Books in the Oxford Early Christian Studies series

This volume discusses the development of Isaac of Nineveh's eschatology through an examination of his use of Syriac source material.

This volume contains translations of forty Latin passiones of saints who were martyred in Rome or its near environs, during the period before the 'peace of the Church' (c. 312). Each translation is accompanied by an individual introduction and commentary.

Through close literary analysis of the original Greek texts, Hazel Johannessen explores how Eusebius of Caesarea (c.260-339) used ideas about demons in his political thought.

This work offers a critical overview of the hymns of Ambrose of Milan (c.339-397) in the context of fourth-century doctrinal hymns and in relation to his own catechetical preaching. Brian P. Dunkle, SJ, argues that Ambrose employed sophisticated poetic techniques in his hymns in order to foster a pro-Nicene sensitivity in his congregation.

A study of the Historia Monachorum in Aegypto, one of the earliest pieces of monastic hagiography to survive in Greek.

This work considers ideas about the legitimacy of slavery in ancient Greek, Jewish, New Testament, and Early Christian thought, as well as the actual practices with regard to slave ownership employed by these thinkers.

This is a study of Eustathius, Bishop of Antioch from c.324 to c.327, a leading figure at the Council of Nicaea and opponent of Arianism. Sophie Cartwright considers in particular Eustathius' theological anthropology with chapters devoted to body and soul, the image of God, soteriology, and eschatology.

This volume is a study of discourses on the resurrection of the dead, examining how early Christian writers developed key texts from the New Testament on the theme and showing that belief in resurrection became a marker of Christian identity.

This book concerns the theology of Scripture of Cyril of Alexandria (c.376-444), whose surviving corpus is the second largest among eastern patristic authors. Matthew R. Crawford examines texts which have received little previous attention as well as situating Cyril in his broader intellectual context.

This book identifies Gregory's biblical sources as well as the influences of both his Alexandrian predecessors (Philo, Clement, and Origen) and his fourth-century context, before comparing the life to other heavenly-ascent texts.

A study of how Christians understood the Holy Spirit in the 5th and 6th centuries. Humphries argues that we can see various schools of thought within Christianity in this period, but that many of them are occupied with similar questions about how to understand human life and how to understand divine life.

An introduction to the multiplex relation between Creator and creation as an object both of theological construction and religious devotion in the early church. The book argues that patristic commentators were motivated less by cosmological concerns than the desire to depict creation as the enduring creative and redemptive strategy of the Trinity.

The first book length study of the life, work, and thought of Palladius of Helenopolis (ca. 362-420), an important witness of Christianity in late antiquity. Palladius' Dialogue on the Life of St. John Chrysostom and his Lausiac History are key sources for our knowledge of John Chrysostom's downfall and of the Origenist controversy.

A close study of aspects of Irenaeus' pneumatology that demonstrates how Irenaeus combined Second Temple Jewish traditions of the spirit with New Testament theology to produce the most complex Jewish-Christian pneumatology of the early church.

This book examines the writings of an early sixth-century Christian mystical theologian who wrote under the name of a convert of the apostle Paul, Dionysius the Areopagite, and argues that the pseudonym and the corresponding influence of Paul are the crucial lens through which to read this influential corpus.

An investigation into two basic concepts of ancient pagan and early Christian thought, activity and participation, through detailed discussion of the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor, and Gregory Palamas.

A study of the ascetic teaching of 7th century writer Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian), a popular figure in Eastern Christain tradition. Hagman uses Isaac's writings to argue that asceticism is not about punishing the body, but is a way to use the body to communicate the Christian message to society.

This book is a literary-historical study of the letters of Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria (385-412) and the success of their rhetorical persuasion in securing the condemnation of Origen and the punishment and expulsion of his monastic followers in 400 ce.

This book is a study of the Ladder of Divine Ascent by the Palestinian ascetic, John Climacus (c.570-c.649), examining the role of death in the development of Christian identity both within the text and in other Greek literature in the centuries preceding its composition.

This book explores the theme of 'memory' in Augustine's works, tracing its philosophical and theological significance. It shows how Augustine inherits this theme from classical philosophy and how Augustine's theological understanding of Christ draws on and resolves tensions in the theme of memory.

This book examines how Gregory of Nazianzus, a fourth-century Greek writer famed as 'the Theologian' in the Christian tradition, expressed the mystery of Christ in terms of his own life. It studies Gregory's three genres of writing (orations, poems, and letters) and shows how Gregory developed an 'autobiographical Christology'.

This book examines the cultural and political history of the Church of the East, the main Christian church in Iraq and Iran. Philip Wood uses medieval Arabic sources to examine history-writing by Christians in the fifth to ninth centuries AD.

Marius Victorinus, a professor of rhetoric in mid-fourth-century Rome, wrote the first Latin commentaries on the apostle Paul, whose letters have played a vital role in Western Christian thought. This is an English translation of Victorinus' commentary on Galatians, which is a presentation of the apostle's passion for the freedom of the gospel.

Divine simplicity is the idea that, as the ultimate principle of the universe, God must be a non-composite unity not made up of parts or diverse attributes. Radde-Gallwitz explores how this idea was appropriated by early Christian theologians from non-Christian philosophy with particular reference to Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa.

The "De Officiis"of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (c.AD 339-397) is a key text of early Christian literature. Based on a work by Cicero, it presents the first systematic account of Christian ethics. Volume 1 of this edition offers an introduction, the Latin text, and translation, whilst Volume 2 gives a full commentary.

Dr Shuve offers a comprehensive analysis of the interpretation of the Song of Songs in the Latin-speaking churches of Late Antiquity, showing how it was used by bishops and theologians to illuminate complex problems of identity in relation to liturgical practice, doctrinal definitions, and ideas about the body and sexuality.

In life Jerome's authority was frequently questioned, yet following his death he was venerated as a saint. Andrew Cain systematically examines Jerome's idealized self-presentation across the extant epistolary corpus, exploring how and why Jerome used letter writing as a means to bid for status as an expert on the Bible and ascetic spirituality.

A reconstruction of how Augustine, one of the most famous and productive theologians in the Western Church, used the Bible, based on information in his writings and surviving manuscripts. Includes a commentary on Augustine's text and exegesis of the Gospel according to John.

Examines and reconstructs the anti-Chalcedonian movement in Palestine on the basis of one of its most important witnesses, the fifth-century "Life of Peter, the Iberian" by John Rufus. This book uses textual, as well as archaeological data to reconstruct the history of Peter, the Iberian and his significant role in the anti-Chalcedonian Church.

The letters of Paulinus of Nola and his correspondents show an early Christian 'web' of ideas in action. Catherine Conybeare examines how messages carried between members of a far-flung community helped to tie that community together. The letters reveal the profound impact Paulinus had in shaping the new Christian Church.