Vigiliae Christianae 67

Vigiliae Christianae 67 (2013) 221-227 brill.com/vc

VigiliaeChristianae

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013 DOI: 10.1163/15700720-12341131

Books Received

Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse. Translated by Eugenia Scarve-lis Constantinou (The Fathers of the Church 123), Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press 2011, xiv + 270 pp., ISBN 978-0-8132-0123-8, US$ 39.95 (hardback with jacket).—First English translation of the highly interesting Apoca-lypse commentary by bishop Andrew of Capadocian Caesarea, dated by its expert translator to the year 611 (p. 16). Translation originally part of a 2007 doctoral dis-sertation at Université Laval; director Paul-Hubert Poirier.

Apocryphes: Les Apôtres Thaddée et Barthélemy. Aux origines du christianisme arménien. Martyre et Découverte des reliques de Thaddée; Martyre et Découverte des reliques de Barthélemy par Maroutha. Introduction, traduction et notes par Valen-tina Calzolari (Apocryphes. Collection de poche de l’AELAC 13), Turnhout: Brepols 2011, 257 pp., ISBN 978-2-503-54037-5, € 40 (broché).—Finely produced volume in the meantime established series ‘Textes apocryphes chrétiennes traduits et présen-tés par l’Association pour l’Étude de la Littérature Apocryphes Chrétienne’: ‘Les textes arméniens présentés et traduits dans ce volume relatent les circonstances de la prédication et du martyre des apôtres Thaddée et Barthélemy en Arménie, à l’époque du roi Sanatrouk. Les deux apôtres y apparaissent comme les fondateurs de l’Église arménienne, bien avant l’œuvre évangélisatrice de Grégoire l’Illuminateur, au début du IVe siècle, lorsque le royaume d’Arménie adopta, le pre-mier, le christianisme comme religion d’État’.

Augustinus [Pseudo-]: Pseudo-Augustinus, De oratione et elemosina; De sobrie-tate et castitate; De incarnatione et deitate Christi ad Ianuarium; Dialogus quaestio-num, edidit Lukas J. Dorfbauer (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum XCIX), Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2011, 470 pp., ISBN 3-7001-7063-1, € 69 (pb).—‘. . . presents the fĳirst critical edition of the following four pseudo-Augustinian works: De ora tione et elemosina (CPPM I 1125); De sobrietate et casti tate (CPPM I 1110); De in carnatione et deitate Christi ad Ianu-arium (CPPM II 170); Dialogus quae sti onum (CPPM II 151). These texts, which were written in Late Antiquity or in the Early Middle Ages, are transmitted in the manu-scripts under the name of Saint Augustin. Their influence on intellectual history was considerable, because they were thought to be authentic works of the great Church Father and therefore have been widely read and studied for cen turies. These four pseudo-Augustinian texts are concerned with a variety of quite difffe-rent topics (almsgiving; drinking; Christology; exegesis of the book Genesis); they are of in ter est for philologists, theologians and historians for a couple of reasons. Not only does this CSEL vol ume present the fĳirst critical edition of these texts, it

228 Books Received / Vigiliae Christianae 67 (2013) 221-227

also provides their fĳirst de tai led study according to modern scientifĳic standards. The origin, the con tent, the sources, and the transmission of these important and partially intri guing texts is fully discussed in the prefaces’.

Barc, Bernard & Wolf-Peter Funk, Le Livre des secrets de Jean. Recension brève (NH III, 1 et BG, 2) (Bibliothèque Copte de Nag Hammadi, Section « Textes » 35) Québec / Louvain–Paris, Les Presses de l’Université Laval / Éditions Peeters 2012, XI + 392 p., ISBN 978-90-429-2321-8, € 85 (broché).—New volume in the highly valued series, the fĳirst one on this pivotal text, to be followed by a second one on the Apocryphon of John’s long recension. Introduction, translation and commen-tary by Barc; Coptic text, apparatus criticus, index and philological notes by Funk.

Blackwell, Ben C., Christosis. Pauline Soteriology in Light of Deifĳication in Irenaeus and Cyril of Alexandria (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testa-ment, 2. Reihe, 314), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2011, XVII + 312 pp., ISBN 978-3-16-151672-6, € 79 (pb).—Dissertation Durham University; supervisors John Barclay and Loren Stuckenbruck. A rather schoolish, but careful and well-written study, concluding inter alia that ‘analysing Irenaeus and Cyril helped us to view Pauline texts [i.e. mainly Rom. 8 and 2 Cor. 3-5] freshly and to see the striking overlaps with their views of deifĳication’ (269). Also: ‘Because of the signifĳicant parallels with Ire-naeus’ and Cyril’s views of deifĳication, we determined that deifĳication is an apt description of the anthropological dimension of Paul’s soteriology. However, chris-tosis serves as a better description because believers are formed into Christ’s image in death and life through a participatory triune divine encounter. Accordingly, believers are adopted as sons of God and experience immortal glory like Christ through the Spirit’ (272).

