© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���5 | doi �0.��63/�57007�0-��34��33

vigiliae christianae 69 (�0�5) ��5-��7

brill.com/vc

VigiliaeChristianae

Books Received

∵

Gardner, Iain, Jason BeDuhn, Paul Dilley, Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings. Studies on the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 87), Leiden–Boston: Brill 2014, IX + 321 pp., ISBN 978-90-04-23470-3, € 110 / US$ 142 (hb).—‘In Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings the authors explore evidence arising from their project to edit the Chester Beatty Kephalaia codex. This new text presents Mani at the heart of Sasanian Iran in dialogue with its sages and nobles, acting as a cultural mediator between East and West and interpreter of Christian, Iranian, and Indian tra-ditions. Nine chapters study Mani’s appropriation of the ‘law of Zarades’ and of Iranian epic; suggest a new understanding of his last days; and analyse his formative role in the history of late antique religions. These interdisciplinary studies advance research in several fields and will be of interest to scholars of Manichaeism, Sasanian Iran, and the development of religions in Late Antiquity’: Preface; Abbreviations; Iain Gardner, An Introduction to the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex; Part A: Studies on the Manichaean Kephalaia: Paul Dilley, Mani’s Wisdom at the Court of the Persian Kings: The Genre and Context of the Chester Beatty Kephalaia; Jason David BeDuhn, Parallels between Coptic and Iranian Kephalaia: Goundesh and the King of Touran; Iain Gardner, The Final Ten Chapters; Part B: New Sources from the Chester Beatty Codex: Paul Dilley, Also Schrieb Zarathustra? Mani as Interpreter of the ‘Law of Zarades’; Jason David BeDuhn, Iranian Epic in the Chester Beatty Kephalaia; Iain Gardner, Mani’s Last Days; Map and Table of Place Names; Part C: Manichaeism and the History of Religions: Paul Dilley, ‘Hell Exists, and We have Seen the Place Where It Is’: Rapture and Religious Competition in Sasanian Iran; Jason David BeDuhn, Mani and the Crystallization of the Concept of ‘Religion’ in Third Century Iran; Works Cited; Index.

Hoek, Annewies van den & John J. Herrmann, jr., Pottery, Pavements, and Paradise. Iconographic and Textual Studies on Late Antiquity (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 122), Leiden–Boston: Brill 2013, VI + 582 pp., ISBN 978-90-04-25538-8, € 167 / US$ 216 (hb).—Finely edited and published volume, incl. many ills.: ‘. . . essays on late antiq-uity traverse a territory in which Christian and pagan imagery and practices com-pete, coexist, and intermingle. The iconography of the most significant late antique ceramic, African Red Slip Ware, is an important and relatively unexploited vehicle for documenting the diversity and interpenetration of late antique cultures. Literary texts

226 Books Received

vigiliae christianae 69 (2015) 225-227

and art in other media, particularly mosaics, provide imagery that complement and enhance the messages of the ceramics. Popular entertainments, pagan cults, mythic heroes, beasts, monsters, and biblical visions are themes dealt with on the patrician and popular levels. With interpretive supplements from these diverse realms, it is pos-sible to achieve greater insight into the life, attitudes, and thought of Late Antiquity’: I. Paulinus of Nola, Courtyards, and Canthari: A Second Look; II. Thecla the Beast Fighter: A Female Emblem of Deliverance in Early Christian Popular Art; III. “Two Men in White:” Observations on an Early Christian Lamp from North Africa with the Ascension of Christ; IV. Anicius Auchenius Bassus, African Red Slip Ware, and the Church; V. The Sphinx: An Egyptian Theological Symbol in Clement of Alexandria; VI. Clement of Alexandria, Acrobats, and the Elite; VII. Celsus’ Competing Heroes: Jonah, Daniel, and Their Rivals; VIII. Divine Twins or Saintly Twins: The Dioscuri in an Early Christian Context; IX. The Saga of Peter and Paul: Emblems of Catholic Identity in Christian Literature and Art; X. Apocalyptic Themes in the Monumental and Minor Art of Early Christianity; XI. Odysseus Wanders into Late Antiquity; XII. Execution as Entertainment: The Roman Context of Martyrdom. With extensive bibliography and indices.

Hwang, Alexander Y., Brian J. Matz & Augustine Casiday (eds.), Grace for Grace. The Debates after Augustine and Pelagius, Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press 2014, xxx + 301 pp., ISBN 978-0-8132-2601-9, US$ 65 (hb with jacket).—Finely edited and produced book with 13 topical essays, introduction by Rebecca Harden Weaver.

