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From: Bryn Mawr Classical Review <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, Oct 11, 2013 at 9:00 AM
Subject: BMCR 2013.10.16 Cline on Muehlberger, Angels in Late Ancient
Christianity
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2013.10.16
Ellen Muehlberger, Angels in Late Ancient Christianity. Oxford; New
York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. x, 279. ISBN
9780199931934. $65.00.
Reviewed by Rangar H. Cline, University of Oklahoma ([log in to unmask])
Preview (http://books.google.com/books?id=7pwDaarUfOUC)
Ellen Muehlberger's Angels in Late Ancient Christianity utilizes
patristic sources to analyze fourth and early-fifth century
intra-Christian discourse about angels. The book demonstrates that
angels provided models for understanding the liturgy and priestly
authority, explores how Christian exegetes interpreted angels in
biblical texts, and examines the tradition of companion angels and the
"angelic life" among desert ascetics. Muehlberger places Christian
fourth- and fifth-century discussions about angels within their
historical context and purposefully avoids comparing that era's
discourse about angels with the subsequent, influential angelic
hierarchy of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (ca. 500 CE), whose work
tends to dominate studies of angels. The result is a historically
contextualized study of how late ancient Christian writers defined
ways of reading angels in scripture and conceptualizing angels in
religious life. The book will be of use to those curious as to how
Christians thought about angels, and the author's focus on Christian
discourse will also make it useful to those interested in Christian
rhetoric and self-representation following the Peace of the Church.
Muehlberger groups discourse about angels into categories of
"cultivation" – the discussion of angels as assistants or models for
Christians seeking unity with God – and "contestation" – the role of
angels in theological debates. Muehlberger argues that cultivation
discourse developed among desert ascetics such as Antony of Pispir,
Shenoute of Atripe, and Evagrius Ponticus as a way to articulate
concepts of angelic companions and angels as models for behavior.
Contestation discourse emerged in the urban context of contested
authority, exemplified by Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom,
Augustine, and others. For these writers and theologians, angels were
a tool for understanding scripture and justifying competing
theological claims. These categories serve as an organizing principle
for the book's chapters, most of which focus on one or the other of
these types of discourse.
Chapter One compares Evagrius Ponticus' conceptions of angels as
spiritual assistants with Augustine's exegetical practices of reading
angels in the Bible. The comparison highlights two very different
approaches to angels. As Muehlberger discusses, Evagrius envisioned a
world of angels that could descend to help humans overcome their
passions in order to achieve union with God. Muehlberger usefully
examines Evagrius' writings and compares his ideas of angels and
demons to those of Gregory of Nazianzus, arguing that Evagrius' theory
of angels is tied to an Origenist theology transmitted via Gregory and
other desert ascetics. The result of viewing angels through such a
theological lens is a fluid cosmos in which humans can overcome their
human nature with angelic assistance. Augustine envisioned a much more
static cosmos for angels. Based on his reading of biblical texts,
especially Genesis, Augustine found angels within the hierarchy of
creation, fit them into his
understanding of the origin of evil, demons, Satan, and free will, and
placed them as permanent residents of the City of God, to which humans
can aspire. Muehlberger discussesAugustine’s argument in the
Enchiridion and the City of God that angels were created when God made
"light" and that evil angels (and darkness) originated in turning away
from God and the Light. The comparison of Augustine's scriptural and
theological approach to angels with Evagrius' more practical approach
to angelic assistance serves as a logical introduction to the two
models of discourse explored in the remainder of the book. Of course,
Augustine's declaration that angels were created under the category
"light" has an older precedent in the book of Jubilees (2:1-3) and
near-contemporary comparisons in the Hexameron homilies of Ambrose
(1.5 [19]) and Basil of Caesarea (2.5), not cited in the book.
