This study traces the first steps of how divine simplicity entered into Christian Trinitarian discourse. It is the burden of this thesis to demonstrate that divine simplicity emerged in the ante-Nicene period with a distinctive status quaestionis concerning (a) the meaning of the doctrine, and (b) its function in reflections on the Father-Son relation. The first part argues that simplicity emerged in the ante-Nicene period with two possible trajectories of interpretation, anticipated by Plato’s Republic and Phaedo respectively. In the apologists, divine simplicity emerged as a purely metaphysical doctrine. However, a richer interpretation of the doctrine is also available in ante-Nicene theology, as exemplified in Origen’s understanding of divine simplicity as a metaphysical-ethical synthesis, meaning that (a) God’s nature is perfectly incorruptible, and (b) God’s character is perfectly free from contradictions. The second part argues that divine simplicity acquired a role in ante-Nicene reflections on the Father-Son relation within two significant ante-Nicene contexts: (a) polemic against Valentinian emanation (prolatio/probolē) and (b) polemic against Monarchianism. The genius of Origen is to utilise divine simplicity for avoiding the Monarchian identification between the Father and Son on the one hand, and the Valentinian separation between the Father and Son on the other. Consequently, we find the surprising conclusion that divine simplicity serves as a principle of differentiation as well as unity between the Father and Son. This thesis raises new questions for both modern theologians and patristic specialists. For modern theologians, the ante-Nicene developments suggest the Son’s generation as a fruitful site for further analysis on the relation between divine simplicity and Trinitarian theology. For patristic specialists, ante-Nicene developments highlight the need to account for the transition from the ante-Nicene to the post-Nicene status quaestionis: how did divine simplicity change from being attributed to the Father (ante-Nicene) to being attributed to the divine essence (post-Nicene)?

In Paul's epistles to the Romans and the Galatians, the Apostle famously opposes "works of the law" within disputes regarding Jews and the law. But what are these works, what do they signify, and why are they rejected? Such questions are widely contested in New Testament scholarship, with responses constituting an important fault line in contemporary debates between "old" and "new" perspectives on Paul. This study engages these debates by investigating the views of the earliest patristic sources on this issue, which carry distinct heuristic value due to their historical, cultural, and personal proximity to Paul. Part I of this thesis presents the theoretical basis for using early reception within a period of "living memory" to engage contested areas of interpretation. Part II outlines the "old" and "new" perspectives on works of the law, with Luther, Calvin, Bultmann and Moo presented for the "old" perspective, and the "new" represented by Sanders, Dunn and Wright. Part III presents a comprehensive investigation of early patristic writings, stretching from the Didache to Irenaeus, which evaluates each source's usage of the relevant Pauline texts and their understanding of the meaning, significance, and reasons for opposing works of the law. Part IV concludes with a synthesis of these early views, an assessment of how they relate to the "old" and "new" perspectives, and implications for what their testimony suggests about Paul's meaning in the biblical texts. While neither perspective aligns uniformly with the patristic sources, it is concluded that contrary to current nomenclature, the "new" perspective finds greater correspondence with Christian antiquity than the "old" on this issue, and given these sources' proximity to Paul and the consistent and uncontroversial nature of their interpretations, the burden of proof in contemporary debates should be carried by those who would run counter to these early perspectives.

The identification of the speakers in John 3:13-21 and 3:31-36 has remained a longstanding question in biblical studies, confirmed by the difference of opinion in commentaries and the lack of agreement over the placement of quotation marks in contemporary versions of the Bible. The scholarly debate has centered on whether these passages ought to be interpreted as continuations of the words of Jesus and the Baptist, or as authorial commentary appended to their respective discourses. The purpose of this study was to remedy this interpretive difficulty by approaching the question from a wholly different angle: that of tracing the reception history of John 3 in the patristic period (up to A.D. 450). By critically surveying how these earliest readers of John’s Gospel interpreted the speakers, this thesis provides a fresh basis for evaluating the divergent theories of modern commentators and for reconsidering the placement of quotation marks in Bible versions.

