A CASE OF (GALENIC?) NATURAL ΠΝΕΥΜΑ IN A LATE-ANTIQUE HOMILY OF JOHN CHRYSOSTOM?

The purpose of this article is to investigate evidence for a possible case of (Galenic?) natural πνεῦμα in John Chrysostom’s 39th homily on 1 Corinthians and its significance for tracing the development of a tripartite physiological pneumatology in late antiquity. The article starts with an overview of the contention surrounding natural πνεῦμα in Galen’s thought and the problems of the tripartite physiological pneumatology. Thereafter, the reference in John’s homily is examined in detail, with special reference to John’s own holistic understanding of πνεῦμα in his medical-theological framework. The article ends with some conclusions and proposals for better understanding and approaching natural πνεῦμα and the problems of the tripartite physiological pneumatology

Chapter 4 Religious conflict, radicalism, and sexual exceptionalism in the rhetoric of John Chrysostom

Relying on the works of Jasbir Puar and Marchal, the chapter explores the locus where sexuality, specifically the formation of masculinity, intersects with religious conflict, notably in the formation of late antique religious radicalism, using the homilies of John Chrysostom as a case in point. In a study engaging with religious conflict and notions of "just peace" in Augustine's thought, Serena Sharma highlights the importance of identifying, problematising, and addressing historical discursive grey zones. Inclusion is a very important feature in the operations of sexual exceptionalism and religious conflict. Two important strategies are at play in the sexual exceptionalism of religious conflict, namely inclusion, and teratogenisation. Chrysostom meticulously constructs the sexual perversity of his opponents in contrast to the sexual exceptionalism of his own group. The formation of masculinity in terms of sexual exceptionalism and perversity therefore has a leading role in religious conflict

TGO growth behavior of modified environmental barrier coating systems

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Slavery in John Chrysostom’s homilies on the Pauline epistles and Hebrews : a cultural-historical analysis

The aim of this study is to examine John Chrysostom’s views on slavery, specifically in his homilies on the Pauline Epistles and Hebrews. Roman slaveholding is approached as a complex habitus, and Chrysostom’s negotiation with and reimagination of this habitus is examined. The method of enquiry used is a cultural-historical analysis, and the theories of Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu are extensively utilized. Moreover, based on the work of Jennifer Glancy, slavery is approached as a corporeal discourse – one focused on the slave as a body. The discursive formation of the slave-body is further deconstructed into four related corporeal discourses – namely the domesticity, heteronomy, carcerality and commodification of the slavebody. The study commences by revisiting and re-reading Hellenistic, early Roman, Judaistic, and early Christian sources on slaveholding from a cultural-historical perspective in order to reconstruct the main discursivities of the habitus of Roman slaveholding. Then, the first question asked is how Chrysostom understands the domesticity of the slave-body. Based on his exegesis of the haustafeln, it is concluded that Chrysostom negotiates and reimagines the discourse in three ways: a) he proposes a shift from strategic to tactical slaveholding; b) he formulates his theology, especially hamartiology and eschatology, on the Stoic-Philonic metaphor of domestic slavery; and, c) he advises that domestic slaves be reformed by being taught Christian virtue and trades. Secondly, Chrysostom accepts the heteronomy of all bodies, and hence uses slavery as a basis for his ethics. The body is either ruled by God or sin/passions, and the problem of institutional slavery is downplayed. Thirdly, Chrysostom affirms that slaves should remain in their carceral state and stay obedient to their masters, while masters ought to treat slaves justly since they are also slaves of God. Finally, Chrysostom sees slaves as both economic and symbolic capital, and the shift to tactical slaveholding supports his more general vision of promoting a popular asceticism in the city. Chrysostom does not simply accept, ameliorate or reject slaveholding – we rather see sophisticated discourses of negotiation and reimagination of slaveholding to fit in with his wider programme of social and ascetic reform among Christian households.Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2012.Ancient Languagesunrestricte

‘The barbarians themselves are offended by our vices’: Slavery, sexual vice and shame in Salvian of Marseilles’ De gubernatione Dei

The purpose of this article is to examine Salvian of Marseilles’ (ca. 400–490 CE) invective in De gubernatione Dei against his Christian audience pertaining to their sexual roles and behaviour as slaveholders. It is argued that rather than considering the oppressive practice of slavery in itself as a reason for moral rebuke and divine punishment, Salvian highlights the social shame that arose from the sexual vices Christian slaveholders committed with their slaves. Salvian forwards three accusations against his opponents that concern slavery and sexual vice. Firstly, he asserts that Christian slaveholders have no self-control. Secondly, the polyamorous relationships slaveholders have with numerous slaves resemble shameful and adulterous unions, namely concubinage and even polygamy. Thirdly, Roman-Christian slaveholders behave in a worse manner than barbarians (i.e. the argument of ethnicity). Each of these accusations is examined in detail in the study

The Deutero-Pauline and Petrine haustafeln : early Christian oikonomia, pastoral governmentality and slave-management