Christensen, Torben, C. Galerius Valerius Maximinus: Studies in the Politics and Religion of the Roman Empire AD 305-313. Edited by Mogens Müller. With a Preface by Hugo Montgomery, Copenhagen: The Faculty of Theology, University of Copen-hagen 2012, X + 231 pp., ISBN 978-87-91838-4, DKR 150 (pb).—Available via athe-naeum@academic books.dk; also as e-book at www.patristik.dk (free download).

Cyrillus Alexandrinus: St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Twelve Pro-phets. Vol. 3. Translated by †Robert C. Hill (The Fathers of the Church 124), Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press 2012, x + 361 pp., ISBN 978-0-8132-0124-5, US$ 39.95 (hardback with jacket).—New volume in the well-known FOTC series, being the work of the famous translator of patristic bibli-cal commentaries, Dr Robert Hill. This fĳinal volume of a series of three contains Cyril’s commentary on Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. With Indices (proper names; holy scripture).

Felber, Anneliese, Basilius J. Groen & Michaela Sohn-Kronthaler, Toleranz und Religionsfreiheit 311-2011. Internationales Symposium an der Katholisch-Theologi-schen Fakultät der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, 14.-15. April 2011, Hildesheim-Zürich–New York: Georg Olms Verlag 2012, VIII + 181 S., ISBN 978-3-487-14808-3, € 39.80 (pb).—Patristische Beiträge: Elisabeth Hermann-Otto, Vernichtung-Aner-kennung und Duldung-Gleichstellung. Der Weg von Christentum und Kirche unter den Kaisern Diokletian, Galerius und Konstantin (15-40); Daniëlle Slootjes,

Books Received / Vigiliae Christianae 67 (2013) 221-227 229

Zwischen Toleranz und Dominanz: römische Kaiser und Untertanen und ihre Rolle in den traditionellen Kulten im vierten Jahrhundert (41-56); Janez Kranjc, Die religiöse Toleranz und die Glaubensfreiheit—das Beispiel des Edikts von Nikome-dia und des Mailänder Edikts (57-75); Josef Rist, Das Erbe des Galerius: Christliche und pagane Wortmeldungen zur Möglichkeit religiöser Duldsamkeit im vierten Jahrhundert (76-106).

Hartmann, Wilfried & Kenneth Pennington (eds.), The History of Byzantine and Eastern Canon Law to 1500, Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press 2012, xvi+ 356 pp., ISBN 978-0-8132-1679-9, US$ 59.95 (hardback).—Finely produced volume in the series History of Medieval Canon Law: 1. Susan Wessel, The Formation of Ecclesiastical Law in the Early Church; Heinz Ohme, Sources of the Greek Canon Law in the Quinisext Council (691/2): Councils and Church Fathers; Spyros Troianos, Byzantine Canon Law to 1100; idem, Byzantine Canon Law from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Centuries; Hubert Kaufhold, Sources of Canon Law in the Eastern Churches; Index of Councils and Synods; General Index.

Houben, Hans, Studies on the Meletian Schism in Egypt (AD 306-335). Edited by Peter Van Nufffelen (Variorum Collected Studies Series CS1001), Aldershot, Hampshire UK: Ashgate 2012, xxxvi + 256 pp., ISBN 978-1-4094-3942-4, £ 80.00 (hardback).—Collection of 17 specialist essays, preceded by the editor’s lucid ‘Introduction: The Melitian Schism: Development, Sources and Interpretation’.

