Since the publication of melito of sardis paschal homily ph in 1940, an enormous literature has grown up around a man known previously only through a few fragments. Nonetheless we may gather from the dating of the apology and from melitos position in poly crates catalogue that melito flourished in the third quarter of the second century. Overview of peri pascha melito pastored in sardis, a city in western asia minor. Apr 14, 2011 among the most powerful meditations on pascha is found in the writings of melito of sardis ca. Peace to the one who wrote, and to the one who reads, and to those who love the lord in simplicity of heart. We shall then jointly present a transcript of the text, supplemented where it is damaged. At the head of this newly revised collection stand the original greek text and an updated translation of on pascha by melito of sardis, a liturgical work deriving from quartodeciman circles in asia.
Melito of sardis 3 suggest that the notice in eusebius is of little help in dating on pascha. Stuart george hall oxford early christian texts, 1979. Melito held a foremost place in terms of bishops in asia due to his personal influence on christianity and his literary works, most of which have been lost but of what has been recovered has provided a. Peri pascha english title on the pascha is a 2ndcentury homily of melito of sardis written between a. Since the publication of melito of sardis paschal homily ph in 1940, an enormous literature has grown up around a man known. Appealing to the emperors just nature, melito argues that if indeed he has ordered these actions against the christians. Cantalamessa, vomelia m s pascha dello pseudoippolito di roma. Hippolytus of rome reports that he was among the earliest proponants of the two. It is also of interest that melito traveled to palestine, and is thus an indication that this is the old testament canon known by palestinian christians, and perhaps jews stewartsykes a. In this work, alistair stewartsykes, the leading authority on melito and the quartodecimans, presents a unique collection of material in a format ideal for classroom use as well as for the general reader. Apology and from melito s position in poly crates catalogue that melito flourished in the third quarter of the second century. For this reason a preliminary sketch is made of the future thing.
With the exception of 2 clement, peri pascha might be the earliest known nonbiblical sermon. This fragment is highly significant as the first christian old testament canon. My conclusion is that melito is a thoroughgoing supercessionisti. The mystery of the passover is new and old, eternal and temporal, corruptible and. On pascha melito of sardis the quartodecimans were early christians who maintained the tradition derived from judaism, and observed pascha on the same occasion that the jews observed passover. Thought to have been a hermit and a eunuch, he travelled in palestine, but the reasons for his journey and the details of his itinerary are lost. One of my theology professors used to say that this homily contains every essential christian doctrine. Melito may have been the immediate successor of the angel or apostle of the church of sardis, to whom our great high priest addressed one of the apocalyptic messages. It was discovered last century and first published in 1940.
Scholars have studied melitos peri pascha as a witness to second century christian preaching, to a typological reading of scripture, and to a theology. This barcode number lets you verify that youre getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. When an extensive homily by melito on easter peri pascha was discovered early in the 20th century, it caused a sensation among christian scholars. Adoptionism is the view that jesus christ was a mere human who was adopted as the son of god, either at.
Saint melito of sardis was bishop of the church in sardis, and a prominent ecclesiastical writer in the latter half of the second century. Each of them on his own part addressed apologies in behalf of the faith to the abovementioned emperor of the romans who was reigning at that time. On pascha and fragments oxford early christian texts 1st edition. Melito of sardis on the passion of christ in the second century, melito, bishop of sardis, preached a message known today as homily on the passion or homily on the pascha passover. Dec 28, 2016 today the post brought the second edition of my on pascha, or rather my treatment of the work of melito of sardis by that name i cite the preface. A leader of the church in asia, melito was, according to eusebius of caesarea, a supporter of the quartodeciman theory. On pascha melito of sardis glory to god for all things.
