ILLNESS, PAIN, AND HEALTH CARE IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY by Helen Rhee. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Pu... more ILLNESS, PAIN, AND HEALTH CARE IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY by Helen Rhee. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2022. 367 pages. Hardcover; $49.99. ISBN: 9780802876843. *"The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business; a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head." --William Osler (1849-1919) *Helen Rhee, professor of the History of Christianity at Westmont College, has encapsulated this famous saying in her recent book, Illness, Pain, and Health Care in Early Christianity by demonstrating how partially objective medicine as an early science co-evolved with subjective religious thought throughout early Greek, Roman, and Christian history. Indeed, even today, a patient's pursuit of relief from suffering often involves the clinical science of medicine occurring arm-in-arm with spiritual care. Such examples include use of hospital chaplains, visitation and assistance from members of a congregation, and personal prayer. This...
Athanasius tells us that Antony, when a young man, heard the Lord's admonition, "[G]o, sell what ... more Athanasius tells us that Antony, when a young man, heard the Lord's admonition, "[G]o, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven" (Matt. 19:21 ESV), and he immediately did so, becoming afterward an ascetic monk in the deserts of Egypt. That episode is in many ways emblematic of the themes treated in Peter Brown's recent book, The Ransom of the Soul, though the book focuses exclusively on developments in Western Christianity. What does it mean to accrue "treasure in heaven"? What does it mean that "[t]he ransom of the soul of a man is his wealth" (Prov. 13:8)? The use of the latter for the purposes of afterlife speculation is easily disposed of because it rests on a misunderstanding of "soul"-in the original context the meaning was the rather commonsensical "wealth can save your hide"-but the meaning of the former question is perhaps trickier, and the verse in which it is contained was often taken literally in antiquity. The book raises the issue, in other words, of the relationship between money in this world and eternal life in the next; or, rather, of the ways in which that relationship was conceptualized and imagined from antiquity to the dawn of the Middle Ages. Brown is a master of his craft, and this book, based on lectures delivered at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna (2012), is consistent with the high quality readers have come to expect from the doyen of late Roman studies. The writing is crisp, the authorial voice sympathetic but probing (sympathy is not, after all, the same as apology or partisanship), the pace leisurely, meditative, unhurried. The last is especially significant, because one of Brown's chief goals is to describe the pace of imaginative change in the ancient psyche (xiii-xiv), something difficult to do and rarely even attempted in standard historiography. The result is a textured picture of evolving views of the status of wealth and of the permeability of the border between this world and the next over several centuries. To put it in the crassest schematic terms, the conceptualization of the bestowal of wealth and its objects passed through three phases of binary opposition: (1) citizen vs. noncitizen (the classical period), (2) rich vs. poor (Christian late antiquity), and (3) lay vs. religious (early Middle Ages). In each of these, what one did with his wealth would have consequences for eternity. With citizen versus noncitizen, we are in the context of classical civic euergetism. Conspicuous displays of wealth-in, say, large-scale building projects-were intended to serve the citizenry regardless of class and to glorify the benefactor within the orbit of his polity. Such benefactions contributed to the postmortem reputation and memory of the giver; sometimes, as in Cicero's Dream of Scipio (not discussed by Brown as it is outside the scope of his book), those who served the commonwealth well were given a place among the stars in the Milky Way.