Cette étude s’efforce de comprendre de quelles manières la figure biblique d’Étienne (Actes 6-8) s’est transmise et a été reçue dans le christianisme des six premiers siècles de notre ère. Du texte des Actes des apôtres à la translation de ses reliques à Rome en 589, notre enquête tente de saisir les mécanismes conduisant à la construction d’Étienne comme un saint dont le culte fut central dans l’histoire du christianisme. Nous nous attachons en particulier à l’étude des diverses formes que son culte a revêtues après la découverte de ses reliques, en Palestine au ve siècle, et de sa rapide diffusion en Méditerranée orientale et occidentale. À cette fin, nous examinerons l’ensemble des pièces du dossier hagiographique d’Étienne à la lumière des recherches les plus récentes sur le culte des saints, l’hagiographie et l’histoire de la Palestine dans l’Antiquité tardive. Au terme de cette étude, nous espérons surtout exposer les motivations idéologiques de l’usage des reliques du saint dans un contexte où s’entrecroisent controverses doctrinales, topographie sacrée, antijudaïsme et construction de la mémoire chrétienne. / This study aims at understanding in what ways the biblical figure of Stephen (Acts 6-8) was transmitted and received in Christianity during the first six centuries of our era. From the text of the Acts of the apostles to the translation of his relics to Rome in 589, our investigation attempts to grasp the mechanisms that led to the construction of Stephen as a saint whose cult was central in the history of Christianity. In particular we shall concentrate on the various forms of his cult that appeared after the discovery of his relics, in Palestine in the vth century, and on its rapid spreading in the eastern and western parts of the Mediterranean. With this aim in view, we shall examine all the documents of the hagiographical dossier of Stephen in the light of the most advanced research on the cult of saints, hagiography and the history of Palestine in Late Antiquity. At the end of this study, we hope, above all, to expound the ideological motives of the use of the saint’s relics in a context in which doctrinal controversies, sacred topography, antijudaism and construction of the Christian memory intersect.

During the 5th-6th century multiple clashes of theological debate engulfed the Roman empire after the heated council controversies of Ephesus and Chalcedon. The aftermath sparked factions and formulated alliances dependent on their hermeneutical and dogmatic positions. This study inquires Narsai of Nisbis and Jacob of Serugh who are characterized by the late-antique’s drama and compares their hermeneutical backgrounds in relation to their beliefs.

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<p>This thesis examines the concept of God as Father in the thinking of two Patristic authors: Athanasius (c. 293-373) and Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329-390). Since God is called Father frequently in the New Testament both Athanasius and Gregory see the name as fundamental to understanding the nature of the intradivine life, as well as God’s relationship to humankind. The reliance of Patristic authors on the language of Father and Son brings relational language to the fore of Christological and trinitarian discussions of the 4th and 5th centuries. In this thesis, I endeavour to demonstrate the centrality of the fatherhood of God in the thinking of Athanasius and Gregory of Nazianzus, and to connect their thinking on this topic to larger theological questions of the period.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

This dissertation provides an English translation of Basil of Caesarea's sermon Homilia in divites based on Yves Courtonne's Greek text. I have included details of Basil's scriptural content in the notes. The searches to identify the scriptural content were done using LXX and GNT as databases and employing the search capabilities of Accordance Bible Software. Many scholars' comments on the sermon are also included in the notes. No English translation and annotation of Basil of Caesarea's sermon Homilia in divites has been available, though a devotional book with the translation appeared in 2009 after I began this project. As far as I know, Courtonne's 1935 French language version is the only commentary. While scholars have made assumptions about the date of the sermon, questions remain. I include details of a rigorous search to identify the date of composition which pulls together existing scholarly thought and an intricate search of internal data. I believe the sermon was written in 371 as Basil raised funds for his Basileiados. He invited a group of wealthy men to arrive early for a panegyris and delivered Homilia in divites in the days prior to the panegyris. Moreover, Basil's exegetical and theological writings have received much attention, while this sermon, which is neither overtly exegetical or theological, has only had limited study. Thematically, Homilia in divites is a sermon for Basil's and our times. He vividly describes the way God planned for wealth to be used: wealth is to be distributed not stored. Equally as vividly, Basil describes the consequences of storing wealth. / Religion

