Patristics

 Bibliography #3:

  Origen & the Rise of Biblical Scholarship

BIBLIOGRAPHIES
 - New Testament
 - Early Christianity
 - Medieval Christianity
 - The Reformation
 - Spirituality & Mysticism
 - Sacraments
 - 20th-Century Theology

 

 

 EARLY

 CHRISTIAN

 STUDIES

 

#1: Surveys, Intros
#2: Ignatius of Antioch
#3: Origen
#4: Athanasius
#5: Cyril of Alexandria
#6: Augustine of Hippo
#7: Antony
#8: Cyril of Jerusalem
#9: Melania the Elder

 

 compiled by William Harmless, S.J.

Creighton University

 

    1. Christianity in Egypt

    2. Clement of Alexandria: Studies & Texts

    3. Origen: Studies

    4. Origen: Texts & Translations

    5. The Early Christian Bible

    6. Christianity in North Africa

    7. Tertullian: Texts & Studies

    8. Cyprian of Carthage: Texts & Studies

 

 

 1. CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT

 

Christopher Haas, Alexandria in Late Antiquity: Topography and Social Conflict (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1997 / 2006) paperback, $30.  Much of the story of early Christianity takes place in Alexandria, among both its educated elite and its rowdy crowds.  Many leading theologians—Clement, Origen, Arius, Athanasius, Didymus, Cyril—called Alexandria home.  This brilliant study brings alive the city—its layout, its leading monuments, its local politics.  Haas particularly focuses on religious dynamics and conflicts among pagans, Jews, and Christians.

 

Roger S. Bagnall, Egypt in Late Antiquity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993) paperback, $25.  An excellent study of the social world of Egypt, drawing mostly on evidence from recently discovered papyri.

Alan K. Bowman, Egypt After the Pharaohs, 332 BC-AD 642: From Alexander to the Arab Conquest (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986).  A valuable overview.

David Brakke, "The East (2): Egypt and Palestine," in Susan Ashbrook Harvey & David G. Hunter, The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 344-363.  NEW.

David Frankfurter, ed., Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Resistance (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998) paperback, $20.

David Frankfurter, ed., Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt (Leiden: Brill, 1999).

James E. Goehring and Janet Timbie, eds., The World of Early Egyptian Christianity: Language, Literature, and Social Context, CUA Studies in Early Christianity (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2007) hardcover, $40.

Jill Kamil, Christianity in the Land of the Pharaohs: The Coptic Orthodox Church (New York: Routledge, 2002) hardcover, $55.

Birger A. Pearson & James E. Goehring, eds., The Roots of Egyptian Christianity, Studies in Antiquity & Christianity (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1986)

C.H. Roberts, Manuscript, Society and Belief in Early Christian Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977).

 

 

 2. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: TEXTS & STUDIES

 

Henry Chadwick, Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition: Studies in Justin, Clement, and Origen (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966) paperback, $35.

A. Choufrine, Gnosis, Theophany, Theosis: Studies in Clement of Alexandria’s Appropriation of His Background (Patristic Studies 5; New York: Peter Lang, 2002).

Henry Fiska Hägg, Clement of Alexandria and the Beginnings of Christian Apophaticism, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006) hardcover, $85. 

Piotr Ashwin-Siejkowski, Clement of Alexandria: A Project of Christian Perfection (New York: T&T Clark, 2008) hardcover, $130.  NEW.

Eric Osborn, Clement of Alexandria (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) hardcover, $80.

 

 

 3. ORIGEN: STUDIES

 

Joseph W. Trigg, Origen, Early Church Fathers (New York: Routledge, 1998) paperback, $31.  Origen was both a brilliant biblical scholar and an adventurous theologian—and he shaped the course of Christian theology as profoundly as Augustine and Aquinas.  Like other volumes in this series, this includes both an overview of Origen’s life and doctrine as well as a selection of his writings.

 

Henri Crouzel, Origen, trans. A.S. Worrall (1989: reprint: Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998).  For many years, Crouzel was the greatest living authority on Origen.  The most thorough overview of Origen’s theology.

