Patristics by Luke J Stevens
Journal of Early Christian Studies, 2025
(forthcoming)
Parekbolai, 2022
The Hexaemeron of Anastasius of Sinai incorporates a wealth of patristic material from the first ... more The Hexaemeron of Anastasius of Sinai incorporates a wealth of patristic material from the first to seventh centuries, often with explicit (if unreliable) citations, often without parallel, and often at second hand. Within this work, a single lost intermediary can be clearly discerned as the source for most of what pertains to the first three centuries. It provided readings from Origen’s Hexapla and citations of Philo, Papias, Irenaeus, and Clement, while denouncing the Ophites and Manichaeans. It also provided the foundation for the Hexaemeron’s overarching exegetical thesis and probably much of its content. Traces of the same lost work appear in Eusebius of Emesa, John of Scythopolis, and Andrew of Caesarea. Various circumstantial evidence indicates authorship by Pierius of Alexandria.
Ephemerides Theologicae Lovaniensis, 2022
Irenaeus’s interpretation of Revelation’s four living creatures links them most prominently with ... more Irenaeus’s interpretation of Revelation’s four living creatures links them most prominently with the four canonical gospels. While his is the earliest extant, several variations of this exegesis occur in antiquity. Their relationship is here ascertained through a detailed examination of both the evolving components of the exegesis and the identifiable sources of the respective authors (focusing on Victorinus, Chromatius, Hippolytus, and Epiphanius). This analysis clearly reveals two earlier strata of the tradition, along with how the different versions developed. The exegesis’s origin is traced to a testimonium in the first half of the second century, demonstrating, through interpretation of Ezekiel’s vision of the tetramorphic cherubim, how the Old Testament proclaims both the principal events of Jesus’s life and their fourfold witness by the written gospels.
Journal of Early Christian Studies, 2022
Melito of Sardis, it is here argued, reported an Old Testament canon of twenty-four books (rather... more Melito of Sardis, it is here argued, reported an Old Testament canon of twenty-four books (rather than twenty-five) and went on to link this figure with the twenty-four elders in Revelation. From Melito, Victorinus of Poetovio took up this exegesis and eventually added his own variation; it is from him that the Latin tradition knows of these interpretations, along with the count of twenty-four books. Further grounds are examined for linking the writings of Melito and Victorinus, including especially their relation to those of Irenaeus and Papias. A reconsideration of Melito’s place in the patristic tradition is also urged, with the suggestion that he wrote his Extracts in Rome ca. 150 and was a pivotal influence in the West.
The Journal of Theological Studies, 2020
The Bryennios List, often regarded as the earliest extant Old Testament canon, is here shown inst... more The Bryennios List, often regarded as the earliest extant Old Testament canon, is here shown instead to originate from an excerpt of Epiphanius’s Weights and Measures in a medieval florilegium, the Doctrina patrum, and thus to have no independent value. Implications are briefly considered.
The Journal of Theological Studies, 2019
Although the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea is our principal source of informatio... more Although the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea is our principal source of information on Papias of Hierapolis and his lost Exegesis of Dominical Oracles, it is here argued that Eusebius knew the work only at second hand. Several Papian fragments preserved elsewhere demonstrate his ignorance, and his citations of the Exegesis consistently differ in style from those of works certainly known to him at first hand. Apparently, the same intermediary that informed him about both Papias’s Exegesis and Hegesippus’s Hypomnemata was also used in the de Boor Fragments, and this intermediary’s author, perhaps Pierius of Alexandria, has handed down further Papian fragments through other works. Eusebius’s lack of first-hand knowledge prevents us from fully trusting the integrity of his summaries, from giving credence to his charges of chiliasm, and from drawing any conclusions from his silence, especially on what Papias may have said about Luke and John.
Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters, 2018
An extremely ancient edition of the Pauline corpus collecting 14 epistles into a pair of rolls, w... more An extremely ancient edition of the Pauline corpus collecting 14 epistles into a pair of rolls, with Hebrews heading the second roll, arguably underlies the text and numbering in Codex Vaticanus. For such an arrangement, a plausible rationale is apparent, mainly involving considerations of length (perhaps further influenced by inclusion of 2 Peter as an epilogue). Furthermore, this lost two-volume edition can explain many difficulties surrounding the early evolution of the corpus. Transitioning to the single-volume codex format motivated the segregation of Hebrews from the public epistles into a distinct group alongside the four pastorals, with Galatians left still before the slightly longer Ephesians, and the resulting well-attested edition and its derivatives account for nearly all witnesses of the corpus. The exceptional 𝔭46 stems from an imperfect attempt to replicate this edition from a two-roll exemplar, while several distinctive features of Marcion’s Apostolicon derived independently from the two-volume edition. Both the titles of the epistles and the “in Ephesus” in Ephesians were absent in the original two-volume edition but were supplied when its contents were incorporated into a larger New Testament compilation. From this two-volume edition, likely assembled by Luke, all subsequent collections of Paul’s epistles have arguably descended.
Journal of Early Christian Studies, 2018
The de Boor Fragments, inserted within a seventh-century epitome of the Ecclesiastical History of... more The de Boor Fragments, inserted within a seventh-century epitome of the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea, are remarkable for preserving snippets of the lost writings of Papias of Hierapolis, Hegesippus, Pierius of Alexandria, and (as now revealed) Eusebius. A new and expanded edition of the fragments is here provided. Special attention is paid to the fragments on Papias, which until now have been presented misleadingly, one of which apparently comes not directly from Papias but from an early intermediary also used independently by George the Monk. While de Boor tentatively ascribed the fragments to Philip of Side, the evidence is here examined that they originate not from Philip but from two strata: some from early scholia in a copy of Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History, and the rest added by the seventh-century epitomist whose work has preserved the fragments. The scholia, in turn, likely originated in the lost continuation of Eusebius’s work by Gelasius of Caesarea and were presumably composed by Gelasius himself.
Journal of Early Christian Studies, 2018
Excerpts from Clement of Alexandria’s lost Hypotyposes recounting the scribal activities of the e... more Excerpts from Clement of Alexandria’s lost Hypotyposes recounting the scribal activities of the evangelists Mark, Luke, and John puzzlingly differ despite overlapping in content. Actually, what little Clement said of the writing of Mark’s Gospel and of Hebrews is preserved in the Adumbrations, while Eusebius of Caesarea knew the Hypotyposes only through an intermediary given to embellishing paraphrase; furthermore, the claim by John of Scythopolis that Clement ascribed the Dialogue of Papiscus and Jason to Luke arose from a misplaced note on Hebrews. An additional point in the Hypotyposes is hypothesized ascribing the compilation of the Pauline corpus to Luke.
Translations by Luke J Stevens
This is my own English translation of the following:
R. A. Lipsius, Die Quellen der ältesten Ketz... more This is my own English translation of the following:
R. A. Lipsius, Die Quellen der ältesten Ketzergeschichte (Leipzig: Barth, 1875).
This is my own English translation of the following:
Martine Dulaey, Victorin de Poetovio, premie... more This is my own English translation of the following:
Martine Dulaey, Victorin de Poetovio, premier exégète latin, CÉASA 139–40 (Paris: Études augustiniennes, 1993).
The file is not posted due to copyright, but contact me to request it.