This thesis is a study of the interpretation and reception of the writings attributed to the apostle Paul based on the collation of references to Pauline texts in pre-Nicene Christian writings. The material is analysed utilising a method worked out by Teresa Morgan and Raffaella Cribiore to understand the nature and extent of indebtedness to literary authorities in ancient pedagogy. The application of their method means that the most frequently cited passages from the Pauline corpus become the focus for detailed examination, and a chapter is devoted to the following passages: 1 Corinthians 2.6-16, Ephesians 6.10-17, 1 Corinthians 15.50-58, and Colossians 1.15-20. In each chapter, selections from early Christian texts which use these passages are chosen for in-depth analysis because they are representative in their interpretative approaches of the totality of texts examined. Across many different early Christian writings, images and phrases from these Pauline pericopes were used to support and defend a wide range of theological arguments about the nature of divine wisdom and its contrast with human wisdom, the importance of standing firm in faith, the nature of resurrection and the body, and the nature of Christ. On the basis of the analysis throughout this thesis, conclusions are drawn firstly, about the close connection between scriptural interpretation and theological doctrines; secondly, about early Christian formation, separate from scholarly attempts to recover early Christian catechesis, school teaching, and pedagogy; and finally, about early Christian identity and how it is formed and informed by early Christian use of these four passages.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation aims to trace a Christian letter tradition, i.e. the pastoral letter type, during the first five centuries of this era. With this in mind I outlined the problem statements, goals, theoretical points of departure, research questions, hypotheses, methodologies and structures in Chapter I of the dissertation. I surveyed the history of modern studies on Greco-Roman epistolography in Chapter II. There I looked at how the study of Christian letters was related to Greco-Roman epistolography and what it contributed to the history of modern study on Greco-Roman epistolography. In the process I also focused on the study of the Christian letter tradition that flourished especially during the middle of the twentieth century. I pointed out some weaknesses in the preceding studies, such as limiting the analysis of letters to certain periods, failure to consider generic features and lack of attention to psychagogical intention. At the end of the chapter I concluded by pointing out what still remains to be done, such as considering a broader range of sources and periods, and paying more attention to how the pastoral letter continued to function during the first five centuries of our era. On the basis of the preceding survey I then focused in Chapter III on the generic features of Greco- Roman hortatory letters and their psychagogical functions to provide the background of a broader hortatory tradition for explaining the generic features and functions of the earliest Christian letters, i.e. the letters in the NT. From this research I concluded that Greco-Roman hortatory letters followed the pattern of common Greco-Roman letters in terms of structural and formal features. However, they not only focused on the guidance or education of the recipients in terms of function, but for effective persuasion the authors also employed various rhetorical devices which are often found in the other genres of hortatory works. In Chapter IV I analysed the letters in the NT in order to show that these letters resonate with the hortatory letters that were composed for psychagogy (viz. pastoral care). Firstly, I focused on the analysis of Paul’s first letter, i.e. 1 Thessalonians, to show that the author of the first Christian letter was as pastor above all concerned with pastoral care, and for effective pastoral care he borrowed from the Greco-Roman hortatory letter tradition. From this analysis I concluded that 1 Thessalonians can be located in the hortatory letter tradition, but has its own distinct character differing from common hortatory letters. These features must have resulted from Paul’s efforts to take care of his believers in the Christian faith. In the remainder of this chapter I analysed the rest of the letters in the NT, considering the outcome of the analysis of 1 Thessalonians together with the broader hortatory tradition. I found that the rest of the letters in the NT could be classed as hortatory letters for the purpose of psychagogy, i.e. pastoral letters, in terms of both their structural and formal features, and of their composition, purpose and function. In Chapter V I analysed a number of selected pastoral letters from early Christian authors. Firstly, I surveyed the history of Christian letters and their authors to provide a general background for this chapter. From these authors and their letters, I chose sixteen pastoral letters from fifteen Christian leaders based on stated criteria, and analysed them, considering both the earliest Christian pastoral letters (viz. the letters in the NT) and the broader Greco-Roman hortatory letter tradition. As a result of this analysis I found that these selected letters had features in common with the earliest Christian pastoral