Search

Leo I (d. 461), known as Leo the Great, was pope beginning in the summer of 440. Not much is known about Leo’s early years. Suggestions that he was born in Tuscany remain improbable as long as other signs point to an urban Roman origin. Before becoming pope, he was (arch)deacon at the papal ¶ court, and as early as 440 Empress Galla Placidia entrusted him with a political mission to Gaul. Leo devoted a great deal of energy to his urban Roman congregation, particularly through his sermons, and encouraged the production of narrative and pictorial cyc…

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus (ca. 160–ca. 225) was an African church father who wrote primarily in Latin. Texts available for a reconstruction of Tertullian’s biography include, next to his own writings, accounts by Eusebius (ca. 260–ca. 340) and Jerome (ca. 345–420). It has been shown, however, that information from the fourth-century authors should not be used uncritically. From his own writings it appears that Tertullian’s father possibly was in the military, and one could add Jerome’s account that his father was a centurio proconsularis, thus a centurion in the cohors …

Jerome (ca. 345–420), born Eusebius Hieronymus (perhaps as early as 333), was an outstanding translator, exegete, and theologian of the early church. He was the son of a well-to-do Christian family that owned property in Strido (near Emona, or modern Ljubljana, Slovenia). He was educated in Rome, and his teachers included, until 363, the famous grammarian Aelius Donatus (though not Marius Victorinus, neither does Jerome seem to have been closely acquainted with Ambrose in Rome; he did, however, …

[English Version] (ca.185/186 Alexandrien – ca.253/254) I. Leben Für die Rekonstruktion der Biogr. des O. ist man auf Angaben bei seinem Enkelschüler Eusebius von Caesarea (h.e. VI 1–39) angewiesen, die einschlägigen Partien der »Apologie für O.« des Pamphilus von Caesarea (CPG 1, 1715) wurden durch Rufinus von Aquileia nicht ins Lat. übers. und sind mit dem griech. Original verloren; möglicherweise gehen aber einzelne Nachrichten bei Hieronymus, Rufinus und Photius von Konstantinopel (bibl. codex 118)…

[English Version] (Saturninus). Unter den frühen Gnostikern (Gnosis/Gnostizismus: III.,2.), die auf Simon Magus folgen, nennt Irenaeus von Lyon einen Saturninus aus Antiochien (haer. I 24, 1f.), der im frühen 2.Jh. gelebt haben dürfte. Er schreibt ihm die Lehre zu, daß Welt und Mensch von sieben bestimmten Engeln geschaffen wurden, der Mensch nach dem Bild »der höchsten Macht«, die dem Gebilde auch den »Lebensfunken« gab. Die Engel wiederum sind nach S. Geschöpfe des obersten unbekannten Vaters, d…

[English Version] von Bēth Ukkāme (= Paulus, der Schwarze, oder Paulos Melanos; um 500 Alexandrien – 584 Konstantinopel). Der in Alexandrien aufgewachsene Archimandrit P. wurde 564 von Jakob Baradaeus zum antichalcedonensischen (jakobitischen) Patriarch von Antiochien geweiht (Monophysiten/Monophysitismus) und amtierte bis 577. Seine Amtszeit war durch schwere kirchenpolit. Auseinandersetzungen gekennzeichnet: Einer vorübergehenden Annäherung des Patriarchen an das Bekenntnis des Reichskonzils Cha…

[English Version] . Mit dem neuzeitlichen Begriff N. (bzw. den inhaltlich parallelen Ausdrücken »Jungnicaenismus« oder »Neonicaenismus«), der vermutlich auf F. Loofs zurückgeht, wird eine bestimmte trinitätstheol. Position des späteren 4.Jh. bez. (Arius/Arianismus), die allein schon durch ihre Normierung 381 auf dem zweiten Reichskonzil von Konstantinopel (: IV., 1.) und in anderen Bekenntnistexten (Symbolum Quicumque) zum identitätsbildenden traditionellen Lehrbestand der meisten christl. Kirchen und Glaubensgemeinschaften gehört. Freilich hat sich in den l…

[English Version] (sog. Kirchenordnung des Hippolyt, TradAp). 1910 bzw. 1916 entdeckten E. Schwartz und Richard Hugh Connolly, daß sich einige spätantike Kirchenordnungen als Bearb. bzw. Übers. einer (verlorenen) Grundschrift stemmatisch zuordnen lassen. Beide Forscher nahmen an, daß diese den Titel TradAp ( ᾿Αποστολικη` παρα´δοσις/apostolikē´ parádosis, »apostolische Überlieferung«) getragen habe und von Hippolyt vf. wurde. Diese doppelte Hypothese wird heute nur noch von einer Minderheit als zutreffend angenommen. Bestätigt hat sich dagegen die Annahme eines…

[English Version]   von St. Denis (um 1081 Argenteuil – 1151 St. Denis). S. stammte aus einer wohlhabenden Familie und wurde um 1091 Oblate im fränkischen Königskloster St. Denis vor den Toren von Paris. 1101 legte er die Profeß ab und verteidigte 1107 vor Papst Paschalis II. die Exemtion des Klosters. Nach verschiedenen polit. und kirchl. Aufgaben wurde er 1122 zum Abt gewählt. Er reformierte nicht nur sein Kloster, sondern amtierte auch als Regent von Frankreich (1137–1140 sowie 1147–1149). Berüh…

