This comprehensive volume brings together a team of distinguished scholars to create a wide-ranging introduction to patristic authors and their contributions to not only theology and spirituality, but to philosophy, ecclesiology, linguistics, hagiography, liturgics, homiletics, iconology, and other fields. Challenges accepted definitions of patristics and the patristic period – in particular questioning the Western framework in which the field has traditionally been constructed Includes the work of authors who wrote in languages other than Latin and Greek, including those within the Coptic, Armenian, Syriac, and Arabic Christian traditions Examines the reception history of prominent as well as lesser-known figures, debating the role of each, and exploring why many have undergone periods of revived interest Offers synthetic accounts of a number of topics central to patristic studies, including scripture, scholasticism, and the Reformation Demonstrates the continuing role of these writings in enriching and inspiring our understanding of Christianity

Timothy Bellamah explores the exegesis of William of Alton, a Dominican regent master at Paris during the thirteenth-century. A near contemporary of Bonaventure, Albert the Great, and Thomas Aquinas, William was an important representative of university exegesis at a time of rapidly changing methods and remarkable intellectual development.

This volume of essays provides presentations and analyses of several Reformation theologians' interpretations of Romans as a whole or in part, some focusing on one particular interpreter, such as Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Bullinger, and Bucer; others compare and contrast two or more of the major interpreters whether in relation to a particular section of the letter. The commonalities and divergence in the readings are analyzed in relation to and as a reflection of the various social, political and personal circumstances of the Reformers.

This one-volume reference work provides the first encyclopedic treatment of the life, thought, and influence of Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354-430), one of the greatest figures in the history of the Christian church. The product of more than 140 leading scholars throughout the world, this comprehensive encyclopedia contains over 400 articles that cover every aspect of Augustine's life and writings and trace his profound influence on the church and the development of Western thought through the past two millennia. Major articles examine in detail all of Augustine's nearly 120 extant writings, from his brief tractates to his prodigious theological works. For many readers, this volume is the only source for commentary on the numerous works by Augustine not available in English. Other articles discuss: Augustine's influence on other theologians, from contemporaries like Jerome and Ambrose to prominent figures throughout church history, such as Gregory the Great, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Harnack; Augustine's life, the chaotic political events of his world, and the church's struggles with such heresies as Arianism, Donatism, Manicheism, and Pelagianism; Augustine's thoughts about philosophical problems (time, the ascent of the soul, the nature of truth), theological questions (guilt, original sin, free will, the Trinity), and cultural issues (church-state relations, Roman society).

Anglo-Saxon England consistently embraces all the main aspects of study of Anglo-Saxon history and culture. Articles in volume 31 include: The landscape of Beowulf; Sceaf, Japheth and the origins of the Anglo-Saxons; The Anglo-Saxons and the Goths: rewriting the sack of Rome; The Old English Bede and the construction of Anglo-Saxon authority; Daniel, the Three Youths fragment and the transmission of Old English verse; Aelfric on the creation and fall of the angels; The Colophon of the Eadwig Gospels; Public penance in Anglo-Saxon England; Bibliography for 2001.

Athens and Wittenberg explores how Luther and early Lutheranism did not neglect the classics of Greece and Rome, but continued to draw from the philosophy and poetry of antiquity in their quest to reform the church.

Amandus Polanus (1561–1610) has often been described as a highly significant theologian, but also a neglected one. Part of Polanus' significance comes from his inclusion of ethics and practical application in his discussion of theology and the way in which his theology mixes Ramist dichotomies and the scholastic distinctions common in Christian Aristotelianism. Stephen B. Tipton shows how Polanus' understanding of God's essence and attributes is built upon the ground of scripture, arranged with the aid of logical arguments and reasoning, and aimed at the worship and glory of the Triune God. Tipton defends this conclusion against previous research which suggests that Polanus' theology is grounded in rationalism and subordinates the Trinity beneath an Aristotelian notion of God's perfect unity. This research not only corrects these previous notions about Polanus, but it also provides greater insight into the early Reformed Orthodox period and the theology that arose from that time.