 

W.A. Bienart & U. Kühneweg, eds., Origeniana Septima: Origenes in den Auseinandersetzungen des 4. Jahrhunderts (Leuven: Peeters, 1999).

Elizabeth A. Clark, The Origenist Controversy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).  An essential study of the dispute over Origen that took place 150 years after his death.

Brian E. Daley, “Origen’s ‘De principiis’: A Guide to the ‘Principles’ of Christian Scriptural Interpretation,” in John F. Petruccione, ed., Nova et Vetera: Patristic Studies in Honor of Thomas Patrick Halton (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1998) hardcover, $55.

Robert J. Daly, ed., Origeniana Quinta, Papers of the 5th International Origen Congress, Boston College, August, 1989 (Leuven: Peeters, 1992).

Gilles Dorival & Alain le Boulluec, eds., Origeniana Sexta: Origen and the Bible, Actes du Colloquium Origenianum Sextum, Chantilly, 30 août-3 septembre, 1993 (Leuven: Peeters, 1995).

Anthony Grafton and Megan Williams, Christianity and the Transformation of the Book: Origen, Eusebius, and the Library of Caesarea (Cambridge, MA: Belknap / Harvard University Press, 2006) hardcover, $30.

R.P.C. Hanson, Allegory and Event: A Study of the Sources and Significance of Origen’s Interpretation of Scripture, ed. Joseph W. Trigg (reprint of 1959 edition: Nashville: Westminster John Knox, 2003) paperback, $40.

Richard Hanson & Henri Crouzel, eds., Origeniana Tertia, 3rd International Colloquium for Origen Studies, University of Manchester, September, 1981 (Rome: Edizioni dell’Ateneo, 1985).

Charles Kannengiesser & William L. Petersen, eds., Origen of Alexandria: His World and Legacy (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1988). 

J. Christopher King, Origen on the Song of Songs as the Spirit of Scripture: The Bridegroom’s Perfect Marriage-Song, Oxford Theological Monographs (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005) hardcover, $95.

F. Ledegang, Mysterium Ecclesiae: Images of the Church and Its Members in Origen, BETL 156 (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2001).

Rebecca Lyman, Christology and Cosmology: Models of Divine Activity in Origen, Eusebius, and Athanasius, Oxford Theological Monographs (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993) hardcover $40.

John A. McGuckin, The Westminister Handbook to Origen (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2004) paperback, $35.

Fred Norris, “Origen,” in The Early Christian World, ed. P. F. Esler (New York: Routledge, 2000) 2:1005-1026.

Lloyd G. Patterson, Methodius of Olympus: Divine Sovereignty, Human Freedom, and Life in Christ (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1997).

L. Perrone, P. Bernardino, D. Marchini, eds., Origeniana Octava: Origen and the Alexandrian Tradition: Papers of the 8th International Origen Congress, Pisa, 27-31 August 2001, 2 vol. (Leuven: Leuven University Press; Peeters, 2003).

Thomas P. Scheck, Origen and the History of Justification: The Legacy of Origen’s Commentary on Romans (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2008) hardcover, $60.  NEW.

Joseph W. Trigg, Origen: Bible and Philosophy in the 3rd Century (Atlanta: John Knox, 1983).  Superb survey.

Peter Widdicombe, The Fatherhood of God from Origen to Athanasius, Oxford Theological Monographs (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994) hardcover, $55.

 

 

 4. ORIGEN: TEXTS

 

Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Rowan A. Greer (New York: Paulist Press, 1979) paperback, $20.  A fine selection of Origen’s works. It includes On First Principles, Book IV (his classic defense of allegorical interpretation and a summary of his controversial views on Trinity).  It also has his treatise On Prayer, the earliest Christian treatise on prayer—and one of the most influential; while essentially a commentary on the Lord’s Prayer, this work also addresses the problem of why one should pray even though God already knows what we need.

 

Origen, Contra Celsum, trans. Henry Chadwick (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980) paperback, $48.  Celsus was one of the most astute of Christianity’s ancient opponents, and around 180, wrote a devastating critique entitled On True Doctrine.  In it he displayed both his philosophical sophistication and his knack for satire.  In the 240s, Origen took Celsus on, rebutting his arguments point-by-point.  In the process, Origen produced perhaps the greatest apology for Christianity, both its doctrines and its way of life.  Only Augustine’s City of God can match its brilliance.

