Programme/Schedule

SUNDAY MAY 30, 2010

0830 – 1030 Session 1: Augustine (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Tim Hegedus, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary

0830 – 0900 President’s Welcome

0900 – 0930 Kevin Coyle, Université Saint Paul/ Saint Paul University, “Augustine and the Magdalene”

0930 – 1000 Wendy Helleman, University Of Jos, Nigeria, “`Christ, The Wisdom of God’: The Logic of Attribution in Augustine’s De Trinitate 5-7”

1000 – 1030 Robert Kennedy, St Francis Xavier University, “Augustine and Anselm on the Cause of the Angelic Fall”

1030 – 1100 Morning Tea

1100 – 1130 Session 2: Augustine (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Timothy Hegedus, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary

1100 – 1130 Naoki Kamimura, Tokyo Gakugei University, “Spiritual Exercises in the Sermon of Augustine”

1130 – 1330 Lunch (CSPS/ ACÉP Executive Meeting) (GM 302-00)

1330-1530 Session 3: Ante-Nicene Christianity and its Contemporaries (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Steven Muir, Concordia University, Edmonton

1330 – 1400 Peter Widdicombe, McMaster University, “Irenaeus and the Fatherhood of God”

1400 – 1430 Jonathan Bernier, McMaster University, “From Eyewitnesses to Bishops: On the Institutionalization of Early Christian Oral Tradition Between Papias of Hieropolis and Hegesippus”

1430 – 1500 Melissa Wiebe, Concordia University, “The Early Struggle: Understanding the Relationships and Events Surrounding the Persecution of the Early Christians”

1500 – 1530 Lorraine Buck, University of Prince Edward Island, “Aegates: Devil or Dupe?”

1530 – 1600 Afternoon Tea

1600 – 1800 Session 4: Ante-Nicene Christianity and its Contemporaries (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Steven Muir, Concordia University, Edmonton

1600 – 1630 Louis Painchaud, Université Laval, “Les nouveaux fragments de l’Evangile de Judas: Importance et significance pour l’interpretation globale du texte”

1630 – 1700 Harry O. Maier, Vancouver School of Theology, “Dressing For Church: Tailoring the Christian Self in Clement of Alexandria’s Clothing Ideals”

1700 – 1730 Pierre Ndoumai, Université Acadia, “Les religions à mystères dans l’oeuvre de Justin Martyr”

1900 - CSPS/ACÉP Annual Banquet –Le Pois Penché, 1230 Boulevard de Maisonneuve West (Dinner $45, plus drinks; Tel: 514-667-5050; www.lepoispenche.com)

MONDAY 31 MAY, 2010

0830 – 1030 Session 5: Images and Imagination in Early Christianity (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Lorraine Buck, University of Prince Edward Island

0830 – 0900 Kathleen Gibbons, University of Toronto, “Augustine’s Intersubjective Ascent in De Trinitate”

0900 – 0930 Julio Chaves, Université Laval, “The 'Apocalyptic Imagination' in Fourth Century Egyptian Hagiography: The Examples of The Life of Antony and The Life of Pachomius”

0930 – 1000 Melanie Perialis, Concordia University “The Catacombs of Rome: Typological Representations of Jesus Christ in Early Christian Art”

1000 – 1030 Adriana Bara, Université de Montréal, “The Transposition of the Vision of Nihon from Constantiana on the Fresco of the Last Judgment at the Church of Voronet Monastery”

1030 – 1100 Morning Tea

1100 – 1200 Session 6: Instrumenta Studiorum

(GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Pamela Bright, Concordia University, Montreal

1100 – 1130 Charles Kannengiesser, Concordia University, Preparing the Second Edition of The Handbook of Patristic Exegesis

Exegesis and a critical edition of Athanasius' Contra Arianos (Sources Chrétiennes)

1130 – 1200 Lucian Turcescu, Concordia University, A Report and Demonstration of a Web-based Approach to Teaching “The Origins of Christianity”

1130 – 1330 CCSR (Annual General Meeting) (GM 407-01)

1200 – 1330 Lunch

1400 – 1530 Session 7: (GM 302-00)

Book Discussion: Geoffrey D. Dunn, Tertullian's 'Aduersus Iudaoes': A Rhetorical Analysis, North American Patristics Society Patristic Monograph Series 19 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2008).
Chair/Président: Kevin Coyle, Université Saint Paul/ Saint Paul University

Presenter: Geoffrey D. Dunn, Australian Catholic University

Respondent: Pamela Bright, Concordia University

1530 – 1600 Afternoon Tea

1600 – 1730 Session 8: Early Christian Leadership

(GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: George Bevan, Queens University

1600 – 1630 Shawn Keough, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, “The Image of the Ideal Bishop in the Historia Ecclesiastica Copta”

1630 – 1700 Bronwen Neil, Australian Catholic University, “Leo the Great’s Strategies of Exclusion as a Response to Crisis”

1700 – 1730 Geoffrey Dunn, Australian Catholic University, “Innocent I and the Date of Easter”

1730 – 1900 CSPS Reception (EV 2-789)