The preeminent 2nd century Christian apologist and martyr Justin Martyr was born in the Roman col... more The preeminent 2nd century Christian apologist and martyr Justin Martyr was born in the Roman colony of Flavia Neapolis (Nablus) in Syrian Palestine (1 Apol. 1.1). Justin experienced a philosophical pilgrimage as a Stoic, a Peripatetic, a Pythagorean, and a Platonist. He was then led by an old man to the revealed truth of Christianity, “the only sure and worthy philosophy” (Dial. 3–9). After conversion, he continued to wear philosopher's garb and conducted a Christian school in Rome, championing Christian faith and practice against heretics (e.g. Marcion), Jewish claims, and pagan accusations and violence. He was the first theologian who seriously engaged with Greco-Roman philosophy and culture in expounding Christian truth. His disciples included Tatian the Syrian who produced his own diatribeapology, Oration to the Greeks, and the Gospel harmony, Diatessaron. According to the reliable Acts of Justin, he faced martyrdom with six other Christians under the prefect Junius Rusticus (162–168). Keywords: Justin Martyr, Saint (d. c.165); philosophical pilgrimage, peripatetic; Christianity, and classical greek, superseding the “whole”; first apology, second apology, and dialogue with trypho; two-day dialogue, with a learned jew, trypho
The issue of riches and Christian faith is as ancient as the New Testament and reaches farther ba... more The issue of riches and Christian faith is as ancient as the New Testament and reaches farther back to the Old Testament. As frequently noted, Jesus' teachings in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) demanded a kind of discipleship that barred any competing commitment to peoples or things other than himself, including money, property, and possessions. From the very beginnings of the Christian movement, how to deal with riches formed an important aspect of Christian discipleship and was thought to express “an essential articulation of our faith in God and of our love for our fellow humans” (Johnson 1981, 16). Christians claimed that the Christian attitude toward and use of wealth was a critical identity marker that distinguished Christians from non-Christians. Regardless of how one theologized riches and poverty, Christians had to grapple with and respond to the “clear” call of the social (material) responsibilities of the gospel. This entry examines the ways in which Christians interpreted, applied, communicated, and struggled with what they thought they understood as the Christian principle and mandate regarding wealth. It first proceeds with Jewish and Greco-Roman backgrounds of early Christian teachings on riches and mainly focuses on the New Testament teachings; it then treats the subsequent interpretations and applications of those teachings in a broad historical development. Keywords: riches and Christianity; jesus' teachings, in the synoptic gospels; new testament, and the letter of james; old testament prophetic tradition of “wicked rich” and “pious poor”
The final chapter considers the Vulgate edition of the Pauline letters and one of its earliest ma... more The final chapter considers the Vulgate edition of the Pauline letters and one of its earliest manuscripts, the Codex Fuldensis, which contains numerous, sometimes contradictory, paratexts (such as Primum quaeritur and Marcionite argumenta). The author’s position is that Rufinus the Syrian was responsible for this Latin translation of Paul’s letters—corresponding closely to Alexandrian Greek readings and a rejection of Old Latin readings where testimony is divided—and that this explains the acceptance of Hebrews as authentically Pauline. Once again, several passages from Paul’s letters are chosen as illustrations. I found the argument about the Pelagian influence on the editing to the text of Paul’s letters and their capitula somewhat unsatisfactory, for Rom 6.3ff is not specifically about infant baptism, and 1 Cor 6.9ff is not specifically about original sin. The book is well footnoted. It is not for the novice or undergraduate; the study of manuscripts and textual transmission requires some degree of familiarity with advanced issues. This volume is a perfect example of how New Testament studies and early Christian studies of the post–New Testament world need more in dialogue with each other, for at its heart is the argument that we have no access to Paul except as his texts were interpreted and therefore edited during those first few subsequent centuries. What it tells me is that we are not simply discussing the reception of Paul but, to some extent, the reworking of Paul. Despite my qualms about a few small sections, I think this is an impressive volume and a valuable contribution to the study of the formation of a part of the Christian canon. Geoffrey D. Dunn, Australian Catholic University
This article grounds early Christian theologies and practices of philanthropy in their varied com... more This article grounds early Christian theologies and practices of philanthropy in their varied complexities in a larger patristic vision of human flourishing. For patristic authors (second to fifth centuries), human flourishing is grounded in God’s creative intent for material creation, including nature and material goods, that are to be shared for common use and common good, and also to be a means of distributive justice. Based on God’s own philanthropia (“love of humanity”, compassionate generosity), when Christians practice it mainly through almsgiving to the poor and sharing, they mirror the original image (eikon) of God, undo their crime of inhumanity, retain a Christian identity and virtue, and thus restore a semblance of God’s creative intent for the common good. This fundamental social virtue, philanthropia, is, in fact, an attendant virtue of salvation (the goal of creation, including humanity), in reversing the effects of the fall and restoring human flourishing. I then exa...
