The Writings Of Julius Africanus

"The Sacred Writings Of ..." provides you with the essential works among the Early Christian writings. The volumes cover the beginning of Christianity until before the promulgation of the Nicene Creed at the First Council of Nicaea. Every single volume is accurately annotated, including * an extensive biography of the author and his life Julius Africanus is the father of Christian chronography. Little is known of his life and little remains of his works. He is important chiefly because of his influence on Eusebius, on all the later writers of Church history among the Fathers, and on the whole Greek school of chroniclers. This volume contains the following works: I.-The Epistle to Aristides. II.-Narrative of Events Happening in Persia on the Birth of Christ III.-The Extant Fragments of the Five Books of the Chronography of Julius Africanus. On the Mythical Chronology of the Egyptians and Chaldeans. On the Deluge. Of Abraham. Of Abraham and Lot. Of the Patriarch Jacob. On the Seventy Weeks of Daniel. On the Fortunes of Hyrcanus and Antigonus, and on Herod, Augustus, Antony, and Cleopatra, in Abstract. On the Circumstances Connected with Our Saviour's Passion and His Life-Giving Resurrection. IV.-The Passion of St. Symphorosa and Her Seven Sons.

[a.d. 200-232-245.] In a former volume, strengthened by a word from Archbishop Usher, I have not hesitated to claim for Theophilus of Antioch a primary place among Christian chronologists. It is no detraction from the fame of our author to admit this, and truth requires it. But the great Alexandrian school must again come into view when we speak of any considerable achievements, among early Christian writers, in this important element of all biblical, in fact, all historical, science. Africanus was a pupil of Heraclas, and we must therefore date his pupilage in Alexandria before a.d. 232, when Dionysius succeeded Heraclas in the presidency of that school. It appears that in a.d. 226 he was performing some duty on behalf of Emmaus (Nicopolis) in Palestine; but Heraclas, who had acted subordinately as Origen's assistant as early as a.d. 218, could not have become the head of the school, even provisionally, till after Origen's unhappy ordination. Let us assume the period of our author's attending the school under Heraclas to be between a.d. 228 and a.d. 232, however. We may then venture to reckon his birth as circa a.d. 200. And, if he became "bishop of Emmaus," it could hardly have been before the year 240, when he was of ripe age and experience. He adds additional luster to the age of Gregory Thaumaturgus and Dionysius, as well as to that of their common mother in letters and theology, the already ancient academy of Pantænus and of Clement.

Iulius Africanus (3rd cent.) is a fascinating writer in a period of transition. Widely travelled, he belongs to the intellectual élite of the second sophistic. His two main works present a similar encyclopedic approach, but very different contents. He can be considered the “father of Christian chronography”, since he authored the first Christian world chronicle (Chronographiae). However, he also wrote a comprehensive and multifaceted manual of many fields of knowledge, where the religious character is open to debate. The preserved fragments of the Cesti treat military, technical, medical and many other topics. These texts are presented in an entirely new critical edition. The transmission of the texts as well as questions of authenticity are highly complex. Compared to the previous edition (Vieillefond 1970), considerable progress has been reached in terms of both, quantity and quality of the material. Hitherto unknown texts have been included, and in the case of dubious authorship all necessary information is provided for a realistic picture of the transmission. In the introduction, all relevant channels of transmission are discussed. The edition is accompanied by notes and a new English translation.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1869.