Hans von CampenhausenRezensionen
Autor von Die Entstehung der christlichen Bibel
Rezensionen
Diese Seite verwendet Cookies für unsere Dienste, zur Verbesserung unserer Leistungen, für Analytik und (falls Sie nicht eingeloggt sind) für Werbung. Indem Sie LibraryThing nutzen, erklären Sie dass Sie unsere Nutzungsbedingungen und Datenschutzrichtlinie gelesen und verstanden haben. Die Nutzung unserer Webseite und Dienste unterliegt diesen Richtlinien und Geschäftsbedingungen.
On the Greek side the author writes on Justin, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Synesius, John Chrysostom, and Cyril of Alexandria; on the Latin side, he writes on Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Boethius.
The author cannot be accused of hiding his bias. One does not walk away wondering what he thinks of, say, Augustine, or Jerome, for good or ill. While the "judgmentalism" might be jarring for the contemporary reader not used to such style, at least he's out with it. The author sees the Greek period as more intellectually robust, more prominent in the earlier centuries, and philosophical, but decries the political machinations which brought down John Chrysostom and perpetrated by Cyril. It was good to see someone else with far more scholarship behind him see the Christological controversy in the middle of the fifth century as more politically than ideologically motivated, that Nestorius would probably not have had much difficulty with the Chalcedonian conclusion, and how Chalcedon tries to have it both ways, honoring Cyril but in substance varying from his premises. He is a good Westerner in terms of his assessment of medieval Orthodoxy. Then again, his Western slant is evident with the comparably far longer biographies given of the fourth century Western divines rather than the Easterners. He is quite open with his views on Jerome's failings (but cannot deny his philological brilliance); even in his fawning portrayal of Augustine the author recognizes the former's dependence on Neoplatonism and the extremes taken in his discussions of divine grace and human freedom. His conclusion regarding Augustine and Boethius, that the medieval church was given an open, unresolved question regarding faith and philosophy, is a bit startling; the Judeo-Christian-Platonist synthesis, while not perfect, is generally seen as fairly robust in early medieval times.
Regardless, a good work to explore a certain perspective on the "church fathers" and their writings.