The Life Of Antony And The Letter To Marcellinus

Athanasius (c. 295-373) Bishop of Alexandria, spiritual master and theologian, was a major figure of 4th-century Christendom. The Life of Antony is one of the foremost classics of asceticism. The Letter to Marcellinus is an introduction to the spiritual sense of the Psalms.

The most important document of early monasticism, written in 357, this is a biography of the recognized founder and father of monasticism. +

Instrumental in the conversion of many, including Augustine, The Life of Antony provided the model for subsequent saints' life and constituted, in the words of patristics scholar Johannes Quasten, 'the most important document of early monasticism.'

The past fifty years have seen a strong interest in the shape and the message of the book of Psalms. In A Voice Without End, Andrew C. Witt evaluates the significance of Psalms 3–14, and in particular, the presence and function of the figure of David. Using representative interpreters and canonical and literary approaches, Witt uncovers how the book of Psalms develops its own speaking personae. He argues that the introduction to the book in Psalms 1–2 and the association with David in the superscriptions set up the figure of David as the principal voice within Psalms 3–14, constructing a Davidic persona who can speak as an ideal and representative figure, as well as a typological figure, in expectation of the establishment of a just kingdom in the context of the Davidic promises. In addition to its original analysis of Psalms 3–14, this study contributes to Psalms research by sharpening our understanding of the Davidic voice and by showing that key themes and motifs at the seams of the Psalter and in its thematic center are already active and engaged at the very beginning. Further, it helps to bridge premodern and modern psalm interpreters by demonstrating the ongoing value of premodern conceptual models for analyzing voices in the text. Pathbreaking and eminently readable, this book changes both the way we read the Psalter and how we understand its relationship with David. It will appeal to biblical studies scholars and seminarians.

This collection presents-through the medium of translated sources-a comprehensive guide to the development of hagiography and the cult of the saints in western Christendom during the middle ages. It provides an unparalleled resource for the study of the ideals of sanctity and the practice of religion in the medieval west. Intended for the classroom, for the medieval scholar who wishes to explore sources in unfamiliar languages, and for the general reader fascinated by the saints, this collection provides the reader a chance to explore in depth a full range of writings about the saints (the term hagiography is derived from Greek roots: hagios=holy and graphe=writing). The thirty-six chapters contain sources either in their entirety or in selections of substantial length. The great majority of the texts have never previously appeared in English translation. Those which have appeared in earlier translation, are here presented in versions based on significant new textual and historical scholarship which makes them significant improvements on the earlier versions. All the translations are accompanied by introductions, notes, and suggestions for further reading in order to help guide the reader. The first selections date to the fourth century, when the ideals of Christian sanctity were evolving to meet the demands of a world in which Christianity was an accepted religion and when the public veneration of relics was growing greatly in scope. The last selections date to the period immediately prior to the Reformation, a period in which the traditional concept of sanctity and acceptability of de cult of relics was being questioned. In addition to numerous works from the clerical languages of Latin and Greek, the selections include translations from Romance, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavic vernacular languages, s well as Hebrew texts concerning the martyrdom of Jews at the hands of Christians. Originating in lands from Iceland to Hungary and from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, they are taken from a full range of the many genres which constituted hagiography: lives of the saints, collections of miracle stories, accounts of the discovery or movement of relics, liturgical books, visions, canonization inquests, and even heresy trials.

When one considers the early Christian church, one is immediately struck by the exponential growth that the church experienced. The inevitable question one must ask when considering the early church’s rapid rate of growth is: How did it happen? While social forces, plagues, politics, and ideology competitions were certainly factors in the growth of Christianity, one would be remiss not to consider the methodology behind the considerable evangelistic effort made by the patristic church. This dissertation analyzes the use of Scripture in the apologetic and evangelistic writings produced by Christian leaders within the Greek patristic tradition and their belief that Scripture was the primary tool given by God for the conversion of souls.