Muehlberger also omits reference to the most recent studies of
Lactantius' discussion of the oracle of
Apollo, discussed in the chapter (51-52).1 (#n1)
Chapter Two examines how Christian writers read angels in scripture,
focusing on Justin Martyr, Athanasius, Eunomius of Cyzicus, Basil of
Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Augustine. As Muehlberger identifies,
Christian exegetes debated how to understand appearances of the "Lord"
in the Old Testament (OT). Some Christians understood appearances of
the Lord as the pre-incarnate Christ, some understood all OT
epiphanies as angels, and some understood angelic descriptions of the
Lord as reflective of Christ's nature, among other possibilities.
Muehlberger begins by examining Justin Martyr, who identifies one of
the men/angels at Mamre in Genesis 18 as the "Word" because the angel
appears to speak as the "Lord." Justin thus provides early testimony
to a tradition of finding the pre-incarnate Logos where the Lord
appears in the OT. That tradition continues into later Christian
exegesis, and Muehlberger examines its manifestation and consequences
in fourth-century debates among
Christian writers. A compelling section of this chapter analyzes
debates between Eunomius of Cyzicus and the Cappadocians Basil of
Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa. For Eunomius, passages in the Old
Testament that could be read as referring to the Lord or Christ as an
angel revealed the angelic nature of Christ, which would consequently
subordinate the Son to the Father. Basil and Gregory challenged
Eunomius' method of reading "angel" as referring to the nature of
Christ, arguing that the term described his role (not nature) in those
passages. Thus, Basil and Gregory could understand passages in the OT
that referred to an angel or to the Lord as referring to Christ
without having to understand that Christ had an angelic nature.
Although not in direct conversation with the Cappadocians, Augustine
had a very different view, as Muehlberger demonstrates. She argues
that Augustine took issue with identifying the "Lord" in the OT as
Christ, specifically in passages in Genesis like the visitation to
Abraham at Mamre (Gen. 18), where one of the men/angels appears to
speak as the "Lord." Augustine's objection was based upon Paul's
statement that God sent his son in the "fullness of time" (Gal. 4:4).
Augustine concluded that the Son did not appear prior to the
incarnation and "that any appearance of a divine actor in the Old
Testament was materially manifested by angels" (83). Muehlberger 's
discussion of Augustine provides an illuminating contrast with the
Cappadocians and Evagrius. However, evidence of the reception of
Augustine's reading would strengthen the chapter's assertion that
"Augustine's solution was revolutionary" (84). Indeed, depictions of
the "Lord" at Mamre at Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore (5^th
c.) and San Vitale at Ravenna (6^th c.), along with Sozomen's (HE
2.4.1-3) fifth-century account of rituals at Mamre would suggest that
Augustine's reading had little impact.2 (#n2)
Chapters Three and Four examine the tradition of companion angels
among fourth-century desert ascetics. Chapter Three largely presents
the companion angel tradition from the ascetics' own point of view,
focusing on texts written by or attributed to the ascetics themselves.
Chapter Four discusses texts written about ascetics by others.
Together these two chapters present a balanced examination of Eastern
Mediterranean discourse about the companion angel tradition.
Muehlberger identifies the roots of the ascetics' conceptions of
companion angels in the academic tradition of divine guides.
Shebriefly discusses the tradition of Socrates' daimon, Apuleius'
divine guide, and Origen's and Gregory Thaumaturgus' transformation of
this idea. Most revealing is Muehlberger's discussion of the Letters
of Antony and the Life of Antony by Athanasius. Both sets of texts
demonstrate the ambiguity with which Antony and his successors appear
to have described the helping spirit or angelic
companion. As Muehlberger observes, previous scholars have identified
the helping spirit of Antony's Letters as the Holy Spirit (102- 103),
and the Life of Antony guides its reader to understand Antony's helper
as the Lord (128-130). However, as the author notes, these sources are
often ambiguous about the nature and status of this companion, and, as
Muehlberger argues, the companion bears a strong similarity to the
companion that Gregory Thaumaturgus and Evagrius specifically describe
as an angel. Muehlberger's point here is well made, but the reasons
for Anthony's and Athanasius' hesitancy to use the term "angel" might
warrant further study. As the author discusses, ambiguity regarding
the identity of spiritual companions also appears in Gregory of Nyssa.