 

Origen, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Fathers of the Church 103-104, trans. Thomas P. Scheck (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2001-2002), hardcover, $45 per volume.

Origen, Commentary on the Gospel of John, trans. Ronald E. Heine, Fathers of the Church 80, 89 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1989 & 1993).

Origen, Homilies on Genesis and Exodus, trans. Ronald E. Heine, Fathers of the Church 71 (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1982).

Origen, Homilies on Jeremiah, trans. John Clark Smith, Fathers of the Church 97 (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1998).

Origen, Homilies on Joshua, trans. Barbara J. Brucel, Fathers of the Church 105 (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2002).

Origen, Homilies on Luke, trans. Joseph T. Lienhard, Fathers of the Church 94 (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1996).

Origen, Homilies on the Song of Songs, trans. R.P. Lawson, Ancient Christian Writers 26 (Westminster, MD: New Press, 1957).

Origen, On First Principles [Peri Archon] trans. G.W. Butterworth (1966; reprint: Peter Firth, 1990) hardcover.

Origen, Treatise on the Passover and Dialogue with Heraclides, trans. Robert J. Daly, Ancient Christian Writers 51 (New York: Paulist Press, 1992).

Ronald Heine, ed., The Commentaries of Origen and Jerome on St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003) hardcover, $75.

Alistair Stewart-Sykes, ed., Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen: On the Lord’s Prayer, Popular Patristic Series (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004) paperback, $12.

 

 

 5. THE EARLY CHRISTIAN BIBLE: CANON & INTERPRETATION

 

John O'Keefe & R.R. Reno, Sanctified Vision: An Introduction to Early Christian Interpretation of the Bible (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 2005) paperback, $17.  A valuable and provocative aid to understanding the unique―and often misunderstood―reading strategies of the Church Fathers.  While the authors discuss traditional categories such as "allegory" and "typology," their approach challenges old dichotomies.

 

Thomas C. Oden & Christopher H. Hall, eds., The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 17 volumes to date (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1998-     ) hardcover, $40 per volume.  The Ancient Christian Commentary revives the medieval tradition of the glossa ordinaria.  It takes the biblical text verse by verse and quotes what various Church Fathers said about it.  It is projected to be 27 volumes and will draw on ancient commentaries in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Coptic.  Now available:

  • OT Vol. 1a: Andrew Louth, ed., Genesis 1-13 (2001).

  • OT Vol. 1b: Mark Sheridan, ed., Genesis 12-50 (2002).

  • OT Vol. 3: Joseph Lienhard, ed., Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (2001).

  • OT Vol. 4: John R. Franke, ed., Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel (2005).

  • OT Vol. 5: Marco Conti, ed., 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (2008).  NEW.

  • OT Vol. 6: Manlio Simonetti & Marco Conti, ed., Job (2006).

  • OT Vol. 8: Quentin F. Wesselschmidt, ed., Psalms 51-150 (2007).

  • OT Vol. 9: J. Robert Wright, ed., Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (2005).

  • OT Vol. 10: Steven A. McKinion, ed. Isaiah 1-39 (2004).

  • OT Vol. 11: M.W. Elliott, ed. Isaiah 40-66 (2007)

  • OT Vol. 13: Kenneth Stevenson, ed., Ezekiel, Daniel (2008).  NEW.

  • OT Vol. 14: Alberto Ferreiro, ed., The Twelve Prophets (2003).

  • NT Vol. 1a: Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 1-13 (2002).

  • NT Vol. 1b: Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28 (2002).

  • NT Vol. 2: Thomas C. Oden & Christopher Hall, ed. Mark (1998).

  • NT Vol. 3: Arthur A. Just, Jr., ed., Luke (2003).

  • NT Vol. 4a: Joel C. Elowsky, ed., John 1-11 (2006).

  • NT Vol. 4b: Joel C. Elowsky, ed., John 11-21 (2007).

  • NT Vol. 5: Francis Martin, ed., Acts (2006).

  • NT Vol. 6: Gerald Bray, ed., Romans (1998).