1930 - 2100 Joint CCSR Lecture, sponsored by CTS/STC:

Chair/Président: Alyda Faber (Atlantic School of Theology)

Justo L. González, “Beyond Christendom: New Maps” (MB 1-210)

TUESDAY 1 JUNE, 2010

0830 – 1030 Session 9: Interpreting Sacred Texts and Traditions (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Lucian Turcescu, Concordia University, Montreal

0830 – 0900 Daniel Maoz, University of Waterloo, “Connected Understandings Between Traditional Judaism and the Early Church: Aggadic Considerations”

0900 – 0930 Jennifer Otto, McGill University, “Conflicting Christian Reactions to Philo’s Ark Door Exegesis”

0930 – 1000 Charles Kannengiesser, Concordia University, “Clothed with Spiritual Fire: John Chrysostom’s Homilies on the Letter to the Hebrews”

1000 – 1030 Pamela Bright, Concordia University, “Joshua as Priest, Apostle and ‘Pioneer of Salvation’: Soteriological Themes of the Epistle to the Hebrews in Origen’s Homilies on Joshua”

1030 – 1100 Morning Tea

1100 – 1230 Session 10: (GM 302-00) Interpreting Sacred Texts and Traditions (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Lucian Turcescu, Concordia University, Montreal

1100 – 1130 Vlad Niculescu, Bradley University, “Doctrinal Incarnation: Origen’s Pedagogy as the Advent of a Messianic Teacher”

1130 – 1200 Dragos Giulea, Marquette University, “Old Testament Theophanies: Gregory Nazianzen’s Or. 28.3 and the Biblical Roots of Apophatic Theology”

1200 – 1230 David Robinson, University of St. Michael’s College, “Tyconius and the North African Tradition of Biblical Interpretation: Idiosyncracies and Continuities”

1230 – 1330 Lunch

1330 – 1430 Session 11: Book Discussion: Lorenzo DiTommaso and Lucian Turcescu, eds., The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity: Proceedings of the Montreal Colloquium in Honour of Charles Kannengiesser, 11-13 October 2006, Leiden: Brill, 2008. (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Paul-Hubert Poirier, Université Laval, Quebec

Presenter: Lucian Turcescu, Concordia University

Respondent: Jean-Michel Roessli, Université de Sudbury / University of Sudbury

1430 – 1530 Session 12: Early Syriac Christianity (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Shawn Keough, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

1430 – 1500 Andrew Staples, Concordia University, “Deification Language in Dionysius’s Sacramental Expositions within the Ecclesiastical Hierarchies”

1500 – 1530 Robert A. Kitchen, Knox-Metropolitan United Church, Regina, “A Student of Evagrius: Influences upon the Discourses of Philoxenus of Mabbug”

1530 – 1600 Afternoon Tea

1600 – 1800

Annual General Meeting of CSPS/ACÉP (GM 302-00)

Chair/Président: Tim Hegedus

ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS:

Adriana Bara (Université de Montréal): The Transposition of the Vision of Nihon from Constantiana on the Fresco of the Last Judgment at the Church of Voronet Monastery

In 1993, due to the uniqueness of its exterior frescoes, the church of Voronet monastery painted in the sixteenth century was inscribed on the list of UNESCO heritage. One of the frescoes has as literary source the vision of the Last Judgment of fourth century monk and bishop Nifon. In my presentation I will draw a parallel between the fourth century text and the sixteenth century fresco and I will emphasize the importance of the literary patristic texts for the fresco’s painters.

Jonathan Bernier (McMaster University): From Eyewitness to Bishop: On the Institutionalization of Early Christian Oral Tradition Between Papias of Hierapolis and Hegesippus

This paper will compare the respective understandings of oral tradition evident in the extant (albeit fragmentary) writings of Papias of Hierapolis and Hegesippus. It will be argued that Hegesippus represents a later stage in the institutionalization of early Christian oral tradition than does Papias, wherein oral tradition about the Christian past is transmitted primarily through the succession of “proto-orthodox” bishops rather than by those with some claim either to be or to have known eyewitnesses to said past.

Pamela Bright (Concordia University): “Pioneer of Salvation”: Soteriological Themes of the Epistle to the Hebrews in Origen’s Homilies on Joshua

In his 26 Homilies on Joshua, Origen of Alexandria elaborates a series of themes from the Epistle to the Hebrews that he had initiated in his Homilies on Leviticus and his Homilies on Numbers. The paper will focus on the priestly aspects of the soteriological role of Joshua/Jesus in leading the People of God through the Jordan into the Promised Land.

Lorraine Buck (University of Prince Edward Island): Aegeates: Devil or Dupe?

Included in the Apocryphal Acts of Andrew is the story of Aegeates, proconsul of Achaea. When his wife, Maximilla, abandons him to follow Andrew, Aegeates determines to put Andrew to death. In her article entitled “Aegeates, the Devil in Person,” published in 2000, Monica Pesthy argues that in this work Aegeates is “the personification of Evil...absolutely and thoroughly bad, without even a chance to repent.” This paper will first discuss Pesthy’s evidence for this position and then argue that Aegeates’ role in this story is more akin to dupe than devil.

