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This essay will address how Origen, an early Christian writer, theologian, and pastor, referred to plagues, epidemics, and misfortunes, and how he construed these phenomena in his theology, literary works, and pastoral practice. A comparison with Porphyry will be offered, who likely drew part of his daemonology from Origen. Those responsible for plagues in both Origen’s philosophical theology and in Porphyry’s philosophy are δαίμονες (demons or fallen angels for Origen, daemons for Porphyry; Origen knew and referred to the two views). Porphyry’s attribution of his daemonology to “certain Platonists” who “divulged” these theories probably alludes to Origen and situates Origen within the Platonic school. I suspect that Porphyry was influenced by Origen’s demonology in general and possibly by On Daemons, if his. Porphyry’s terminology of “divulging” corresponds to that used in his anecdote about Origen who, notwithstanding the oath not to divulge Ammonius’ esoteric doctrines, nevertheless did so in On Daemons and The King Is the Only Creator. This indirectly confirms that Porphyry was speaking of the same Origen. Porphyry’s conviction that evil daemons are responsible for plagues, epidemics, and natural disasters is the same as Origen’s in Contra Celsum, which Porphyry knew. Origen was aware that spiritual plagues are worse than physical ones, that misfortunes mostly befall the just, and took over Jesus’ criticism of the ancient view of misfortunes as divine punishments for an individual or his parents or ancestors.

This essay analyses the most significant sources--some overlooked so far--on the debate on ethos and logos that was lively between "pagan" and Christian philosophers in the second century CE. Epictetus's attribution of a behaviour based on ethos to the Christians should not be regarded as utterly negative, but should rather be connected with his teacher Musonius's high appreciation of ethos, even over logos. Marcus Aurelius's and Celsus's negative attitude toward Christianity as an obstinate, irrational habit can be explained by the possible influence of Montanism, while the Syriac apology to Marcus ascribed to Melito reacts to anti-Christian accusations of irrationality by attaching logos to the Christians and a behaviour based on a bad ethos to "paganism"-- the same as was done by Clement of Alexandria, one of the Christian intellectuals most committed to demonstrating the rationality of Christian belief. Literary problems related to the apology are tackled, and parallels are pointed out with both Justin and Bardaisan, two other Christian Platonists who attempted to construe Christianity as philosophy. Galen's judgment about the Christians shows interesting parallels with, and differences from, that of Epictetus. For both intellectuals an engagement with Christian doctrines of creation is argued for (this is usually admitted in the case of Galen, but not in that of Epictetus). Another second-century anti-Christian accusation of the lack of logos is the charge of onolatry. Lucian's attitude toward the Christians is showed to be less simplistic than generally believed: he allowed for the ascription of logos and a certain intellectual development to Christianity and its founder. But for Christians to claim that the Logos was on their side, they had to develop a theology of the Logos, which identified Jesus Christ with God's Logos. This operation, anticipated by Philo and Hellenistic Judaism, started from the Prologue of John and was continued by Justin, most Valentinians, Clement, and especially Origen, and then by the Patristic philosophy which depended on Origen. Thanks to Origen, who was deeply respected by "pagan" philosophers too, Christianity could no longer be charged with being a religion for irrational people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay will argue that in several - often unnoticed - respects patristic exegesis can be relevant to contemporary biblical hermeneutics and can be a source of fruitful inspiration for it. From several quarters, contemporary scholars have called for an integrative approach to biblical hermeneutics, especially one that conjoins the historico-critical method and theological hermeneutics. A similar integrative approach was already adopted by patristic exegetes in Origen's line, with their integration of historical reading and noetic exegesis, and with their hermeneutics of multiplicity that is another respect in which patristic exegesis proves highly relevant to contemporary biblical hermeneutics. The present relevance of scriptural passages is also a core principle of both patristic exegesis and contemporary hermeneutics, as well as the tenet of the unity of Scripture, which was emphasised by patristic exegetes and is to be taken into account in contemporary biblical hermeneutics with respect to the Bible as supertext. Also, philosophical investigation applied to scriptural hermeneutics is one of the most remarkable features of Origen's and his followers' hermeneutics. A reflection will thus be devoted to the relationship between philosophy and biblical hermeneutics, as well as between theology and philosophy, and a parallel will be drawn with philosophy of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Syriac Doctrina Addai, a historical novel, tells the story of the first evangelization of Edessa by the apostle Addai. He was sent to Edessa by Thomas, one of the Twelve, healed Abgar, the king, and other people, and