Athanasius Search This Resource     in this Authorin this Sectionin all Sections   Navigator (Page 1 of 22) Previous Next   Page2   Prolegomena Chapter I. Literature §1. Editions, &c. (A) Before 1601 only Latin translations. The first, at Vicenza, 1482, completed by Barnabas Celsanus after the death of the translator Omnibonus of Lonigo; dedicated to Paul II. Contained a few works only, viz. the `two books c. Gentes,' the letter to Serapion de Morte Arii, the De Incarn. adv. Arian. and adv. Apollin., `the Dispute with Arius at the Council of Nicaea.' (2) Paris, 1520, pub. by Jean Petit: two books c. Gent. fragment of the ad Marcellin. and some `spuria.' (3) Second edition at Strassburg, 1522., (4) Basel, 1527, by Eramus: Serap. ill. and iv., de Decr., Apol. Fug., Apol. c. Ar. (part of), `ad Monach.,' and some `spuria' (he rejected Serap. i. as unworthy of Athan. !). (5) Lyons, 1532, same contents as numbers (2) and (4), but with renderings by Politian, Reuchlin, Erasmus, &c. (6) Cologne, 1632, similar contents. (7) 1556, Basel (`apud Frobenium'), by P. Nannius, in 4 volumes; great advance on previous editions. 3 vols. contain the version by Nannius of the `genuina,' the fourth `spuria,' rendered by others. The Nannian version was ably tested, and found wanting, under the direction of the congregation of the Index (Migne xxv. pp. xviii. sqq.). (8) 1564 (or 1584?) Basel (substantially the same). (9) 1570, Paris, Vita Autonii and `five dialogues de Trin.,' version of Beza. (10) 1572, Paris, five volumes, combining Nos. 7 and 9. (II) 1574, Paris, Letter ad Amun, Letter 39 (fragment), Letter ad Rufinianum. (12) 1581, Paris, incorporating the latter with No. 10. (13) Rome, 1623, the spurious de variis quaestianibus. (B) The first Greek Edition (14) 1601 at Heidelberg by Commelinus, with the Nannian Latin version (2 vols. fo. with a supplement of fragments, letters, &c., communicated by P. Felckmann). This edition was founded upon Felckmann's collation of numerous mss., of which the chief were (a) that in the Public Library at Basel (saec. xiv., not ix.-x. as Felck. states; formerly belonged to the Dominican Friary there). (b) The `Codex Christophorsoni,' now at Trin. Coll., Camb., saec. xvi. ineunt. (g) A `Codex Goblerianus' dated 1319, formerly thv monhv tou kurizou, and principally used by Nannius. Neither this nor the remaining mss. of Felckmann are as yet, I believe, identified. (Particulars, Migne, P.G. xxv. p. xliii.) (15) 1608, Paris, pub. by C. Chappelet, edited by Fronton le Duc, S.J., Latin only. (17) 1612, Paris, No. 15, with Vit. Ant. in Greek and Latin, from an edition (16) of 1611, Augsburg, by Höschel, 4º. (18) 1627, Paris, Greek text of 1601 with version of Nannius from edition No. 17, both injudiciously revised by Jean le Pescheur, from the critical notes of Felckmann himself, which however are omitted in this edition. (19) `Cologne,' or rather Leipzig, 1686, poor reprint of No. 18 with the Syntagma Doctrinae which Arnold had published in the previous year (see below, ch. ii. ). (Montf. wrongly dates this 1681.) (C) All the above were entirely superseded by the great (20) 1698 Paris Benedictine Edition by Bernard de Montfaucon, aided, for part of vol. 1, by Jacques Loppin, 3 volumes fol. (i.e. vol. 1, parts 1 and 2, `genuina,' vol. 2 `dubia et spuria'), with a New Latin Version and ample prolegomena, &c. Montfaucon took over, apparently without revision, the critical data of Felckmann (including his mistake as to the age of the Basel ms. but collated very many fresh mss. (principally Parisian, full particulars in Migne xxvi. pp. 1449, sqq.), and for the first time put the text on a fairly satisfactory footing. The Works of Athanasius were freshly arranged with an attempt at chronological order, and a `Monitum' or short introduction prefixed to