Search Results (2)

Wulfila (c. 311–c. 383) translated the Bible into Gothic, creating the first literary text in a Germanic language. His biography is contested; his parentage, place of birth, episcopal consecration, and theological position are all disputed. The fourth century saw heated debates about the Trinity, and the Goths were often termed ‘Arians’, despite the fact that the teachings of the African presbyter Arius (c. 256–336) were not directly transmitted to them. This article notes a rebirth of interest in Wulfila, his mission, and the Gothic Bible, employing the notion that ‘Homoian’ (a more neutral term than ‘Arian’) theology was a possible bridge between Catholic monotheism and Gothic polytheism as the starting point for a re-examination of Wulfila’s evangelism as both an imperially mandated strategy and the creation of a route into civilization and modernity for the Goths. Christianity was modern and fashionable in the fourth century; Germanic tribes wishing to abandon their status as pagani (rustics) or heathens (heath-dwellers, not civilized city dwellers), viewed conversion as a move ‘up’. The Gothic Bible played a role in developing Gothic literacy, but was also a magical object, the first of its kind, a book/roadmap for a people undergoing a great cultural transformation. Full article

This article reveals the continuity of Neoplatonic ideas in Greek-Byzantine patristics in the process of elaboration of the triadic dogma by the Church Fathers. Common and distinctive principles of Neoplatonism and Eastern Christianity are deduced from the point of view of the shaping of Christian ethics and the processing of Neoplatonic concepts in patristic texts. In more specific terms, Plotinus’ concept of the triad of the One–the Intellect–the Soul is considered, with special attention paid to analysis of the philosopher’s ideas of the One as Deity and the Origin of the world. It describes the process of emanation of the Neoplatonic trinity hypostasis and its connection with the material world through the World Soul. In comparison with Neoplatonism, the authors of the article present the molding of the dogma of the Holy Trinity in classical Greek-Byzantine patristics and highlight the new, theological-ethical vision of Plotinus’ triad as a form of the interconnection of the three Persons of the Trinity, expressing the absoluteness of interpersonal relations. In terms of philosophical ethics, the authors state that the Church Fathers’ understanding of the relationship among the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity serves as a model of perfect moral relationships demonstrating the absolute norms of morality for a human being. Neoplatonism was deprived of such a context in its interpretation of Plotinus’ triad. The creative and critical perception of Plotinus’ conceptual positions in the works of St. Athanasius is presented. Conclusions are made about the creative, sometimes critical, perception of the ideas of Neoplatonism in the formation of a new type of Christian ethics. Full article