Julio Chaves ((Université Laval) : The 'Apocalyptic Imagination' in Fourth Century Egyptian Hagiography: The Examples of The Life of Antony and The Life of Pachomius

The influence of apocalyptic literature and worldview on early Christianity has been deeply studied by scholars. This study is mostly concentrated in the analysis of different aspects related to the composition and transmission of the New Testament and of Christian apocrypha and the so-called Jewish pseudepigrapha. The apocalyptic worldview, however, is also present, playing a major role, in many other types of early Christian literature, such as the fourth century Egyptian hagiography. This paper intends to present and analyze some of these apocalyptic elements found in two of the most famous hagiographies from the ancient world, The Life of Antony and The Life of Pachomius. We may see how fundamental some apocalyptic features are for the framework and authority of these two texts and even how they fit well in the great milieu of Egyptian literature in the fourth century.

Kevin Coyle (St. Paul University): Augustine and the Magdalene

In a paper delivered at the University of Leuven held in December on the theme "Noli me tangere" (John 20:17) , I spoke of this theme (and incidentally of Mary Magdalene) in Manichaeism. In my research I came across a homily by Augustine of Hippo on the same theme. What makes that homily of particular interest is that it is directed against Manichaeans. The purpose of the proposed paper is to see where else in his works Augustine treats both "Noli me tangere" and, in that context, Mary of Magdala.

Geoffrey Dunn (Australian Catholic University): Innocent I and the Date of Easter

For many people in our world the calculation of the date of Easter is an unfathomable mystery, with any particular date for Easter known only by looking at a calendar for the year in question. The more inquisitive soon find the formula that sets it out as the first Sunday on or following the first full moon after the northern hemisphere’s vernal equinox. Yet, as Alden Mosshammer’s recent monograph of nearly five hundred pages demonstrates, there is a long and complicated history within the early centuries of Christianity, with much disagreement and variation, about what date should serve as Easter. As extensive and erudite as his research is, it is incomplete. There is a letter (Epistula 14) from early in the fifth century from Innocent I, bishop of Rome, to Aurelius, bishop of Carthage, about the calculation of the date of Eater for 414, which Mosshammer has not considered. In this paper I wish to examine this letter to consider the relationship between these two bishops and to situate Innocent’s preferred date for Easter within the history of the variety of methods of calculation employed in the late antique church.

Kathleen Gibbons (University of Toronto): Augustine's Intersubjective Ascent in De Trinitate

This paper offers a reading of Book VIII of Augustine’s De Trinitate. When one loves God, one loves God loving one’s neighbor. Despite Augustine’s debt to Plotinus in this work, the paper suggests how the argument of this book in particular is meant as a critique of later Platonism and the Plotinian idea of ascent to the One as the “flight of the alone to the alone.” It will argue that Augustine’s idea of ascent is fundamentally intersubjective.

Dragos A. Giulea (Marquette University): Old Testament Theophanies, Gregory Nazianzen’s Or. 28,3 and the Biblical Roots of Apophatic Theology

In his second theological oration (Oratio 28,3), Gregory Nazianzen equates the divine glory (kabod) of the Holy of Holies with the divine essence and asserts their inaccessible character. An investigation into the meaning of these two terms unveils their origins in two distinct traditions, the former tracing its roots back to the Biblical symbolisms of the forbidden divine glory and throne, the latter to the Hellenistic philosophical conception of an immaterial and incomprehensible divinity. The thesis advanced in my presentation is that these two different languages represent two semiotic forms of apophaticism, one expressed through the mysterium tremendum inspiring symbols and images of fire, dazzling glory and enigmatic heavenly creatures, guardians of the enthroned kabod, the other through negative philosophical terminologies. The identity of the two semiotic forms is established at the end of an investigation that concludes with the observation that Hellenistic theologians developed their apophatic discourses mostly in the context of interpreting biblical reports on the theophanies of the divine and unapproachable enthroned kabod. It was in this hermeneutical context that they “translated” the symbols of interdiction into philosophical negative concepts.

Wendy Elgersma Helleman (University of Jos, Nigeria): ‘Christ, the Wisdom of God’: The Logic of Attribution in Augustine’s De Trinitate 5-7

Wisdom is given a special role in the De Trinitate. Discussion of the ‘wisdom of God’ provides the climax of the first seven books. In books 8-14, Augustine also climaxes discussion of analogies for the divine trinity in human nature, as created in the ‘image of God’, by turning to wisdom as that aspect of the mind by which we remember, understand and love God, a process to be perfected through true vision of God himself.

This paper explores the issue of parallel argument on the divine attribute of Wisdom, as an important indication of basic agreement on the Trinity in East and West. Even aside from the specific issue of the source of Augustine’s argumentation, whether derivative or arising from interaction with commonly known philosophical positions (of Plotinus or Porphyry), it is useful to highlight basic parallels in argument, as a contribution to overcoming an unwarranted divide in Trinitarian discussion.