This study traces the discursive links between early Christian oikonomia, pastoral governmentality and slave-management in the Deutero-Pauline and Petrine haustafeln. It especially utilises the concepts of discipline, surveillance and governmentality as extrapolated by Michel Foucault. The Colossian and Ephesian household codes are approached as social contracts, in which certain liberties are given up for the sake of identity and group cohesion. Slaves should render obedience to masters. From this, the codes exhibit a strict hierarchical system, one that is authorised by a potent Christic panopticism. From the Pastoral Epistles the development of Christian pastoral governmentality, or pastoralism, is clearly seen, and with this, a culture of psychagogy related to slave-management. Slaves become the objects of normalization, which assumes a general delinquency of slaves. Finally, the unique stance of the Petrine codes admonishes slaves to embrace unjust suffering as a Christomorphic process; this promotion of suffering as slaves of God would pervade the very essence of Christian virtue discourse.This study is based, in part, on my doctoral thesis entitled: ‘Slavery in John Chrysostom’s Homilies on the Pauline Epistles and Hebrews: A Cultural-Historical Analysis’, done under supervision of Prof. Hendrik F. Stander, Department of Ancient Languages, University of Pretoria, 2012.http://staging.uj.ac.za/greek/EkklesiastikosPharos/tabid/5731/Default.aspxhttp://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-06152013-144852/am201

The homilies of John Chrysostom on 1 Corinthians 12 : a model of Antiochene exegesis on the charismata

The impetus of this study is that by understanding the way John Chrysostom (flor. 398 AD) interprets the gifts of the Spirit (Charismata) as an Antiochene exegete, insights may be yielded as to how the general tendency of Antiochene exegetes may aid in the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 12:1-13:3, which in turn also contributes to the current research on the New Testament. This study asks the question: How does John Chrysostom, as typical Antiochene exegete, interpret the charismata? In order to address this problem, an inductive-deductive method is followed, in which the general characteristics of the Antiochene exegetical school will be examined and then an analysis of the homilies of John Chrysostom, specifically his corpus Homilies on 1 Corinthians, homily 29 to 32, is given. Each homily is examined in the light of its contents, with specific reference to certain traits typical of Antiochene exegesis, such as sensitivity to history, social- and cultural customs, as well as to the grammar and rhetoric of, in this instance, Paul the Apostle. A translation of each homily is also provided. Finally, their value for current research is expounded. Each homily is translated and evaluated from the basis of the ancient Greek text, in which the homilies were originally composed. The homilies are also evaluated in the light of primary and secondary sources as inter-texts. Since the homilies are verbal commentaries, early Christian literature (of approximately 100-700 AD) on the same topic, the primary sources, are compared with the homilies of Chrysostom. Other ancient sources, not necessarily Christian, of the same period or earlier are also incorporated. But it is also necessary to view the homilies within the context of modern commentaries. Thus, a number of modern secondary sources are also evaluated in the light of the homilies and vice versa. In conclusion, the homilies depict an insightful image on how the Antiochene exegetical school viewed the charismata, which in turn, also provides valuable insights for modern interpreters. In this study of the Wirkungsgeschichte of 1 Corinthians 12:1-13:3, one is reminded that, although these primary sources are dated, they are still unexpendable resources for the current study of 1 Corinthians and of the New Testament in general.Dissertation (MA (Ancient Languages and Cultures Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007.Ancient Languagesunrestricte

The Cappadocian fathers on slave menagement

The aim of this article is to investigate the views of the three Cappadocian fathers, namely Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus, on how to manage slaves. The article approaches slaveholding as a habitus. Firstly, Basil of Caesarea’s views are examined. Basil’s views on slave management were based on the principle that slaves should still remain obedient and submissive to their masters, but that masters should treat their slaves justly. He especially discusses slave management as the management of wealth and sexuality. Secondly, Gregory of Nazianzus’s views, especially from his testament, highlighted the importance of managing slaves after death. It is also a window into the realities of clerics and churches managing slaves. Finally, Gregory of Nyssa’s fourth homily on Ecclesiastes can be described as the ancient treatise against mastery and the vice of pride, since this is the angle from which he criticises slave management. The homily is indeed proof that ancient authors were able to think outside the habitus of Roman slaveholding.Research Institute for Theology and Religio

John Chrysostom's use of the Book of Sirach in his homilies on the New Testament

Peer reviewedThis article examines how and why John Chrysostom (347-407 AD) cites from the apocryphal book of Sirach in his homilies on the New Testament, and illustrates how he incorporates these citations in his construction of popular, fourth-century monastic rhetoric and identity, which was very critical of the classical virtues of patronage and benefaction as practised in civic society. The nature of the quotations from Sirach in the homilies are discussed and then delineated into the motifs of: a) almsgiving, good speech and benefaction; and b) the sin of pride. The motifs of almsgiving, good speech and benefaction, as well as the pitfalls of the sin of pride, are keystone features of the monastic rhetoric John utilises; this rhetoric represents a small part in the significant shift, in late ancient Christianity, from traditional and classical civic values (based on patronage and benefaction) to a system based on an economic dichotomy that emphasises the rich and the poor, and the moral requirement that the rich treat the poor with compassionResearch Institute for Theology and Religio

Gendered endings: Narratives of male and female suicides in the South African Lowveld

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11013-012-9258-y. Copyright @ Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.Durkheim’s classical theory of suicide rates being a negative index of social solidarity downplays the salience of gendered concerns in suicide. But gendered inequalities have had a negative impact: worldwide significantly more men than women perpetrate fatal suicides. Drawing on narratives of 52 fatal suicides in Bushbuckridge, South Africa, this article suggests that Bourdieu’s concepts of ‘symbolic violence’ and ‘masculine domination’ provide a more appropriate framework for understanding this paradox. I show that the thwarting of investments in dominant masculine positions have been the major precursor to suicides by men. Men tended to take their own lives as a means of escape. By contrast, women perpetrated suicide to protest against the miserable consequences of being dominated by men. However, contra the assumption of Bourdieu’s concept of ‘habitus’, the narrators of suicide stories did reflect critically upon gender constructs