The Cappadocian Fathers
Forerunners and Contemporaries
By (author) C. Moreschini
This monograph considers not so much the moments, thoughts, speculations with which the so-called ‘Cappadocian Fathers’ agreed and proposed a unified doctrine, but the points and moments, the doctrines in which they disagreed. Thus, it is not a new book on the Cappadocian Fathers considered as a unity, which surely would have come to a huge dimension, but asks the question: Is it possible to speak of agreement and, at the same time, of differentiation between these Fathers? Is it useful to change, at least in part, an established opinion, that of the ‘Cappadocian theology’? The examination of the various problems leads to an affirmative answer. Concordia discors might be the true sense. So far, studies have mostly focused on the religious aspects and have shown little or no interest in the Cappadocians’ output as literature. Cultivated people with a background in paideia, which was the same as for non-Christian writers, these Fathers wished to have access to the literary forms that were most useful for their didactic activities (homilies), or also rhetorical use (epistolography or poetry): thus, literary activity should not be considered as extraneous to their speculative thought. Their interest in philosophy can be traced to their openness to pagan paideia, which had a long tradition in Christianity. Another question that arises is the need to clarify who exactly the ‘Cappadocian Fathers’ were. Naturally, Amphilochius, due to his relations with Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, but as it is justified by the similarities of many doctrines and by his biography, also Evagrius Ponticus, even though his personal affairs and the end of his life place him more within Egyptian rather than Cappadocian monasticism. A sketch of the Cappadocian’s Nachleben in the West, with a provisional edition of a Latin translation (6th century) of some Gregory of Nazianzus’ homilies and Christological epistles concludes the volume.
- By (author) C. Moreschini
Other Titles in this Series
Christian Identity Formation according to Cyril of Jerusalem
Sacramental Theosis as a Means of Constructing Relational Identity
Volume 8
Un dossier de l’Épistolaire augustinien: la correspondance entre l’Afrique et Rome à propos de l’affaire pélagienne (416-418)
Traduction, commentaire et annotations
Volume 3
Similar Books
‘For You I Study, For You I Work, For You I Live, For You I Am Ready To Even Give My Life’
Essays in Honour of Francis (Frank) J Moloney, SDB
A Late Antique Harrowing of Hell and Its Medieval Reception
Eusebius of Alexandria's Sermons 15 and 17 (CPG 5524; 5526) and their Latin Rewritings
Volume 99
Ars Prophetica
Theology in the Poetry of Twentieth-Century Hebrew Poets Avraham Halfi, Shin Shalom, Amir Gilboa, and T. Carmi
Drunk the Potion, No Whit Charmed
The Doctrine of Pure and Perfect Souls from Iamblichus to Damascius
Extracanonical Traditions and the Holy Land
Texts, Rituals, and Material Culture in Late Antique Palestine
Fear, Fear of God, God-Fearers
Philological and Historical Perspectives on the World of Ancient Judaism and Christianity
Late Antique villae in the Balkans (3rd–7th c. AD): Current Research Questions and Perspectives
HAEMUS Companion to the Late Antique Balkans 1
Volume 4
Legal Visuality
Exegesis, Ambiguity, and Dissimulation of the Donation of Constantine in the Early Modern Period
Liturgia semper reformanda
Adaptations and accommodations in the liturgy in light of canon 838 of the Code of Canon Law
Nurturing the Elite
Representations of Drinking, Eating, and Religious Vessels in Palmyrene Funerary Iconography
Volume 13
Pre-Christian Religions, Rituals, and Beliefs in Central and Northern Europe
Interdisciplinary Investigations
Volume 5
The Therapeutae as the Best Paradigm for the Contemplative Life
A Contextual Reading of Philo of Alexandria's De Vita Contemplativa
