This diploma thesis is devoted to the situation of Christians living in the Roman Empire in the first four centuries AD. Every new religion has to face a number of problems in its beginnings, its misunderstanding and its position in society must be gradually enforced. However, the very beginnings of Christianity are not easy to grasp, since so many sources have not been preserved to this day. Likewise, many events are perceived through Christian optics and thus interpreted unilaterally. These are, above all, martyrological texts that have been extensively modified over time and authenticity is now relatively difficult. This diploma thesis is divided into several chapters, while in the first one I try to describe the Roman society and the Roman religion with which the Christian faith was confronted. Further chapters and chapters are devoted to the rise and spread of Christianity, the person of Jesus Christ, and the Church Fathers who report to us about the first centuries of Christian faith. The most extensive part of this diploma thesis is devoted to the main topic of persecution of Christians in the first four centuries AD. To date the individual stages of the persecution of Christians, I will help them by dividing them according to G.E.M. de Ste. Croixe. Chapters to describe the three stages of...

The study is going to analyse Ambrose's treatise De paenitentia and evaluate its importance for the theology of penance. After presenting the evolution of the practice of penance in early Church till 4th century, especially in West and with focus on the Novatian crisis as a milestone, the study is further dealing with Ambrose of Milan's personality and works, namely with his treatise De paenitentia; not only in the context of the contemporary polemics with Novatian heresy, but mainly as a first formalized and structured theology which will be later developed into the understanding of penance as one of the Church's sacraments. Keywords Ambrose of Milan, Church Fathers, 4th century, Novatian, sin, penance, repentance

La lecture foucaldienne des Pères de l'Église dans les années 1980 occupe une place centrale dans son projet de généalogie du sujet moderne. L'un de ses axes le plus important est l'analyse du dire-vrai chrétien. La formation d’un discours analytique de soi, conjuguée avec l'obligation d'obéissance totale à l'autre constitue une partie essentielle de la subjectivation chrétienne. Notre analyse porte sur les diverses formes que prend l'obligation fondamentale de manifester sa vérité, dans les trois pratiques chrétiennes du baptême, de la pénitence et de la direction de conscience. Nous proposons une lecture critique de l'analyse foucaldienne du dire-vrai chrétien dans le cours de 1980 Du gouvernement des vivants, Mal faire dire vrai et Les aveux de la chair, en examinant la singularité de sa méthode par rapport aux historiens. Nous retraçons également l'évolution de la manière dont Foucault problématise son analyse du christianisme et en élargit le cadre historique. Nous proposons enfin une approche comparative du dire-vrai dans la philosophie confucéenne et le christianisme primitif. / The Foucaldian reading of the Church Fathers in the 1980s occupies a central place in his project of genealogy of the modern subject. One of its most important axes is the analysis of the Christian notion of truth-telling. The formation of an analytic discourse of self, combined with the obligation of total obedience to the other, is an essential part of Christian subjectivity. Our analysis focuses on the various forms of the basic obligation to manifest one's truth in the three Christian practices of baptism, penance, and the direction of consciousness. We propose a critical reading of the Foucauldian analysis of the Christian truth-telling in the course of 1980, On the Government of the living, Wrong-doing, Truth-telling and Confessions of the Flesh, by examining the singularity of its method compared to historians. We also retrace the evolution of the way Foucault problematizes his analysis of Christianity and broadens the historical context. Finally, we propose a comparative reading of the notion of truth-telling both in Confucian philosophy and early Christianity.

The thesis deals teologic comparison of two patristic commentaries of the Sermon on the Plain from Gospel of Luke - by saint Ambrose and by saint Cyril of Alexandria. Both autors are excerpts from their commentaries of Gospel of Luke. At first are outlined life and literary work of both authors and later an analysis of both texts from the point of view of selected principal theological topics is made. After that the two theological views are compared to the Sermon on the Plain, outlining the initial idea of both autors.

Sont d’abord rassemblées des études réalisées dans le cadre du projet BIBLINDEX, index en ligne des citations scripturaires chez les Pères de l’Église. Elles visent à renouveler l’historiographie de la réception des Écritures par l’analyse statistique. Les aspects méthodologiques – repérage, expression, délimitation, caractérisation, interrogation et visualisation – sont discutés, puis la méthode définie est appliquée à plusieurs corpus des premiers siècles : les œuvres d’Irénée, de Jérôme ; le livre de Qohélet lu par les Pères. Le corpus du « dernier » d’entre eux, Bernard de Clairvaux, fait l’objet des deux parties suivantes : archétypique en effet, de par la richesse et la complexité de ses mises en œuvre du matériau biblique, ce corpus se prête particulièrement bien à une application approfondie des méthodes d’investigation développées pour BIBLINDEX, complétées par des approches texto-métriques. Nous commençons par livrer quelques enquêtes théologiques, littéraires et historiques de l’œuvre du cistercien, qui ont accompagné l’édition de ses œuvres complètes dans la collection Sources Chrétiennes et illustrent plusieurs types d’usages bibliques, comme la constitution d’un arsenal polémique dans les conflits épistolaires ; la structuration d’une argumentation logique, à la fois philosophique et théologique ; la construction d’une géographie spirituelle avec les interprétations de noms hébreux. Puis nous donnons l’esquisse d’une étude synthétique de la Bible de Bernard, qui reposerait sur les méthodes précédemment définies pour améliorer notre connaissance des relations du saint à la tradition et du rôle de l’assimilation scripturaire dans ses stratégies d’écriture. / First of all, studies carried out within the framework of the BIBLINDEX project, an online index of scriptural quotations in the Early Christian Literature, are gathered. They aim at renewing the historiography on the reception of the Scriptures by statistical analysis. The methodological aspects – identification, expression, delimitation, characterization, queries and visualization – are discussed, then the defined method is applied to several corpora of the first centuries: the works of Irenaeus, Jerome; the book of Qohelet as read by the Fathers. The corpus written by the "last" of them, Bernard of Clairvaux, is the subject of the two following parts: archetypal indeed, due to the richness and the complexity of its implementations of the biblical material, this corpus lends itself particularly well an in-depth application of the investigation methods developed for BIBLINDEX, supplemented by textometric approaches. Some theological, literary and historical inquiries of the Cistercian’s work are first presented, which come along with the publication of his complete works in the collection Sources Chrétiennes and illustrate several types of biblical practices, such as constituting a controversial arsenal in epistolary conflicts; structuring a logical, both philosophical and theological, argumentation; establishing a spiritual geography using interpretations of Hebrew names. Finally, the sketch of a synthetic study of Bernard’s Bible is given, which would be based on the methods previously defined to improve our knowledge of the saint’s relationship to tradition and the role of scriptural assimilation in his writing strategies.

