Papers by Katarina Pålsson
Augustiniana 74:1, 151–177, 2024
The notion of the "flesh" plays an important part in Jerome's theology at large, and this is no l... more The notion of the "flesh" plays an important part in Jerome's theology at large, and this is no less true of his anti-Pelagian polemics. In opposition to what he presents as the Pelagian idea of apatheia, Jerome claims that due to our existence in the flesh, we cannot hope to be free from sin during our earthly lives. A central accusation against Pelagianism which Jerome expresses in this connection, in his Letter 133 as well as his Dialogue against the Pelagians, concerns pride-the Pelagians are described as seeing themselves as equal with God, since they claim that they cannot fall from their state of perfection. Jerome presents his own view, on the other hand, in terms of humility, acknowledging the limitations of a human being. Despite Jerome's rhetoric of pride and humility, this article argues that, somewhat paradoxically, Jerome uses the notion of the "flesh" to support his idea of ascetic superiority, and presents the ascetic struggle against the flesh as precisely what distinguishes the better Christians from the worse. This underlies his idea of relative perfection, as opposed to the absolute perfection of God, which is presented as the orthodox answer to a blasphemous teaching, while also supporting his ascetic ideology. The article concludes that Jerome's critique against the idea of apatheia is ideologically motivated and cannot be understood apart from his ascetic agenda. Presenting this Pelagian idea as heretical gives him an opportunity to frame his own idea of ascetic superiority, and his theory of a Christian hierarchy based on renunciation, as an orthodox alternative.
Open Theology 10:1, 2024
This article examines Jerome's use of bridal and military imagery in his writings to male and fem... more This article examines Jerome's use of bridal and military imagery in his writings to male and female ascetics. The metaphor of the "bride" and the "soldier" had been used in earlier Christianity to describe the Christian identity of the baptized person, and in the writings of Jerome and other fourth-century ascetic writers, these motifs came to be increasingly employed in discourses on the ascetic life. While previous scholarship has claimed that Jerome mainly used the image of the bride in descriptions of and advise to ascetic women, and military imagery in writings to and about men, the article argues that his employment of these imageries was more complex. It is shown that while the bridal metaphor signals femininity and passivity, and the soldier metaphor manliness and activity, Jerome's employment of them does not depend first and foremost on the gender of the ascetic. Rather, both images are used to support certain aspects of his theologymainly his ideas about the postlapsarian, fleshly condition and the human possibility of transcendenceas well as his ascetic ideology, by marking the ascetics as superior to non-ascetics through their unique relationship with Christ.
Jerome of Stridon (347-419/20) has largely been remembered for the controversies in which he was ... more Jerome of Stridon (347-419/20) has largely been remembered for the controversies in which he was engaged. His work as a polemicist and a defender of what he considered to be orthodox teaching has been seen as defining. However, this champion of orthodoxy was himself often accused of heresy, and the main reason for his heresiological efforts was to defend himself against such accusations. During the first Origenist controversy, Jerome was forced to defend his orthodoxy by presenting Origen of Alexandria (185-253/54) as a heretic and "Origenism" as a heresy. Since Jerome had previously been heavily influenced by Origen, scholars have often described Jerome's change in attitude towards Origen as a complete turnaround, and his identity as an "anti-Origenist" from the time of the controversy has not been questioned. The present study challenges this reconstruction by claiming that while Jerome especially attacked Origen's eschatological views, his own "orthodox" ideas about the resurrection, post-mortem purification, and eternal salvation show a great indebtedness to Origen's thought. By uncovering the rhetorical strategies involved in Jerome's polemics, by which he maximized the difference between himself and Origen, the study contributes to a nuanced assessment of Jerome's complex relation to Origen and his thought, a relation that was characterized by reception as well as rejection, by approval as well as polemics.
Vigiliae Christianae
While previous scholarship has shown that the rhetorical figure of the “heretical woman” was impo... more While previous scholarship has shown that the rhetorical figure of the “heretical woman” was important in Jerome’s slandering of male rivals, this article argues that the “orthodox woman” played a just as important role in his self-presentation as an orthodox teacher. The “orthodox woman” is characterized by true asceticism which, according to Jerome’s ascetic theology, implies that she transcends her sex. Rather than being a “woman”, in the ordinary sense of the word, she is an angelic being with a supernatural understanding, which allows her to discern the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures and to distinguish between orthodoxy and heresy. It is argued that the presentation of the “orthodox woman” as very learned, independent and strong-willed makes her the direct opposite of Jerome’s “heretical woman”, and that such a portrayal suited Jerome’s purposes, as his great reliance on women readers called for a defence of female spiritual authority.
Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskrift, 2022
The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the possible influence that Origen's eschatolog... more The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the possible influence that Origen's eschatology, and above all his teaching of apokatastasis has had for the Venerable Bede's teachings on postmortem purgation and punishment of the soul. The general question behind the work is what importance Origen's teachings had for the later doctrine of Purgatory. I have limited the investigation to an early stage in the development of the idea. I have chosen to examine what Bede could have learned about Origen's teachings from his reading of the fathers, considering that his use of Jerome's and Augustine's writings was extensive. Both these writers were engaged in polemical contexts which were directly or indirectly connected with Origenism. An important theory in this thesis is that the refutation of "heretical" views by "orthodox" writers often implicate a certain extent of acceptance, since what the critic does, rather than totally reject the views of the "other", is to negotiate and present an orthodox alternative which always will relate to the view that is opposed.
