- Detroit, Michigan, United States
John Fitzgerald
University of Notre Dame, Theology, Faculty Member
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Cosmology is concerned with the order of the universe and seeks to provide an account, not only of that order, but also of the mind or reason behind it. In antiquity, the cosmos was usually understood religiously, such that the... more
Cosmology is concerned with the order of the universe and seeks to provide an account, not only of that order, but also of the mind or reason behind it. In antiquity, the cosmos was usually understood religiously, such that the cosmologies of the ancient Mediterranean world were either religious in nature or constituted a reaction to a religiously conceived understanding of the structures of the universe. The oldest form in which ancient cosmologies occur is myth, which, owing to its elasticity as a form, enabled them to be appropriated, adapted and used by different groups. In addition, different cosmologies co-existed within the same ancient culture, each having an authoritative status. This article provides an introductory overview of these cosmological myths and argues that a comparative approach is the most fruitful way to study them. Emphasis is given to certain prominent cosmological topics, including theogony (the genesis of the divine) or the relationship of the divine to t...
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Throughout his career, Fika Janse van Rensburg has rightly insisted on the importance of the socio-historical context in interpreting early Christian literature. Although New Testament scholars have given careful attention to many aspects... more
Throughout his career, Fika Janse van Rensburg has rightly insisted on the importance of the socio-historical context in interpreting early Christian literature. Although New Testament scholars have given careful attention to many aspects of this context, they have generally neglected writings by physicians. This neglect includes the numerous works of the philosopher-physician Galen (129-ca. 216 or 217 CE), who was one of the Roman Empire’s most prolific writers. As a corrective, this article focuses on Galen, with attention given to his life and to a recently discovered treatise on distress or grief (lype¯), known as De indolentia [Avoiding Distress or On Freedom from Distress]. Galen discusses grief from both a physiological and philosophical perspective, and his treatment of this emotion and common human experience provides an important context for the statements about lype¯ found in the New Testament and other early Christian documents.
Research Interests: Psychology and Aosis
This thoroughly revised and expanded edition includes an entirely new introduction to Paul and the central issues surrounding his writings, as well as several newly included sections of writings from Paul's time to the present, among... more
This thoroughly revised and expanded edition includes an entirely new introduction to Paul and the central issues surrounding his writings, as well as several newly included sections of writings from Paul's time to the present, among them "Annotated Text: Pseudo-Pauline Writings"; "The Apocryphal Paul: Some Early Christian Traditions and Legends," with writings by Jerome, Clement of Alexandria, Ambrosiaster, and others; "The Martyrdom of Paul"; "Paul and His Pagan Critics;" "Valentinus and the Gnostic Paul,"with writings by Theodotus and Elaine Pagels; "Paul and the Christian Martyrs"; "A Sampler of Patristic Interpretations"; "The Second Century Paul"; "Reading Romans," with writings from Origen, Theodoret of Cyrus, Paul W. Meyer, Stanley Stowers, Ernst Kasemann, and others; and "A Sampler of Modern Approaches to Paul and His Letters," with writings by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenz...
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This volume deals with the topics of friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech in the Greco-Roman world. The three topics were often related, with candor or frank criticism viewed as the trait that distinguished the true friend from... more
This volume deals with the topics of friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech in the Greco-Roman world. The three topics were often related, with candor or frank criticism viewed as the trait that distinguished the true friend from the flatterer. The book's eleven essays are divided into three parts. The first part introduces the volume and discusses the three topics in the thought of Philodemus and Plutarch. Part two deals with Paul's use of friendship language in his correspondence with the Church at Philippi. Part three examines the concept of frankness (parrhesia) in Paul, Luke-Acts, Hebrews, and the Johannine corpus. The volume will be particularly useful to NT Scholars, classicists, and modern theologians and ethicists who are interested in the theory and practice of friendship in antiquity.
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Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern cosmology have prompted renewed interest in the intersections between religion, theology and cosmology. This article, which is intended as a... more
Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern cosmology have prompted renewed interest in the intersections between religion, theology and cosmology. This article, which is intended as a brief introduction to the series of studies on theological cosmology in this journal, identifies three general areas of theological interest stemming from the modern scientific study of cosmology: contemporary theology and ethics; cosmology and world religions; and ancient cosmologies. These intersections raise important questions about the relationship of religion and cosmology, which has recently been addressed by William Scott Green and is the focus of the final portion of the article. Godsdiens, teologie, en kosmologie. Kosmologie is tans een van die belangrikste navorsings-terreine en ontwikkelings in moderne kosmologie. Dit het 'n nuwe belangstelling wakker gemaak in die verband wat tussen godsdiens, teologie en kosmologie bestaan. Hierdie...
