Methodius of Olympus († ca. 311 CE) is regarded as a key author in 3rd c Christian theology. In recent years, his works have become objects of intense research interest on the part of Church historians, classical Greek and Paleoslavic philologists, and scholars of Armenia. The essays in this volume examine the current state of research, enhance our understanding of Methodius with valuable new information, and open up new research perspectives.

This book sheds light on a relatively dark period of literary history, the late third century CE, a period that falls between the Second Sophistic and Late Antiquity. It argues that more was being written during this time than past scholars have realized and takes as its prime example the understudied Christian writer Methodius of Olympus. Among his many works, this book focuses on his dialogic Symposium, a text which exposes an era's new concern to re-orient the gaze of a generation from the past onto the future. Dr LaValle Norman makes the further argument that scholarship on the Imperial period that does not include Christian writers within its purview misses the richness of this period, which was one of deepening interaction between Christian and non-Christian writers. Only through recovering this conversation can we understand the transitional period that led to the rise of Constantine.

While the diversity of early Christian thought and practice is now generally assumed, and the experiences and beliefs of Christians beyond the works of great theologians increasingly valued, the question of God is perennial and fundamental. These essays, individually modest in scope, seek to address that largest of questions using particular issues and problems, or single thinkers and distinct texts. They include studies of doctrine and theology as traditionally conceived, but also of understandings of God among the early Christians that emerge from study of liturgy, art, and asceticism, and in relation to the social order and to nature itself.

This book is the first study to focus on the reception of Paul's link between resurrection and salvation, revealing its profound effect on early Christian theology - not only eschatology, but also anthropology, pneumatology, ethics, and soteriology. Thomas D. McGlothlin traces the roots of the strong tension on the matter in ancient Judaism and then offers deep readings of the topic by key theologians of pre-Nicene Christianity, who argued on both sides of the issue of the fleshliness of the resurrected body. McGlothlin unravels the surprising continuities that emerge between Irenaeus, Origen, and the Valentinians, as well as deep disagreements between allies like Irenaeus and Tertullian.

Methodius of Olympus (d. ca. A.D. 310) played a significant role in the theological developments of the late third and early fourth centuries. His writings constitute the largest body of Greek Christian works to survive from the late third century--other than those of Eusebius of Caesarea--and provide important insight into Christian thought from an otherwise poorly documented period. Surprisingly, however, Methodius' writings have been studied only incidentally and mainly for their influential criticism of Origen's views. Little interest has been shown in Methodius himself or in his place in the theological trends of his time. Going beyond the ""incidental"" interests commonly analyzed, this book studies Methodius the person and provides a much-needed framework for reconsidering Methodius' contribution to the issues of the period. L. G. Patterson offers a close analysis of Methodius' writings with respect to their literary style, their use of earlier writers--particularly, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen--and their unfolding theological preoccupations. In considering Methodius' criticism of Origen, Patterson expands the traditional scope of analysis and reflects on the origin and context of the misrepresentations of Origen underlying this criticism. Patterson attributes these misrepresentations to Methodius' growing conviction that Origen, by whom he was profoundly influenced, had unwittingly embraced a dualistic cosmology of the sort which Methodius himself opposed. Patterson explains the underlying issues of Methodius' work--divine sovereignty, human freedom, and life in Christ--in light of his commitment to the ascetic life as central to Christian existence, and discusses Methodius' influence on major figures of the fourth century, mainly Arius and Gregory of Nyssa. The book is a significant contribution to the study of early Christian theology. It will be of particular interest to scholars studying Origen, early Arianism, the Cappadocian fathers, and the later Origenist controversies, as well as to students of early Christian asceticism. L. G. Patterson, a priest in the Episcopal Church, is professor of historical theology at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His long-standing interest in Methodius has been reflected in articles published in the proceedings of Colloquium Origenianum and theInternational Conference on Patristic Studies, as well as in papers presented to the North American Patristic Society. ""The study is not only informative but also enjoyable, and it sheds much light on an important but not widely known author of early Christianity.""--Vigiliae Christianae Table of Contents: Preface Introduction 1. The Author of the Writings 2. De libero arbitrio: Dualism and the Problem of Evil 3. The Symposium: Chastity and the Plan of Salvation 4. Origen in the Symposium 5. De resurrectione and the Initial Criticism of Origen 6. De creatis and the Later Criticism of Origen Conclusion Appendix 1: The De lepra among Methodius' Writings Appendix 2: The Hymn of Thecla and the Purpose of the Symposium Bibliography Index of Names Index of Subjects

"At the height of the tumultuous developments taking place in Central and Eastern Europe in the ninth century, two Greek missionaries from Thessalonica came to the fore. Their work of acculturation among the Slavs, had far-reaching and lasting changes upon European life. This book looks back over the life and work of these two outstanding figures and analyzes their ecclesiastical and cultural mission. Their presence in the Crimea was closely bound up with several aspects of Byzantium's ecclesiastical policy and programs of acculturation, and also with the Russians' first encounter with Christianity." "In presenting the Slavs with an alphabet and the written work, the brothers transmitted to them the world, and thus it was in Cyril and Methodius' time, and thanks to their work, that Great Moravia reached the height of its vigor and prosperity as a central European state. The Cyrillo-Methodian tradition lived on, spreading among the Slavic peoples and laying the foundation of their spiritual life."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved