Amphiloque d’Iconium contribue à l’élaboration de la théologie du 4ème siècle en précisant la terminologie christologique, en particulier avec l’expression «un Fils et deux natures». Selon Amphiloque, la nature humaine du Christ est «passible, mortelle et intelligible». La nature divine est «impassible, immortelle et invisible». Le Logos de Dieu, affirme Amphiloque, a été enfanté «à cause de l’Économie». Selon l’expression propre d’Amphiloque, «le Logos de Dieu est né charnellement, pour que nous soyons réengendrés spirituellement». Il a supporté la forme d’esclave, pour que nous profitions de la gloire de la filiation. Pour Amphiloque, le Père est «incréé» et le «le créateur de toutes choses», le Fils «a été engendré hors du temps et sans principe» et «existe depuis toujours avec le Père selon la divinité» et l’Esprit, Amphiloque dit qu’Il «procède de Dieu le Père éternellement». Amphiloque parle clairement de la coexistence éternelle de trois personnes divines, de l’incréé du Père, de l’engendrement du Fils et de la procession de l’Esprit. / Amphilochius of Iconium contributes to the development of the 4th century’s theology by specifying the Christological terminology, especially with the phrase "one Son and two natures". According to Amphilochius, the human nature of Christ is "liable, deadly and intelligible". The divine nature is "impassible, immortal and invisible". According to Amphilochius, the Logos of God was engendered "because of the Economy".According to the particular expression of Amphilochius, "the Logos of God was born carnally, so as we will be regenerated spiritually". Christ put on the form of a slave, so that we can take advantage of the glory of adoption.For Amphilochius, the Father is "uncreated", "the creator of all things", the Son "was created out oftime and without principle" and "has always existed with the Father according to the divinity" and the Holy Spirit, Amphilochius says that It "eternally proceeds from the Father". Amphilochius speaks clearly for the eternal coexistence of the three divine persons, for the uncreated of the Father, the begotten of the Son and the procession of the Holy Spirit.

Thesis analyses the reception of Augustine of Hippo's (354-430) ontological discourse on the soul in late antiquity and the early middle ages, more specifically in the sixth and the ninth centuries. Since Augustine never wrote a 'De anima', nor always presented his readers with definite answers to questions, there was room for later authors to interpret and improvise. This thesis focuses on 4 texts: Cassiodorus Senator's 'De anima', Eugippius of Lucculanum's massive florilegium the 'Excerpta ex operibus Sancti Augustini', both from the sixth century, Gottschalk of Orbais' letter 'Quaestiones de anima', and John Scottus Eriugena's apologetic 'De divina praedestinatione liber', both from the ninth century. This thesis establishes that, apart from Cassiodorus, the author's main interest in Augustine's ideas on the ontology of the soul rests on the way it impinges on their contemporary predestination debates. Cassiodorus consciously wanted to produce a Christian De anima in a classical vein. Especially the question of the origin of the soul takes the interest of Eugippius and Gottschalk. This is an important question for predestination debates, since it is supposed to explain technically how original sin came to be universal. Augustine never found a satisfactory answer to this thorny question. Eriugena's genius lies in building an original ontology of the soul on Augustine's own foundations which sidesteps this problem of the origin of the soul entirely.

In recent decades there has been a growing scholarly interest in the representation of women in early Christian texts, with the works of Greek and Latin authors being the primary focus. This dissertation makes an important contribution to the existing scholarship by examining the representation of Armenian women in the fifth-century Christian narratives, which have been instrumental in forging the Christian identity and worldview of the Armenian people. The texts that are discussed here were written exclusively by clerics whose way of thinking was considerably influenced by the religious teachings of the Greek and Syriac Church Fathers. However, as far as the representation of women is concerned, the Greek Fathers' largely misogynistic discourse did not have discernible effect on the Armenian authors. On the contrary, the approach developed in early Christian Armenian literature was congruous with the more liberal way of thinking of the Syriac clerics, with a marked tendency towards empowering women ideologically and providing them with prominent roles in the male-centred society. I argue that such a representation of women was primarily prompted by the ideology of the pre-Christian religion of the Armenians. This research discusses the main historical and cultural factors that prompted a positive depiction of women, and highlights the rhetorical and moralising strategies that the authors deployed to construct an "ideal woman". It further explores the representation of women's agency, experience, discourse, and identity. In particular, women's pivotal role in Armenia's conversion to Christianity and female asceticism in fourth-fifth century Armenia are extensively investigated. It is also argued that women's status in the extended family determined the social spaces they could enter and the extent of power they could exercise. It appears that Iranian matrimonial practice, including polygyny and consanguineous marriages, was common among the Armenian elite, whereas the lower classes mainly practised marriage by bride purchase or abduction. Special attention is devoted to the institution of queenship in Arsacid Armenia and the position of the queen within the framework of power relationships. Finally, this study examines the instances of violence towards women during wars and how the female body was exploited to achieve desirable political goals.