Iricinschi, Eduard, Lance Jenott, Nicola Denzey Lewis & Philippa Townsend (eds.), Beyond the Gnostic Gospel. Studies Building on the Work of Elaine Pagels (Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 82), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2013, X + 517 pp., ISBN 978-3-16-152834-7, € 99 (pb).—Finely edited and published volume honouring the groundbreaking work of Elaine Pagels: Philippa Townsend, Explorations at the Edges of Orthodoxy: Elaine Pagels’ Study of the Early Christian World; Part I: The Social World of the Early Christians: Michael A. Williams, A Life Full of Meaning and Purpose: Demiurgical Myths and Social Implications; Karen L. King, Rethinking the Diversity of Ancient Christianity: Responding to Suffering and Persecution; Einar Thomassen, The Valentinian Materials in James (NHC V,3 and CT,2); Part II: Creating Orthodoxy and Heresy: Geoffrey Smith, Irenaeus, the Will of God, and Anti-Valentinian Polemics: A Closer Look at Against the Heresies I.12.1; David W. Jorgensen: Nor is One Ambiguity Resolved by Another Ambiguity: Irenaeus of Lyons and the Rhetoric of Interpretation; April D. DeConick, Gnostic Spirituality at the Crossroads of Christianity: Transgressing Boundaries and Creating Orthodoxy; Part III: Ritual and Myth: Nicola Denzey Lewis: The Problem of Bad Baptisms: Unclean Spirits, Exorcism, and the Unseen in Second-Century Christian Practice; John D. Turner, Baptismal Vision, Angelification, and Mystical Union in Sethian Literature; Marvin Meyer, Thought, Forethought, and

227Books Received

vigiliae christianae 69 (2015) 225-227

Afterthought in the Secret Book of John; Part IV: Christianity in Egypt: Hugo Lundhaug, Begotten, Not Made, to Arise in This Flesh: The Post-Nicene Soteriology of the Gospel of Philip; AnneMarie Luijendijk, Buried and Raised: Gospel of Thomas Logion 5 and Resurrection; Eduard Iricinschi, The Teaching Hidden in Silence (NHC II 1,4): Questions, Answers, and Secrets in a Fourth-Century Egyptian Book; Lance Jenott, Clergy, Clairvoyance, and Conflict: The Synod of Latopolis and the Problem with Pachomius’ Visions; Deirdre Good, Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Egypt; Part V: New Testament Studies: Ismo Dunderberg, How Far Can You Go? Jesus, John, the Synoptics and Other Texts; Harold Attridge, Plato, Plutarch, and John: Three Symposia about Love; Holger M. Zellentin, Jesus and the Tradition of the Elders: Originalism and Traditionalism in Early Judean Legal Theory; John Gager, Paul the Zealot, A Man of Constant Sorrow; John Marshall, 6 Ezra and Jewish Reception of Revelation; Bibliography; Contributors; Indexes.

Morlet, Sébastien, Olivier Munnich & Bernard Pouderon (éd.), Les Dialogues Adversvs Ivdaeos. Permanences et mutations d’une tradition polémique. Actes du col-loque international organisé les 7 et 8 décembre 2011 à l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne, Paris: Institut d’Études Augustiniennes 2013 [Diffusion exclusive: Brepols, Turnhout, Belgium], 428 pp., ISBN 978-2-85121-263-4, € 46 (pb).

Reeves, John C., Prolegomena to a History of Islamicate Manichaeism, Sheffield, UK/ Bristol, CT: Equinox 2013, viii + 338 pp., ISBN 978-1-78719-038-0, £ 25 / US$ 40 (pb).—Second printing of an important (source) book: ‘. . . translates and assesses the impor-tance of a number of Arabic, Persian, Syriac, and even Hebrew language testimonies for a better understanding of the cultural importance of what many scholars charac-terize as the first world religion’.

Wayman, Benjamin D., Diodore the Theologian. PRONOIA in his Commentary on Psalms 1-50 (Studia Traditionis Theologiae 15), Turnhout: Brepols 2014, XIX + 267 pp., ISBN 978-2-503-55050-3, € 70 (pb).

Johannes van Oortj.van.oort@planet.nl

Copyright of Vigiliae Christianae is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its contentmay not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyrightholder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles forindividual use.