Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity Online

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Although not originally from Rome, the monarchians exerted considerable theological influence in Rome at the close of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd centuries CE. At the core of monarchian…

The term “monastery” is primarily associated with male and female monasteries. The assertion is based on the popular image of Orthodox monasticism as strictly separated monastic communities. Also, the notion of ἄβατον/ abaton (“non-accessible area”) played a particular role in this perception. Eastern Orthodox monasticism, however, was more diverse regarding gender segregation. Testimony to this diversity is the double monasteries which presuppose that men and women belonged to the same monastic community.PrehistoryDouble monasteries (διπλᾶ μοναστήρια/ dipla monast ē ria)…

The monastic movement started spontaneously in the early 4th century CE in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, already before Christianity became the official religion of the empire. By the middle of that century, monasticism had spread throughout the Christian East, and by the last quarter of the century, monasteries were common in all Near Eastern provinces. By the early 5th century CE, monasticism was fully integrated into the ecclesiastical establishment. Monks had a tremendous influence on the Chr…

Ancient sources for monastic prayer propose different interpretations of its duration, setting, and relationship to Scripture. Monastic prayer could be “unceasing” (1 Thess 5:17) or it could take place at specific times during the day or night. Monastic prayer might be eremitical (observed in solitude) or cenobitic (observed in community settings). Finally, monastic prayer could entail the recitation of Scripture (often from memory) or it could be wordless. Sources for the study of monastic prayer include biographies (e.g. Athanasius of Alexandria, Life of Antony), collections…

Monotheism may be defined as belief in one God. The apparent simplicity of such a statement leads almost immediately into matters of great complexity and significant debate. As formulated, the definition depends on the meaning assigned to the word “god” as well as on the question of what kind of “belief” is denoted. Is this an affirmation that only one being exists that deserves to be considered divine, or an expression of exclusive allegiance to one divine being? Is it necessary that bo…

According to the 4th-century CE heresiologist Epiphanius of Salamis, the Montanists or, as he calls them, the Phrygians traced their roots to Phrygia in the 19th year of Antoninus Pius’ reign, 157 CE. He identified them as Christian heretics (Heresy/Heretical)who were dedicated to false prophets and prophecy:These Phrygians […] accept every Scripture of the Old and the New Testaments and likewise affirm the resurrection of the dead. But they boast of having one Montanus as a prophet, and Priscilla and Maximilla as prophetesses, and by pa…

The text commonly known as The Martyrdom of Montanus, Lucius, and Their Companions is transmitted in 18 extant manuscripts under various titles, the most accepted of which is: Actus et visio martyrum Luci Montani et ceterorum comitum quod est X Kal. Iunii (i.e. May 23). The earliest extant manuscript (though not necessarily the most reliable one) is Codex Augiensis XXXII, dated to around 840 CE. Critical editions and/or translations include T. Ruinart (1689); H. Musurillo (1972); F. Dolbeau (1983); and É. Rebillard (2017). The tex…

On Friday, Jun 17, 550 CE, the nine bishops of the province Cilicia secunda came together at the city of Mopsuestia, attended by the comes domesticorum (“principal of the guardsmen”) Marthanius who represented the imperial government. They should inquire whether the deceased Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia (Theodore of Mopsuestia) from 392 to 428 CE, was still listed there in the diptychs, from which the names of the deceased orthodox bishops were read out during the Eucharist liturgy. It had been the emperor Justi…

Mors Pilati is an excerpt from chapter 51 ( De passione Domini) of Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda aurea, only slightly modified at the beginning. It is preserved as part of a Latin compilation of evangelical history, richly illustrated with drawings, in a unique, 14th-century manuscript, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS L 58 Sup. It was edited by C. von Tischendorf and included in his highly influential Evangelia apocrypha (Tischendorf, 1853), which conferred on it an air of antiquity and authority. The print version of the Mors Pilati acquired a life of its own, with late-19th- …

Moses is a seminal figure in both Old and New Testament salvation history. For the early church, he represented the law (Law/Decalogue/Torah) and the old covenant with Israel but also pointed forward typologically to Christ (Christ, Jesus, 01: Survey) who would fulfill the Mosaic law and consummate the covenant in his life, death, and resurrection (Resurrection of Jesus Christ). Moses was already a subject of comparison and discussion in the New Testament where Christ contrasts himself wit…

Little is known for certain about the life of the Irish churchman Muirchú (fl. late 7th cent CE). He was present at the Synod of Birr in central Ireland in 697 CE, where he was one of the guarantors of the Cáin Adomnáin (“Law of the Innocents”), suggesting that he was an important member of the Irish Church at that time. His tribe was probably the Túath Mochtaine just south of the ecclesiastical center of Armagh in northeast Ireland, where Muirchú was almost certainly a member of the clergy.Muirchú was the author of the Vita sancti Patricii, one of the earliest accounts of the life of Patr…

The topic “music” in early Christianity is associated with a few difficulties, namely diversity of definitions, blurred boundaries between singing and speaking, terminology, and last, but not least, the scarce findings on music in the sources from the first three centuries CE.Firstly, “up until today, there is no valid definition [of music]” (Sührig & Hüschen, 1997, 1197; trans. C. Oefele). Already in antiquity, different definitions and classifications existed side by side. One main distinction was between theory and practice: “m…