IMC 2009: Sessions

Session 1309: Heretical Afterlives, I: Origen

Wednesday 15 July 2009, 16.30-18.00

Moderator/Chair:	Paulette Barton, Department of Modern Languages & Classics / Department of History, University of Maine
Paper 1309-a	The Influence of Origen on Pelagius's Theology: Resumption and Re-Elaboration of Some of Origen's Teachings in the Commentary on St Paul's Epistle to the Romans (Language: English) Sara Matteoli, Dipartimento di Filologia Classica, Università di Pisa Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Theology
Paper 1309-b	Jerome's Defence of Paula's Orthodoxy: Silence and the Personal Effects of the First Origenist Controversy (Language: English) Sue Ellen Holbrook, Department of English, Southern Connecticut State University Index terms: Hagiography, Monasticism, Theology
Abstract	The papers in this session examine the place and use of Origen in subsequent debate. Paper -a: Pelagius certainly knew the Origen's Commentary on St Paul's Epistles through Rufinus' translation, that which may dated to 405-406 A.D., just few years before Pelagius wrote the Expositiones XIII Epistularum Pauli. Comparing the two writers' commentaries concerning some of the most important passages of St Paul's Epistle to the Romans, we'll try to explain the Pelagius's debt to the great Alexandrian theologian; we'll try too to understand how Pelagius, starting from some Origenian teaching, through an original and personal reflection, elaborated some of his theology's fundamentals. Paper -b: During the 390s Epiphanius of Salamis claimed that the influential work of Origen of Alexandria contained heresies, particularly in regard to eschatology. His charges enflamed an already volatile political and theological situation, leading to harmful repercussions, including exile and broken friendships. Jerome's surprising decision to recant is well known. Though hardly discussed, Paula, who was, like Jerome, a friend of Epiphanius, was also personally affected, as a segment in Jerome's memoir of her relays (Letter 108 ¶23-25). This segment has been judged in 'very poor taste'.