Terms Flashcards
Catholic
from Greek katholikos; universal
Orthodox
possessing the correct opinion
Exegesis
explanation and interpretation of holy scripture
Autobiography
auto (self) bio (life) graphe (writing); writing about one’s own life
Presumptuousness
the presumption (false belief) that one knows or understands what in fact one does not know or understand
Confession
for Augustine is acknowledging his own weaknesses and God’s power, confession of gratitude to God
Eschatological
related to death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind
Philosophy
philo (love) sophia (wisdom); love of wisdom
Intelligible reality
non-material, spiritual reality that can be grasped with the intellect (spirit, concentrated attention) only
Protreptic
an inspiring speech that is able to turn one’s life around
Heresy
“choice”: the term is relevant in describing heterodoxy (difference in opinion about a Christian dogma) ONLY after the main dogmas of the Christian Church were in place (around the end of the IVth century). The term refers to opinions on theological matters that failed to become dogmas. In order to be a heretic, one had to belong to the Catholic church. It is incorrect to refer to non-christian beliefs as heresy. Even Manicheism cannot be called a heresy because it is outside the Catholic church and has its own organizational structure.
Liberal arts in Classical Antiquity
(‘liberal’ means ‘free’, ‘worthy of a free human being, who prefers to spend his or her time in cultured leisure and cultured pursuits). The seven liberal arts (logic, grammar, rhetoric and mathematics, astronomy, geometry and music) were part of education throughout Classical Antiquity; some of these subjects were only taught in the philosophical schools, the only institution of higher education in Antiquity. These seven liberal arts were systematized in the 4th century and Augustine played an important role in shaping and adapting the concept of the liberal arts to the needs of Christian education. The term today is used for subjects that are not related to professional, vocational and technical training.
Pagan
(inhabitant of a village); since Christianity first spread mostly in the cities and the worship of the traditional pagan deities persisted in the villages long after the cult of these traditional pieties became outlawed in the Roman empire, the term pagan is used to designate a non-Christian practice of worship
Christological debates
related to the nature (essence) of Christ. One of the two opposing positions maintained that Christ was of similar nature to God (homoiousios), the other side maintained that Christ was of the same nature as God (homoousios). The orthodox view solidified in the Nicene creed and accepted the view that Christ was of the same nature as God and rejected the Arian position that he had similar nature.
Amphitheater
the site of gladiatorial games. Dramatic performances would be held in the theater. The Colosseum in Rome was the largest amphitheater in the Roman empire
Circus
a cite for chariot races
Ascetic
from Greek askeo meaning ‘practice’
Heart
(Latin cor) in Augustine is a unique term, it is the seat of longing for the divine, the seat of moral and mystical insight
Ontotheology
the worship of God as an abstract Being rather than as a personalized entity
Ontology
the study of levels of reality (being); From Greek ‘on’ (Being=Supreme Reality)
Theodicy
explaining God’s goodness in the face of evil; explain God’s providence and justice in light of evil
Delphi
the site of the most visited ancient Greek oracle that had the inscriptions “Know Thyself” and “Nothing in excess” written over its entrance
Apocripha
non-canonical gospels and other early Christian writings like the Shephard of Hermas which were part of Christian libraries and Christian holy Scripture before the modern canon of 27 books of the New Testament was established in the 5th century (after the time of Augustine)
Homily
a commentary following the reading of scripture usually given during mass
Incunable
a “book in cradle”; the earliest books printed on paper (within 50 years after the invention of the printing press)
Scholia
smaller written notes around the Scripture; used by preachers to build their sermons from the scriptural text
Codex
the earliest vellum/parchment books (not scrolls)
Manuscript
a handwritten book or scroll on any material
Septuagint
the 3rd century BCE translation of the Old Testament from Biblical Hebrew into koine Greek by a group of 72 scholars, commissioned by the Greek king of Egypt Ptolemy II Philadelphus for inclusion in the library of Alexandria
Vetus Latina
the Old Latin translation of Scripture from koine Greek. The translation was literal, crude and not easy to understand
Biblia Vulgata
Jerome’s polished translation of Scripture from koine Greek and Hebrew into Latin (Jerome knew Hebrew). His translation was easy to understand for his contemporaries
Johannes Gutenberg
invented the printing press in 1447
Cenobite
member of a monastic COMMUNITY
Monk
a person who devotes their life to ascetic religion
Hermit
a monk who lives in solitude
Schism
split in the church. A situation when a group splits from the main body of the church
Catechumen
a Christian convert under instruction before baptism
Epitaph
funerary inscription commemorating the deceased
Paedagogus
in ancient Greece, the word stood for the slave tasked to accompany the young boy(s) to school.