[English Version] . Der Begriff N. kann in zweifacher Weise verwendet werden: Erstens bez. er die Theol. (und gelegentlich auch die Kirchenorganisation) der heutigen »Hl. Apostolischen und Kath. Ass. Kirche des Ostens«, deren Glieder auch »Nestorianer« (oder »Ostsyrer« bzw. »Chaldäer«; Apostolische Kirche des Ostens) genannt werden, weil sie 484/486 n.Chr. in bewußtem Gegensatz zur röm. Reichskirche die Christologie des Nestorius annahmen, die auf dem Konzil von Ephesus 431 verurteilt worden war (Nestoriani…

[English Version] (Ptolemaeus), Gnostiker. P. lebte als freier christl. Lehrer um die Mitte des 2.Jh. in Rom und war in der »Schule« des röm. Lehrers Valentinus tätig (Iren.haer. I prol. 2), möglicherweise deswegen, weil er dessen persönlicher Schüler war. Nur noch ein einziger Text kann P. mit Sicherheit zugeschrieben werden: der bei Epiphanius von Salamis überlieferte Lehrbrief an die röm. Matrone Flora über Bibelauslegung, das atl. Gesetz und die Prinzipientheorie (Epiph.haer. 33,3–7). Ein Re…

[German Version] The received text (T, first attested by Pirmin, Scarapsus §§10/12/28) of the creed known in the modern period as the Symbolum apostolicum or Symbolum Apostolorum goes back to the so-called Old Roman creed (R). The great majority of scholars accept the hypothesis of J. Ussher, archbishop of Armagh (1647), that R is first attested in Greek in Marcellus of Ancyra (Epiphanius, Haer. 72.3.1 = BSGR §17) or in the Psalter of Aethelstan (§18); the Latin text can be reconstructed from Rufinus's Explanatio symboli (§19). From 1910–1916 onward,…

[German Version] The monastic theologians and bishops, Basil the Great, his brother Gregory of Nyssa and their friend Gregory of Nazianzus came from the province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor and spent most of their lives there. For this reason, they are often referred to by modern historians and theologians as “the three great Cappadocians.” A cousin of Gregory of Nazianzus and colleague of Basil, Amphilochius of Iconium, is sometimes added to their number. The t…

[German Version] officiated from about 351 as bishop of Milan. On account of his bold stance at the synod held there in 355 (Homoeans), Constantius II banished him to Armenia together with Eusebius of Vercelli and Lucifer of Cagliari; he died there. Perhaps still in the 4th century, his remains were brought back to Milan, though certainly not under his second successor Ambrose of Milan, as a secondary passage in a let-¶ ter of Basil the Great would seem to want to suggest (Bas. Ep. 197.2; cf. BHL 2168–2170). Christoph Markschies Bibliography S. Cavallin, “Die Legendenbildung um den Mai…

[German Version] Traditional terminology in the history of dogma and theology distinguishes between “Dynamic” and a “Modalist” Monarchianism. It thereby subsumes under a common generic term (although see A. v. Harnack) the groups that energetically combatted the Logos theology (Logos) and the doctrine of a plurality of divine hypostases (Hypostasis; in e.g. …

[German Version] Ptolemy worked in Rome as a freelance Christian teacher around the middle of the 2nd century; he was active in the “school” of the Roman teacher Valentinus (Iren. Haer. I prol. 2), possibly because he was a personal disciple of Valentinus. Only one text survives that can be ascribed to Ptolemy with assurance: an instructional epistle to the Roman matron Flora, preserved by Epiphanius of Salamis ( Haer. 33.3–7). The epistle deals with biblical interpretation, the Old Testament law, and the theory of principles. A brief discussion of Valentinian Gn…

[German Version] (Jul 31, 1788, Merseburg – May 31, 1843, Jena) studied classical philology and theology in Leipzig. After completing his habilitation in 1809 in the philosophical faculty there, he became associate professor of theology in 1812 and full professor of theology in 1817 in Jena. Baumgarten's erudition is demonstrated by his numerous articles on ancient philology and church h…

[German Version] Together with Montanus, the three women belong to the principal prophetic personalities of what later came to be known as the Montanism of Asia Minor. The variant name form “Prisca” is also attested for Priscilla in the writings of Tertullian. Seven of their prophetic logia have been preserved (nos. 5–11, Heine). Quintilla may well have belonged to a second generation of prophetesses, as her name is not explicitly mentioned in the earliest sources (cf. however Eus. Hist. eccl. V 18.6). How the exact hierarchical and institutional relationship of the origin…

[German Version] (Oct 25, 1800, St.-Fluor, Département Cantal – Oct 24, 1875, Paris), son of a merchant, began his theological studies in 1817 at the theological college in Orléans, where he soon became prefect of studies and later a lecturer. In 1824 he was ordained to the priesthood. From 1833 he worked as a journalist in Paris; with the support of patrons, he founded several journals that attracted great attention but had to be discontinued for financial reasons. In 1836 he turned to publishing…

[German Version] (c. 1081, Argenteuil – 1151, St.-Denis), was born to a wealthy family; c. 1091 he became an oblate in the royal Frankish abbey of St.-Denis before the gates of Paris. In 1101 he took his solemn vows; in 1107 he defended the exempt status of the abbey before Pope Paschal II. After serving in various political and ecclesiastical offices, he was elected abbot in 1122. He reformed his own abbey and also served as regent of France from 1137 to 1140 and from 1147 to 1149. His partial reconstruction of the abbey church (1140–1144) is famous; he discussed it in his De consecratione and De o…