He was bishop of sardis one of the seven cities which john refers to in the book of revelation. On pascha melito of sardis saint anianus coptic orthodox church. Melito of sardis, peri pascha and its israel the battle between christians and jews over possession of the name israel goes back to the earliest days of christianity alternatively, the pasttense verbs found in peri pascha 99 may indicate that the author is referring to the destruction of the temple in 70 ce analogously, in the late. Introduction, translation, comments by sergey hovorun, kiev, 1998. Jesus as god in the second century christian research. Melito, peri pascha and the quartodeciman paschal liturgy at sardis alistair stewartsykes melito, peri pascha and the quartodeciman paschal liturgy at sardis supplement to vigiliae christianae 42 leiden. Melito of sardis study archive the preterist archive of. On pascha and fragments, texts and translations edited by stuart george hall. Simply put, werner confused second century sardis with fourth century sardis. Indications are that he was the second bishop of sardis, and was successor to the angel of the church of sardis the apostle of that church to whom was addressed one of the apocalyptic messages. The purpose of this article is to present some new material on the greek text of melito. Responding to the request of st vladimirs seminary press for a second edition of this work incorporating the greek text of peri pascha has been both painful and pleasurable. The translations of melito s works come from stuart g.
Written between the years ad 160 and 170, the peri pascha is a sermon given during the memorial of the lords death at passover. Melito of sardis, greek bishop of sardis in lydia now in turkey, whose rediscovered theological treatise on easter, the lords passion, verifies his reputation as a notable early christian spokesman. The latter, a vigorous confutation of idolatry and polytheism addressed to antoninus caesar, seems from internal evidence to be of syrian origin, though some authorities have identified it with melito s peri aletheias. The excavation of this synagogue has given us a new perspective on the religious complexion of sardis during the second and. Melito of sardis s peri pascha and its intertextuality published on 01 jan 2016 by brill. Melito of sardis, greek original in eusebius, church history, 4. At the head of this collection stands a new translation of on pascha by melito of sardis, a liturgical work deriving from quartodeciman circles in asia. First of all, the scripture about the hebrew exodus has been read and the words of the mystery have been. Eusebius of caesarea, life of constantine pdf in those days also melito, bishop of the parish in sardis, and apolinarius, bishop of hierapolis, enjoyed great distinction. Though the ph has merited the greater attention in recent years, and rightly so, the fragments are still important for an understanding o melitof. References to the time and place of the crucifixion in the.
His dependence on the argument that melito was somehow jealous of the what werner says was the flourishing jewish community of sardis has also been succswsfully challenged by jewish historians who point out that the jewish community in sardis was quite small at the time. This time, the two focus on a christian church father named melito of sardis, who in the second century, wrote a prayer service or sermon, for a christian passover. His writing on pascha is both a work of genius as poetry and a powerful work of theology. Melito and arly christian antijudaism i am in the process of making the penultimate edits on my my bible introduction. Its subject is the lords pascha particularly as an interpretation of. On the passover melito of sardis crossroads initiative.
Some maintain that the sayings of jesus in thomas reflect a line of transmission independent of the synoptic tradition. Apr 14, 2014 in the second century, melito, bishop of sardis, preached a message known today as homily on the passion or homily on the pascha passover. This article supplies an updated bibliography on meltio of sardis peri pascha, details of the coptic fragments published since 1979, and corrections and revisions to the text, translation, and apparatus of melito of sardis. In this work, alistair stewartsykes, the leading authority on melito and the quartodecimans, presents a unique collection of material in a format. Melito and arly christian antijudaism the bart ehrman blog. Melito of sardis, peri pascha and its israel the battle between. First of all, the scripture about the hebrew exodus has been read and the words of the mystery have been explained as to how the sheep was sacrificed and the people were saved. Melito, peri pascha and the quartodeciman paschal liturgy at sardis leiden. Since the publication of melito of sardis paschal homily ph in. Thirdly we may deduce from poly crates statements here that melito was jewish by birth. Thirdly we may deduce from poly crates statements here.
