History of Christianity

Come omaggio ammirato e a ettuoso, seppure stravagante, a Irène Rosier Catach, straordinaria studiosa del linguaggio loso co-teologico medievale e della teoria retorico-linguistica di Dante, propongo una rapida analisi di un breve passo di un classico rinascimentale, la Cortigiana di Pietro Aretino (I ed. non pubblicata: ; II ed.: Marcolini, Venezia), riconoscendovi una contratta parodia di immagini tratte dal Cantico dei cantici (=Cant) biblico, testo poetico celebrativo dell'amore carnale, che le tradizioni esegetiche ebraiche e cristiane avevano per quasi due millenni sistematicamente interpretato come suprema allegoria del desiderio di Dio, dei più santi misteri liturgici, dell'estasi mistica. Nella commedia più perfetta di un eversivo genio sarcastico, di questo Pasquino vivente, temutissimo cortigiano dei due papi medicei, emerge una paradossale performance ermeneutica, che vive di un "doppio gioco" o "doppio ribaltamento" parodico, tipicamente rinascimentale: la tradizionale interpretazione mistico-allegorica dell'amore carnale è rovesciata in sarcastica metafora della pulsione erotica, sicché la restituzione letterale del testo biblico, comunque segnata dalla simbologia teologica che l'aveva cristianizzato, nisce per essere un'originalissima esaltazione "sacrale" del meraviglioso, davvero anarchico pulsare della vita, nella quale inganno, violenza, follia emergono come indominabile rovescio della norma civile e religiosa. Questo piccolo campione può, pertanto, essere indicato come cifra dell'intera commedia, che disvela il magma pulsionale, il brulichio libidinale della "città santa" e della sua stessa corte tutta mondana.

In the light of the Christological tension between spiraculo/Spirito in Princ xxvi, which is also found also in one of Savonarola’s Homilies on Ex- odus, this essay proposes a Messianic, secularizing reading of the final Ex- hortatio of Machiavelli’s Prince, culminating in an exaltation of the pope. The whole text of the Prince hinges on this ambiguous Prince, who is both a sacral and temporal figure, called to become Italy’s political saviour. From that, a papal reading of Moses follows as an armed prophet, opposing Savon- arola as the disarmed prophet. Lastly, this essay demonstrates how the term mandragola (mandrake) was commonly used by Savonarola’s enemies, as it is shown by one of Savonarola’s homilies on Exodus, heard by Machiavelli. The term was used as an offence linked to the red crosses, distinctive signs of the reformation proposed by the friar. This shows the symbolic and political magnitude of Machiavelli’s Mandragola, which ironically alludes to Savona- rola’s age and celebrates the Medicean pope’s advent.

Anand Amaladass, "The Writing Catechism and Translation Strategies of Three Jesuits in South India: Henrique Henriques, Roberto de Nobili and Joseph Beschi", in "Translating Catechisms, Translating Cultures: The Expansion of Catholicism in the Early Modern World", eds. Antje Flüchter and Rouven Wirbser (Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2017): 170-194.

O Grupo de Estudos sobre História do Oriente Cristão (GEHOC) objetiva lançar um boletim anual com contribuições acadêmicas originais, resenhas e recensões críticas, notas de pesquisa, entrevistas e traduções de documentos e trabalhos relevantes disponíveis até agora apenas em língua estrangeira. Sua finalidade é de fomento acadêmico e de divulgação cultural, não estando, portanto, relacionado a fins lucrativos de qualquer ordem. A princípio, seu formato será unicamente digital, mas não se descarta a possibilidade de uma futura edição impressa, viabilizada via financiamento colaborativo.

Em concordância com o espírito do GEHOC, o boletim aceitará trabalhos que versem sobre história, teologia, política, espiritualidade, práticas religiosas, características linguísticas e características culturais referentes às comunidades do Oriente Cristão, em seu ambiente nativo ou na diáspora, em qualquer período de sua existência. De modo subsidiário, acolhe também trabalhos comparativos, discussões teórico-metodológicas sobre o estudo do/s cristianismo/s, estudos sobre relacionamentos ecumênicos e inter-religiosos nos quais estejam engajados os cristãos orientais, e textos referentes a outras questões conexas de história, cultura e religião médio-oriental, leste-europeia, afro-oriental e assim por diante.

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GEHOC intends to publish an annual report with original academic contributions, reviews and critical reviews, research notes, interviews, and translations of documents and relevant works available only in foreign languages until now. Its purpose is the academic instigation and the cultural dissemination, therefore not being for-profit. At first, it will be exclusively in a digital format, however it does not dismiss the possibility of a print publishing in the future, through crowdfunding.