The aim of this study is to examine the reception of Origen of Alexandria (185-253/54) in the esc... more The aim of this study is to examine the reception of Origen of Alexandria (185-253/54) in the eschatological thought ofJerome of Stridon (347-419/20). Jerome, who was a Christian ascetic writer and a biblical commentator, relied heavily on Origen’s works during the first part of his career. Due to the Origenist controversy, which took place in the 390s and was initiated by Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis, Jerome came to change his attitude towards Origen, and became one of the authors who produced anti-Origenist heresiology during this period. The issues under debate concerned to a great extent eschatology, as Origen’s ideas about the resurrection and about eternal salvation were attacked. In modern scholarship, Jerome’s new attitude towards Origen has been described as a sudden volte-face, and Jerome’s eschatological ideas, as expressed after the beginning of the controversy, are described as very different from Origen’s. He is presented as teaching an idea of the resurrection which d...
Open Theology, 2021
Early Christian heresiology is, like polemics in general, a genre that has commonly been negative... more Early Christian heresiology is, like polemics in general, a genre that has commonly been negatively perceived in scholarship. There is an idea of heresiological texts as not only historically unreliable, but also unproductive, in contrast to the creative thinking that can be found in theological treatises. Considering the understanding of heresiology as reactive and exclusive, it is not surprising that heresiological works have seldom been examined in reception studies. The present article wants to challenge the idea of heresiological work as merely rejecting heresies in the defence of a pre-existing orthodoxy, by applying a dialogical reading to the work Adversus Iovinianum by Jerome of Stridon, a treatise in which he defended the superiority of virginity over marriage against Jovinian’s idea of the equality of all the baptized. Building on the understanding of dialogue expressed by Mikhail Bakhtin, as well as his concept of hybridity, the article analyses how Jerome, instead of si...
Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskrift, 2021
The history of Christianity is marked by frequent debates over doctrinal truth. From an early sta... more The history of Christianity is marked by frequent debates over doctrinal truth. From an early stage, Christian authors began to use the terms "orthodoxy" and "heresy" to deal with diversity of faith. While the orthodox faith was seen as the one that had been preserved from the time of the apostles, heresies were seen as later innovations. This idea was expressed in the Ecclesiastical History by Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth century, and became influential in later Christian history writing. Up until the twentieth century, orthodoxy and heresy were concepts typically associated with doctrinal content. However, with Walter Bauer's immensely influential work Rechtgläubligkeit und Ketzerei im Frühesten Christentum (1934), a socio-historical understanding of orthodoxy and heresy came to be adopted. According to this view, the concepts corresponded to social realities. With the influence from poststructuralist thought from the 1980s onwards, further developme...
Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity, 2019
One of the most important theological questions in the first Origenist controversy was that of th... more One of the most important theological questions in the first Origenist controversy was that of the resurrection of the dead. Jerome accused both Origen and contemporary “Origenists” of speaking only of the resurrection of the body, and not of the flesh, and he claimed that an idea of resurrection without the flesh could not guarantee the identity between the body living on earth and the resurrected body. I argue that although Jerome attempted to maximize the difference between himself and Origen by speaking of flesh instead of body, and by emphasizing the sameness of the body, it is clear that he, too, thought that the resurrection would imply a profound change. At closer scrutiny, Jerome’s way of understanding this change, namely as the nature remaining the same while the glory increases, shows striking similarities to Origen’s explanation of change. I argue that Jerome was dependent on Origen’s ideas about the resurrection, even in his polemics against him. Jerome’s heresiological...
På 100-talet befann sig kristendomen i en kritisk situation. Man kan utskilja fyra olika hot som ... more På 100-talet befann sig kristendomen i en kritisk situation. Man kan utskilja fyra olika hot som riktades mot den, nämligen från den romerska staten, från hedniska kritiker, från judsikt håll och från inom-kristet håll, i form av heretiska riktningar. För att kyrkan skulle överleva i den här situationen, krävdes det kristen apologetisk verksamhet. I detta arbete undersöks Justinus Martyrens kristendomsförsvar i hans första och andra apologi samt Dialog med juden Tryfon. I dessa verk får det både inom hellenistisk filosofi och judendom välkända logos-begreppet en central roll. Uppsatsens mål är att analysera denna roll, samt förklara på vilket sätt Justinus omtolkar begreppet för att uppnå sitt syfte. Jag har analyserat Justinus tolkning och användning av logos-begreppet i de nämnda texterna, samt jämfört detta med logos-begreppets plats i tidigare tänkande. Jag har undersökt vilken eller vilka målgrupper som är de mest troliga i respektive verk, och redogjort för på vilka sätt Justinus använder logos-begreppet för att bemöta de nämnda hoten. Logos-begreppets roll blir betydande i hans argumentation för kristendomens uråldrighet och dess rationella karaktär. Justinus använder det också för att förklara förhållandet mellan kristendomen och andra riktningar, samt för att skilja sann kristendom från heresi.
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Papers by Katarina Pålsson