Este trabalho tem como objetivo a identificação e o estudo da permanência de formas arquitetônicas greco-romanas, ditas clássicas, nas primeiras igrejas cristãs, em uma fase inicial do seu estabelecimento na região da Palestina, desde o governo de Constantino, na primeira metade do século IV d. C., até o final do século VI d. C. Nesse intervalo de quase três séculos procuramos identificar as formas arquitetônicas essenciais que serão constitutivas das igrejas cristãs em seu momento inicial de organização e estudar de que maneira elementos da cultura clássica foram recuperados e usados nesses espaços. Buscamos ir além da análise estritamente material desses edifícios, que evidenciam em suas formas idéias e valores antigos em contraposição a novos elementos que são adotados nesse momento de mudança, produtos concretos de uma nova cultura que se configura nessa época, conhecida como Período Bizantino. / The goal of this dissertation is the identification and study of Graeco-roman architectural forms - classical forms - that were preserved in early Christian churches built in the Palestinian area. The chronological scope is from the first half of the IVth. century, under Constantine\'s rule, to the end of the VIth. century AD. Studying these three centuries, we tried to recognize which basic architectural shapes had been part of early Christian churches and which classical shapes were preserved. We tried to go beyond the building materials, looking for ancient ideas and values still in use in this age of transformation, called Byzantine Period, when the new concepts of an arising culture were starting to achieve material forms.

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African teacher of rhetoric Arnobius of Sicca, who lived at the turn of the 3rd and 4th century, is one of the less known Christian authors. He is the author of Christian apology written in Latin called Adversus nationes. His statement attracted particular interest of philologists and historians of antiquity, because it contains large amounts of mythological material. The aim of this work is to introduce Arnobius not only as a crucial source of pagan theology, but also as an important Christian witness of the complicated religious - political situation of Christianity in the time before the Milan Edict, particularly at the time of Diocletian's persecution of Christians. Given the need to work with original texts includes this thesis also the first Czech translation of Arnobiusʼ apology.

The thesis Literary Relationship Between the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Thomas aims to provide a closer look at the relationship between the ca- nonical Gospel According to Mark and the apocryphal Gospel According to Thomas. The first part of the thesis serves as an introduction: After prolego- mena to the Gospel of Mark and Thomas, it focuses on several contempora- ry hypotheses of the literary relationship between the Gospel of Thomas and Synoptics, as discussed in more recent articles and monographs. Thereafter, the second part of the thesis presents three studies of Thoma- sian and Markan sayings of Jesus. Where necessary, an excursion is made to other synoptic writings. The second part uses the method of linguistic comparison in order to reconstruct the redaction history and thus explain the original literary relationship of these two ancient writings.

ANGLICKÁ ANOTACE (= předběžná náplň práce) Passio Perpetuae and Its Reflection in the Literature of Ancient Church The "Passion of Perpetua and Felicity" (Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis) is one of the most renowned texts of early Christian hagiography. Accordingly, it has been enjoying a renewal of scholarly interest in the last decades. However, surprisingly little attention was paid to its literary "Nachleben", and there exist virtually no studies focusing on its reception in the subsequent literature of the early Church. Seemingly simple narrative, describing the martyrdom of a group of North African Christians, has been held in high esteem since its composition. It acquired almost "canonical" status and was considered authoritative not only by the mass of simple believers but by the Christian intellectuals, too. Though highly venerated in the early Church, it contained a number of innovative and - in the context of Antique and early Christian society - potentially subversive features. These novel features were felt to undermine the existing social order and hierarchy, and it was necessary to "explain them away" in order to make the text more compliant with traditional and generally accepted social values. This was then often taken into account, when later authors and interpreters refer to the text. The...