rendering of the Greek that avoids the potentially misleading term “Catholic” and highlights the ... more rendering of the Greek that avoids the potentially misleading term “Catholic” and highlights the shock value of Pionius’s claim to be a presbyter of “the universal church” (75n106). The texts appear to be sound with one exception. In the Acts of Holy Perpetua and Felicity, Acta I (BHL 6634–35), Rebillard reproduces the text from Cornelius J. M. J. Van Beek (1936). However, in 5.8 a line is missing. The text reads, Proconsul dixit: “Consule tibi; doleo enim de te.” What follows in the Latin is omitted by Rebillard: Felicitas respondit: “Fac quod uis; mihi enim persuadere non poteris.” This line is translated in the English (“Felicity responded, ‘Do what you want, for you will not be able to convince me.’”), so it does not disappear entirely. Indeed, transmission is very difficult to perform perfectly even in this electronic age, and this appears to be the only example of such a glitch. Nevertheless, those doing close textual work may consider also consulting the relevant critical edi...
What can we say, in this issue dedicated to poverty, about the use of wealth in the early church ... more What can we say, in this issue dedicated to poverty, about the use of wealth in the early church and its role in relation to early Christian worship? Reflected in this quote of Basil is a general attitude toward wealth in early Christian writings: that God created the material world, including material things and wealth, for sufficient provision of the needs of all humans through common use, enjoyment, and flourishing in their right relations toward God and one another. Material possessions and wealth in God’s creative intent are not intrinsically evil although through them their possessors may encounter a real and powerful temptation, danger, and a potential for wickedness and destruction.
ILLNESS, PAIN, AND HEALTH CARE IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY by Helen Rhee. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Pu... more ILLNESS, PAIN, AND HEALTH CARE IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY by Helen Rhee. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2022. 367 pages. Hardcover; $49.99. ISBN: 9780802876843. *"The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business; a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head." --William Osler (1849-1919) *Helen Rhee, professor of the History of Christianity at Westmont College, has encapsulated this famous saying in her recent book, Illness, Pain, and Health Care in Early Christianity by demonstrating how partially objective medicine as an early science co-evolved with subjective religious thought throughout early Greek, Roman, and Christian history. Indeed, even today, a patient's pursuit of relief from suffering often involves the clinical science of medicine occurring arm-in-arm with spiritual care. Such examples include use of hospital chaplains, visitation and assistance from members of a congregation, and personal prayer. This...