Dionysius bar Ṣalibi, Metropolitan of Amida in the twelfth century, was a prolific writer in Syri... more Dionysius bar Ṣalibi, Metropolitan of Amida in the twelfth century, was a prolific writer in Syriac, though only a fraction of his works have been critically edited and published, let alone translated. 1 His Commentary on the Apocalypse was published in 1909 in CSCO 53, followed by a Latin translation in CSCO 60. 2 Because of my ignorance of Syriac, I have translated from the Latin. 3 Bar Ṣalibi's is the second-oldest extant commentary on Revelation in Syriac. 4 Of the attention devoted to it, the lion's share revolves around its witness to Hippolytus of Rome, 5 a prolific author of the early third century, and a certain Gaius whose objections Hippolytus answers in the Commentary, which frames the two as interlocutors. For these exchanges and probably for the bulk of the exegesis-both echoing Hippolytus's various writings 6-the Commentary draws from, and is our 1
It is worthwhile also for this figure of the ten virgins to be interpreted, which is in this way:... more It is worthwhile also for this figure of the ten virgins to be interpreted, which is in this way: 2 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who taking their lamps went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride; five of them were foolish, and five wise; the foolish having taken their lamps did not take with them <oil in their vessels; the wise, though, took> oil in their vessels with the lamps. But as the bridegroom tarried, they all fell asleep. But in the middle of the night a cry arose: "Behold, the bridegroom comes, go forth to meet him!" Then those ten virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish ones said to the wise: "Give us of your oil, for our lamps have gone out." And the wise answered: "Lest there be not enough for us and you, go rather to the sellers, and buy for yourselves." While they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready entered with him into the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later came the rest of the virgins, saying: "Lord, open to us." He answered: "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you." Keep watch, therefore, since you know neither the day nor the hour. 3 Some say that those virgins are two peoples, wrongly of course: for the synagogues are not virgins; for they have the man Moses. Some say that those virgins are the heretical sects, falsely of course: for the heretical sects are not virgins; they are adulteresses. For virgins of God's house are of serene face, chaste expression, modest appearance, restrained eyes, pleasant words, sweet prayer, gentle disposition. Such is Christ, such the image. Yet all the heretical sects are of sad face, impudent expression, wicked eyes, harsh words, wicked prayer, savage disposition, obstinate contention of lies, and full of bitterness of all error, stuffed with curses and scorns. Therefore, since the heretical sects are unlikely, the synagogues are unlikely, the Decalogue, which certain ones bring in, is unlikely, we will discuss about the virgins themselves. 4 The wise virgins are the churches, indeed-as I say more truly-this part of the people that keeps the law of God, loves piety, forgives attacks, prays for its enemies, offers itself as generous to the widow and orphan, delightful to the guest, humane to the foreigner, attentive to the needy, enters prisons, approaches mines, forced laborers, exiles, rescues the imperiled, visits the sick, satisfies the hungry with bread, refreshes the thirsty with drink, consoles the downcast, raises the prostrate, strengthens the terrified, softens the cruel, makes the severe mild, alleviates the harsh, humbles the arrogant, bravely endures suffering, patiently
Reviews by Luke J Stevens
Journal of Theological Studies, 2022
Technology by Luke J Stevens
IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics, Jan 31, 2014
The ability to continuously monitor respiration rates of patients in homecare or in clinics is an... more The ability to continuously monitor respiration rates of patients in homecare or in clinics is an important goal. Past research showed that monitoring patient breathing can lower the associated mortality rates for long-term bedridden patients. Nowadays, in-bed sensors consisting of pressure sensitive arrays are unobtrusive and are suitable for deployment in a wide range of settings. Such systems aim to extract respiratory signals from time-series pressure sequences. However, variance of movements, such as unpredictable extremities activities, affect the quality of the extracted respiratory signals. BreathSens, a high density pressure sensing system made of e-Textile, profiles the underbody pressure distribution and localizes torso area based on the high resolution pressure images. With a robust bodyparts localization algorithm, respiratory signals extracted from the localized torso area are insensitive to arbitrary extremities movements. In a study of 12 subjects, BreathSens demonst...
Patents by Luke J Stevens
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Patristics by Luke J Stevens
Translations by Luke J Stevens
R. A. Lipsius, Die Quellen der ältesten Ketzergeschichte (Leipzig: Barth, 1875).
Martine Dulaey, Victorin de Poetovio, premier exégète latin, CÉASA 139–40 (Paris: Études augustiniennes, 1993).
The file is not posted due to copyright, but contact me to request it.
Reviews by Luke J Stevens
Technology by Luke J Stevens
Patents by Luke J Stevens
R. A. Lipsius, Die Quellen der ältesten Ketzergeschichte (Leipzig: Barth, 1875).
Martine Dulaey, Victorin de Poetovio, premier exégète latin, CÉASA 139–40 (Paris: Études augustiniennes, 1993).
The file is not posted due to copyright, but contact me to request it.