  • NT Vol. 7: Gerard Bray, ed. 1-2 Corinthians (1999).

  • NT Vol. 8: Mark Edwards, ed., Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (1999).

  • NT Vol. 9: Peter Gorday, ed., Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (2000).

  • NT Vol. 10: Erik M. Heen & Philip D.W. Krey,eds., Hebrews (2005).

  • NT Vol. 11: Gerald Bray, ed., James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude (2000)

Harry Y. Gamble, Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts (New Haven: Yale, 1995) paperback, $25.  A wonderfully original study.  Gamble explores how ancient books were made, how scribes did their work of copying, how authors published their works, how libraries—pagan, Jewish, and Christian—worked, how Christians came to collect the books that made up the New Testament, and how reading came to be a highly favored spiritual activity for Christians.

 

Paul M. Blowers, ed., The Bible in Greek Christian Antiquity (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997) paperback, $30.

Paul M. Blowers, ed., In Dominico Eloquio / In Lordly Eloquence: Essays on Patristic Exegesis in Honor of Robert Louis Wilken (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002) hardcover, $45.

Charles A. Bobertz and David Brakke, eds., Reading in Christian Communities: Essays on Interpretation in the Early Church (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002) hardcover, $35.

David Brakke, “Canon Formation and Social Conflict in Fourth-Century Egypt: Athanasius of Alexandria’s Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter,” Harvard Theological Review 87 (1994) 395-419.

Philip Burton, The Old Latin Gospels: A Study of Their Texts and Language, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) hardcover, $70.

Hans von Campenhausen, The Formation of the Christian Bible (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972).

David R. Cartlidge & J.K. Elliott, Art and the Christian Apocrypha (New York: Routledge, 2001) paperback, $32.

Elizabeth A. Clark, Reading Renunciation: Asceticism and Scripture in Early Christianity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999) paperback, $22.

David L. Dungan, Constantine’s Bible: Politics and the Making of the New Testament (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007) paperback, $17.

Bart D. Ehrman, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993) paperback, $16. 

J.K. Elliott, ed., The Apocryphal New Testament (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)  paperback, $55.  A massive collection of non-canonical works.

Everett Ferguson, ed., The Bible in the Early Church, Studies in Early Christianity 3 (New York: Garland Publishing, 1993).

Karlfried Froelich, ed., Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church, Sources of Early Christian Thought (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984).

Anthony Grafton and Megan Williams, Christianity and the Transformation of the Book: Origen, Eusebius, and the Library of Caesarea (Cambridge, MA: Belknap / Harvard University Press, 2006) hardcover, $30.

Alan J. Hauser & Duane F. Watson, eds., A History of Biblical Interpretation, Vol. 1: The Ancient Period (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2002) hardcover, $45. 

Michael J. Hollerich, Eusebius of Caesarea’s Commentary on Isaiah: Christian Exegesis in the Age of Constantine, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University, 1999) hardcover.

William E. Klingshirn and Linda Safran, eds., The Early Christian Book, CUA Studies in Early Christianity (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2007) hardcover, $40.

Joseph T. Lienhard, The Bible, the Church, and Authority: the Canon of the Christian Bible in History and Theology (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1995) paperback, $18.  A very simple, yet excellent introduction to understanding how the early Church chose the books for the New Testament.

Bruce Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987) paperback, $20.

Manlio Simonetti, Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church: An Historical Introduction to Patristic Exegesis (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1994) paperback, $25.

Joseph Trigg, ed., Biblical Interpretation, Message of the Fathers 9 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1984).

Daniel H. Williams, ed., Tradition, Scripture, and Interpretation: A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church, Evangelical Ressourcement: Ancient Sources for the Church’s Future (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006) paperback, $20.

Megan Hale Williams, The Monk and the Book: Jerome and the Making of Christian Scholarship (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006) hardcover, $45.

 

 

 6. CHRISTIANITY IN NORTH AFRICA

 

Yves Duval, Chrétiens d’Afrique à l’aube de la paix constantinienne: les premier échoes de la grande persécution (Paris: Institut d’Études Augustiniennes, 2000).