In accordance with the GEHOC spirit the report will accept works on history, theology, politics, spirituality, religious practices, and linguistic and cultural characteristics regarding communities from Christian East in their native or diaspora environment, in any period of their existence. Additionally embrace comparative works, theoretical and methodological discussions on Christianity or Christianities, studies on ecumenical and interreligious relationships which Eastern Christians have been engaged, and texts referring to other related issues of middle eastern, eastern European, afro-eastern history, religion, and culture, and so on.

Pages 1–50 in The Struggle over Class: Socioeconomic Analysis of Ancient Christian Texts. Edited by G. Anthony Keddie, Michael A. Flexsenhar III, and Steven J. Friesen. SBL Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplement 19. Atlanta: SBL, 2021.

Il web costituisce oggi l’agorà in cui una molteplicità di soggetti scambia contenuti multimediali in tempo reale, agendo di volta in volta come produttore, fruitore o semplice “ripetitore”. In questa sorta di realtà di secondo grado, parallela al mondo reale, non potevano mancare i contenuti di carattere agiografico, tanto più in un’epoca che è stata definita di “rivincita del sacro”: il santo è ancora – o è tornato a essere – elemento vitale nella religiosità contemporanea ed è diventato oggetto di curiosità per una platea più ampia dei soli fedeli o praticanti cattolici. Allo scopo di indagare questa nuova dimensione del sacro risponde il presente volume, spazio di riflessione incentrato non tanto sul mezzo in sé quanto sullo specifico tema dei santi e delle devozioni del mondo contemporaneo, visti attraverso la lente del web.

Over the past thirty years or so, scholars such as the late Thomas Oden and Christopher Hall have highlighted the value of scholarship of the writings and history of the early Church, not only for the simple historic value, but for practical wisdom which may be applicable for us now. These explorations have covered a number of areas (e.g., worship, theology, biblical studies), but heretofore one key omission has been a kind "missional approach of the early Church." The volume under review here is one of several recently published which seek on some level to address this. The author describes the monastic mission of the Church of the East deeply into Asia, comparing this dynamic with that of the Celtic church in roughly the same period, engaging in mission via establishing monastic communities. One element of this history which may come as a surprise for some readers is the degree to which the Church of the East continued to extend their work through monastic mission into Central, South and Eastern Asia even after the Islamic conquest of their heartlands in Persia. Moreover, the author notes how monasteries were what he refers to as "zones of contact" with the Muslim rulers and population. In the Muslim literature of the period this was described in various terms, sometimes with a recognition of some degree of spiritual depth in the monasteries, other times with a focus on a perceived moral "looseness" of the Christian community. One can appreciate the author's balanced approach, recognizing that while there was often opportunity for friendly "contact," he reminds us that in this period, these could also be and often were "zones of conflict." That noted, this serves as an excellent introduction to an often-forgotten history.

War and Peace. In a narrative spanning 14 centuries, Usama Hasan finds a new understanding of Islam and the West.
"People of the Book" (Ahl al-Kitab) is the Koranic term for religious communities outside that of the Prophet, whose message is regarded as merely the final form of Islam-submission to God alone.

Karabell eloquently narrates the millennium-and-a-half-long stories of complex coexistence amongst Jew, Christian and Muslim: Muslim tolerance in periods of unquestioned dominance but some harsh treatment when People of the Book were seen as a threat: Medina, Damascus, Baghdad, Andalusia and the Ottoman empire provide ample examples. One of Karabell’s loudest messages is that it is often the conflicts only that are remembered, on all sides, whilst the glorious accomplishments of co-operation are forgotten and disappear like a mirage – this collective amnesia must be reversed if we are serious about peace between faiths in our world.

The phrase “Islam and the West” in the title is itself problematic, given the rich religious, philosophical, political and cultural interactions that the author masterfully describes, but the author is surely right in his conclusions: “If conflict is what we want to see, there is conflict. But if peace is what we are looking for, then peace is there to be found … Peace is woven into our collective past; it is there to be seen in our messy present; and it will be there in our shared future.” (pp. 285, 291)

Derzafaran - Mar Hananyo (the Convent of Ananias): Turkey's Greatest Monastery at Tur Abdin
ΑΝΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΝΕΝΕΡΓΟ ΜΠΛΟΓΚ “ΟΙ ΡΩΜΙΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗΣ”
Το κείμενο του κ. Νίκου Μπαϋρακτάρη είχε αρχικά δημοσιευθεί την 29η Αυγούστου 2019.
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First republished on 5th October 2021 here:
https://profmegalommatistextsingreek.wordpress.com/2021/10/05/ντερζαφαράν-μαρ-χανανύο-μονή-του-αν/