Charles Kannengiesser (Concordia University): Clothed with Spiritual Fire: John Chrysostom’s Homilies on the Letter to the Hebrews

The 34 homilies of John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews were delivered in the year prior to the bishop’s death in Pontic Armenia in 407. The paper focuses on the careful development of Chrysostom’s arguments throughout the homilies and, in particular, the bishop’s mystical theology nourished by his ascetic devotion to the letter and the spirit of scripture.

Naoki Kamimura (Tokyo Gakugei University): Spiritual Exercises in the Sermons of Augustine

After his philosophical and contemplative retreat to Cassiciacum in 386, Augustine was baptised at Easter 387 in Milan and returned to North Africa in 388. In the succeeding years 389-391 at Thagaste, Augustine had explored the nature and extent of ascetic life in his ‘monastic’ community. Although his future way of life was interrupted and changed into another form by his ordination to the priesthood in 391, Augustine’s understanding of spiritual training for his ‘monastery’ had evolved into a broad and coherent synthesis which can be considered to be a framework for his church in Hippo. This paper, focusing on his sermons, will argue how Augustine deals with the ‘spiritual exercises’ and how similar or different his treatment is from that of his Thagaste period.

Robert Kennedy (St. Francis Xavier University): Augustine and Anselm on the Cause of the Angelic Fall

Anselm’s dialogue The Fall of the Devil (De casu diaboli) is often cited as a turning-point in the emergence of a new theory of the will because of his introduction of a distinction between a will-to-happiness and a will-to-justice to explain the fall of the angels. This distinction is certainly a departure from Augustine’s explanation of the angelic fall in City of God, Book XII. However, a comparison of Anselm and Augustine on the angelic fall reveals that Anselm upholds an Augustinian interpretation of the freedom of the will.

Shawn Keough (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven): The Image of the Ideal Bishop in the Historia Ecclesiastica Copta

The Coptic Ecclesiastical History is one of the earliest and most important literary works composed in Egypt following the council of Chalcedon (451), and reflects the development of a specifically Egyptian national identity and ecclesial consciousness in the decades of controversy and division immediately following. The first part of the history consisted of a translation of the first seven books of Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, while the remaining five books began with an account of the great persecution under Diocletian and concluded with a description of the rivalry between the bishops Timothy Aelurus and Timothy Salofaciolus. The text was likely composed in the years immediately prior or subsequent to the death of Timothy Aelurus (477), and was later to serve as an important source for the editor of the Arabic History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria. This paper will give an overview of the content and perspective of the Coptic history, with a particular view to its treatment of the successors to the throne of St Mark, in an attempt to discern something of the Egyptian perspective on imperial orthodoxy and the competing claims of ecclesial identity and episcopal authority immediately following the council of Chalcedon.

Robert A. Kitchen (Knox-Metropolitan United Church, Regina): A Student of Evagrius: Influences upon the Discourses of Philoxenus of Mabbug

Philoxenus, non-Chalcedonian bishop of Mabbug in West Syria (485-519) and colleague of Severus of Antioch, wrote numerous letters and treatises aggressively defending his Christological positions. His most popular work was a collection of 13 Discourses on the spiritual and monastic life directed to monks under his episcopal care. While Philoxenus is known as the master of Syriac prose, his work shows significant influence from the master of Greek monastic spirituality, Evagrius of Ponticus, whom Philoxenus probably read in Syriac translation. The aim is to outline how Philoxenus appropriated the Evagrian spiritual system and to present several examples from the Discourses that would later be adopted by other Syriac mystical and ascetical writers.

Harry O. Maier (Vancouver School of Theology): Dressing For Church: Tailoring the Christian Self in Clement of Alexandria’s Clothing Ideals

This paper explores Clement’s appropriation of clothing ideals from his contemporary philosophical heritage as a means of promoting Christian identity in the institutional framework of the Christian community. Whereas clothing ideals in contemporary Stoicism, Middle Platonism, and amongst Cynic teachers represent ends suited to philosophical goals of self-regulation for select students, Clement democratizes these teachings to apply generally to all the baptized and uses them to interpret New Testament ideals of “putting on Christ.” In doing so he offers a model for the social construction of a new Christian subject properly outfitted for an emerging imperial identity.

Daniel Maoz (University of Waterloo): Connected Understandings between Traditional Judaism and the Early Church: Aggadic Considerations

In my current intensive analysis of aggadic midrash within Jewish tradition, I have become acutely aware of both consonance and dissonance of thought between rabbis of Jewish tradition and fathers of the early Church. In this paper I explore areas of connectivity of thought, both theological and philosophical, between these two religious traditions. Three topics of high interest for each community provide the bases of analysis for this present exploration: 1) divine priority, 2) community culpability, and 3) messianic expectation. The rabbinic sources include texts that are both well known (Midrash Rabbah), less familiar (Eliyahu Zuta), and obscure (Pitron Torah) within Jewish scholarship, as well as those that are characteristically halakhic but contain significant aggadic portions (Bavli, Yerushalmi). I limit my Jewish sources to aggadic text in this study. For patristic sources, I engage only with Greek Fathers (Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp) and limit my compass of Christian literature to the earlier period of ecclesiastical history. While there may be a number of hermeneutical explanations for the continuity of thought, as well as the possibility of supercessionist intentionality on the part of the Christian apologists (polemicists?), I argue that what has come to be identified as anti-Judaic polemic may instead be a polemic form of rhetoric familiar to and evident within each religious tradition – not necessarily or at least not always intended to completely discredit those within their own tradition (rabbinic use of the technique) or those outside of it (patristic use of the same) – although the rhetorical technique seems to also have that force and intention (e.g., Tertullian). It is the intention of this study to consider these “connected understandings” as a basis for contemporary Christian-Jewish dialogue.

