Search

[German version] (Πάνταινος; Pántainos). Christian teacher in Alexandria [1], end of the 2nd cent. AD. Biographical details first recorded in Euseb. Hist. eccl. 5,10 et.al. (originally a Stoic, a journey to India, head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria). Clemens [3] of Alexandria, probably a teacher at the same time as P., passed down only one quote from "our P." (Clem. Al. eclogae propheticae 56,2). Clement also mentioned P. as a teacher in the now lost Hypotyposes (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 5,11,2; 6,13,2). This led later scholars to assume that P. had been his teach…

[German version] (Πράξεις Πέτρου/ Práxeis Pétrou). The Acts of Peter (New Testament Apocrypha), originating probably from around AD 180/190 and only fragmentarily extant, give a romantic picture of the activities and the martyrdom of Peter (Petrus [1]) during the reign of the emperor Nero. Like the Acts of Paul (Paul, Acts of), that are dependent on them, they testify to an engagement in ascetism and frugality. Their effect on Christian piety and iconography - also in redrafts and translations - has …

[German version] Despite confusion with the tradition of Priscilla, it is unlikely that Priscilla and Q. were one and the same. Rather, Q. was probably an independent Montanist (Montanism) prophetess from the 3rd cent. AD [1. 152, 167 f.], whose followers were referred to as Quintillians. She, and not Priscilla, is believed to be the source of the account in Epiphanius [1] of Salamis (Panarion 48,1,2 f.), relating that Christ, in the form of a woman and wearing a radiant garment, appeared to her i…

[German version] I. General Many early cultures assumed the superiority of divine to human authorship (notion of a god as first cause) [1]. This establishes pseudepigraphy as the earliest form of literary work: a god or a divine human of a mythical primeval time is considered author. This form was common in the Orient, but there are also traces in Greece (as, e.g., in laws, oracles, Orphism). With the adoption of artists' signatures and indications of the creator's own name (orthonymity) beginning with Hesiod, various kinds of pseudepigraphy are attested: besid…

[German version] became bishop ordinary of Rome in 230 opposite of  Hippolytus [2]. In a persecution under Maximinus [2] Thrax, P. and Hippolytus were exiled to Sardinia in 235, where P. resigned his office on 28 September 235 (MGH AA 9,74 f.) and both died (still in 235?), ending the schism in the church of the city of Rome. P. is buried in the catacombs of St. Callistus in Rome (MGH AA 9,72; burial inscription: ILCV no. 953). Heimgartner, Martin (Halle) Bibliography E. Caspar, Geschichte des Papsttums von den Anfängen bis zur Höhe der Weltherrschaft, vol. 1, 1930, 43-50  W. Enßlin, s. v. P. …

(Greek κλῆρος/ klêros , Lat. sors). I. Political [German version] A. Greece The lot was used especially in democracies, but not only in such, as a means to distribute office among those who were equally eligible, rather than appointing the best candidate under the circumstances. For Athens, the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia states that Solon introduced the selection of the archons by lot from a short list of pre-selected candidates ([Aristot.] Ath. pol. 8,1; but differing: Aristot. Pol. 2,1273b 35-1274a 3; 1274a 16-17; 3,1281b 25-34). In the…

[German version] The Latin adjective paganus (variation paganicus), derived from pagus ('village', 'district') means 'rustic', 'rural', used as a noun 'farmer', 'villager'; it is only rarely used in a figurative sense ('countrified', 'illiterate') (Sidon. Epist. 8,16,3). Beginning in the 1st cent. AD it took on the meaning derived from military jargon of 'not belonging to the troop', 'set apart', 'outsider', 'non-soldier', 'civilian', 'citizen'. This meaning is found in Christian Latin literature only in Tertullian (De pallio 4); in De corona 11 he associates paganus with the …