Le présent travail propose une approche canonique et historique de l’organisation de l’Eglise au IVe siècle, ayant comme objectif principal de reconstituer la physionomie de l’Eglise selon quelques aspects essentiels et de saisir dans quelle mesure les canons de cette période ont façonné son visage. Ce retour aux sources d’une organisation stabilisée de l’Eglise fait apparaître en de nombreuses circonstances l’inventivité dont l’Eglise a fait preuve pour répondre aux défis de cette époque. Les conciles du IVe siècle ainsi que la législation canonique relative à l’élection et à l’ordination de l’évêque sont examinés dans le sens du détail significatif. L’étude accorde une attention toute particulière au canon apostolique 34 qui constitue de nos jours le canon le plus commenté et le plus invoqué dans les milieux orthodoxes, non seulement pour légitimer l’organisation des Eglises autonomes et autocéphales orthodoxes, mais encore pour justifier les droits juridictionnels des Eglises autocéphales sur leur diaspora. / This work provides a canonical and historical approach to the organization of the Church in the 4th century, having as main purpose the reconstruction of the face of the Church according to some key aspects, as well as the understanding of how the canons of this period have shaped its face. This return to a stable organization of the Church reveals inventiveness, which the Church has shown, in many circumstances, to meet the challenges of this era. The councils of the 4th century, as well as the canon law concerning the election and the ordination of the bishop, are considered in the direction of significant detail. The study pays particular attention to the Apostolic Canon 34, which is today the most commented and cited canon in the Orthodox community, not only to legitimize the organization of autonomous and autocephalous Orthodox Churches, but also to justify the jurisdictional rights of autocephalous churches in their diaspora.

L’ambition de cette thèse, qui se présente en sept chapitres regroupés en trois parties, est de reprendre l’ensemble du Corpus dionysien pour en définir un principe de cohérence : la théologie négative. Dans le sillage des recherches antérieures, souvent centrées sur une des œuvres qui lui sont attribuées ou sur une thématique particulière, on s’est interrogé sur l’histoire et la complexité de plusieurs concepts centraux de l’œuvre : théologie négative, symbole, hiérarchie. Et, en proposant de considérer la Hiérarchie ecclésiastique comme l’achèvement du Corpus – c’est au bref traité de la Théologie mystique qu’on attribuait volontiers cette place – nous montrons comment l’apophase ou la théologie négative s’enrichit, s’approfondit, d’une dimension liturgique, au-delà de l'affirmation et de la négation. / The purpose of this thesis, consisting of seven chapters grouped under three sections, is to reconsider the whole dionysian Corpus and to define the principle of its consistency, that is negative theology. Following the previous research, often focusing on one of the treatises or a main theme, we start with the history and the complexity of several key concepts within the Corpus: negative theology, symbol, hierarchy. We suggest that Ecclesiastical Hierarchy should be considered as the final step of Dionysius’ theology (rather than Mystical Theology as usually), and that leads us to study how the apophasis or the negative theology deepens into a liturgical dimension, beyond affirmation and negation.

Tous les peuples et toutes les cultures célèbrent leurs morts. Les rites funéraires président à la quête de sens face à la mort. Nous sommes intéressé par la question des rites funéraires dans les premiers siècles de l'Afrique du Nord chrétienne. D'où la formulation de notre sujet qui nous guidera tout au long de notre réflexion: "Les rites funéraires dans l'Afrique du Nord chrétienne du 3e siècle au 5e siècle. A la lumière des œuvres de Tertullien, Cyprien, Lactance et Augustin". Comment les chrétiens célébraient-ils leurs morts aux premiers siècles du Christianisme dans un environnement à dominante païenne ? Quel regard les premiers écrivains chrétiens de l’Église d'Afrique ont-ils eu sur les funérailles des païens, et quelle contribution ont-ils apportée face au culte rendu aux morts par les chrétiens ? Concernant l'Afrique du Nord au début de notre ère et pendant l'Empire romain, les célébrations funéraires étaient d'abord l'affaire des familles. Avec Augustin, nous assistons à une évolution du culte des morts que Tertullien, Cyprien et Lactance attestaient déjà. / All people and culture celebrate the death for peace of the dead persons and the living one. We are interested in the question of the funeral rites in the first centuries of christian Church of the North Africa. That is why we entitled our subject :" The funeral rites of Early Christian North Africa of the 3rd in the 5th century. In the light of Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius and Augustine's works". We try to understand the contents of the funeral rites which presided over the Christian celebrations in honor of the dead in the christian environment of the North Africa. How did the Christians celebrated the death in the first centuries? What are the points of view of the first christian writers in the Africa Church on the pagan funeral that the Christians went on celebrating, and what is their contribution about the cult of dead in the Christian area? About the North Africa at the beginning of our era and during Roman Empire, the funeral celebrations first concerned the families. Thanks to Augustine, at the end of the 4th century and at the beginning of the 5th one, we can notice an important evolution of celebrations in honor of the dead that Tertullian, Cyprian and Lactantius had already initiated.They also acquire at this moment an ecclesial dimension, especially with the cult of the martyrs and their relics. To throw light on the funeral subject in the north Africa, it is necessary to understand the history of the pagan cult of the 3rd to 5th century.