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Scholarly assessments of Philodemus in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were often sharply negative. Philodemus' works are largely transcripts of lectures given by his teacher Zeno of Sidon, who was "probably the... more
Scholarly assessments of Philodemus in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were often sharply negative. Philodemus' works are largely transcripts of lectures given by his teacher Zeno of Sidon, who was "probably the most important Epicurean philosopher after Epicurus" himself. Philodemus has arisen particularly in the last thirty years, when there has been a strong resurgence of interest by classicists and literary critics in his works. Credit for this contemporary appreciation must be given, above all, to the late Professor Marcello Gigante in Naples, Italy, who, together with his students, took the lead in editing or re-editing many of the papyrus texts that contain Philodemus' works. These papyri were discovered more than two centuries ago in 1752-1754 to be precise at several locations within a villa in the city of Herculaneum, which was destroyed along with Pompeii when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E. Keywords: Epicurean philosopher; Herculaneum; Marcello Gigante; Mt. Vesuvius; papyri; Philodemus; Pompeii
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Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern cosmology have prompted renewed interest in the intersections between religion, theology and cosmology. This article, which is intended as a... more
Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern cosmology have prompted renewed interest in the intersections between religion, theology and cosmology. This article, which is intended as a brief introduction to the series of studies on theological cosmology in this journal, identifies three general areas of theological interest stemming from the modern scientific study of cosmology: contemporary theology and ethics; cosmology and world religions; and ancient cosmologies. These intersections raise important questions about the relationship of religion and cosmology, which has recently been addressed by William Scott Green and is the focus of the final portion of the article.Kosmologie is tans een van die belangrikste navorsings-terreine en ontwikkelings in moderne kosmologie. Dit het ‘n nuwe belangstelling wakker gemaak in die verband wat tussen godsdiens, teologie en kosmologie bestaan. Hierdie artikel, wat bedoel is as ‘n bondige inl...
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Eusebius makes use of a vast number of sources in writing both his Preparationlor the Gospel and his Ecclesiastical History frequently quoting extensively from numerous works that are no longer extant. According to Lawlor and Oulton, the... more
Eusebius makes use of a vast number of sources in writing both his Preparationlor the Gospel and his Ecclesiastical History frequently quoting extensively from numerous works that are no longer extant. According to Lawlor and Oulton, the Ecclesiastical History contains "nearly 250 passages transcribed from early sources. The heretics condemned by the author of The Little Labyrinth argued that Zephyrinus was the real heretic, asserting that their position had been held from the time of the apostles until that of Victor. The Little Labyrinth was obviously written prior to Eusebius's use of it in the first edition of his Ecclesiastical History , which has been dated anywhere from the last decade of the third century to the second decade of the fourth century. The Little Labyrinth is an important witness to developments in both the Greco-Roman world and the early church. Keywords: church; Ecclesiastical History ; Eusebius; Lawlor; Oulton; The Little Labyrinth ; Zephyrinus
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Proverbs 3:11?12 reflects the ancient Israelite practice of corporal punishment, which is a specific instantiation of the intimate connection in ancient thought between suffering and learning. The author of Hebrews views it as axiomatic... more
Proverbs 3:11?12 reflects the ancient Israelite practice of corporal punishment, which is a specific instantiation of the intimate connection in ancient thought between suffering and learning. The author of Hebrews views it as axiomatic that every father disciplines his children, or at least his legitimate children, and that this discipline involves whipping, which is an admittedly painful experience. This chapter discusses the use of corporal punishment in ancient homes and schools, which were the primary social settings in which this kind of discipline was administered. It mainly focuses on corporal punishment in the ancient Near East (including Egypt) and ancient Israel, for the latter is the tradition to which the author of Hebrews appeals when he cites Proverbs 3:11?12 lxx in Hebrews 12:5?6. In doing so, however, he appeals not to an antiquated idea and discarded practice, but to a living reality. Keywords: ancient Near East; corporal punishment; disciplines; Hebrews; Israelite practice; LXX; Proverbs
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This chapter provides an overview of Greek and Roman wills, giving emphasis to those features of will-making that appear to be most relevant to the testamentary literature produced by Jews and Christians living in the Graeco-Roman world.... more