each. Critical, and a few explanatory, notes throughout; also an `onomasticon' or glossary. This splendid edition was far more complete than its predecessors, and beautifully printed. After its completion, Montfaucon discovered fresh material, most of which he published in vol. 2 of his `Collectio Nova Patrum,' Paris, 1706, with some further supplementary matter to his Prolegomena, partly in reply to Tillemont upon various critical questions; small additions in his Biblioth. Coisliniana, 1715. (The letters to Lucifer, included in Montfaucon's edition, had already seen the light in vol. iv. of the Bibliotheca Maxima Patrum (Lyons, 1677, Greekfathers in Latin only), and the two notes to Orsisius were taken from the life of Pachomius in the Acta SS. for May.) (21) 1746, Rome, the de Titulis Psalmorum, edited from Barberini and Vatican mss. by Cardinal Niccolo Antonelli. (22) 1769, Venice, vol. v. of the `Bibliotheca Patrum' of the Oratorian Andrea Gallandi. Contains the works omitted in No. 2o, chiefly from Montf. Coll. Nov., but with a few minor additions, and with the fragments and letters found by Maffei at Verona (see below, pp. 495, 554). (23) 1777, Padua,by Giustiniani, in four volumes, containing firstly Montfaucon's `genuina' in two volumes, the `dubia' and `spuria' in the third, and the supplementary matter from (21) and (22) in the fourth. The printing of this standard edition is not equal to that of No. 20. (24) `1884' (1857), Paris, vols. xxv.-xxviii. of Migne's Patrologia Graeca, a reprint of No. 23, but in a new order (see vol. xxviii. p. 1650), and with the addition of the Festal Letters from Mai (see below, p. 501). The merits and demerits of this series are well known. Of the latter, the most serious are the misprints, with which every page literally teems. (D) With Migne's edition the publication of a complete Athanasius (so far as his works are known to be extant) is attained, although there is still everything to be done towards the revision of the text on a critical basis. Among modern editions of large portions of Athanasius from the Benedictine text may be mentioned (25) Thilo, Athan. Opp. dogm. Selecta, Leipz. 1853. (26) Bright, Orations against the Arians (1873 2nd ed. 1883), and Historical Writings of Athanasius, 1881 (Oxf. Univ. Press), with introductions; both most convenient; his Lessons from the lives of three great Fathers (Longmans, 1890) gives an interesting popular study of Athan. Editions of separate books will be noticed in the short Introductions prefixed in this volume. §2. Translations. The principal Latin versions have been referred to in §1. Of those in foreign languages it is not easy to procure adequate information. Fialon, in the work mentioned below, translates Apol. Const. and Apol. Fug.; in German the `Bibliothek der Kirchenvaeter,' vols. 13-18, Ausgew. Schriften des h. Ath., contains translations of several works by Fisch, Kempten from 1872. The principal English Translations are those in the `Library of the Fathers.' Of these, those edited or translated by Newman are incorporated in this volume. Some letters included in this volume, as well as the work against Apollinarianism, are also comprised in the volume (Lib. Fath. 46, 1881) by Bright, with excellent notes, &c., and with a preface by Dr. Pusey (see below, p. 482). Translations of single books will be noticed in the respective Introductions. §3. Biographies. (a.) Ancient. The writings of Athanasius himself, while seldom furnishing precise chronological data, furnish almost all the primary information as to the facts of his eventful life. The earliest `Life' is the panegyric of Gregory of Nazianzus (Or. 21), delivered at CP. 379 or 380, rich in praises, but less so in historical material. More important in the latter respect is the Historia Acephala (probably earlier than 390) printed in this volume, pp. 496, sqq. (The Edition by Sievers in Ztschr. für Hist. Theol. for 1868 is referred to in this volume as `Sievers' simply.) It is a priceless source of chronological information, especially where it coincides with and confirms the data of the Festal Index (pp. 503, sqq.), a document probably earlier than 400. A secondary place is occupied by the Church historians, especially Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, who draw largely from Athanasius himself, and from Rufinus, also in part from the Hist. Aceph. (especially Sozomen), and from Arian sources, which are mainly used by Philostorgius. More scattered notices in later ecclesiastical writers of the fourth century, especially Epiphanius; also Synesius, Jerome, Basil, &c., in the documents of the Councils, &c., and in the Life of Pachomius and other early documents relating to Egyptian Monasticism (see below, Introd. to Vit. Anton. and Appendix, pp 188, 487). (b) Medieval. Under this head we may notice the Lives printed by Montfaucon among his Prolegomena. The first, Incerto Auctore, is dependent on the fifth-century historians and of no value. A second, preserved by Photius (c. 840) is in the judgment of that scholar, which Montfaucon endorses `unparalleled rubbish.' That by the Metaphrast _967) is a patchwork from earlier writers made with little skill, and not of use to the historian. An Arabic Life current in the Coptic Church, communicated to Montf. by Renandot, is given by Montf., as he says, that his readers may appreciate the `stupendous ignorance and triviality' of that nation. Montf. mentions Latin `Lives' compiled from Rufinus and from the Hist. Tripartita, `of no value whatever.' Of the Life of Athanasius `by Pachomius,' mentioned by Archd. Farrar (infra), I can obtain no particulars. (c) Modern. The first was that by Tortelius prefixed to the edition of 1520 (§1 (2)), but compiled in the previous century and dedicated to Pope Eugenius IV. (`good for its time,' M.). Montf. mentions a valueless life by Lipomanus and a worse one of unknown origin prefixed to other early editions. In1671 Hermant made the first attempt at a critical biography (Paris); in 1664 an English work, "History of the Life and Actions of St. Athanasius by N.B. P.C. Catholick," with the imprimatur of Abp. Sheldon, had been published at London, in 1677 the biography in Cave, Lives of the Fathers, and in 1686-1704 du Pin, Nouvelle Bibliothèque. About the same date appeared the first volume of the Acta SS. for May, which contains a careful life by Paperbroch (1685; ded. to Innocent XI.). But all previous (to say nothing of subsequent) labours were cast into the shade by the appearance of the `Vita' of Montfaucon (Prolegg. to Tom. 1) in 1698, in which the chronology was reduced to order, and every particle of information lucidly digested; and by the `Memoires' of `M. Lenain de Tillemont' (vol. viii. in 1702), which go over the ground with quite equal thoroughness, and on many points traverse the conclusions of Montfaucon, whose work came into Tillemont's hands only when the latter was on his death-bed (1698). The ground was once more traversed with some fulness and with special attention to the literary and doctrinal work of Athan. by Remy Ceillier, (Aut. Sacres, vol. v. 1735). After this nothing remained to be done until the revival of interest in patristic studies during the present century. In 1827 appeared the monograph of Möhler `Ath. der Grösse' (Mainz), a dogmatic (R.C.) rather than a historical study: in 1862 Stanley (`Eastern Church,' Lect. vii.). Böhringer's life (in vol. 6 of Kirchengesch. in Biographien, 1860-1879) is praised as `thoroughly good and nearly exhaustive.' Fialon St. Athanase, Paris, 1877, is a most interesting and suggestive, though rather