Theodoret of Cyrus - Böcker

The Library of Early Christianity will be a permanent enterprise that publishes one new volume approximately every other year. The Library will publish texts in the original ancient languages of both East and West - Greek, Latin, Arabic, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, and Georgian - accompanied by contemporary English translations printed on the facing pages. In order to make the texts more accessible to the nonspecialist and to aid readers in comprehending the thought of the influential thinkers of the early church, each volume will include an introduction, notes, and a bibliography. Shortly before his death (ca. 460), as his health was failing, Theodoret decided to undertake a monumental project of exegesis. In the more than two decades of his episcopacy, he had commented on both the prophets and the sapiential literature of the ""Hebrew Scriptures"". Now he would expound the historical books. For his commentary on the Octateuch, he adopted the format of question and answer. This device allowed the expositor to focus attention on particularly challenging passages that could give rise to misunderstanding. Long experience had taught him that ""careless reading of holy Scripture is the cause of error among ordinary people."" Intimately acquainted with every detail of the text, well-informed about contemporary Judaism, and steeped in the works of previous interpreters, he makes his way through a massive body of text with concision, a sure sense for the significant and the controversial, and a thoughtful moderation respectful of the accomplishments of Alexandrian, as well as Antiochene, biblical scholarship.

The Library of Early Christianity will be a permanent enterprise that publishes one new volume approximately every other year. The Library will publish texts in the original ancient languages of both East and West - Greek, Latin, Arabic, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, and Georgian - accompanied by contemporary English translations printed on the facing pages. In order to make the texts more accessible to the nonspecialist and to aid readers in comprehending the thought of the influential thinkers of the early church, each volume will include an introduction, notes, and a bibliography. Shortly before his death (ca. 460), as his health was failing, Theodoret decided to undertake a monumental project of exegesis. In the more than two decades of his episcopacy, he had commented on both the prophets and the sapiential literature of the ""Hebrew Scriptures"". Now he would expound the historical books. For his commentary on the Octateuch, he adopted the format of question and answer. This device allowed the expositor to focus attention on particularly challenging passages that could give rise to misunderstanding. Long experience had taught him that ""careless reading of holy Scripture is the cause of error among ordinary people."" Intimately acquainted with every detail of the text, well-informed about contemporary Judaism, and steeped in the works of previous interpreters, he makes his way through a massive body of text with concision, a sure sense for the significant and the controversial, and a thoughtful moderation respectful of the accomplishments of Alexandrian, as well as Antiochene, biblical scholarship.

This translation of a major document in patristic Christology, the first translation since the nineteenth century, is based upon the modern critical edition of Theodoret's Greek text. Theodoret was the leading theologian of his time in the Antiochene tradition, and in the Eranistes (written in 447) he offers a lengthy exposition of his Christology, coupled with a refutation of the so-called Monophysite Christology that, despite its condemnation at the General Council held at Chalcedon in 451, survives to this day, having been embraced by several large churches of the East. The ""Monophysite"" controversy caused a tremendous rift between East and West, and the Eranistes portrays the hostility and the stubborn resistance to the thought of others that afflicted both sides in the conflict.The Eranistes is written in the form of three dialogues between two characters: Orthodox, who represents Theodoret's thought, and Eranistes, who is presented as a heretic. In two dialogues Theodoret argues that the Word of God was immutable and impassible in his divine nature, and that Christ experienced change and passion only in his human nature. A third dialogue argues that, in the union of the divinity and humanity in the one person of the Word incarnate, the natures remained unmixed. To bolster his arguments Theodoret incorporates extensive citations, not only from orthodox ecclesiastical writers, but also from the heretic Apollinarius and the suspected Arian, Eusebius of Emesa. The texts of many of these citations are known only from the Eranistes and are therefore important witnesses to the development of patristic Christology.Critical issues in Antiochene and Alexandrian Christology are broached by Theodoret in the text and are further discussed by the translator in the introduction and notes.