Athanasius tells us that Antony, when a young man, heard the Lord's admonition, "[G]o, sell what ... more Athanasius tells us that Antony, when a young man, heard the Lord's admonition, "[G]o, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven" (Matt. 19:21 ESV), and he immediately did so, becoming afterward an ascetic monk in the deserts of Egypt. That episode is in many ways emblematic of the themes treated in Peter Brown's recent book, The Ransom of the Soul, though the book focuses exclusively on developments in Western Christianity. What does it mean to accrue "treasure in heaven"? What does it mean that "[t]he ransom of the soul of a man is his wealth" (Prov. 13:8)? The use of the latter for the purposes of afterlife speculation is easily disposed of because it rests on a misunderstanding of "soul"-in the original context the meaning was the rather commonsensical "wealth can save your hide"-but the meaning of the former question is perhaps trickier, and the verse in which it is contained was often taken literally in antiquity. The book raises the issue, in other words, of the relationship between money in this world and eternal life in the next; or, rather, of the ways in which that relationship was conceptualized and imagined from antiquity to the dawn of the Middle Ages. Brown is a master of his craft, and this book, based on lectures delivered at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna (2012), is consistent with the high quality readers have come to expect from the doyen of late Roman studies. The writing is crisp, the authorial voice sympathetic but probing (sympathy is not, after all, the same as apology or partisanship), the pace leisurely, meditative, unhurried. The last is especially significant, because one of Brown's chief goals is to describe the pace of imaginative change in the ancient psyche (xiii-xiv), something difficult to do and rarely even attempted in standard historiography. The result is a textured picture of evolving views of the status of wealth and of the permeability of the border between this world and the next over several centuries. To put it in the crassest schematic terms, the conceptualization of the bestowal of wealth and its objects passed through three phases of binary opposition: (1) citizen vs. noncitizen (the classical period), (2) rich vs. poor (Christian late antiquity), and (3) lay vs. religious (early Middle Ages). In each of these, what one did with his wealth would have consequences for eternity. With citizen versus noncitizen, we are in the context of classical civic euergetism. Conspicuous displays of wealth-in, say, large-scale building projects-were intended to serve the citizenry regardless of class and to glorify the benefactor within the orbit of his polity. Such benefactions contributed to the postmortem reputation and memory of the giver; sometimes, as in Cicero's Dream of Scipio (not discussed by Brown as it is outside the scope of his book), those who served the commonwealth well were given a place among the stars in the Milky Way.
The preeminent 2nd century Christian apologist and martyr Justin Martyr was born in the Roman col... more The preeminent 2nd century Christian apologist and martyr Justin Martyr was born in the Roman colony of Flavia Neapolis (Nablus) in Syrian Palestine (1 Apol. 1.1). Justin experienced a philosophical pilgrimage as a Stoic, a Peripatetic, a Pythagorean, and a Platonist. He was then led by an old man to the revealed truth of Christianity, “the only sure and worthy philosophy” (Dial. 3–9). After conversion, he continued to wear philosopher's garb and conducted a Christian school in Rome, championing Christian faith and practice against heretics (e.g. Marcion), Jewish claims, and pagan accusations and violence. He was the first theologian who seriously engaged with Greco-Roman philosophy and culture in expounding Christian truth. His disciples included Tatian the Syrian who produced his own diatribeapology, Oration to the Greeks, and the Gospel harmony, Diatessaron. According to the reliable Acts of Justin, he faced martyrdom with six other Christians under the prefect Junius Rusticus (162–168). Keywords: Justin Martyr, Saint (d. c.165); philosophical pilgrimage, peripatetic; Christianity, and classical greek, superseding the “whole”; first apology, second apology, and dialogue with trypho; two-day dialogue, with a learned jew, trypho
The issue of riches and Christian faith is as ancient as the New Testament and reaches farther ba... more The issue of riches and Christian faith is as ancient as the New Testament and reaches farther back to the Old Testament. As frequently noted, Jesus' teachings in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) demanded a kind of discipleship that barred any competing commitment to peoples or things other than himself, including money, property, and possessions. From the very beginnings of the Christian movement, how to deal with riches formed an important aspect of Christian discipleship and was thought to express “an essential articulation of our faith in God and of our love for our fellow humans” (Johnson 1981, 16). Christians claimed that the Christian attitude toward and use of wealth was a critical identity marker that distinguished Christians from non-Christians. Regardless of how one theologized riches and poverty, Christians had to grapple with and respond to the “clear” call of the social (material) responsibilities of the gospel. This entry examines the ways in which Christians interpreted, applied, communicated, and struggled with what they thought they understood as the Christian principle and mandate regarding wealth. It first proceeds with Jewish and Greco-Roman backgrounds of early Christian teachings on riches and mainly focuses on the New Testament teachings; it then treats the subsequent interpretations and applications of those teachings in a broad historical development. Keywords: riches and Christianity; jesus' teachings, in the synoptic gospels; new testament, and the letter of james; old testament prophetic tradition of “wicked rich” and “pious poor”