preached the Gospel before all the inhabitants. The result was the conversion of both the king and all the Edessan people to Christianity. In the narrative frame, two exchanges of letters are included, one between Abgar and Jesus, a blatant forgery, and another, much shorter, between Abgar and Tiberius. The latter, also present in the Armenian version of the legend preserved by Moses of Chorene, contains interesting historical details. They perfectly fit in the historical situation of the mid-Thirties of the first century CE, when Tiberius was engaging in clever maneuvers in the Near East against the Parthians, as I demonstrated some years ago. The Abgar-Tiberius correspondence did not come down through the same tradition as the spurious Abgar-Jesus correspondence, and its source was early enough to be well-informed about the details of Tiberius's reign. This correspondence, as I shall argue here, may derive from a historical exchange, dictated by political--and not religious--motives, from which the legend of Abgar's conversion arose later on, probably in the Severan age. At that time the Addai legend may have been first written down in a literary work, which will be the source of the first extant account of the Addai-Abgar story: that of Eusebius (early fourth century CE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Gallien seems to have done before him, but with a partial and temporary effect, and as Hadrian, Severus Alexander, and Elagabalus may have intended to do, Constantine reversed the effects of a senatus consultum from A.D. 35, transforming Christianity from a superstitio illicita to a religio licita in the empire. I study the implications of that senatus consultum, which is attested not only in Tertullian, but also in a Porphyrian passage, besides the Acts of Apollonius. I endeavour to contextualise it in the political and religious framework of the Tiberian age and the relationship between Tiberius and the Senate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article presents an exploration of the Syriac version of the Greek Christian patristic text of "Kephalaia Gnostika," written by the 4th-century writer Evagrius Ponticus, derived from the author's work in preparing a new English translation with commentary. Topics addressed include challenges to the previous treatment and interpretation of the text by scholar Antoine Guillaumont, Evagrius' particular use of metaphorical language which is difficult to parse, and Evagrius' Trinitarian and Christological doctrines. Final attention is given to the translation of the writer's allegory of apokatastasis.

Nyssen's arguments in In Illud: Tunc et Ipse Filius entirely derive from Origen (probably also passing through Marcellus of Ancyra and Eusebius). Origen's influence, theoretical and exegetical, is evident in every passage, from the argumentative pillars down to the tiniest details of exegesis. Gregory's close dependence on Origen in his anti-subordinationism, within his polemic against 'Arianism,' confirms that Origen was not the forerunner of 'Arianism,' as he was depicted in the Origenistic controversy and is often still regarded to be, but the main inspirer of the Cappadocians, especially Nyssen, in what became Trinitarian orthodoxy. Origen inspired Marcellus, who was anti-Arian, Eusebius, who in fact was no 'Arian,' Athanasius, the champion of anti-Arianism, and the Cappadocians. I argue extensively that Origen's Trinitarian heritage is found, not in Arianism, but in Nyssen, Athanasius, Eusebius, and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan line, on the basis of a painstaking analysis of his works (always with attention to their reliability in relation to Greek original, translations, and fragments) and of Pamphilus, Eusebius, Athanasius, and other revealing testimonies, pagan and Christian. The origin of the µοοσιος; formula is also investigated in this connection. Further interesting insights will emerge concerning Eusebius and his first report of what exactly happened at Nicaea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The letter of Ammonius to Apollonius, preserved in an Oxyrhynchus papyrus and datable to the end of the I or the beginning of the II century AD, contains a superlinear stroke over the X of the initial XAIPEIN, which is the sign of a nomen sacrum that, together with many other clues in this epistolê kekhiasmenê, points to the Christianity of the writer and the addressee. In this new framework, many details of the letter become intelligible and the whole document, with an emphasis on the necessity of a circumspect behaviour and the use of a cryptic communication code, attests to the critical situation of the Christian communities in those days, when Christianity was a superstitio illicita and Christians had to try not to be denounced. I propose an analysis of the letter in this light: many aspects in its language, lexical choices, and rhetoric are telling. The new Christian reading of this letter allows us to recover one of the earliest Christian letters known and provides precious documentation of the birth of Christianity in Egypt, perhaps in Alexandria itself, from which the "Secret Gospel of Mark" also stems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Origen was a Christian Platonist, which his adversaries (both Christians who opposed Greek philosophy and pagan philosophers like Porphyry who saw Christianity as a non-culture) considered to be a contradictio in adiecto. His formation and teaching centred on