The 4thcentury chronicles of eusebius of caesarea identify melito as a bishop who addressed a. Alongside this is an extensive introduction and annotation pointing out not only the parallels to jewish practice. Peri pascha is a 2ndcentury homily of melito of sardis written between a. Melito of sardis, english translation in ante nicene fathers, vol 8 melito of sardis, greek original in eusebius, church history, 4. Among the most powerful meditations on pascha is found in the writings of melito of sardis ca. With the fragments of melito and other material related. Melito of sardis williams major reference works wiley. The relationship between the coptic gospel of thomas and the synoptic gospels has been a matter of longstanding debate. A fter the time of the gospels, melito of sardis is the first christian writer of whom we have a record to make reference to the place where jesus was crucified. Melito of sardiss peri pascha and its israel harvard. Melito of sardis introduction unsettled christianity.
Aside from a homily peri pascha on the passover in the bodmer. Today the post brought the second edition of my on pascha, or rather my treatment of the work of melito of sardis by that name i cite the preface. Melito of sardis on the passion of christ thoughts of a. Melito of sardis, english translation in ante nicene fathers, vol 8. This one piece of historical evidence alone, utterly refutes dan browns da vinci code claim that emperor constantine made up the concept of the divinity of christ, so that he might unite the. Go to the chronological list of all early christian writings. Melito of sardis our father among the saints, melito, bishop of sardis, was a prominent figure of secondcentury christianity. These imperially sanctioned decrees which melito refers to have been interpreted in various ways for a bibliography, see stuart hall, melito of sardis, p. In on pascha, alistair stewart, the leading authority on melito and the quartodecimans, presents a unique collection of material in a formal ideal for classroom use as well as for the general reader. Knapp the discovery of a document identified as peri pascha by melito of sardis, and its subsequent publication in 19401 has generated numerous studies over the past half century, lending weight to the assertion by f. It describes christian doctrine on the paschal mystery in the style of second sophistic period. Melito, peri pascha and the quartodeciman paschal liturgy at. Melito of sardis study archive the preterist archive of realized.
In this article we seek to explore the nest of issues surrounding the antijudaism which is expressed by melito of sardis in his peri pascha. His writing is a common example of early church thought on scripture and the lords pascha. Alistair stewartsykes melito, peri pascha and the quartodeciman paschal liturgy at sardis supplement to vigiliae christianae 42 leiden. Homily of the pascha 0150 you did not tear your garments at the crucifixion of the lord, yet you tore your garments for your own who were murdered. In this essay all citations greek and english of melitos work are from melito of sardis, ed. Melito of sardis, a ii century exegete and apologist who served as bishop of sardis near lydia, asia minor near modern izmir, ancient smyrna. Life of constantine pdf in those days also melito, bishop of the parish in sardis. Hall notes in his introduction, xxx, that this is the first use of the. Its subject is the lords pascha particularly as an interpretation of the old testament.
Melito pictured jesus rising from the tomb and, in a loud voice, issuing this challenge. On pascha, second edition 9780881415544 by melito of sardis. Melito, peri pascha and the quartodeciman paschal liturgy. It has been proposed by a number of scholars that it functioned as the christian passover haggadah.
During the 1930s a homily by melito of sardis called, peri pascha was assembled from surviving manuscripts. Here we find that a number of explanations have been proposed, none of which in themselves satisfactorily explain melito s attitude. Jerome, speaking of the old testament canon established by melito, quotes tertullian to the effect that he was esteemed a prophet by many of the faithful. Melito of sardiss peri pascha and its intertextuality in.
Though melito, bishop of sardis, was one of the greatest 2nd century church fathers, virtually none of his writings survived the ravages of time. The quartodecimans were early christians who maintained the tradition derived from judaism, and observed pascha on the same occasion that the jews observed passover. Melito of sardiss peri pascha and its israel volume 91 issue 4 lynn cohick skip to main content accessibility help we use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Please buy the cd to support the site, view it without ads, and get bonus stuff. Melito of sardis s peri pascha and its israel lynn cohick nairobi, kenya when peri pascha 9s97 proclaims, the god has been murdered. The sitz im leben of the paschal homily of melito of sardis with special reference to the paschal festival in early christianity. Melitos peri pascha 15 as recovered from a lost leaf. Further, in this edition the translator has included an expanded selection of melitos fragments, testimonia to melito, and other material vital for understanding the quartodeciman liturgies from rome, syria, and asia.