The final chapter considers the Vulgate edition of the Pauline letters and one of its earliest ma... more The final chapter considers the Vulgate edition of the Pauline letters and one of its earliest manuscripts, the Codex Fuldensis, which contains numerous, sometimes contradictory, paratexts (such as Primum quaeritur and Marcionite argumenta). The author’s position is that Rufinus the Syrian was responsible for this Latin translation of Paul’s letters—corresponding closely to Alexandrian Greek readings and a rejection of Old Latin readings where testimony is divided—and that this explains the acceptance of Hebrews as authentically Pauline. Once again, several passages from Paul’s letters are chosen as illustrations. I found the argument about the Pelagian influence on the editing to the text of Paul’s letters and their capitula somewhat unsatisfactory, for Rom 6.3ff is not specifically about infant baptism, and 1 Cor 6.9ff is not specifically about original sin. The book is well footnoted. It is not for the novice or undergraduate; the study of manuscripts and textual transmission requires some degree of familiarity with advanced issues. This volume is a perfect example of how New Testament studies and early Christian studies of the post–New Testament world need more in dialogue with each other, for at its heart is the argument that we have no access to Paul except as his texts were interpreted and therefore edited during those first few subsequent centuries. What it tells me is that we are not simply discussing the reception of Paul but, to some extent, the reworking of Paul. Despite my qualms about a few small sections, I think this is an impressive volume and a valuable contribution to the study of the formation of a part of the Christian canon. Geoffrey D. Dunn, Australian Catholic University
This article grounds early Christian theologies and practices of philanthropy in their varied com... more This article grounds early Christian theologies and practices of philanthropy in their varied complexities in a larger patristic vision of human flourishing. For patristic authors (second to fifth centuries), human flourishing is grounded in God’s creative intent for material creation, including nature and material goods, that are to be shared for common use and common good, and also to be a means of distributive justice. Based on God’s own philanthropia (“love of humanity”, compassionate generosity), when Christians practice it mainly through almsgiving to the poor and sharing, they mirror the original image (eikon) of God, undo their crime of inhumanity, retain a Christian identity and virtue, and thus restore a semblance of God’s creative intent for the common good. This fundamental social virtue, philanthropia, is, in fact, an attendant virtue of salvation (the goal of creation, including humanity), in reversing the effects of the fall and restoring human flourishing. I then exa...
rendering of the Greek that avoids the potentially misleading term “Catholic” and highlights the ... more rendering of the Greek that avoids the potentially misleading term “Catholic” and highlights the shock value of Pionius’s claim to be a presbyter of “the universal church” (75n106). The texts appear to be sound with one exception. In the Acts of Holy Perpetua and Felicity, Acta I (BHL 6634–35), Rebillard reproduces the text from Cornelius J. M. J. Van Beek (1936). However, in 5.8 a line is missing. The text reads, Proconsul dixit: “Consule tibi; doleo enim de te.” What follows in the Latin is omitted by Rebillard: Felicitas respondit: “Fac quod uis; mihi enim persuadere non poteris.” This line is translated in the English (“Felicity responded, ‘Do what you want, for you will not be able to convince me.’”), so it does not disappear entirely. Indeed, transmission is very difficult to perform perfectly even in this electronic age, and this appears to be the only example of such a glitch. Nevertheless, those doing close textual work may consider also consulting the relevant critical edi...
What can we say, in this issue dedicated to poverty, about the use of wealth in the early church ... more What can we say, in this issue dedicated to poverty, about the use of wealth in the early church and its role in relation to early Christian worship? Reflected in this quote of Basil is a general attitude toward wealth in early Christian writings: that God created the material world, including material things and wealth, for sufficient provision of the needs of all humans through common use, enjoyment, and flourishing in their right relations toward God and one another. Material possessions and wealth in God’s creative intent are not intrinsically evil although through them their possessors may encounter a real and powerful temptation, danger, and a potential for wickedness and destruction.
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