Patristic Spirituality: Classical Perspectives on Ascent in the Journey to God

426 Pages·2022·3.234 MB·English

by  Don W. Springer, Kevin M. Clarke

Patristic Spirituality
Studies in
Theology and Religion
edited on behalf of the
Netherlands school for advanced studies
in theology and religion (noster)
Editors in Chief
Jan Willem van Henten (University of Amsterdam)
Mandy Robbins (Glyndŵr University)
Associate Editors
Herman Beck (Tilburg University)
Kees van der Kooi (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Daniella Müller (Radboud University Nijmegen)
Advisory Board
David Ford (Cambridge) – Ruard Ganzevoort (Amsterdam)
Maaike de Haardt (Tilburg) – Ab de Jong (Leiden) –
Anne-Marie Korte (Utrecht)
Peter Nissen (Nijmegen) – Jeremy Punt (Stellenbosch)
VOLUME 30
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/star
Patristic Spirituality
Classical Perspectives on Ascent in the Journey to God
Edited by
Don W. Springer
Kevin M. Clarke
LEIDEN | BOSTON
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at https://catalog.loc.gov
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022034469
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 1566-208X
isbn 978-90-04-52697-6 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-52698-3 (e-book)
Copyright 2022 by Don W. Springer and Kevin M. Clarke. Published by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden,
The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Hotei, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink,
Brill mentis, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau and V&R unipress.
Koninklijke Brill NV reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. Requests for
re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill NV via brill.com or copyright.com.
This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
To our shared ὁδηγός Bruce Beck, for his friendship, fellowship,
and mentorship that inspired many aspects of this project,
and to our wives, Maxine and Natasha, for their generosity during our initial
collaborations in Boston and for their patient endurance in the years following.
∵

Contents
List of Contributors xi
Introduction: The Patristic Understanding of Ascent in the Economy
of God 1
Don W. Springer and Kevin M. Clarke
Part 1
Backgrounds and Sources
1 The Role of the Psalms in the Development of Early Church Teaching
on Ascent 13
Benjamin D. Wayman
2 Liturgical Ascent at Qumran: The Essenes and Early Christianity 34
John S. Bergsma and Luke Iyengar
3 Plotinus and the Ascent to Beauty 56
Hans Boersma
4 Ascent in the New Testament 72
Stanley E. Porter
Part 2
From Nascent Church to Nicaea
5 Attaining God: The Spiritual Theology of Ignatius of Antioch 91
Gregory Vall
6 Irenaeus on Divine Ascent 109
Don W. Springer
7 “Ever Reaching for Higher and Higher Places”: Clement of Alexandria
on Spiritual Ascent 130
Bogdan G. Bucur
viii Contents
8 Scito te ipsum: Ascent and Encounter in Origen of Alexandria’s
Commentary on the Song of Songs 152
Amy Brown Hughes
Part 3
From Nicaea to Chalcedon
9 Ascent in the Apophthegmata Patrum: The Greek Systematic Collection
as a Spiritual Itinerary 169
Sean Argondizza-Moberg
10 Spirit-Bearing Souls Illuminated by the Spirit: St. Basil on Ascent 190
Stephen M. Hildebrand
11 Silence, Speech and Ascent to God: Gregory Nazianzen’s Letters
and Poems on His Lenten Silence of 382 213
Brian Matz
12 St. Macrina the Younger: The Mystagogy of Ascending Descent
in Christ 231
Anna M. Silvas
13 Anagogical Exegesis: Gregory of Nyssa and Moses’ Ascent
of Mount Sinai 242
Ann Conway-Jones
14 Married Women and Ascent 259
Sandy L. Haney
15 Evagrius and the Re-ascent of the νοῦς to Union with God 276
Despina D. Prassas
16 Incarnational and Theophanic Anagogy in De Trinitate 291
Gerald P. Boersma
Contents ix
Part 4
Post-Chalcedonian Perspectives
17 The Divinization of the Theotokos: Fifth-Century Christological
Controversy and the Figure of Mary 309
Brian E. Daley, SJ
18 Divine Ascent in Dionysius the Areopagite 340
Andrew Louth
19 Doctrine’s Role in the Ascent to God according to John Climacus 355
Jonathan L. Zecher
20 Biblical Love, Insatiable Satisfaction, and Deification in Maximus
the Confessor 376
Kevin M. Clarke
Afterword 402
Lewis Ayres
Ancient and Medieval Authors Index 407
Modern Authors Index 409
Subject Index 411