Pierre Ndoumaï (Université Acadia): Les religions à mystères dans l’œuvre de Justin Martyr

A l’époque de Justin Martyr, le christianisme était en quête d’identité dans l’Empire romain. Son statut de superstitio le rapprochait des religions à mystères qui n’étaient pas en odeur de sainteté auprès des autorités de l’Empire romain. C’est vraisemblablement la nécessité de se démarquer de ces religions à mystères qui semble avoir amené Justin à s’y référer négativement. Cette communication pose d’entrée de jeu la question de savoir comment Justin a eu accès aux informations relatives aux religions à mystères. Ensuite, il sera question de s’interroger sur la dynamique qui se dégage de ses références aux différentes religions à mystères qu’on trouve sous sa plume. Enfin, cette communication explorera les hypothèses qui peuvent soustendre cette dynamique.

Bronwen Neil (Australian Catholic University): Leo the Great’s Strategies of Social Exclusion as a Response to Crisis

Late-antique bishops such as Leo the Great (440-461) adopted strategies of religious inclusion/exclusion in response to crisis. These strategies find contemporary resonance in the hardening of definitions of identity and political boundaries between Christian, Jewish, and Islamic societies post-September 2001. The outcomes of such policies in Late Antiquity have yet to be studied systematically in relation to episcopal letters. Harry Maier points the way to using Leo’s letters and homilies in his historical-sociological analysis of the politics of orthodoxy in fifth-century Rome. This paper will consider Leo’s strategies of social exclusion over two critical decades in western Mediterranean history.

Vlad Niculescu (Bradley University) Doctrinal Incarnation: Origen’s Pedagogy as the Advent of a Messianic Teacher

The paper places Origen’s project of a biblical school curriculum in the light of Origen’s understanding of biblical exegesis as the receptive attendance (μελέτη) to the messianic advent (̓ἐπιδημία) of a Bible-incarnate Logos. I maintain that, like the Bible, which is a textual incarnation (an in-textuation) of the Logos in the exegetically received and homiletically furthered biblical words, the Origenian school curriculum is a doctrinal incarnation (an “in-culturation”) of the Logos in the observantly attended biblical teaching. The disciple who welcomes the messianically inculturated Teacher becomes gradually attuned to the twofold, humble and exalted, manner in which this Teacher performs his soteriological pedagogy.

Jennifer Otto (McGill University): Conflicting Christian Reactions to Philo’s Ark Door Exegesis

Philo’s allegorical interpretation of Noah’s Ark as a human body, and its door as an anus, encounters a mixed reception among Early Christian exegetes. The conflict between Ambrose’s incorporation of Philo’s interpretation in De Noe 8:24 and Augustine’s ridicule of the same in Contra Faustum 12.39 arises from contrasting constructs of ‘the Jew’ in early Christian discourse. Ambrose employs Philo’s text as a pre-Christian witness to Christ and finds his interpretation analogous to 1 Cor. 12:22-24. Augustine, in contrast, presents Philo as ‘the obstinate Jew’ who, in failing to ‘lift the veil’ and see Christ expressed in the Old Testament, condemns himself.

Melanie Perialis (Concordia University): The Catacombs of Rome: Typological Representations of Jesus Christ in Early Christian Art

Speculations can be made as to when Christian art came about, yet archaeological evidence and scholarly debates cannot pinpoint the birth of Christian art as they can the birth of Christianity itself. The crystallization of ideas and dogmas passed through preliminary stages to come to the present form in the Christian church. Nonetheless, in order to come to an understanding of the stages of development, a study needs to be performed in the catacombs of Rome, a place that was constructed by Christians and developed over the centuries as Christianity came to complete its corresponding body of beliefs and rituals. Therefore, the catacombs need to be examined in order to unearth the influences of existing art standards and practices onto this new form of art referred to as early Christian art. The examination will start with a brief introduction of the catacombs. Then an examination of a selection of catacomb art will be performed. Some of the images that will be examined are: the Symbol of the fish, the Life of Jonah, and the Sacrifice of Isaac. Through this a visible evolution will be traced offering information on what influenced the facers, painters, and the patrons to depict certain images as they did; choosing pagan art as the form of representation and a message that was and is undeniably Christian.