sketchy, treatment from an unusual point of view. P. Barbier Vie de St. A. (Tours, 1888) I have not seen. The best English life is that of Dr. Bright, first in the Introd. to the `Orations' (supra, d. 26), but rewritten for the Dictionary of Christ. Biography. The same writer's Introd. to the Hist. Writings (supra ib.) is equally good and should also be consulted. A lucid and able sketch by Dr. Reynolds has been published by the Religious Tract Society, 1889, and Archd. Farrar, Lives of the Fathers, 1, pp. 445-571, is eloquent and sympathetic. §4. History of the Period, and of the Arian Controversy. (a) Conflict of the Church with Heathenism. On the later persecutions Aube, Les Chréestiens dans l'Emp. romain, Paris, 1881, id.`L'église et l'état,' ib. 1886, Uhlhorn Kampf des Christentums, &c. (4th ed.), 1886, Bernhardt Gesch. Roms von Valerian bis Dioklet., 1876, Görres, Licinianische Christenverfolgung, 1875. On Diocletian, Mason, Persec. of Diocl., 1876, Monographs by Vogel, 1857, Preuss, 1869. On the general subject of the decline of paganism, Lasaulx Untergang des Hellenismus, 1854, Merivale's Boyle Lectures, 1864-5, Chastel, Destruction du Paganisme, 1850, Schultze Gesch. des Untergangs des G.-R. Heidentums, 1887 (not praised),Döllinger, Gentile and Jew (E. Tr.), 1862. On the revival of paganism under Julian, Rendall, Julian 1879, Bp. J. Wordsworth in D.C.B., vol. ii., lives of Julian by Neander, 1813, Rode, 1877, Mücke, 1879, Naville, 1877, Strauss, der Romantiker, u.s.w., 1847, Julian's works, ed. Hertlein, 1875, and Neumann, 1880. Monographs by Auer, 1855, Mangold, 1862, Semisch, 1862, Lübker, 1864; Capes University Life in Ancient Athens, 1877, Sievers, Leben des Libanius, 1868. (b) The Christian Empire, Keim, Uebertritt Konstantins, 1862, Brieger, Konst. der G., 1880, Gibbon's chapters on the subject should be carefully read. Chawner's Legisl. of Constantine, De Broglie, L'église et L'emp. romain, ii., Ranke, Weltgesch. iv. pp. 1-100 (important), 1884, Schiller, Gesch. der röm. Kaiserzeit (ii), 1887. See also the full bibliogaphy in vol. 1 of this series, p. 445-465. (c) General History of the Church. It is unnecessary to enumerate the well-known general histories, all of which devote special pains to Athanasius and the Arian controversy. This is especially the case with Schaff, Nicene Christ. ii 616-678, 884-893, with full bibliography. See also supra . Bright's Notes on the Canons (Oxf. 1882), and Hefele, vol. 2 (E. Tra.), are most useful: also Kaye, Council of Nicaea (Works, vol. v. ed. 1888). Card. Hergenröther's Kirchengeschichte (allowing for the natural bias of the writer) is fair and able, with good bibliographical references in the notes (ed. 1884). By far the best modern historical monograph on the Arian period is that of Gwatkin, Studies of Arianism, 1882, constantly referred to in this volume, and indispensable. His Arian Controversy, 1889, is an abridgement, but with supplementary discussions of importance on one or two points; very useful bibliography prefixed to both. (Cf. also below, Chap. v. ) Kölling's Geschichte der Arianischen Haeresie (1St vol., 1874, 2nd, 1883) is pretentious and uncritical. §5. History of Doctrine. For ancient sources see articles Heresiology and Person of Christ in D.C.B., vols. iii., iv. The modern classics are the works of Petavius, de Trinitate (in vols. ii. and iii. of his De dogmat. Theol.) of Thomassinus, Dogmata Theologica, and of Bull, Defensio fidei Nicaenae (maintanin against Petav. the fixity of pro-Nicene doctrine). Under this head we include Newman's Arians of the Fourth Century, an English classic, unrivalled as a dogmatic and religious study of Arianism, although unsatisfactory on its purely historical side. (Obsolete chronology retained in all editions.) The general histories of Doctrine