Fourth-century Cappadocia was a pivotal time and place for the Christian church. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the development of the daily office of prayer within that context. The comparative methodology of Anton Baumstark is examined in some detail, as is the proposal by Paul Bradshaw that liturgical scholars should adopt the hermeneutics of suspicion. Based on the latter, a methodology for the analysis of texts is derived from the socio-rhetorical exegesis of Vernon K. Robbins. The idea, formerly current, that the daily office derived from synagogue wor-ship, is examined in the light of modern scholarship and shown to be falla-cious. Other influences from Judaism and paganism are, however, found but these are seen to be at a fundamental level. A major movement in fourth-century Christianity was the development of mo-nasticism in which the Cappadocian Fathers, particularly Basil of Caesarea, played an important part. The out-dated belief that monasticism originated in the Egyptian desert, from where Basil adopted it, is examined in the light of re-cent scholarship and rejected. Instead, existing Anatolian monastic practice, and the influence of Basil’s sister Macrina must be acknowledged, with the consequence that the daily office of Cappadocian monastics is seen to have developed from domestic prayer. Two major texts from Basil are examined. His so called ‘Longer Rule’ provides a scheme of daily prayer times which has had major influence. His letter num-ber 207 has been seen as a description of an all-night vigil for a Cathedral congregation, but in-depth analysis shows that this is a monastic dawn service. Evening prayer, and in particular the lamp-lighting hymn known as Phōs Hilaron, is considered. Two distinct Christian lamp-lighting ceremonies are identified. Various proposed origins are examined with the conclusion that in the case of the Phōs Hilaron, a domestic origin is most likely. Finally, particular aspects of the Cappadocian Fathers’ theology of worship are examined, demonstrating a strong eschatological theme.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:761731 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Field, John Graham |
| Contributors | Ludlow, Morwenna |
| Publisher | University of Exeter |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/30303 |
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