Louis Painchaud (Université Laval): Les nouveaux fragments de l’Évangile de Judas : Importance et signification pour l’interprétation globale du texte

Les fragments dits « de l’Ohio » du codex Tchacos étant maintenant disponibles au terme de péripéties commerciales et juridiques complexes, Gregor Wurst a pu reconstituer plusieurs nouveaux segments de l’Évangile de Judas et en a affiché une transcription préliminaire accompagnée d’une traduction anglaise par Marvin Meyer sur sa page web en novembre 2009 (http://www.kthf.uni-augsburg.de/de/prof_doz/ hist_theol/ Wurst /Forschung/Neue Fragmente IV). Ces nouveaux fragments touchent à des degrés divers 107 lignes de textes, dont 54 lignes entières, de sorte que le texte est maintenant presque complet. Ils apportent beaucoup d’éléments nouveaux et permettent notamment de déterminer qui, de Jésus ou de Judas, entre à la fin du texte dans le nuage de lumière (57,16-23), une scène cruciale qui a été interprétée par les premiers éditeurs comme la transfiguration de Judas (R. Kasser, M. Meyer, G. Wurst, The Gospel of Judas, Washington, 2006, p. 44, note 143). La présente communication proposera une brève description de ces nouveaux fragments ainsi qu’une appréciation préliminaire de leur importance et de leur signification pour l’interprétation globale de ce texte qui a donné lieu à une importante controverse depuis sa première publication au printemps de 2006.

David Robison (University of St. Michael’s College): Tyconius and the North African Tradition of Biblical Interpretation: Idiosyncrasies and Continuities

The proposed paper seeks to locate Tyconius of Carthage within the theological and exegetical tradition of early North African Christianity. While scholars have typically viewed Tyconius as idiosyncratic, I will argue for the continuity of his theological and exegetical method within the North African Christian tradition. The paper surveys the writings of Tertullian, Cyprian, and fourth-century Donatists and gives particular attention to the continuities between Tertullian and Tyconius.

Andrew Staples (Concordia University): Deification Language in Dionysius’s Sacramental Expositions within the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy

This paper will explore the Orthodox doctrine of Deification (‘theosis’) as contained within the writings of ‘Dionysius the Areopagite’, the unknown Syrian theologian of the 6th Century. The Dionysian writings have intrigued and influenced theologians for centuries, as evidenced by the recent issue of ‘Modern Theology’ of August 2008, dedicated to explorations of the Corpus Dionysiacum. In the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy Dionysius defines deification (‘theosis’) as “the attaining of likeness to God and union with him so far as possible” (EH 1.3, PG 3.376A). This paper will examine Deification within the context of his discussions of Baptism and the Eucharist.

Peter Widdicombe (McMaster University): Irenaeus and the Fatherhood of God

The idea of the fatherhood of God came to be central to Christian reflection about the nature of God and the Trinity in the third and fourth centuries with Origen and Athanasius. But this was not always so. While Irenaeus describes God as Father with great frequency, his use of the term “Father” for God seems mainly not to be deliberative. There are, however, a few passages in which he makes comments that suggest that there may be something more going on than at first appears. This paper will examine Irenaeus’ usage, set it within the broader context of the early Christian description of God as Father, and ask the question whether Irenaeus had a conception of divine fatherhood.

Melissa Wiebe (Condordia University): The Early Struggle: Understanding the Relationships and Events Surrounding the Persecution of the Early Christians

Christianity is now one of the major world religions with millions of followers. There was a time, however, when this was not always so. Between the so-called Neronian Persecution in 64 CE until the Edict of Milan in 313 CE, Christians suffered sporadic persecution from various groups but especially at the hands of the Roman authorities and pagan civilians. This paper attempts to discover why the Christians were at best distrusted and at worst put to death by those around them. It will examine the relationships and events surrounding the persecutions.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE CANADIAN SOCIETY OF PATRISTIC STUDIES

The nominating committee of the CSPS is responsible for presenting the society’s nominations for a new set of officers at the annual meeting (30 May – 1 June 2010). Please forward your nominations for the following positions to any member of the committee. Self-nominations and multiple nominations are acceptable.

President (2011-2013)

Vice-President (2011-2013)

Programme Committee (2010-2013)

Nominations Committee (2010-2013)

Please send all nominations to any member of the nominations committee.

Shawn Keough

shawn.keough@theo.kuleuven.be

Greg Hillis

ghillis@bellarmine.edu

Robert Kennedy

rkennedy@stfx.ca

NOUVELLES/NEWS

Paul-Hubert Poirier: a obtenu une subvention de recherche du CRSH pour le projet: Édition, traduction et commentaire des Actes syriaques de Thomas et de la Paraphrase des Actes de Thomas de Nicétas de Thessalonique (2010-2013).