[German version] I. General Since the 16th cent. the Latin term missio (‘sending’) has designated the efforts by Christians to spread their religion, by divine command. The term mission, unknown in antiquity, corresponds in essence to the instruction of the risen Christ to his disciples to make all peoples disciples (Mt 28:19). It is this commission that distinguishes Christian mission from similar manifestations of expansion (diffusion) in most other religions and cults. Only Manichaeism (Mani) and Islam (divine ‘summons’, dawa, to spread the religion) are acquainted wit…

(Πάτροκλος/ Pátroklos, also Πατροκλῆς/ Patroklês; Lat. Patroclus). [German version] [1] Companion to Achilleus Son of Menoetius [1] from Opus (Hom. Il. 11,814; his mother's name is not given in Homer, alternative suggestions in Apollod. 3,176), best friend of Achilleus [1]. In his childhood, P. kills a fellow-player out of anger during a game of dice and then flees to Phthia to Peleus, who gives him to Achilleus as a companion (Hom. Il. 23,85-90; Hellanikos FGrH 4 F 145; Apollod. 3,176). According to Pind. O…

[German version] [1] Valeria Maximilla Daughter of Galerius and wife of Maxentius Daughter of Galerius [5] and wife of Maxentius. The marriage produced two sons, Valerius Romulus (died 309?) and another son who is mentioned along with her as late as 312 (Pan. Lat. 12,16,5). Bleckmann, Bruno (Strasbourg) Bibliography PLRE 1, 576 [German version] [2] Cofounder of Montanism in the 2nd cent. AD In the middle of the 2nd. cent. AD she founded, together with Montanus and Priscilla, the Christian revivalist movement of Montanism. She was also a writer (Hippolytus, Refutatio omnium haeresium 8,…

[German version] I. Definition The term 'creation of the world' ('CW') (κτίσις/ ktísis, Lat. creatio) in the narrower sense should be distinguished from two similar concepts. Unlike 'cosmogony', 'CW' refers to a personal act. Secondly, unlike 'fashioning of the world' in the sense of the craft of a demiourgos [3] (cf. [1]), 'CW' does not mean the mere modelling of existing material in analogy to the creative intervention of an artist, but the absolute bringing-into-being of everything (the universe, i.e. 'the whole', τὰ πάντα/ tà pánta) out of the void. The concept of a creation…

[German version] The Acts of Paul, written around 190 and preserved only in fragmentary form (New Testament Apocrypha), describe in a novelistic style the work of Paul [II 2] and his follower Thecla, and, for the first time, the martyrdom of Paul (beheading). Its main doctrinal emphases are the resurrection and asceticism. Thecla's independent teaching and work (self-baptism, ch. 34) brought the Acts of Paul into disrepute (the Acts of Paul are “decidedly feminist”: A. Harnack [1]): By the time of…

[German version] I. Definition The terms σχολή ( scholḗ; Lat . schola, scola) and otium, which had equivalent meanings in Greek and Latin, have a wide spectrum of meaning; they could indicate any form of free time not used for labour or other occupations, but also the time dedicated to people or certain activities. From a sociological point of view, the term provides clear insights into essential elements of the Graeco-Roman social order and of social norms, precisely because of the possibility of comparing differing mentalities. Gehrke, Hans-Joachim (Freiburg) [German version] II. Gr…

(Ἰωάννης; Iōánnēs). Well-known persons i.a.: I. [1] the Evangelist, I. [4] Chrysostomos, bishop of Constantinople and Homilet, I. [18] Malalas, author of the world chronicle, I. [25] of Gaza, rhetor and poet, I. [33] of Damascus, the theologian, I. [39] Baptistes. [1] I. the Evangelist [German version] A. Tradition and criticism According to the inscriptions, the author of a  Gospel (Jo), of three letters and the Apocalypse in the NT is called I. (= J.; the name appears only in Apc. 1:1; 1:4; 1:9; 22:8). Since the end of the 2nd cent. (Iren. adv…

(σοφία/ sophía, Latin sapientia). I. Greco-Roman [German version] A. General and philosophical concept The Greek noun σοφία/ sophía (Ionic: σοφίη/ sophíē), derived from the adjective σοφός ( sophós), which has been documented since the 6th cent. BC, generally refers to the superior skill and knowledge that distinguishes the expert and artist from the masses and accounts for the high regard in which he is held. The term sophía is used to describe any practical mastery, such as that of a helmsman, master builder, physician, military commander or statesman (cf. Ho…