This elusiveness and ambiguity suggests that there was something
potentially heterodox about the companion angel, and other studies
have discussed condemnations of angel invocation in the same era.3
(#n3)
Chapter Five examines discourse on the "angelic life," a phrase used
to describe the lifestyle of ascetics. While the "angelic life" of
ascetics has been treated in studies of early monasticism,
Muehlberger's chapter offers insightful analysis comparing emic and
etic perspectives. The author accomplishes this by examining texts
meant for outsiders like the Apophthegmata Patrum and Historia
Monachorum, collections of the sayings and the lives of the Desert
Fathers, and insider texts like the Coptic sermons of Shenoute, the
4th-5th c. monastic leader from Upper Egypt. She argues that ascetics
often had an ambiguous relationship with the phrase "angelic life," as
they understood that their lives were often far from heavenly. The
concept served a useful purpose for those outside the monasteries,
however, as it allowed ascetics to be categorized as holy in a way
that was distinct from, and did not diminish, the lives of ordinary
Christians and church officials. The chapter's
analysis of Shenoute's writings demonstrates how the comparison of
monks to angels could be used to motivate misbehaving ascetics to live
more like angels; conversely, the example of fallen angels could be
used to warn monks against excessive pride and complacency.
Chapter Six examines how the understanding of angels and the liturgy
changed from the earliest paradigm, which imagined the earthly liturgy
as imitating the angelic one in heaven, to a late-fourth century model
that understood angels to be present in the earthly liturgy and
responding to priestly performance. As Muehlberger argues, this latter
model did not deny the heavenly liturgy, but it prioritized the
earthly liturgy and the priest's performance. Muehlberger's argument
is based upon examining the catechetical treatises of Cyril of
Jerusalem and Theodore of Mopsuestia and comparing those with John
Chrysostom's writings, in particular On the Priesthood, which
describes a vision of angels gathered around the Eucharist. To
demonstrate the reception of these ideas, Muehlberger presents the
Syrian writer Narsai (5^th c.), who incorporates John's ideas of
angels in the liturgy along with Cyril's teachings about angels'
presence at the baptism, and Theodore's ideas of symbolic
representation of angels. The chapter makes an important contribution
to understanding the relationship between liturgy and priestly
authority in late antiquity. Moreover, this analysis provides a model
of innovative scholarship, incorporating such often-neglected sources
as the catechetical treatises.
Muehlberger succeeds in demonstrating that angels were an important
source of lively speculation and contestation within fourth and
early-fifth century Christian discourse. The book also reveals how
discourse on angels can provide an entry into other aspects of
Christianity, like conceptualizations of the liturgy. There are some
bibliographic omissions (noted above), but the author's overall
argument is clear and compelling. My only stylistic criticism concerns
the author's occasional practice of using quotations from prominent
scholars to finish sentences without introducing the author.4 (#n4)
Because the book uses endnotes, in such cases the reader must turn to
the back of the book to determine whether author is quoting a primary
or secondary source. Otherwise, the book is a well-written and
original discussion of Christian writers' discourse on angels.
Notes:
1. Cline, Ancient Angels: Conceptualizing Angeloi in the Roman
Empire (Leiden, 2011) 19-45; Mitchell, "Cult of Theos Hypsistos" in
Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity ed. Athanassiadi and Frede (Oxford,
1999).
2. Visual representation of Mamre: Frazer, "Syncretistic Pilgrim's
Mould from Mamre (?)" Gesta 18 (1979), 137-145. Angels at Mamre: Cline
(2011), 106-118.
3. Peers, Subtle Bodies (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2001), 15-16;
Cline (2001), 137-165.
4. e.g. pp. 33, 46, 90.
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