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During the premodern era, images corresponded to the doctrines of ”The Word”, but in contemporary society this relationship is open and does not correspond to the divine Word. Because of our perceived, postmodern inability to respond to ancient Christian symbols, there is a need to revision these symbols and Christian spirituality. The result of such a revisioning would include an ”opening up” of ”The Word” and of traditional, worn symbols which have lost vitality in this milieu. Art produced with this in mind needs to make ”The Word” more currently accessible and relevant. Further, this revisioning would add significance and enhance the possibility of resurrecting language dealing with ”The Word”. In the process of revitalising old Christian imagery and language, I aim to show that the primary role of contemporary Christian art is to function metaphorically. Finally, I argue that Christian images can take on significance as contemporary images. / Art History Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)

This thesis addresses Constantine's developments of the Roman province of Palaestina. It analyzes two important Christian bishops, Eusebius of Caesarea and Cyril of Jerusalem, and one nameless Christian traveler, the Bordeaux pilgrim, to illuminate how fourth-century Christians understood these developments. This study examines the surviving writings of these Christian authors: the Bordeaux Itinerary, Cyril's Catechetical Lectures, and Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, Onomasticon, Preparation of the Gospel, Proof of the Gospel, and the Life of Constantine, and the archaeological remains of several Constantinian basilicas to interpret their views of the imperial attentions that were being poured into the land. Together these accounts provide views of fourth-century Palaestina and Jerusalem that when combined more fully illuminate how Christians understood Constantine's Holy Land policy. This study focuses on Constantine's developments of the city of Jerusalem, primarily the so-called Triad of Churches (The church of the Nativity, the Eleona, and the Holy Sepulchre) built in and around the city. It likewise considers the countryside of Palaestina outside of Jerusalem. While some Christians were resistant to the developments of Jerusalem, our sources reveal how many Christians supported, or at least desired to experience, the newly developing Christian Holy Land. This thesis argues that most of the discrepancies over the city of Jerusalem between our sources, especially Eusebius and Cyril, developed from long-standing political tensions between the cities of Caesarea and Jerusalem. The Bordeaux pilgrim, on the other hand, traveled across the Roman Empire to see and experience the developing sites throughout the land with no interest in local political debates. With this added perspective we can see how Christians, separated from the positions of church fathers, experienced the developing Holy Land.

The orans, although a gesture with a long ‘pagan’ past, was easily adopted by Christians for its symbolic meanings of prayer and piety and quickly attained a number of other more nuanced meanings as it was refined and reused. By restricting the scope of this thesis to the orans in the Christian catacombs of Rome, it becomes possible to approach the figure from a multi-directional perspective, not merely concerned with what the gesture meant to the Christian, but with its literary and material pedigrees, its transition to Christian art, and its cultural significance. To this end, chapter one examines ‘pagan’ precursors of the Christian orans through an examination of coins, sculptures, inscriptions, and reliefs, as well as by looking at the two figures whose appearance most influences that of the orans – the goddess Pietas, and the Artemisia-Adorans funerary portrait type. Chapter two addresses the importance of the orans in the Christian literary community, and examines not only the actual usage of prayer with raised hands by the Christian faithful, but also examines the aesthetic and theological reasons for the popularity of the gesture – the parallel between the spread arms of the orans and the posture of the crucified Christ. Finally, chapter three presents a spatial-thematic analysis of the usage of the orans in the Roman Christian catacombs, using a corpus of 158 orantes. This chapter enables the reader to draw conclusions about the veracity of the academic theories presented in the previous chapters, as it compares the usage of the orans against its scholarly interpretation.

During the premodern era, images corresponded to the doctrines of ”The Word”, but in contemporary society this relationship is open and does not correspond to the divine Word. Because of our perceived, postmodern inability to respond to ancient Christian symbols, there is a need to revision these symbols and Christian spirituality. The result of such a revisioning would include an ”opening up” of ”The Word” and of traditional, worn symbols which have lost vitality in this milieu. Art produced with this in mind needs to make ”The Word” more currently accessible and relevant. Further, this revisioning would add significance and enhance the possibility of resurrecting language dealing with ”The Word”. In the process of revitalising old Christian imagery and language, I aim to show that the primary role of contemporary Christian art is to function metaphorically. Finally, I argue that Christian images can take on significance as contemporary images. / Art History Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)