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[German Version] I. Religious Studies and History of Philosophy The d…

[German Version] (579/580 [whether in Constantinople or in the Palestinian village of Hesfin is disputed] – Aug 13, 662, Lazika), one of the most prominent Byzantine theologians, being equally important for the history of Monotheletism's dogmatic theology as well as for exegesis (esp. of the Bible, but also of Gregory of Nazianzus and of Dionysius Areopagita) and for the further development of theoretical mysticism (on the basis of a [critically received] Origenism and of the system of Evagrius Po…

[German Version] (John Scholasticus), Greek theologian in the first half of the 6th century, ultimately (between 536 and 553) bishop of Palestinian Scythopolis. Of the writings of this comprehensively educated man, which include a defense of the Chalcedonian definition (in accordance with neo-Chalcedonism) and a document against Severus of Antioch, only a few fragments have been preserved, except for his commentary on the Corpus Areopagiticum (Dionysius Areopagita), which contributed fundamentally to the latter's reputation in both the East and the West, and…

[German Version] After the Council of Chalcedon, it became increasingly common in the East to interpolate the Trisagion (II) into the liturgy as an acclamation and petition to the triune God: “Holy God, holy and mighty, holy immortal one, have mercy upon us.” Shortly afterwards Peter Fullo, the “Monophysite” patriarch of Antioch (471, 475–477) added “crucified for us” (after “immortal one”), to give further expression to the superiority of the divine in the incarnate Lord ( John 1:14). When Severu…

[German Version] (c. 400–480). A prominent contemporary witness to the Völkerwanderung (Migration period), during which he survived one of four destructi…

[German Version] According to the oldest Alexandrian sources (Kettler, 159–163), Melitius is said to have conducted visitations on his own authority in the leaderless dioceses of Lower and Middle Egypt during the persecutions of Christians (I) under Diocletian and to have appropriated the supervision rights of the fugitive Peter of Alexandria. Epiphanius of Salamis ( Haer. 68.1–3), on the other hand, apparently draws on sources sympathetic to Melitius and attributes the conflict to an early manifested antagonism between a lenient (Peter) and a rigor…

[German Version] I. General – II. History and Society – III. Religion and Culture I. General 1. Name/Designations In Egyptian-Coptic, Egypt is “the black (i.e. land)” (Egyptian *Kū́mut, Coptic Kēme, etc.) after the dark soil, in Semitic languages, generally, Miṣr-, etc., in Hebrew also מָצוֹר / Māṣôr (“border,” i.e. “borderland”?), in Greek after a sanctuary of the god Ptah as a designation for the old capital city Memphis, Aígyptos, i.e. Aígupto-s (in contemporary Egyptian perhaps *Hekoptáḥ). …

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[German Version] (Dec 16, 1903 [Old Style, Dec 3, 1903], Rosenbeck, Livonia – Jan 6, 1989, Heidelberg), doctor of theology, Heidelberg 1926; 5 honorary doctorates in theology; Privatdozent in church history, Marburg, 1928; Göttingen 1930; 1935 temporary professorship in Gießen; 1936 appointe…

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[German Version] In Chalcedon (Kadiköy, on the Asian shore of the Bosporus, part of present-day Istanbul; Constantinople/Byzantium), what was probably the most illustrious assembly of bishops in antiquity met from Oct 8 to Nov 11, 451 (although the tradition of 600–630 participants is legendary). Church history came to know it as the fourth “ecumenical” council. Its primary significance lies unquestionably in the realm of the history of dogma (Two natures doctrine), although many of its disciplinary decrees also had important consequences. The council was made possible by a change in leadership of the Roman Empire. The new rulers, Marcian and Pulcheria, primarily wanted the council officially to reverse the decisions of Ephesus (449), which had provoked a storm of indignation especially in the West, and to put an end to the doctrinal conflict caused by Nestorius and Eutyches by getting as many of the bishops of the Empire as possible to sign a credal statement expressing doctrinal consensus. But …

[German Version] (Pseudo-Dionysius; c. 500 ce), the name associated with a corpus of texts first attested c. 518/28 under the pseudonym of Dionysius the Areopagite, who was converted by Paul (Acts 17:34). Although the author refers to himself only as “Dionyius the Elder” (or “the Presbyter”), by introducing “historical” details, he gives the impression (probably intentionally) that he was a contemporary of the apostle: hence the identification with the “known” Dionysius the Areopagite. ¶ This identification became accepted with astonishing rapidity and remained essentially uncontested until the 15th/16th centuries (L. Valla, Erasmus). It assured the “Areopagitic” literature a “quasi-apostolic” reputation. According to a nearly self-contained tradition, the following individual documents have long been assigned to this literature: “On the Di…

[German Version] The terms Monophysitism and Monophysites (“one-nature” Christology and its advocates) used by historians of dogma have their roots in heresiology (Heresy: I); they were coined by the opponents of the theological positions so labeled and to this day are rejected as inappropriate by the churches involved. In the following discussion, therefore, they will always be set in quotation marks (see also D. Wendebourg, “Chalcedon in der ökumenischen Diskussion,” in: van Oort & Roldanus, 190–223). The roots of “Monophysite” doctrine go far back. The Christology of Origen can be called “Dyophysite” in approach (a “two natures doctrine” similar to that of the Chalcedonian Definition) but “Monophysite” in intent. With the unity of his image of Christ, Origen seeks to preserve the precedence of the divine, on which his interest in salvation primarily depends (Ritter, 225). This type of doctrine then appears in clear outline in Apollinarius of Laodicea. The formula w…

[German Version] Monotheletism (“one will”) is a christological doctrine from the period after Chalcedon, which – like the earlier Monenergism (“single activity”) – was intended to build a bridge to so-called Monophysites and provide a more satisfying explanation for the Chalcedonian Definition (see Christology: II, 1.c). Many of its Eastern supporters were terrified by the “idol with two faces” painted on the wall by Philoxenus of Mabbug (ACO IV/1, 240–242 = A.M. Ritter …

[German Version] I. Archaeology – II. Early Church – III. After 600 – IV. Councils – V. Patriarchate – VI. Literature – VII. Art – VIII. Church Music – IX. Judaism …

[German Version] I. Early Church The title patriarch appears to have been first used by early Judaism…

[German Version] (died 449 or 450) was the successor of the patriarch Proclus, who died in 446. The protest of Eutyches against his condemnation by Flavian (Nov 448; Christology: II, 1) led to the Council of Ephesus in August 449, which deposed Flavian. His death on the way into exile made it possible for Leo I to recognize his successor, Anatolius, ¶ enabling him to summon the Council of Chalcedon. Flavian's creed, formulated in connection with the trial of Eutyches, influenced the Chalcedonian Definition, especially the expression coined as a conscious c…

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[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Early Church – III. Middle Ages and Modern Period – IV. 19th Century to the Present I. New Testament 1. Definition and sources Although the New Testament does not speak explicitly of Jewish Christians, the phenomenon is everywhere apparent. Makeshift expressions are used (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:5; Rom 15:26; Gal 2:9, 12; note also that Christians as a designation used by outsiders is itself rare: Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Pet 4:16). In addition, all the NT documents except Luke-Acts were written by Jewish Christian aut…