are of course full on the subject of Arianism; for an enumeration of them, see Harnack, of his Prolegomena. In English we have Shedd (N.Y., 1863, Edinb., 1884), Hagenbach (Clark's Foreign Theol. Lib.), and the great work of Dorner(id.). The most important recent works are those of Harnack, Dogmengeschichte (1886, third vol., 1890), a most able work and (allowing for the prepossessions of the Ritschl school) impartial and philosophical; and Loofs, Leitfaden zur Dogmengeschichte (2 ed., 1890), on similar lines, but studiously temperate and fair. Both works are much used in this volume (quoted commonly as `Harnack,' `Loofs,' simply. Harnack, vol. i., is quoted from the first edition, but the later editions give comparative tables of the pages). For Councils and Creeds, in addition to the works of Hefele and Bright mentioned §4 c., see Heurtley Harmonia Symbolica; Hahn, Bibliothek der Symbole; Hort, Two Dissertations (1876), indispensable for history of the Nicene Creed; Swainson, Nicene and Apostles' Creed, 1875; Caspari, Ungedruckte u.s.w. Quellen zum Taufsymbol u.s.w. (3 vols. in 2, Christiania, 1866-1875), and Alte und Neue Quellen, ib. 1879; one of the most important of modern patristic works. §6. Patristic Monographs. (a) Among the very numerous works of this kind, the most useful for our purpose are Zahn, Marcellus von Ancyra, 1867, very important for doctrinal history; Reinkens, Hilarius von Poitiers, 1864; Fialon, St. Basile, 1868; Ullmann, Gregorius von Nazianz (2 ed., 1867, part of earlier ed. trans. by Cox, 1855); Krüger, Lucifer von Calaris (excellent, especially for the Council of 362). Under this head may be mentioned the numerous excellent articles in Dict. Chr. Biog. referred to in their respective connexions. (b) On the doctrine af Athanasius. In addition to the works of Ceillier and Möhler referred to above, Atzberger, Die Locaslehre des h. Ath. (Munich, 1880); Voigt, Die Lehre des Athan. (Bremen, 1861); Pell, Lehre des h. Ath. von der Sunde und Erlösung (Passau, 1888, a careful and meritorious analysis, candidly in the interest of Roman Catholicism. Difficulties not always faced). The above list of authorities, &c., does not pretend to completeness, nor to enumerate the sources for general secular or Church history. But in what relates specially to Athanasius it is hoped that an approximation to either requirement has been attained. Works hearing on more special points are referred to in their proper places. In particular, a special Brief Bibliography is prefixed to the Vita Antonii. Chapter II.-Life of St. Athanasius and Account of Arianism. a. §§1-3. To the Council of Nicaea, 298-325.§1. Early years, 298-319.§2. The Arian controversy before Nicaea (319-325).§3. (1.) The Council of Nicae (325).§3. (2.) Situation at the close of the Council (325-328). a. Novelty of Arianism. Its Antecedents in the history of doctrine. b. The `moousion.' c. Materials for reaction. 1. Persecuted Arians. 2. Eusebius and the Court. 3. Ecclesiastical conservatism. Marcellus and Photinus. b. §§4-8. The Conflict with Arianism (328-361).§4. Early years of his Episcopate (328-335), and first troubles.§5. The Council of Tyre and First Exile (335-337).§6. Renewed troubles and Second Exile (337-346). 1. At Alexandria (337-339). 2. At Rome. Council of Antioch, &c. (339-342). 3. Constans; Council of Sardica, and its sequel (342-346).§7. The golden Decade (346-356). 1. Athanasius as bishop. 2. Sequel of the death of Constans.§8. The Third Exile (356-361). 1. Expulsion of Athanasius. 2. State of the Arian Controversy:- a. `Anomoeans'; b. `Homoeans'; c. `SemiArians.' 3. Athanasius in his retirement. c. §§9, 10. Athanasius in Victory (362-373).§9. Under Julian and his successors; Fourth and Fifth Exiles (362-366).§10. Last years. Basil, Marcellus, Apollinarius (366-373).