28953 - Ancient Christian Literature (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will be acquainted of the literary production processes in ancient Christianity between I and VIII centuries, starting from the authors and their writings, in relation with classical literatures and with the 'Fortleben' in Middle Ages and modern times.

Course contents

Bishops reflect on the faith: the Creed between Nicaea and Hippo

Seventeen hundred years after its celebration, the Council of Nicaea remains a milestone in the historical and doctrinal development of Christianity. The course will first investigate the formation of the Creed in the council assembly of Nicaea in the light of the problems it set out to resolve, foremost that of the relationship between Father and Son; the second part will address the reading of De fide et symbolo, a discourse that Augustine, while still a presbyter, addressed to the North African bishops gathered at the Council of Hippo in 393 and then revised from him for its publication. Furthermore, by comparing the Creed of Nicaea with the one commented on by Augustine it will be possible to highlight the textual variety of the formulas of faith in early Christianity.

The course will be divided into two parts:

15 hours: Birth of the Creed from local formulations to the ecumenical creed of Nicaea: presuppositions and doctrinal discussions

15 hours: Reading, translating and commenting on Augustine, The Faith and the Symbol

Readings/Bibliography

Texts

The texts, in critical edition and in translation, will be provided in class and uploaded on Virtual.

S. Fernandez – S. Contini (ed.), Le fonti antiche sul Concilio di Nicea, Nuovi Testi Patristici 8, Città Nuova, Roma 2025 [engl. edition: Fontes Nicaenae Synodi: the contemporary sources for the study of the Council of Nicaea (304-337), Brill Schöningh, Paderborn 2024]

Agostino, La fede e il simbolo, in Sant’Agostino, La vera religione. La vera religione, Utilità del credere, La fede e il simbolo, La fede nelle cose che non si vedono. Testo latino dell’edizione maurina confrontato con il Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Introduzione generale, introduzioni particolari, traduzioni, note e indici di A. Pieretti, Nuova Biblioteca Agostiniana, Opere di S. Agostino VI/1, Città Nuova, Roma 1995, pp. 243-295 [available also  on line: https://www.augustinus.it/latino/fede_simbolo/index.htm; engl. transl. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1304.htm]

Studies

P. F. Beatrice, “The Word Homoousios from Hellenism to Christianity”, Church History 71,2 (2002) 243-272

G. Caruso OSA, “Un catechismo per vescovi: il De fide et Symbolo di Agostino”, Eastern Theological Journal 1 (2015) 13–48

M. J. Edwards, “The Creed”, in The Cambridge Companion to the Council of Nicaea, ed. by Y. R. Kim, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021, pp. 135-157

E. P. Meijering, Augustine, De fide et Symbolo. Introduction, Translation, Commentary, Gieben, Amsterdam, 1987 [disponibile su AlmaRE: https://sol.unibo.it/SebinaOpac/resource/augustine-de-fide-et-symbolo-introduction-translation-commentary/UBO09827414 ]

A. Melloni – C. Bianchi (ed.), The Creed of Nicaea (325). The Status Quaestionis and the Neglected Topics, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Unipress, Göttingen 2025 (especially W. Kinzig, pp. 25-45 and E. Prinzivalli, 63-83)

L. Perrone, “Da Nicea (325) a Calcedonia (451). I primi quattro concili ecumenici: istituzioni, dottrine, processi di ricezione”, in Storia dei concili ecumenici, a c. di G. Alberigo, Queriniana, Brescia 1993², pp. 1-118 (solo pp. 1-44)

Teaching methods

Lectures; analysis of literary texts; use of bibliographic and electronic databases.

Assessment methods

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

In the current academic year, exam sessions are scheduled about a month and a half apart.

Oral exam:

a) The students who attend lessons will be able

• to read and translate the text discussed during the lessons in the Greek / Latin original (required for students of Classics). The students not belonging to the course of Classics will read the text in an italian (or english) translation (see Bibliography, Texts)
• to outline the birth of the creed within the doctrinal history of early Christianity and to discuss Augustine's interpretation of it, also with the help of one of the contributions of your choice from among those listed above (see Bibliography, Studies).

b) The students who cannot attend lessons will study the same program as the students who attend lessons; they will substitute lesson notes with two essays by choice from the list mentioned above (see Bibliography, Studies)

Skills will be assessed according to the following guidelines:
- failing grade (< 18): inability to translate short sections from the Greek/Latin texts discussed during the lessons (exclusively required of LM15 students); inability to provide a correct interpretation of the texts or, as for non-attending students, to comment on the critical essays of their choice.
- passing grade (between 18 and 24): elementary ability to translate short sections from the Greek/Latin texts discussed during the lessons (exclusively required of LM15 students); inaccuracy and lack of autonomy in providing a correct interpretation of the texts or, as for non-attending students, in commenting on critical essays of their choice.
- positive grade (between 24 and 30): good comprehension of the grammatical and syntactical structures of the Greek/Latin texts discussed during the lessons (exclusively required of LM15 students); interpretation of the texts is correct, but mostly superficial and not entirely autonomous; as for non-attending students, the critical essays of their choice are cursorily commented upon.
- excellent grade (30L): in-depth knowledge of the grammatical and syntactical structures of the Greek/Latin texts discussed during the lessons (exclusively required of LM15 students); precision and full autonomy in interpreting, contextualizing and critically comparing the texts; as for non-attending students, critical discussion of the essays of their choice is detailed and deep-ranging.

Teaching tools

Computer and projector; bibliographic and electronic databases; fotocopies; texts and segments of texts in PDF format uploaded by the teacher as teaching materials (downloadable from https://virtuale.unibo.it ).

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Villani