Teleology
the doctrine of design and purpose in the material world; explanation by reference to some purpose, end, goal, or function. Traditionally, it was also described as final cause. The most-celebrated account of teleology was that given by Aristotle when he declared that a full explanation of anything must consider its final cause as well as its efficient, material, and formal causes (the latter two being the stuff out of which a thing is made and the form or pattern of a thing, respectively.
Platonic Forms (Ideas)
Plato is famous for his theory of the Forms. Neither physical objects, nor simply logical symbols, these ultimate Forms (Blueprints) have objective existence. The physical world that is ever changing, ever in flux, imperfectly instantiates or em-bodies these perfect unchanging Forms. People are born with innate knowledge of the Forms and by questioning – the Socratic method – they come to remember the ultimate knowledge they already possess.
Akrasia
lack of self-control. The state of ‘knowing the good, doing the bad.’
Euhemerism
a theory promoted by the 4th century BCE mythographer Euhemerus, who believed that the gods of the pagan religion were at some point in time distinguished human beings who were later divinized.
Nous
mind, reason, soul, eye of the soul, the faculty able to perceive immaterial (intelligible) light, the Good
Discursive
subject to verb expression and reasoning
Non-discursive
subject to direct perception and intuitive understanding
Apology
(defense speech) Christian apologists lived in the 2nd century and defended Christianity with some of the techniques and arguments, borrowed from the philosophers. The first apologist was the Platonizing Christian theologian Origen (184/185 – 253/254) who defended Christianity against the Platonist Celsus. Augustine’s City of God follows the Christian Apologetic tradition. Justin Martyr and Tertullian were other famous Christian Apologists.
Theurgy
(god-work) While theurgy and magic look similar to the naked eye, Iamblichus in the De Mysteriis expended great effort to convince Porphyry that theurgy, unlike magic, is not about influencing the gods (i.e. the divine realm), but about making the theurgist receptive to divine influences. See p. 53 of the pages from the De Mysteriis that you have on your hand-out: “(theurgy) is not, as the name seems immediately to imply, inclining the mind of the gods to humans, but rather …. disposing the human mind to participation in the gods, leading it up to the gods and bringing it in accord with them through harmonious persuasion.” Before that, he mentions divine love as the only thing that the theurgist should attune himself to in invoking the gods and reject that passions are involved in the theurgic rites. After Iamblichus, theurgy was conflated with magic and was viewed as ‘white magic.’
Magic
a derogatory word that is notoriously difficult to define because one person’s magic may be another person’s religion. Usually used for manipulation of higher powers for one’s own selfish ends.
Hesychasm
(from Greek hesychia, peace): a group of desert monks in Nitria, Egypt who practiced the ceaseless Lord’s prayer as a direct path to experiencing the presence of God.
Daemon
Originally soul, the fallen human soul, guardian spirit, fate; lower level deity that mediates between the human and the divine levels (=angel). The philosopher Xenocrates (4-3rd century) first created a hierarchy of demons (demonology) in an effort to distinguish the ‘good gods’ of philosophy from the gods that popular mythology and religion tried to appease through rites, sacrifices and obscene performances. We have only fragments from Xenocrates, but Apuleius in his On the God of Socrates summarizes middle-platonic demonology and invests demons with passions, although he stops short of calling demons evil. This opened the door for Augustine to equate all pagan gods with demons in the sense of ‘evil spirits.’ (see Nilsson, p. 89). Plato (4th century BCE) in his Symposium called love (eros) figuratively a great daemon, a mediator between the human and the divine. Socrates’ prophetic inner voice (daimonion) led Plato to create a separate class of deities, daimones, inferior to gods, superior to heroes, but unrelated to the traditional deities of Greek practiced religion. There are no evil daimons for Plato. For Plato, evil is rooted in human weakness and inability to sustain a good moral character. The concept of evil demons creeps in with one of Plato’s heirs, Xenocrates from a popular source, folk psychology and superstition.
Angel
(Gr. angelos, messenger). Augustine includes angels into his City of God.
Doxography
(Greek: “an opinion, a point of view” - “to write, to describe”) is a term used especially for the works of classical historians, describing the points of view of past philosophers
Classical exempla and normative virtue
moral models, like heroes. Augustine presents Monica as an exempla, but for her humble virtues