A critical survey of early Church history, the works of the Church Fathers and several councils of the Church reveals a consistent call for unity. Heresies, politic intrigue and struggles for governance have aggravated attempts to remain in the union. The insistence on unity and the persistence of the Church to unify reveals an ontological reality. While our knowledge of the Church can be given in epistemological terms, looking at the Church to discover its essence, what it means to be church, opens a different way of encountering the Church and, eventually, understanding the nature of the Church to be one. The transformations in the early Church as it spread to new cultures, the impact on the Church at the founding of “New Rome” by the Emperor Constantine, the changes brought about when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453 and the resulting birth of the Renaissance in the West with the beginning of the autocephaly Church in Russia and subsequent reunions, are especially rich in manifestations of unification among dissidence. This paper will focus on these particular moments. The concept of looking at the essence of the Church exposes us to an understanding of what the Church is as a universal presence. Stating that the Church has no physical dimension, that it is a unique congregation abiding solely by an actual historic document or defined only by written doctrines does not show us its full essence. Likewise, seeing the Church as defined by how it differs from another, exists in objection to another church or how it avoids affiliation with others, reveals a body that does not have a unifying essence and is lifeless. Looking closer at its essence as it is revealed over time, shows us a living Church that has repeatedly manifested unification as its particularly unique identity. This paper is a reflective look of the Church through the ages which presents to us a look into the essence of the Church. Primary and secondary sources are critically examined with an emphasis on ontological manifestations. The moments in history that are presented in this paper are especially revealing of the unifying nature of the Church in various settings. This paper has limitations though. While the deliberate historic selections may give extraneous interpretations, it is intended to reveal previously under-estimated treasures, and this topic will require being given greater context in any expanded study. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)

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Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

On conserve un nombre inhabituellement élevé de manuscrits ayant appartenu à la bibliothèque du chapitre cathédral de Lyon au IXe siècle, dont bon nombre ont été personnellement utilisés ou produits par le principal acteur de la vie intellectuelle lyonnaise de l’époque, le diacre Florus (floruit v. 825–855). Comme on connaît par ailleurs plusieurs grandes compilations rassemblées également par lui, Florus représente pour nous une double occasion particulièrement rare d’étudier la bibliothèque d’une école cathédrale carolingienne et les méthodes de travail d’un intellectuel de ce temps. Les comparaisons et les nombreux recoupements que permet cette situation étayent et alimentent notre connaissance des livres qu’on utilisait et qui circulaient à l’époque, mais aussi des hommes qui les lisaient et les échangeaient, et des conditions dans lesquelles le travail de Florus a pu passer dans la tradition manuscrite des Pères (première partie). Ces analyses nous peignent Florus un homme de son temps, formé dans un certain milieu à de certaines méthodes, mais que son expérience et ses goûts poussèrent à faire évoluer, tout au long de sa carrière, ses propres méthodes au service de ses propres projets (seconde partie). Un travail d’historiographie est aussi proposé, qui n’avait pas encore été entrepris, et qui fait apparaître les voies de la redécouverte de Florus au cours du XVIIe siècle, puis au XXe. La place de Florus et de sa bibliothèque d’usage, dans l’histoire intellectuelle et dans l’histoire de la transmission des textes antiques, en ressort mieux circonscrite et qualifiée plus précisément, en même temps que se dévoile le cours de sa propre évolution intellectuelle. / An unusual amount of manuscripts that belonged to the Cathedral library of Lyons in the IXth century has been preserved, among which a number were firsthand used or produced by its prominent intellectual figure, the deacon Florus (floruit ca. 825—855). As we also know several large compilations that were gathered by the very same, Florus represents a rare double opportunity to investigate both a Carolingian cathedral library and the work methods of a Carolingian scholar. Numerous comparisons and crosscheckings can strengthen and supply informations regarding the books that were used and circulated at the time, but also regarding the men that read and circulated them, and clarify how Florus’s work on the Fathers has spread in the manuscript tradition (first part). Such analyses depict Florus as a man of his time, who was educated in a certain environment and to use certain methods; but who was then driven, all along his career, by his own experience and taste, to evolve his own methods in the pursuing of his own projects (second part). A historiography study is also held, which was never undertaken before, and reveals the how and why of Florus’s rediscovery in the XVIIth century, and then again in the XXth. Florus’s part and his work library’s, in the intellectual history and in the history of ancient texts transmission, is thus better circumscribed and more precisely described, as is unvailed the course of his own intellectual evolution.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal