Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois, 1935. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-243).

The aim of the present study is to examine how the legacy of Alexander was appropriated, altered and used in arguments in early Christian discourse (c. 200-600). There is an inventory of all the early Christian references to Alexander in Appendix 1. The structure of the thesis is conceived as an unequal triptych: it is divided into three parts with subdivisions into three chapters of varying lengths (Part III contains two chapters and the thesis conclusion). Each part is prefaced with a short description of its contents. Each chapter within those parts have a preliminary remark to introduce the principal subject area with a brief conclusion in the back of it. Part I explores the Alexander traditions of three geographical centres of the Christian world: Alexandria (Ch. 1), Jerusalem (Ch. 2) and Rome (Ch. 3). It shows how the Jewish tales from these cities, such as the Josephan tale about Alexander’s visit to Jerusalem, were used in a variety of diverging, often contradictory, ways. Part II turns to the writings of the apologists in the second and third centuries. It discusses three prevalent themes associated with Alexander: historiography (Ch. 4), divine honours (Ch. 5) and Greek philosophy (Ch. 6). Part III moves on to the central texts and Alexander themes in the fourth to sixth centuries. It focuses on his role in Christian chronicles, church histories and representations of their world (Ch. 7), and also the rhetorical use of the figure in Christian preaching and public speaking (Ch. 8). Taken together, these three parts form the overarching argument that Alexander did not only fill many diverse roles in Christian representations of the remote past, but also featured in contemporary discourse on Christian culture, identities and societies, as well as in arguments made on behalf of the Christian religion itself. Indeed, the Christians frequently juxtapose the figure with distinctively Christian features, such as the life of Jesus, the Apostles, the church, sacred cities and holy spaces. They incorporate him into discourses on peace, mercy, generosity and abstinence. In other words, they repeatedly made Alexander relevant for what they considered important and, thus, created their own distinct discourse on the figure.

The dissertation aims to highlight Lactantius´s position among other authors of Christian antiquity and tries to analyze and assess Lactantius´s views pertaining to selected theological topics. First two chapters summarize available findings on Lactantius´s life and integrate his work into the context of early Christian literature. The following part of the dissertation discusses Lactantius´s apologetic method as well as his ideological points of departure and pays attention to his relation toward ancient culture. The focal point of the dissertation lies in the assessment of Lactantius´s views of selected theological issues, such as the teaching about a sole God, teaching about creation, Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and anthropology. The dissertation espacially looks into overlapping of ancient and Christian world of ideas as they are mirrored in Lactantius´s theological considerations.

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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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.