blake Leyerle, The Narrative Shape of Emotion in the Preaching of John Chrysostom, Christianity in Late Antiquity 10, University of California Press, Oakland (California) 2020.

Bibliography of the "Apostolic Constitutions"

2023-08-01T14:38:01+02:00

Bibliography of Polish Publications on Tertullian 1998-2023

2024-03-01T20:48:43+01:00

Bibliography of the Polish scientific works on Tertullian published in years 1998-2023. It is a continuation of the bibligraphy: K. Obrycki, Polska bibliografia Tertuliana za lata 1982-1997, CT 68/2 (1998) p. 109-112.

The Obligation of „Celibacy of Continence” of the Clergy in the Ancient Church, according to the Rules of the Church Law and the Roman Law (4th - 5th centuries)

2024-03-15T12:22:15+01:00

In the ancient Church, celibacy was not known in the sense of the obligation of higher clergy to maintain celibacy. Married men as well as voluntarily unmarried men were ordained. There was, however, a practice of complete continence by deacons, presbyters and bishops after they had been ordained. Until the 4th century, there were no norms of law established by the Church on this issue, which resulted from the strict provisions of Roman law, which was aimed at celibates. The point was not to give an excuse to persecute Christians. Only the introduction of new rules of religious policy by Constantine the Great in the 4th century changed the situation. The Synod of Elvira introduced the oldest, established particular law concerning celibacy of continence. Successive synods ordered the clergy to exercise continence due to their service performed to God, and for failing to do so [exercise continence], they were punished by losing their church office. The synod forbade ordaining men who were married a second time, and the so-called spiritual marriages of the clergy with syneisacts. The First Council of Nicaea introduced a law for the whole Church. It not only ordered clergymen to live in a perfect continence, but it also forbade married clergymen from living with their lawful wife. Popes from the 4th and 5th centuries issued decretals ordering the clergy to maintain celibacy of continence, and they justified this by the worship of God. Also Roman state law sanctioned the celibacy of continence existing in the Church.

The Father’s Duties in the Light of the Legislation of the Early Church

2024-03-15T12:22:12+01:00

The article tries to show the role of the father in the light of the canons of the early Church, starting from the beginnings of Christianity until the year 600. It concerns issues such as the father's responsibility for the faith and salvation of children, proper upbringing of offspring, protection of children against various forms of violence, and providing the child with appropriate financial resources. (maintaining) and maintaining the father's authority in the context of responsibility for one's word.

Divine Breath and the Process of Creation. The Allusions to Gen 2:7 in the Catechetical Rhetoric of Cyril of Jerusalem

2024-03-15T12:22:18+01:00

Previous scholarship inadequately acknowledged the diverse ways in which Cyril of Jerusalem employed the breath-related vocabulary related to or derived from Gen 2:7. A systematic analysis of Cyril’s catechetical homilies revealed that in his rhetoric, this vocabulary was utilized in several distinct contexts. First, it was used to describe the creation of humans as living beings. Secondly, the vocabulary depicted a pre-Pentecost mediation of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit could be interpreted as another form of “breathing.” Fourthly, breath-related vocabulary was employed in reference to three ecclesiastical rites of initiation, indicating their pneumatological significance. This collective utilization of Biblical accounts of breathing, alongside depictions of post-Biblical ecclesiastical rites, formed a coherent narrative aimed at instructing catechetical audiences about the historical sequence of human creation. This narrative encompassed the divine vivification of the tangible body and postlapsarian revivification through the Holy Spirit. Simultaneously, it became evident that Cyril’s use of this vocabulary aligned with his overall allusionary approach to employing Scripture in catechesis.

Tropology in the Hermeneutics of Saint Jerome

2024-03-15T12:22:10+01:00

Tropology is one of the patristic methods of interpreting the biblical text. Saint Jerome includes it in his hermeneutical canon, which he calls "the triple description and rule of Sacred Scripture" (triplex descriptio et regula Scripturarum). He also explains that the essence of tropology is moral interpretation. The main problem of this study is to present the provenance of this method, and then to discuss what it consists of in the understanding of Saint Jerome and what rules it is governed by.

Does the Teaching on the Church Contained in the Letters of St. Jerome Fit in with the Demands of the Second Vatican Council?

2024-03-15T12:22:05+01:00

The Second Vatican Council formulated its ecclesiological teaching on the basis of the concept of communio. It involved turning to the Bible, the teaching of the Church Fathers and the liturgy. This choice resulted in a move away from the juridical language inherent in pre-secular ecclesiology to a religious language that drew concepts from the Bible and the teaching of the Church Fathers, thus emphasising their theological teaching. One of the extremely important Church Fathers writing in the golden age of theology was Jerome of Stridon. The teaching on the Church contained in his Epistles should be considered from
two aspects. First, the monk from Bethlehem is particularly sensitive to the emerging heresies, which he condemns extremely strongly, drawing attention to the threats to the unity of the Church. In the article, the heresy of Pelagianism is presented as an example. The second particularly valuable aspect of Jerome’s ecclesiology is his teaching on the Church based on the proper interpretation of Scripture. Exegesis is the main source of teaching about the Church. This teaching is deeply connected to Christ and to personal experience of faith. Stridonian gives his ecclesiology a Christological meaning, which bears the hallmarks of an eschatological Christology. An ecclesiology understood in this way, based on a correct interpretation of Scripture and pastoral care manifested in warning against the pernicious influence of heresy, is in line with the teaching of Vatican II.