philosophy, and his Περì αρχων in its structure was inspired not so much by earlier Christian works as by pagan philosophical works stemming from the selfsame authors as those appreciated at Ammonius' and Plotinus' schools. A close examination of all extant sources and a careful investigation of Origen's philosophical formation, readings, and works show that Origen the Neoplatonist is likely to be our Christian philosopher. The presupposition of the incompatibility between Christianity and philosophy (especially Platonism), which provoked charges against Origen as a Christian Platonist from his lifetime onward, is still at work in modern theorizations concerning the “Hellenisation of Christianity,” which are here analysed and brought into connection with the supposed necessity of distinguishing Origen the Platonist from Origen the Christian. It is not the case that a “pure” Christianity was subsequently Hellenised: the NT itself was already Hellenised to some extent, and the Christian κηρυγμα, intended for all nations and cultures, was a σκανδαλον for the Jews as well as μωρìα for the Greeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Stylos is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Roman Stoic Cornutus, who lived in the age of Nero, is the heir of an ancient and rich Stoic allegorical tradition applied to all aspects of traditional religion: literary myths, cultic epithets and attributes, and even iconographical representations of deities. Allegoresis (allegorical exegesis) was applied in antiquity to culturally and religiously authoritative texts. It was mainly practiced by “pagan” philosophers like Stoics and Middle and Neoplatonists and by philosophically minded Hellenistic Jewish and Christian exegetes, who read Scripture allegorically.Cornutus offers an excellent example of mythological allegoresis in his handbook of Greek theology. For each divinity, from Ouranos to Hades, Cornutus provides an allegorico-etymological interpretation of its names and epithets, its attributes, aspects of its myths and rituals, etc. Physical allegory (Zeus represents the ether, Hera the air, etc.) is prevalent, although there are also examples of ethical and historical exegeses. Special attention is demanded by Cornutus’ programmatic assertion—analysed below—that “The ancients were not people of no account, but they were also able to understand the nature of the cosmos and had the ability to philosophise on it by means of symbols and enigmata” (35). The ancient were nothing less than philosophers, since they were endowed with the understanding of the cosmos, of what exists. What they expressed allegorically are philosophical truths. Philosophical allegoresis interprets their expressions and finds philosophical tenets therein. Cornutus was strongly influenced by Chrysippus, Apollodorus of Athens, and Crates of Mallus, while Seneca, who was a Stoic but no allegorist, probably polemicised with Cornutus.Stoic allegoresis, as practiced by the Stoics Cornutus and Chaeremon roughly at the same time, later influenced not only the so-called Middle Platonists, but also the Christian Platonist Origen. Origen seems to have applied allegoresis not only to the Bible, like Philo and Clement before him, but also to Plato’s dialogues and myths. All these allegorisers aimed at finding deeper meanings and philosophical truths in traditional accounts, thereby rescuing them from accusations of superficiality or impiety. The goal was to find in ancient poets and other expressions of traditional religion, as well as in Scripture, meanings “worthy of the divine.” Remarkable structural similarities between the Stoic allegorical tradition inherited by Cornutus and Origen’s allegoresis will be pointed out.

This study situates Origen of Alexandria within the Platonic tradition, presenting Origenas a Christian philosopher who taught and studied philosophy, of which theology was part and parcel. More specifically, Origen can be described as a Christian Platonist. He criticized “false philosophies” as well as “heresies,” but not the philosophy of Plato. Against the background of recent scholarly debates, the thorny issue of the possible identity between Origen the Christian Platonist and Origen the Neoplatonist is partially addressed (although it requires a much more extensive discussion); it is also discussed in the light of Origen’s formation at Ammonius’s school and the reception of his works and ideas in “pagan” Platonism. As a consequence, and against scholarly perspectives that tend to see Christianity as anti-Platonism, the final section of this paper asks the question of what is imperial and late antique Platonism and, on the basis of rich evidence ,suggests that this was not only “pagan” institutional Platonism.

Cesarz Konstantyn nie tylko zdecydowanie zniósł skutki senatus consultum z roku 35, zakazującego wyznawania chrześcijaństwa, lecz także przekształcił je w Imperium Rzymskim z illicita superstitio w religio licita. Jednak już przed Konstantynem były takie próby – usiłował to dokonać Galien, jednak tylko z efek­tem częściowym i czasowym; być może zamierzali uczynić to także Hadrian, Aleksander Sewer i Heliogabal, jednak bez powodzenia. Najbardziej niezwykłą, chociaż problematyczną, relację do chrześcijaństwa miał Tyberiusz. W niniejszym artykule przeanalizowano źródła oraz znaczenie lekceważonego zazwyczaj sena­tus consultum z roku 35, które jest potwierdzone nie tylko u Tertuliana, ale także u Porfiriusza i w Aktach Apoloniusza, Senatora i Męczennika.