Harry O. Maier and Robert Daum: received an ATS Collaborative Research Grant for the project “Disturbing Images: Reading Civic Ideals in early Judaism and ancient Christianity against the Backdrop of Roman Imperial Iconography”

This project explores how early "Jews" and "Christians" (ca. BCE 63--250 CE) developed a civic imagination in the context of the visual and material culture of the Roman Empire. A key component of that cultural situation was the way that civic ideals were promoted through visual media (imperial monuments, coins, organization of civic space, architecture, statuary, mosaics, etc). This helped to make Rome's ideals persuasive to their audiences, the majority of whom were either illiterate or otherwise disenfranchised. Jews and Christians, as inhabitants, formulated their own civic ideals by way of a range of responses, including association, resistance, rejection, accommodation, etc. The project explores how from diverse social locations "Jews" and "Christians" developed a civic imagination that reflected their socio-cultural and religious identities as colonized subjects. For example, visions of the conquered subject and the idealized city offered both Jews and Christians sites to explore a counter-imperial civic imagination; this fostered the development of ideals that were at once at home in and resistant to their imperial contexts. This project reads early Jewish and Christian civic ideals in the imperial context of the Hellenized Roman city to furnish resources for present day Jewish and Christian reflection on civic identity in our contemporary urban context.

Kevin Coyle: has a new book out: Manichaeism and Its Legacy (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, 69), Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2009. It contains an updated version of 19 articles, divided into four sections: Mani; Manichaean Themes; Women in Manichaeism; and Manichaeism and Augustine of Hippo.

Geoff Dunn: The 6th International Triennial Prayer and Spirituality in the Early Church Conference will be held at the Melbourne campus of Australian Catholic University from 7-10 July, 2010. The theme is Politics and Religion. Abstracts are due 23 April (though an expression of interest by that date with an abstract to follow soon afterwards would be fine I am sure). For further information see www.PrayerSpirit.com.au

Mihai V. Niculescu’s book The Spell of the Logos (Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 10, 2009) inserts Origen's exegetic pedagogy in the recent philosophical debate regarding logocentrism. If, as Origen believed, humanity’s hope for salvation has been answered by a divine Word, whose coming into the world has unfolded history according to a messianic intrigue, Origen’s messianic reading of world history as a soteriological discourse should not come as a surprise. How does Origen refer to this discourse? As a speech that spells the coming Word, this discourse would have to be soteriological in its very wording, it would have to happen soteriologically. The Word’s historical unfolding would have to be approached as a gospel, a good-news or a revelatory speech event, which, literally, spells salvation. Receiving this messianic Word would necessarily imply the believer’s application to the study of the Bible as Gospel. The task of this study is twofold. In addition to offering a detailed analysis of Origen’s understanding of exegesis as a liturgical attending to the Word’s evangelic advent in the Bible (a sort of textual redoubling of the incarnation), it also addresses a recent concern regarding the totalizing potential of Origen’s Logos-centered reading of history as evangelic or Christian. One may indeed wonder whether Origen’s exegetical spelling of the Word as universal Gospel can prevent the silencing of the speech of, let us say, the Greek or the Jew outside of Christianity? Ultimately, one may wonder whether it is possible to dissociate Origen’s Christian understanding of the Bible-incarnate Word from the totalizing rigor of a universalist metaphysics and what would be the consequences of such an attempt.

BUREAU DE L’ACEP/CSPS EXECUTIVE

President Tim Hegedus (2008-2010)
Vice-president / Vice-president Lorraine Buck (2008-2010)
Secrétaire / Secretary Lorraine Buck (2006-2009)
Trésorier / Treasurer Steven Muir (2006-2009)
Président du programme / Programme Chair Harry Maier (2010)
Editeur du Bulletin / Bulletin Editor Adriana Bara (2008- 2011)

RAPPEL DU TRÉSORIER/REMINDER FROM THE TREASURER

Here is a reminder for all members who have not already done so to send in their annual membership fees. The fees are as follows:

65.00$ as regular member, with SR subscription.
40.00$ as regular member, already receive SR.
48.00$ as student/retired member, with SR subscription.
17.00$ as student/retired member, already receive SR.

Please send to the treasurer, Steven Muir, at the address below:

Steven C. Muir, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Concordia University College of Alberta
7128 Ada Boulevard
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5B 4E4

1Annual General Meeting

Canadian Society of Patristic Studies

Carleton University, Ottawa, ON

May 26, 2009

Present: Tim Hegedus, Steven Muir, Lorraine Buck, Kevin Coyle, Geoffrey Dunn, Shawn Keough, Paul-Hubert Poirier, Theodore de Bruyn, Junghoo Kwon, Andrew Selby, Tim Pettipiece, Pauline Hogan, Adriana Bara, Pierre Ndoumai, Robert Kennedy, Yifat Monnickendam, David Robinson

1. Approval of the Agenda

The agenda was approved as circulated.

2. Approval of the AGM Minutes, UBC, June 1, 2008.

Kevin Coyle moved to adopt the minutes. Steven Muir seconded.

3. Business Arising from the Minutes.

There was no business arising from the minutes.

4. President’s Report

Tim thanked all those who made this year’s conference possible, especially Geoffrey Dunn, Program Chair, and Theo De Bruyn, Local Representative, as well as the members of the Executive, the past President, Lucian Turcescu, and Adriana Bara, who has agreed to serve as editor of our society Bulletin and as website manager. Tim also spoke about the passing of Joanne MacWilliam on July 1, 2008, and offered to distribute a copy of the Globe and Mail article describing her life and career. He also mentioned that the Wilfrid Laurier University Press will put out a collection of essays in Christology, entitled From Logos to Christos, in Joanne’s memory this coming October.