Claude Lepelley, Les cités de l’Afrique romaine au Bas-Empire. 2 vol. (Paris: Institut d'Études Augustiniennes, 1979-1981).

Pierre Monceaux, Histoire Littéraire de l’Afrique chrétienne, 7 vol. (Paris: Leroux, 1901-1923).  A classic and unusually thorough survey, dated in many respects, but still very valuable.

Éric Rebillard, "The West (2): North Africa," in Susan Ashbrook Harvey & David G. Hunter, The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 303-322.  NEW.

 

 

 7. TERTULLIAN: TEXTS & STUDIES

 

Geoffrey D. Dunn, Tertullian, Early Church Fathers (New York: Routledge, 2004) paperback, $30.  Tertullian (c.160-225) was the first Latin theologian, a writer at once prolific and brilliant in both thought and style.  Tertullian was a hardliner in many ways, and his extremism led him, in the end, to move away from the great Church and towards the Montanists and their claims of new prophecy.  Dunn opens this volume with a lengthy introduction to Tertullian and to early North African Christianity and then follows with a fresh translation of three of Tertullian’s lesser-read texts: Against the Jews, Antidote for the Scorpion’s Sting, and The Veiling of Virgins.

 

Timothy D. Barnes, Tertullian: a Historical and Literary Study, rev. ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985).  Overall, unduly polemical, but there is much valuable material on Tertullian’s world and works.

Geoffrey D. Dunn, Tertullian’s Aduersus Iudaeos: A Rhetorical Analysis, Patristic Monograph Series 19 (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2008) hardcover, $40.  NEW.

Eric Osborn, Tertullian, First Theologian of the West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) paperback, $32.

David Rankin, Tertullian and the Church (New York: Cambridge University, 1995) hardback, $60.

Robert D. Sider, ed., Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire: The Witness of Tertullian (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2001) paperback, $18.

Alistair Stewart-Sykes, ed., Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen: On the Lord’s Prayer, Popular Patristic Series (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004) paperback, $12.

David Wright, “Tertullian,” in The Early Christian World, ed. P. F. Esler (New York: Routledge, 2000), 2:1027-1047.

 

 

 8. CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE: TEXTS & STUDIES

 

J. Patout Burns, Cyprian the Bishop (New York: Routledge, 2002) paperback, $26.  At last, an up-to-date book-length study of Cyprian, one of the most influential bishops and theologians of North Africa.  Patout Burns, a scholar best known for his excellent studies of Augustine’s theology, brings great insight and lucidity to this survey of the career and context of Cyprian.

 

Brent Allen, trans. Cyprian of Carthage, On the Church: Select Treatises, Popular Patristics series (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007) paperback, $16.

Brent Allen, trans., Cyprian of Carthage, On the Church: Select Letters, Popular Patristics series (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2006) paperback, $16.

G.W. Clarke, trans. The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage, Ancient Christian Writers 43-44 & 46-47 (New York: Newman Press, 1984-1989).  A fine translation with detailed commentary.

Geoffrey D. Dunn, “The Carthaginian Synod of 251: Cyprian’s Model of Pastoral Ministry,” in I concili della cristianità occidentale secoli III-V: xxx Incontro di studiosi dell’antichità cristiania, Roma 3-5 maggio 2001 (Rom: Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, 2002), pp. 235-257. 

Geoffrey D. Dunn, “Cyprian of Carthage and the Episcopal Synod of Late 254,” Recherches des Études Augustiniennes 48 (2002): 229-247. 

Geoffrey D. Dunn, “Cyprian and His Collegae: Patronage and the Episcopal Synod of 252,” Journal of Religious History 27.1 (2003): 1-13. 

Geoffrey D. Dunn, “Censuimus: Cyprian and the Episcopal Synod of 253,” Latomus 3 (2004): 672-688. 

Michael M. Sage, Cyprian, Patristic Monograph Series 1 (Cambridge, MA: Philadelphia Patristics Foundation, 1975).

Alistair Stewart-Sykes, ed., Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen: On the Lord’s Prayer, Popular Patristic Series (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004) paperback, $12.

 

 

Revised: April 23, 2009

 Page Content developed by

  William Harmless, SJ