Military Defeat as an Expression of the Wrath of God, Based on Sergius the Stylite’s "Dialogue Against a Jew"

Jan Witold Żelazny

Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II, Wydział Teologiczny , Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3653-0639


Abstract

The text of Sergius the Stylite’s "Dialogue Against a Jew", probably dating from the 8th century, is analysed in this article. One of the key arguments used in the polemic was the matter of punishment, which, according to Sergius, God imposed on the Israelites for their lack of faith and rejection of Jesus. The author of the tract interprets the chosen people’s earthly misfortunes as a sign by which God expressed His disapproval of the Jews’ deeds. Within the text are citations from "The Wars of the Jews" by Flavius Josephus, which Sergius treats as the historical confirmation of God’s plan. The whole argumentation – presenting the impossibility of carrying out acts of worship, together with the misfortunes of the Jewish people, as proof that the Old Covenant has faded away and been passed to Christians – is in line with other anti-Jewish propaganda of Late Antiquity in which the fate of Jerusalem and its citizens is offered as proof that Jewish politeia had faded away.

Keywords:

Sergius Stylit, Josephus Flavius, punishment of God, history, Jews, Judaizantes, Orient

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Published
2018-03-05


Żelazny, J. W. (2018). Klęski militarne jako wyraz gniewu Boga w "Dialogu przeciwko Żydowi" Sergiusza Stylity. Verbum Vitae, 33, 365–383. https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.2018.33.14

Jan Witold Żelazny  atzelazn@cyf-kr.edu.pl
Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II, Wydział Teologiczny ks. dr hab. Jan W. Żelazny, Kierownik Katedry Patrologii na UPJP II. doktoryzował się z patrologii greckiej (Jan Chryzostom), habilitacja z eklezjologii syryjskiej (Biskup Ojcem. zarys ekezjologii syryjskiej na podstawie Konstytucji Apostolskich, Kraków 2006). Specjalizuje się w patrologii orientalnej (Język syriacki, czyli syryjski dialekt języka aramejskiego). wśród autorów, obok znanych jak Efrem czy Afrahat, w kręgu jego zainteresowań są pisarze Kościołów przedchalcedońskich. autor "Zarysu Literatury Patrystycznej kręgu języka syryjskiego, Kraków 2011, tłumacz tekstów syriackich (Tymoteusz I, Listy I- VIII, Kraków 2015) http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3653-0639



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