5. Treasurer’s Report

Steven’s report was similar to previous years except for a substantial deficit which was explained as follows: 1) there was a noticeable decline in people re-subscribing. Steven has entered all the membership into an Excel database and in early January he will send out a reminder to all members to reapply for membership. 2) there were higher than anticipated costs at the UBC conference year created by the fact that a) the meeting expenses were higher than usual; b) there was a lower than usual attendance at the conference, probably due to the fact that it was held on the West Coast; c) there was a minimum attendance of 30 required at the banquet, and since we only had 24, an additional $500.00 cost accrued. These additional costs should not be an issue in 2009.

To help defray some of the costs, Steven reminded the membership that the CSPS is a registered charitable society, so it can accept donations and provide a charitable donation receipt.

He will also send a list of 12 or so names to the membership to see if anyone knows where these people are currently located.

Steven moved to accept the financial report. Theo De Bruyn seconded.

6. Nominating Committee Report

There were five nominations made:

SecretaryGeorge Bevan

TreasurerSteven Muir

Program CommitteeGeoffrey Dunn

Nominating CommitteeRobert Kennedy

Representative on CCSRPaul-Hubert Poirier

There were no nominations from the floor, and the five nominations were acclaimed.

7. A Visit from the Representatives of the Federation

Two representatives from the Federation spoke to the meeting and advised on the following:

a) The Federation has been meeting with Members of Parliament in both the government and opposition re encouraging the rethinking of allocated funds for undesignated grants.

b) The Federation is advocating $100 million be added to the SSHRC budget. Only one in four new scholars gets funded.

c) The Federation is continuing to look at issues surrounding open access and will offer something more concrete at next year’s Congress.

d) A number of the Federation’s members have been served or named as a third party by ProQuest in a lawsuit filed against them by Heather Robertson for damages related to certain companies’ electronic re-use of articles originally commissioned and to rights given for print copies of newspapers or magazines. The Federation is not itself named in this action, but some of its members are.

e) A policy is being developed surrounding peer review. There are currently various standards being used and this needs to change.

f) Video interviews have been introduced at the Book Display to give scholars an opportunity to talk about their research, society, papers, or anything else of scholarly interest.

g) Our dates for next year are Sunday, May 30 to Tuesday, June 1.

8. Reports from the CSPS representatives to the CFHSS and CCSR

Paul-Hubert Poirier and Tim Pettipiece were nominated to be our representatives to the CCSR and attend their AGM meeting next year. Kevin Coyle was nominated to be an alternate.

Paul-Hubert reported that a proposal was brought before the AGM and unanimously adopted to move production of Studies in Religion to Sage. He believes this is a good move for both SR and our Society. The new President of SR is Theo de Bruyn and the Managing Editor is Tim Pettipiece. SR will continue both the online and paper formats of SR.

9. Planning for the 2010 Annual Conference

Geoff Dunn, the Program Chair for this year, reported that the program worked out on paper, but that it was very full. He suggested that, in future, the Society may want to look at prolonging the conference or possibly requesting an extra room for parallel sessions if necessary.

The Program Chair for next year is Harry Maier. Tim Hegedus is going to approach Lucian Turcescu about being our local representative. It was decided that we will offer two books for discussion: Geoffrey Dunn’s book, Tertullian’s Adversus Iudaeos: A Rhetorical Analysis (Patristic Monograph Series 19) and the Festschrift for Charles Kannengeiser, The Receipt and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity, edited by Lucian Turcescu and Lorenzo DiTomasso.

10. Other Business

Tim Hegedus mentioned the request from Johns Hopkins University Press regarding renting or exchanging mailing lists. Kevin Coyle suggested that we go further than simply trading lists and explore the possibility of joint submissions and joint memberships. It was moved by Robert Kennedy and seconded by Kevin Coyle that the Executive be mandated to explore this idea with NAPS. It was agreed.

Theo De Bruyn discussed the International Association of Patristic Studies, an association of scholars that produces a bibliography of recent scholarship. Its value is in making scholars aware of work being done outside the English-speaking world. The membership is limited to people who have published at least one article. Theo encouraged everyone to look into it and to send him information about their publications which he will forward on.

11. Adjournment

Robert Kennedy moved to adjourn at 3:30 p.m.

Ce bulletin est publié deux fois par année, en avril et novembre, par l’Association canadienne des études patristiques (ACÉP), et distribué aux membres de l’association. On peut trouver la version électronique à : http://www.ccsr.ca/csps. Des contributions, nouvelles, information patristique, et des corrections d’adresse, etc. sont toujours bienvenus.

The Bulletin is published twice each year, in April and November, by the Association Canadienne des Études Patristiques/ Canadian Society of Patristic Studies, and distributed to members of the Society and other interested parties. It is available on the Society's homepage: http://www.ccsr.ca/csps. Contributions, new information on research and other scholarly activities in patristics, and corrections of addresses, etc., are always welcome.