St. Augustine’s Interpretation of the Sanctions for Anger (Matthew 5:22bc) Seen in the Light of the Early Christian Exegesis

2024-03-15T12:22:07+01:00

In Matthew 5:22, extremely harsh words against anger are addressed, in which certain sanctions are imposed for anger, depending on its three different manifestations. The author of article tries to systematise the collected references of the Greek and Latin Fathers to Mt 5:22bc, in which anger is subjected to a moral qualification. The article provides an overview of patristic thought on the subject. The author extracts St. Augustine’s thought on the subject and shows it against the background of the exegesis of other writers.

The Patristic-biblical Argumentation of Eschatological Issues in Julian of Toledo's Treatise "Prognosticum futuri saeculi"

2024-03-15T12:21:58+01:00

Julian of Toledo's (642-690) treatise, entitled Prognosticum futuri saeculi, had a great influence on the later theology and religiosity of the Western Church; it was transcribed in thousands of copies and was available in most medieval libraries. The theological argumentation used by Julian of Toledo in his treatise Prognosticum futuri saeculi is eminently repetitive. In his method of proving the veracity of the theories posited about fire purifying souls posthumously, the author draws primarily on eschatological thought developed by the authorities of the Western Church that he recognized: Augustine of Hippo, Gregory the Great, Julian Pomerius. The source of the concept of the existence of souls after the physical death of bodies or the concept of the immediate remuneration of souls after the physical death of bodies derives from Greek philosophy, while the question of the healing of souls in the hereafter or the fire that purifies souls is a borrowing from the Judeo-Christian apocryphal apocalypses. The biblical argumentation is an add-on for him and is only meant to be a confirmation of the theses previously accepted from the authority of the Western Fathers. The biblical quotations used by Julian of Toledo in favor of eschatology an intermediate state do not prove anything, since in the biblical text at the level of literal meaning intended by the biblical author such content simply does not exist. Julian is not trying to extract the original meaning of the biblical text in an exegetical sense, and his biblical argumentation is an apriori interpretation of the biblical text while giving it more-than-literal meaning.

Extraordinary Stories Involving Children in the Apophthegmata of Anastasius of Sinai

2024-03-15T12:22:23+01:00

The article is devoted to the problem of the child in the apophthegmata of Anastasius of Sinai. They present a wide panorama of life and behavior of children and youth in the context of a specific era and place. The structure of the article is determined by five contexts in which the subjective role of the child is shown as a victim, debtor, dissenter, experiencing spiritual revelations and experiencing possession and healing. The analyses made it possible to formulate specific conclusions, the most significant of which concern Anastasius’ belief that faith is such a great value that it justifies depriving even one’s children of their lives in order to protect them from apostasy, and that the teenager is capable of an independent act of faith for which he is willing to suffer martyrdom. Moreover, in the mind of the monk from Sinai, childhood is a period when one can experience extraordinary religious experiences. This applies to both "private revelations" and healings. This article also poses an important question that can be an inspiration for further research, namely what happened in the Church that in the era of the desert fathers and the strong development of monastic life in which references to the Old Testament practices - the sacrifices of Abraham and Jephthah - were so strongly voiced, and there was no reference to Jesus and his relationship with children? This sets a completely new horizon in their treatment.

Rev. Wincenty Myszor as an Initiator and Co-Creator of Information Publications with Patristic Content

2024-03-15T12:22:03+01:00

Among the various forms of scientific texts, lexicographic and encyclopedic studies as well as the entries and articles published in them deserve attention. They are created by researchers with extensive scientific experience. They contribute to general and special encyclopedias, terminological and linguistic dictionaries, including translation dictionaries, lexicons, etc. Patrists also have achievements in the field of information publications. An example is Fr. Wincenty Myszor, for years associated with the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw and the Faculty of Theology of the University of Silesia in Katowice. During his scientific career, he initiated or co-created seventeen encyclopedias, dictionaries and lexicons. Based on the analysis of sources and materials stored in the Archdiocesan Archives in Katowice, the work of the patrolologist was characterized, who from the 1970s to the 21st century cooperated with outstanding representatives of Polish and German patrology, coptology, classical philology, theology and philosophy. He left entries and articles on issues close to his research interests in the publications they edited. He also became known as the author and co-author of translation dictionaries of the Coptic language that are still used today. This type of achievements prove the rank of a scientist who, through this type of activity, provides lasting evidence of knowledge and research competence.

The Created World in Early Christian Literature (Patristic Section, Tarnów, 17-20.09.2023)

2023-10-31T15:23:37+01:00

Report from the meeting of the Polish Patristic Section on the theme "The Created World in Early Christian Literature" that was held in Tarnów on 17-20.09.2023.

Benedict XV, Encyclical letter "Principi Apostolorum" (translation into Polish)

2024-03-15T12:21:53+01:00

With his encyclical "Principi Apostolorum", Pope Benedict XV proclaimed Ephrem the Syrian a Doctor of the universal Church. In this encyclical, Pope Benedict XV justifies this act by referring to the importance of his writings and theology for the Eastern Churches, as well as showing the universal significance of his figure and his theological work. The encyclical has not yet been translated into Polish and therefore deserves to be recalled and to benefit from the inspiration it contains for patristic studies.