letters, especially in terms of their purpose and function, as well as distinctly Christian characteristics. I then compared the outcome of this analysis with selected letters from non-pastoral Christian letter types (viz. the festal or paschal letter type, the synodic letter type, the papal letter type and the “essay in letter form”). I found that, though the selected pastoral letters and nonpastoral letters had some literary features in common, such as structure and form, and employed rhetorical devices, they nevertheless differed in terms of purposes and function. In the last chapter, Chapter VI, I briefly summarised the entire dissertation / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif het ten doel om die bestaan van ’n Christelike brieftradisie, nl. die pastorale brieftipe, in die eerste vyf eeue van hierdie era na te spoor. Vir hierdie doel het ek die probleem- en doelstellings, teoretiese uitgangspunte, navorsingsvraagstukke, hipoteses, metodologieë en strukture van die proefskrif in Hoofstuk I uiteengesit. In Hoofstuk II het ek ’n oorsig gegee van moderne studie oor die Grieks-Romeinse epistolografie. Ek het ook nagevors hoe die studie van Christelike briewe aansluiting vind by die Grieks-Romeinse epistolografie, en watter bydrae hierdie studie tot die ontwikkeling van moderne studie oor die Grieks-Romeinse epistolografie gemaak het. Bykomend hiertoe het ek gefokus op die studie van ’n Christelike brieftradisie wat veral gedurende die middel van die twintigste eeu gefloreer het, en het sekere leemtes in hierdie vooraafgaande studies uitgewys, nl. die feit dat die analise van briewe tot slegs sekere periodes beperk is, en die versuim om generiese eienskappe en pastorale oogmerke in aanmerking te neem. Daarna het ek aan die einde van die hoofstuk aangedui wat nog gedoen behoort te word, soos om ’n breër spektrum van bronne en tydperke te benut, en om aandag te gee aan volgehoue tendense in die teorie en praktyk van psigagogiese briewe gedurende die eerste vyf eeue van hierdie era. In die lig van bogenoemde oorsig het ek in Hoofstuk III gefokus op die generiese eienskappe van Grieks-Romeinse hortatiewe briewe en hulle psigagogiese funksies, om die agtergrond te skets waarteen die generiese eienskappe en funksies van die vroegste Christelike briewe, nl. die briewe in die NT, teen ’n breër hortatiewe tradisie bestudeer kan word. Na aanleiding van hierdie ondersoek het ek tot die slotsom gekom dat Grieks-Romeinse hortatiewe briewe die algemene patroon van Grieks-Romeinse lettere met betrekking tot strukturele en formele eienskappe gevolg het. Nietemin was die funksie daarvan nie net gemik op die voorligting of onderrig van die ontvangers nie, maar die skrywers het ook vir die doel van oorreding verskeie retoriese middels ingespan wat dikwels in ander genres van hortatiewe werke gebruik is. In Hoofstuk IV het ek die briewe in die NT ontleed om aan te toon dat hierdie briewe behoort tot die hortatiewe briewe wat opgestel is vir die doeleindes van psigagogie, d.w.s. pastorale sorg. Eerstens het ek gefokus op die analise van Paulus se eerste sendbrief, nl. 1 Tessalonisense, om uit te wys dat hierdie eerste Christelike skrywer as pastor boweal gemoeid was met pastorale sorg, en vir die doeleindes van effektiewe pasorale sorg deels gesteun het op die Grieks-Romeinse hortatiewe brieftradisie. Uit hierdie analise kon ek aflei at 1 Tessalonisense geskaar kan word by die hortatiewe brieftradisie, maar tog die eiesoortigheid behou waardeur dit verskil van algemene hortatiewe briewe. Hierdie eienskappe moes voortgespruit het uit Paulus se bemoeienis om te sorg vir sy volgelinge in die Christelike geloof. In die daaropvolgende deel van hierdie hoofstuk ontleed ek die ander sendbriewe in die NT teen die agtergrond van die resultate van die analise van 1 Tessalonisense asook die breër hortatiewe tradisie, en geraak tot die gevolgtrekking dat die ander sendbriewe in die NT ook geklassifiseer kan word as hortatiewe briewe vir psigagogie, d.w.s. pastorale briewe, beide wat hulle strukturele en formele eienskappe aanbetref, en die doel van hulle samestelling en funksie. In Hoofstuk V het ek probeer om ’n aantal geselekteerde pastorale briewe van vroeë Christelike skrywers te ontleed. Eerstens het ek die geskiedenis van Christelike briewe en hulle skrywers as algemene agtergrond vir hierdie hoofstuk uitgelig. Uit hierdie skrywers en hulle briewe het ek sestien pastorale briewe van vyftien Christelike skrywers, leiers van mede-Christene, gekies, gebaseer op bepaalde kriteria. Dié het ek geanaliseer teen die agtergrond van die vroegste Christelike pastorale briewe, nl. die briewe in die NT, asook die breër Grieks-Romeinse hortatiewe lettere tradisie. Deur hierdie analise kon ek vasstel dat hierde geselekteerde briewe behalwe hulle Christelike eienskappe ook ooreenkomste met die vroegste Christelike pastorale briewe toon, veral met betrekking tot hulle doel en funksie,. Daarna het ek die resultate van hierdie analise vergelyk met geselekteerde briewe van nie-pastorale Christelike brieftipes, nl. die feesbrief, die sinodale brief, die pouslike brief en die essay in briefformaat. Alhoewel die geselekteerde pastorale briewe en die nie-pastorale briewe ooreenkomste getoon het wat literêre eienskappe soos struktuur, formaat en retoriese gebruike aanbetref, verskil hulle van mekaar in terme van doel en funksie. In die laaste hoofstuk, Hoofstuk VI, word die proefskrif kortliks opgesom