Infancy Gospels. Stories and Identities. Edited by Claire Clivaz, Andreas Dettwi-ler, Luc Devillers, Enrico Norelli with the assistence of Benjamin Bertho (Wissen-schaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 2. Reihe 281), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2011, XXX + 755 pp., ISBN 978-3-16-150833-2, € 149 (hardback with jacket).—‘Even though the canonical Jesus’ infancy stories have always provoked great inte-rest in popular culture and in the arts, they have been neglected in research during the last decades due to the relatively late date of their redaction. Since the mono-graph by Raymond Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, the researchers working on this topic have not attempted to consider its historical impact. In this volume, an international team of scholars proposes fĳirstly a reconsideration of the historical background of these stories in terms of early Jewish and Christian identity quests. Secondly, they deal with early Christian questions on Jesus’ infancy and childhood through canonical and apocryphal Gospels including information from Patristic and documentary literature. On the theological level, this volume illustrates the impact that these apocryphal texts, recognized as “useful for the soul” (a phrase coined by François Bovon), have had on the Christian faith’. The rich collection of essays, being the result of a research program organized by the Universities of the French part of Switzerland (Fribourg, Geneva, Lausanne, and Neuchâtel) and cul-minating in three international meetings in the autumn of 2010, includes many essays important for patristic scholars: I. Infancy Gospels and Stories: Francesca Prescendi, Divine Fathers, Virgin Mothers and Founding Children. Italic Myths about Conception and Birth; Christian Grappe, Les Évangiles canoniques de l’enfance et les récits d’enfance intertestamentaires; Simon Claude Mimouni, La virginité de Marie: entre textes et contextes (Ier-IIe siècles); Norelli, Les plus


anciennes traditions sur la naissance de Jésus et leur rapport avec les testimonia; Christophe Guignard, Jesus’ Family and their Genealogy according to the Testi-mony of Julius Africanus; Adriana Destro and Mauro Pesce, The Cultural Structure of the Infancy Narrative in the Gospel of Matthew; José Costa, The Matthean Rea-ding of Isaiah 7.14 and the Midrash of Ancient Rabbis; Joseph Verheyden, Creating Diffference Through Parallelism. Luke’s Handling of the Traditions on John the Baptist and Jesus in the Infancy Narrative; Clivaz, Beyond the Category of “Proto-Orthodox Christianity”: An Enquiry Into the Multivalence of Lk 1.35; II. Stories and Identities in the Infancy Gospels: Jörg Frey, How Could Mark and John Do without Infancy Stories? Jesus’ Humanity and His Divine Origins in Mark and John; David Pastorelli, The Genealogies of Jesus in Tatian’s Diatessaron. The Question of their Absence or Presence; Andrea Taschl-Erber, Subversive Erinnerung. Feministisch-kritische Lektüre von Mt 1-2 und Lk 1-2; Moisés Mayordomo, Matthew 1-2 and the Problem of Intertextuality; Elian Cuvillier, Enjeux ecclésiologiques de Matthieu 1-2. Approche historique et narrative; Anders Runesson, Giving Birth to Jesus in the Late First Century. Matthew as Midwife in the Context of Colonisation; Simon But-ticaz, Lk 1-2: Auftakt einer tragischen Geschichte? Christliche Identität im Gespräch mit Israel; Devillers, The Infancy of Jesus and the Infancy of the Church. From the Canticles (Luke 1-2) to the Summaries (Acts 1-7); Daniel Gerber, D’une identité à l’autre. Le Magnifĳicat, le Benedictus, le Gloria et le Nunc dimittis dans le rôle de passeurs; Benedict Viviano, God as Father in the Infancy Gospels (Matt 1 and 2, Luke 1 and 2); III. Infancy Gospels Stories and Identities: Sever J. Voicu, Ways to Survival for the Infancy Apocrypha; Lily Vuong, “Let Us Bring Her Up to the Temple of the Lord”. Exploring the Boundaries of Jewish and Christian Relations through the Presentation of Mary in the Protevangelium of James; Frédéric Amsler, Les Paidika Iesou, un nouveau témoin de la rencontre entre judaïsme et christianisme à Antioche au IVe siècle?; Ursula Ulrike Kaiser, Die sogenannte “Kindheitserzäh-lung des Thomas”. Überlegungen zur Darstellung Jesu als Kind, deren Intention und Rezeption; Jean-Daniel Kaestli, Mapping an Unexplored Second Century Apocryphal Gospel: the Liber de Nativitate Salvatoris (CANT 53); Valentina Calzo-lari, Les récits apocryphes de l’enfance dans la tradition arménienne [with 5 b/w ills]; Philip Alexander, Jesus and his Mother in the Jewish Anti-Gospel (the Toledot Yeshu); Daniel Barbu, Voltaire and the Toledoth Yeshu; François Rosset, “False” and “True”: Infancy and Apocryphal Gospels in the Century of Voltaire. Bibliography; extensive Indices (read Van den Broek in stead of Van den Broeck in Index p. 750 and on pp. 179-180 and 690).