[German version] (died c. 830), from Edessa [2]. T. lived as a monk in the monastery of Mār Sābā at Jerusalem, and after 780 and after 799 became the Melchite (Melchites) bishop of Ḥarrān (the reasons for his temporarily removal from office are unclear). His Syriac writings [1.212] do not survive. He is the first clearly apprehensible Christian theologian to also write in Arabic: in more than 20 (some still unpublished) treatises (for the editions see [5.238f.]; Germ. transl. [1; 2]) he deals, in d…

[German version] Probably the eighth bishop of Verona, c. AD 370. In his treatises (homilies and short draft sermons) he comments on the Trinity and Mariology (Maria [II 1] as a virgin also during and after the birth of Jesus: 2,12, CCL 22 = 2,9 BKV 2,10). In 1,38 (CCL 22 = 2,43 BKV 2,10) he interprets the Zodiac allegorically in terms of Christian salvific history. Gregorius [II 3] the Great (Dial. 3,19; cf. also Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum 3,23) layed the foundation for Z.'s fame as a patro…

[German version] As is evident in  Tertullianus [2] (De baptismo 15), the African Church only recognized its own  baptism. Christians baptized by separate groups ( Heresy I;  Schism) were rebaptized when changing to the mainstream Church. Under bishop  Cyprianus [2], a conflict arose in Carthage with the Roman bishop  Stephanus [6] (254-257) (known to historiography as the controversy about the ‘baptism of heretics’) because Rome accepted the baptisms performed by separate groups (notably the Nova…

[German version] I. Concept Monotheism - the belief in the existence of a single god, in contrast to polytheism and henotheism (worship of a single god while still recognizing other gods) - is a concept from the early modern era, probably first evident in the Cambridge Platonist H. More [1] (Christian-apologetic dissociation from pagan forms of religion; argument defending the trinitarian concept of God). Monotheism has been viewed both from an evolutionary perspective as a final stage of development and as an original form of religion that later degenerated…

Roman praenomen ( P. Iulius, a contemporary of Romulus [1]), and secondarily a cognomen. Depending on the form, a diminutive (older * prokelo-) of the stem * proko- (~ classical procus 'wooer, suitor'), it originally perhaps meant 'the one who demands or claims (the inheritance?)'. Proca (King of Alba Longa) can also be regarded as etymologically connected. The praenomen, which had already become rare at an early time, survived in derivatives, the gentilician names Procilius and Proculeius. Steinbauer, Dieter (Regensburg) [German version] [1] Roman jurist, 1st cent. The jurist fro…

[German version] A fragment of the apology (Apologists) of Q. (Κοδρᾶτος; Kodrâtos), believed to be the oldest Christian apology and said to have been addressed to the emperor Hadrianus [II], survives in Euseb. Hist. eccl. 4,3,1 f.; the fragment says that up to Q.' time, there were still individual persons who were healed or raised from the dead by Jesus. Further accounts of Q., who may be identical with the prophet Q. from Asia minor (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 3,37; 5,17), are based on Eusebius. Heimgartner, Martin (Halle)

see Iulius [IV 15] (poet); see Iulius [IV 16] (jurist) [German version] I Greek (Παῦλος; Paûlos). [German version] [I 1] Bishop of Antioch [1], died after 272 Bishop of Antiochia [1] († after AD 272). P., who was probably born in Samosata and grew up in modest circumstances, succeeded Demetrianus in 260/1 and quickly antagonized influential parts of the Antioch community with his teachings and conduct of his office. According to Eusebius [7] (account of P.: Eus. HE 7,27-30), the presbyter Malchion, head of a school of r…

in Latin referred both to an order (e.g. the marching order or that of a legal process) as well as to groups or corporations, into which several or many persons were organized (also in the plural ordines), e.g. the Roman equites ( ordo equester). [German version] I. Procedural law In a procedural context the term ordo is traditionally used in the composition of the ' ordo iudiciorum' (Cod. Iust. 7,45,4). It signified the proper types of legal procedure (cf. still today: 'proper' jurisdiction) both of the formulary procedure ( formula ) as well as of the actions at law proceedings ( legis actio …

