Books in the Oxford Early Christian Studies series

This book examines doctrinal conflicts concerning the dual nature of Christ in the period after the Council of Chalcedon by considering the life and works of Philoxenos of Mabbug (c.440-523), a Syriac theologian whose surviving corpus amounts to some 500,000 words.

This book shows that Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy aims to affect the listener through the designs of its rhythmic sound. Blackwood explains how these metres are arranged as aural patterns with a therapeutic and even liturgical purpose.

David Lloyd Dusenbury provides the first monograph in English on the first Christian anthropology-a text which influenced ideas about human nature in the Byzantine and Islamicate worlds, and in Europe, well into the early modern period.

This study examines the acts of ancient church councils as the objects of textual practices, in their editorial shaping, and in their material conditions.

Embodiment in the theology of Gregory of Nyssa is a much-debated topic. Hans Boersma argues that this-worldly realities of time and space, which include embodiment, are not the focus of Gregory's theology. Instead, Boersma suggests, the key to Gregory's theology is anagogy-going upward in order to participate in the life of God.

This book is the first publication of a very early set of Christian monastic rules from Roman Egypt, accompanied by four preliminary chapters discussing their historical and social context and their character as rules. These rules were found quoted in the writings of the great Egyptian monastic leader Shenoute.

This study explores Augustine's developing understanding of contemplation, beginning with his earliest accounts written before his baptism and ending with the Confessions. The arc of Augustine's thought through these years of transition leads into the Confessions, giving a vantage point to survey its classical Christian theology of contemplation.

Drawing on textual and rhetorical analysis, Peter Van Nuffelen proposes a major revaluation of The Histories Against the Pagans of Orosius, arguing that it is a much more subtle and complex text than usually assumed. Van Nuffelen uses Orosius as a lens to consider fourth- and fifth-century historiography.

This book examines Origen of Alexandria's approach to the Bible through a biographical lens, focusing on his account of the scriptural interpreter. Martens explores the many ways in which Origen thought ideal scriptural interpreters (himself included) embarked upon a way of salvation, culminating in the everlasting contemplation of God.

The first major study in English of the 'heretic' Jovinian and the Jovinianist controversy. David G. Hunter examines early Christian views on marriage and celibacy and the development of an anti-heretical tradition. Hunter sheds new light on the origins of Christian asceticism, and the formation of 'orthodoxy' and 'heresy' in early Christianity.

Thecla, a disciple of the apostle Paul, became perhaps the most celebrated female saint and 'martyr' in the early church. Bringing together literary, artistic, and archaeological evidence, the author shows how the cult of Saint Thecla was especially popular among early Christian women.

This book examines the way Christians in Jerusalem prayed and how their prayer changed in the face of foreign invasions and the destruction of their places of worship.

Irenaeus and Clement, writing at the end of the second century, offer us very different views of holiness from those that came to dominate the monastic ideal. This book examines in detail their philosophies of what it means to be a human being living in the presence of God.

Presenting a study of Gregory of Nyssa, this book shows how for Gregory the darkness of faith is what unites the believer with God. Through this union by faith alone, God yet speaks through the deeds and discourse of the believer. While the believer is immersed in the darkness of unknowing, they are also transformed in light.

Deification was not only a pagan concept but a metaphor for a deeply Christian view of the purpose of human life. This is the first book on the subject for over sixty years. It brings together much recent research on the Church Fathers from the second to the seventh centuries, offering an analysis of their spiritual teaching and setting it within the context of the times.

The ancient Dormition and Assumption traditions are the earliest accounts of the Virgin Mary's departure from this life. They first developed in the eastern Mediterranean during the early Christian period. This book presents a systematic study of these traditions and it is intended as an introduction to the earliest traditions.

Pelagius was at the centre of one of the most important controversies of the early Christian church. This is the first English translation of his commentary on Paul's Letter to the Romans.

Gavrilyuk reconsiders the issue of divine suffering and divine emotions in the early Church Fathers, who are commonly criticized for accepting the argument of Hellenistic philosophy that God cannot suffer or feel emotions. He shows that this view represents a misreading of the evidence.

Augustine's Commentary on Galatians is his only complete, formal commentary on any book of the Bible and offers unique insights into his understanding of Paul and of his own task as a biblical interpreter. In addition to an English translation with facing Latin text, Eric Plumer provides a comprehensive introduction and copious notes.

Evagrius of Pontus (c.345-399) was one of the most prominent and influential figures among the monks of the desert settlements in Lower Egypt. This is a complete English translation of his writings.

How did the early Church understand the relation between grace, salvation, and the person of Christ? Donald Fairbairn's persuasive study shows that, despite intense theological controversy, there was in fact a very strong consensus in the fifth century about what salvation was and who Christ needed to be in order to save people.

Eusebius of Caesarea (d. 339) is our major historical witness to the triumph of Christianity in the early fourth century. His commentary on the Book of Isaiah has only been available to modern scholars since 1975. The present book, the first comprehensive study, examines how Eusebius interpreted Isaiah in the context of Constantine's conversion.

This study examines the relationship between Augustine's account of God's judgment and his theology of grace in his early works.

This study develops a methodology for approaching homilies that draws on a broader understanding of audience as both the physical audience and the readership of sermons. It then offers a case study on the Syriac preacher Jacob of Serguh whose metrical homilies form one of the largest sermon collections in any language from late antiquity.

This book explores how the Donatist church, a schismatic movement that for a brief moment formed the majority church in Roman North Africa, interpreted the apocalypse during the first two centuries of its existence (c. 300-500).

This work compares the Minor Prophets commentaries of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Cyril of Alexandria, isolating the role each interpreter assigns the Twelve Prophets in their ministry to Old Testament Israel and the texts of the Twelve as Christian scripture.

Gregory of Nyssa is firmly established in today's theological curriculum and is a major figure in the study of late antiquity. Andrew Radde-Gallwitz presents a reading of the works in Gregory's corpus devoted to the dogmatic controversies of his day.

Tollefsen investigates the image-doctrine of St Theodore the Studite with particular attention to his three refutations of the iconoclasts, the Antirrhetici tres adversus iconomachos.

This study investigates portrayals of the first-century philosopher and exegete Philo of Alexandria, in the writings of Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Eusebius.

It considers the use of incantations in early Christianity. It offers the first comprehensive investigation of magical practices (and how they changed) as Christianity became the dominant form of religion in the Roman Empire.