Jenott, Lance, The Gospel of Judas. Coptic Text, Translation, and Historical Inter-pretation of the ‘Betrayer’s Gospel’ (Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 64), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2011, X + 256 pp., ISBN 978-3-16-150978-0, € 59 (pb).—Revised version of 2010 Princeton doctoral dissertation; supervisor Elaine Pagels. Positive points of this impressive achievement by a young scholar (*1980): lucidly written and, in many respects, convincing analysis of the still highly debated GoJ (1-132); newly established edition of the Coptic text with valuable apparatus criticus, apparently the best complete one presently available since the NGS


second Critical Edition did not yet appear (133-187); useful Commentary (188-221); unique appendix ‘Scribal Marks in Codex Tchacos’ (222-227). Some minor negative points: no reference to the groundbreaking article by Norbert Brox, ‘Doketismus—eine Problemanzeige’ (ZKG 95 [1984] 301-314) in the discussion of the GoJ’s docetic or two-natures Christology; several mistakes in Latin quotes of Tertullian a.o.; sev-eral typos in English text and recurrent misspellings like Adolph (for Adolf) von Harnack and Klause (for Klaus) Koschorke.

Laird, Raymond, Mindset, Moral Choice and Sin in the Anthropology of John Chrysostom (Early Christian Studies 15), Strathfĳield, NSW, Australia: St. Pauls Pub-lications / Centre for Early Christian Studies, Australian Catholic University, Banyo, QLD, Australia 2012, xii + 296 pp., ISBN 978-0-9806428-3-4, AUS$ 43 (pb).

Lamb, William R.S., The Catena in Marcum. A Byzantine Anthology of Early Com-mentary on Mark (Texts and Editions for New Testament Study, vol. 6), Leiden-Boston: Brill 2012, XII + 509 pp., ISBN 978-90-04-22431-5, € 133 / US$ 182 (hardback).—‘The Catena in Marcum, commonly attributed to Victor of Antioch, is the earliest anthology of patristic commentary on the gospel according to St Mark. Its compilation dates from the end of the fĳifth century and the beginning of the sixth century. Providing the fĳirst extended English translation, this book identifĳies the range of patristic sources employed by the editors, and the historiographical, literary and dogmatic concerns which informed the editing and compilation of this important text. It provides an invaluable resource for those interested in the history and development of the interpretation of Mark’. An overview of the sources of the Catena in Marcum is listed in the Appendix (461-478): Clement, Hypotypos-eis; Irenaeus, Adv. Haer.; Anon.; Pseudo-Justin Martyr, Responsiones et quaestiones; Eusebius, De theophania; Eusebius, Quaestiones evangelicae ad Marinum; Origen, Commentarii in evangelium Joannis; Chrysostom, Homiliae in Matthaeum; etc.

Luomanen, Petri, Recovering Jewish-Christian Sects and Gospels (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 114), Leiden–Boston: Brill 2012, IX + 266 pp., ISBN 978-90-04-22633-3, € 123 / US$ 171 (hardback).—‘The mystery of lost, apocryphal Jewish-Christian gospels has intrigued scholars for centuries. Scholars have also debated whether the Ebionites with their low Christology or the more “orthodox” Naza-renes are the genuine successors of the early Jerusalem church. This book provides a fresh assessment of the patristic sources and the scholarly theories on the num-ber and contents of Jewish-Christian gospels. A new approach, the study of indica-tors of Jewish-Christian profĳiles, shows the artifĳicial nature of the church fathers’ heretical discourse, bringing forth previously neglected connections between vari-ous Jewish-Christian movements. This book also challenges the widely accepted theory of three Jewish-Christian gospels bringing the Gospel of the Hebrews closer to its synoptic cousins—not, however, as a witness of the earliest Jesus traditions but as a post-synoptic composition’. A groundbreaking and detailed study: 1. Intro-duction; 2. Patristic Testimonies Reconsidered; 3. Jewish-Christian Gospels Recov-ered; 4. Passion Traditions Reinterpreted; 5. Jewish-Christian Gospels and Syriac Gospel Traditions; 6. Conclusion: Towards the History of Early Jewish-Christianity; Abbreviations and Appendices; References; Indices.


Patmore, Hector M., Adam, Satan, and the King of Tyre. The Interpretation of Ezekiel 28:11-19 in Late Antiquity (Jewish and Christian Perspectives Series 20), Leiden–Boston: Brill 2012, xi + 262 pp., ISBN 978-9004-20722-6, € 99 /US$ 136 (hardback).—Based on a Durham doctoral thesis, the fĳinely produced book seeks to examine the interpretation of the lament against the King of Tyre of Ezekiel 28:11-19 in Judaism and Christianity in Late Antquity. Ch. III is on the Church Fathers: Tertullian, Augustine, Cyril of Jerusalem, Hippolytus, Origen of Alexan-dria, and Jerome.