Volumes 4 and 5 of the Library of Early Christianity, The Correspondence of Theodoret of Cyrus: The Collectio Sirmondiana, present a text and translation of the largest of three collections of Theodoret's letters that have come down to us (first edited by the Jesuit father Jacques Sirmond, Paris 1642). Though pastor of the remote see of Cyrus in Syria, Theodoret was one of the major teachers of the eastern Christian church of the late fourth and early fifth century.These 147 letters place before us the myriad concerns, both spiritual and secular, of a late-antique bishop: Theodoret expounds theological and moral issues for fellow churchmen, begs imperial officials for tax relief for local landowners, provides for the sustenance and safety of refugees from the Vandal war in Africa, thanks a friend for a gift of wine. The edition of the Greek text is the work of John Petruccione. A textual introduction explains the relationships among the manuscripts, and the critical notes the choices made where the text is uncertain. The historical / theological introduction is the work of István Pásztori-Kupán, one of the foremost expositors of the thought of Theodoret and of his Antiochene predecessors and contemporaries. Two maps locate for the reader the place names mentioned in the letters, and three indices (a Scriptural Index, General Index, and Index of Modern Authors) complement the notes attached to the text and translation.

Volumes 4 and 5 of the Library of Early Christianity, The Correspondence of Theodoret of Cyrus: The Collectio Sirmondiana, present a text and translation of the largest of three collections of Theodoret's letters that have come down to us (first edited by the Jesuit father Jacques Sirmond, Paris 1642). Though pastor of the remote see of Cyrus in Syria, Theodoret was one of the major teachers of the eastern Christian church of the late fourth and early fifth century.These 147 letters place before us the myriad concerns, both spiritual and secular, of a late-antique bishop: Theodoret expounds theological and moral issues for fellow churchmen, begs imperial officials for tax relief for local landowners, provides for the sustenance and safety of refugees from the Vandal war in Africa, thanks a friend for a gift of wine. The edition of the Greek text is the work of John Petruccione. A textual introduction explains the relationships among the manuscripts, and the critical notes the choices made where the text is uncertain. The historical / theological introduction is the work of István Pásztori-Kupán, one of the foremost expositors of the thought of Theodoret and of his Antiochene predecessors and contemporaries. Two maps locate for the reader the place names mentioned in the letters, and three indices (a Scriptural Index, General Index, and Index of Modern Authors) complement the notes attached to the text and translation.

Volumes 4 and 5 of the Library of Early Christianity, The Correspondence of Theodoret of Cyrus: The Collectio Sirmondiana, present a text and translation of the largest of three collections of Theodoret's letters that have come down to us (first edited by the Jesuit father Jacques Sirmond, Paris 1642). Though pastor of the remote see of Cyrus in Syria, Theodoret was one of the major teachers of the eastern Christian church of the late fourth and early fifth century.These 147 letters place before us the myriad concerns, both spiritual and secular, of a late-antique bishop: Theodoret expounds theological and moral issues for fellow churchmen, begs imperial officials for tax relief for local landowners, provides for the sustenance and safety of refugees from the Vandal war in Africa, thanks a friend for a gift of wine. The edition of the Greek text is the work of John Petruccione. A textual introduction explains the relationships among the manuscripts, and the critical notes the choices made where the text is uncertain. The historical / theological introduction is the work of István Pásztori-Kupán, one of the foremost expositors of the thought of Theodoret and of his Antiochene predecessors and contemporaries. Two maps locate for the reader the place names mentioned in the letters, and three indices (a Scriptural Index, General Index, and Index of Modern Authors) complement the notes attached to the text and translation.

Volumes 4 and 5 of the Library of Early Christianity, The Correspondence of Theodoret of Cyrus: The Collectio Sirmondiana, present a text and translation of the largest of three collections of Theodoret's letters that have come down to us (first edited by the Jesuit father Jacques Sirmond, Paris 1642). Though pastor of the remote see of Cyrus in Syria, Theodoret was one of the major teachers of the eastern Christian church of the late fourth and early fifth century.These 147 letters place before us the myriad concerns, both spiritual and secular, of a late-antique bishop: Theodoret expounds theological and moral issues for fellow churchmen, begs imperial officials for tax relief for local landowners, provides for the sustenance and safety of refugees from the Vandal war in Africa, thanks a friend for a gift of wine. The edition of the Greek text is the work of John Petruccione. A textual introduction explains the relationships among the manuscripts, and the critical notes the choices made where the text is uncertain. The historical / theological introduction is the work of István Pásztori-Kupán, one of the foremost expositors of the thought of Theodoret and of his Antiochene predecessors and contemporaries. Two maps locate for the reader the place names mentioned in the letters, and three indices (a Scriptural Index, General Index, and Index of Modern Authors) complement the notes attached to the text and translation.