[German version] I. Concept The Greek word parádeisos (παράδεισος/ parádeisos, Latin paradisus) or Hebrew pardēs comes from the ancient Iranian pairidaeza, meaning “surrounding walls, round enclosure, something that is enclosed,” and originally referred to an enclosed park. In the ancient Orient, gardens, particularly in conjunction with palace and temple grounds, “epitomized a wholesome living space” as well as representing a “visible domestication of "chaotic" powers” [4. 705] (especially when wild animals were k…

[German version] (διάκονος; diákonos, literally ‘servant’). The word group διακονεῖν/ diakoneîn, diákonos, διακονία/ diakonía ─ ‘to serve’ (especially at table), ‘servant’, ‘service’ ─ emphasized service as a favour to someone while δουλεύειν/ douleúein etc. emphasized the dependency relationship in service. Therefore, in the NT diakonía generally describes a ‘service’ modelled on the brotherly love of Jesus, whose work of salvation was understood as a ‘service’ to humanity (Mk 10,45). Diakonos as the term for a church office is only tentatively encountered in th…

I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. General comments In the Near East, idols which functioned as cult images (CI) could be found in central temples, peripheral sanctuaries, private houses, and sometimes on open-air sanctuaries and cult alcoves. Their material consistency, appearance, and size varied depending on their origin and the context of their use. Berlejung, Angelika (Heidelberg) [German version] B. Egypt CI of gods already existed in earliest times. They could be anthropomorphic (anthr.), theriomorphous, or of mixed shape, and were created as in…

[German version] (mostly Filastrius or Filaster). After long journeying as an anti-heretical preacher (Gaudentius [5] of Brescia, Sermo 21), P. became bishop of Brixia (Brescia) before AD 381. He met Augustine between 383 and 387 (Aug. Epist. 222) and died on the 18th July of a year before 397. The surviving Diversarum hereseon liber on 156 heresies is based on Epiphanius [1] of Salamis ( Panárion) and Irenaeus [2] of Lyon ( Adversus haereses), and was used by Augustine (Augustinus) ( De haeresibus). Heresiology Heimgartner, Martin (Halle) Bibliography F. Heylen (ed.), Filastrii Epi…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Marriage in the Ancient Orient was always potentially polygamous, but in most cases it was monogamous in practice. Only kings had more than two wives. Marriage to members of inferior social groups was just as valid as marriage between them. Marriage between close relatives was basically forbidden, except between half-brothers and half-sisters who shared a father. A marriage could be concluded in any of four ways: 1) by a contract between the groom or his parents and…

[German version] (Πρίσκιλλα/ Prískilla, Πρίσκα/ Príska). P., together with Montanus and Maximilla [2], founded Montanism, a Christian revivalist movement, in the 2nd cent. AD (frr. of her oracles in Tertullianus [2], De resurrectione 11,2 and De exhortatione castitatis 10,5). Tradition confuses her with Quintilla. Heimgartner, Martin (Halle) Bibliography C. Trevett, Montanism. Gender, Authority and the New Prophecy, 1996, see Index.

[German version] The MF, named after its discoverer, L.A. Muratori (1672-1750), is the oldest existing catalogue of the Christian canon (Canon V.). The text, probably originally in Greek, has only been preserved in fragments of the Latin translation and was probably written around the year 200 in Rome. Heimgartner, Martin (Halle) Bibliography Bibliography: W. Schneemelcher, Neutestamentliche Apokryphen, vol. 1: Evangelien, 61990, 27-29 (bibliography)  J.-D. Kaestli, La place du Fragment de Muratori dans l'histoire du canon, in: Cristianesimo nella Storia 15, 1994, 609-634.