This chapter provides an overview of Greek and Roman wills, giving emphasis to those features of will-making that appear to be most relevant to the testamentary literature produced by Jews and Christians living in the Graeco-Roman world. It pays particular attention to the way in which Hellenistic philosophers and other moralists understood the process of testation. A will was widely believed to be self-revelatory. Bad wills were widely believed to reveal vile people, and good wills to reveal virtuous ones. To make a will was viewed by both Hellenistic moralists and Roman jurists as a moral obligation. The deathbed or imminent death testament was as common in the ancient world as deathbed confessions are in our own time. The making of a will was, as Valerius Maximus says, an activity requiring special care ( praecipuae curae ) and one's final hours ( ultimi temporis ). Keywords: Christians; Graeco-Roman world; Greek wills; Jews; Roman wills; Valerius Maximus
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The growing recognition of the importance of friendship language in Philippians coincides with the increasing awareness that Paul's letters have a general affinity with ancient letters of friendship, which ancient Greek and Latin... more
The growing recognition of the importance of friendship language in Philippians coincides with the increasing awareness that Paul's letters have a general affinity with ancient letters of friendship, which ancient Greek and Latin rhetoricians regarded as the most authentic type of letter. This chapter comments on the advantages and disadvantages of characterizing Philippians as a "letter of friendship". It identifies terminology in Philippians, especially 4: 1-9, that belongs to the topos on friendship. The chapter argues that the thesis that one reason why Paul makes such an extensive use of friendship language in Philippians is because he is attempting to correct the Philippians' understanding of friendship. Like philosophers who use friendship language to describe utopian communities, Paul uses friendship language to depict the Christian community as it should exist ideally, and he adduces several examples of those who practice the friendship that belongs to this ideal society. Keywords: Christian community; friendship language; Greek; Paul; Philippians
Modern archaeology is concerned with the scientific recovery and study of the whole of material culture from the past. This includes visual works of art (mosaics, painted vases, and pieces of sculpture) and monumental architecture (public... more
Modern archaeology is concerned with the scientific recovery and study of the whole of material culture from the past. This includes visual works of art (mosaics, painted vases, and pieces of sculpture) and monumental architecture (public buildings and temples) and materials on which various kinds of texts appear (inscriptions, coins, and papyri). Although there are many archaeological discoveries relevant to the study of the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) are usually regarded as the most important, especially for understanding early Judaism and emerging Christianity. They were discovered from 1947 to 1956 in caves on the northwest side of the Dead Sea. There are four major areas in which the DSS have influenced contemporary understanding of the Bible, its interpretation and the religious views and practices of the Jews and Christians who lived during the later Second Temple period of Jewish history. First, because many are copies or partial copies of biblical books, their discovery has had a revolutionary impact on studies of the text and canon of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Second, they are indispensable for understanding early Jewish biblical interpretation. Third, they have enhanced our understanding of early Judaism during the Maccabean and early Roman periods. Fourth, the DSS are important for understanding various aspects of the New Testament and early Christianity. Archaeology has an indisputable impact on the understanding of the Bible. Also there are many serious challenges confronting modern archaeology; I consider four: the unscientific removal of artifacts from a site, the unauthorized transfer of artifacts from the country where they were discovered, unprovenanced artifacts, and forgeries.
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... in Hellenistic Judaism, New Testament scholars, and others who are interested in early Christianity and the Greco-Roman world. ... felicitatis (On the Happiness of the Household) Cebetis Tabula (Tabula of Cebes) Academica (On Academic... more
... in Hellenistic Judaism, New Testament scholars, and others who are interested in early Christianity and the Greco-Roman world. ... felicitatis (On the Happiness of the Household) Cebetis Tabula (Tabula of Cebes) Academica (On Academic Skepticism) Academica posteriora (¼ ...
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Phi\odemus and r i) *" . p JOHN T.FITZGERALD, DIRK OBBINK GLENN S.HOLLAND ... PHILODEMUS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT WORLD "Thi. s One OJSW-EK7-P4PH ... SUPPLEMENTS TO NOVUM TESTAMENTUM EDITORIAL BOARD CK BARRETT, Durham - P.... more
Phi\odemus and r i) *" . p JOHN T.FITZGERALD, DIRK OBBINK GLENN S.HOLLAND ... PHILODEMUS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT WORLD "Thi. s One OJSW-EK7-P4PH ... SUPPLEMENTS TO NOVUM TESTAMENTUM EDITORIAL BOARD CK BARRETT, Durham - P. BORGEN, ...