Peterson, Erik, Heis Theos. Epigraphische, formgeschichtliche und religionsge-schichtliche Untersuchungen zur antiken “Ein-Gott”-Akklamation. Nachdruck der Ausgabe von Erik Peterson 1926 mit Ergänzungen und Kommentar von Christoph Markschies, Henrik Hildebrandt, Barbara Nichtweiß u.a. 2012 (Erik Peterson, Ausgewählte Schriften 8), Würzburg: Echter Verlag 2012, xiii + 650 S., ISBN 978-3-429-02636-3, € 70 (Geb.).—Reprint von Peterson’s berühmte Dissertation, mit aus-führlichen und wichtigen Ergänzungen von Markschies c.s. bez. der späteren Forschung und der neuen Belegen der antiken Formel in Epigraphik, Liturgie und Literatur; ebenfalls wichtiges Nachwort von Nichtweiß: ‘“Akklamation”. Zur Ent-stehung und Bedeuting von “Heis Theos”’.

Tzamalikos, P., A Newly Discovered Greek Father. Cassian the Sabaite Eclipsed by John Cassian of Marseilles (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 111), Leiden–Boston: Brill 2012, XV + 716 pp., ISBN 978-90-04-22441-4, € 184 / US$ 252 (hardback).

Tzamalikos, P., The Real Cassian Revisited. Monastic Life, Greek Paideia, and Origenism in the Sixth Century (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 112), Leiden–Boston: Brill 2012, XVII + 521 + 28 full colour and b/w ill. pp., ISBN 978-90-04-22440-7, € 165 / US$ 226 (hardback).—From the Preface: ‘The present volume, along with its sibling, A Newly Discovered Greek Father (Cassian the Sabaite eclipsed by John Cassian of Marseilles) ( . . . ), is the result of research initially set out to determine the real author of the Scholia in Apocalypsin. These Scholia were discovered in 1908, in Codex 573 of the Monastery of Metamorphosis in Meteora, Greece, and Adolf von Harnack rushed into ascribing them to Origen, only four months after he saw them for the fĳirst time, in July 1911. Never did this attribution enjoy unanimous acceptance by scholars ever since, hence this set of comments on part of John’s Apocalypse has remained an ‘orphan’ text, which made no mark in scholarship. ( . . . ) It took me three years, only in order to reach the mistaken conclusion that the author of the Scholia is Theodoret of Cyrrhus heavily drawing on a lost com-mentary on the Apocalypse by Didymus the Blind. Only after I was granted access to the Codex itself did Cassian the Sabaite come into the scene as a commanding fĳigure who claims our attention, and as an immensely erudite author who deserves a fair hearing. Therefore, this monograph is an argument establishing the existence of Cassian the Sabaite as a fĳirst-class Christian intellectual, following the study and critical edition of his texts included in the same Codex. He is the author of a vast number of theological tracts currently classifĳied as spuria, such as De Trinitate (Pseudo-Didymus), the Erotapokriseis by Pseudo-Caesarius, and several other pseudepigrapha. ( . . . ) These texts of Cassian the Sabaite treasure an abundant


wealth of Greek as well as Christian learning and heritage. It is then only a supple-mentary conclusion that ‘John Cassian’, the alleged ‘father of Western monasti-cism’, is only a fĳigment fabricated by means of extensive blatant Medieval forgery. As a result, Cassian, a native of Scythopolis, monk and presbyter, who died an abbot of the Great Laura of Sabas on 20 July 548, was condemned to utter oblitera-tion as an intellectual and author. All of his writings were attributed to stars of Christian theology that were long dead: these texts are currently known as ‘spuria’ ascribed to either Athanasius, or Theodoret, or Justin, or Gregory of Nyssa, or Basil of Caesarea, or others. At the same time, his monastic texts were determined as the work by a phantasmal fĳigure called ‘John Cassian’, allegedly a native of Scythia who lived in Marseilles.—The ninth-century Codex 573 of Metamorphosis (the Great Meteoron) is the sole extant set of documents that can reveal this canard. It sur-vived the rage of men and the frenzy of centuries by being hidden in a vault, only to be discovered in 1908, along with another 610 codices that had remained con-cealed in that monastery for centuries, and their existence was unknown even to the monks themselves.’ The accompanying volume VCS 111 contains the edition and translation of the Greek texts (with apparatus criticus and extensive notes) of Cassian the Sabaite’s writings On the Rules and Regulations of the Coenobia; On the Eight Considerations of Evil; On the Holy Fathers Living at Scetis; First Contribu-tion by Abba Serenus; Contribution by Abba Serenus on the Panaretus Wisdom, fol-lowed by three Appendices, a multifaceted Bibliography, and three Indices.

[email protected] J. van Oort

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Vigiliae Christianae 67