Fides et Humilitas 3 (2016)

Fides et Humilitas appears to be published annually by the Center for Ancient Christian Studies, which ‘exists to provide an evangelical voice to the academic fields engaging ancient Christian literature’.

The contents of volume 3, and the abstracts where available, are as follows:

Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite

Editorial: An “Unspeakably Narrow Discipline”: Martin Hengel and the Need for Interdisciplinary Scholarship

Ancient Figure Highlight

Ian Clary

Ignatius of Antioch: Bishop, Theologian, and the Apologist of Life and Death

Articles

Michael A.G. Haykin

Inspiration and Inerrancy in the Ancient Church

Patrick Schreiner 

Number Symbolism and the Feeding of the Four Thousand in the Gospel of Matthew

This study argues that the feeding of the 4,000 in Matthew 15:32–39 should be read as a Gentile feeding. There are a number of arguments that support this reading (structurally, geographically, thematically, and OT background), but the most debated aspect is the role of the numbers 4,000 and seven. These numbers have been interpreted symbolically throughout the history of interpretation but in the time of the Reformation an allegorical reading of numbers began to be rejected. The number 4,000 should be understood representing people coming from the four corners of the earth, and seven points to the completion and fulfillment of God’s purposes. By seeing these numbers as symbolic, the argument that this is a Gentile feeding becomes more secure.

J. Daniel McDonald

The Holy Spirit, Caritas, and the Bond of Unity in Augustine’s Anti-Donatist Writings

Written over a period of twenty years, Augustine’s De Trinitate, one of Augustine’s greatest works, serves as the pinnacle of the development of Trinitarian doctrine in the ancient church. Found within his anti-Donatist writings, however, is a well-developed doctrine of the Trinity. Particularly in De Baptismo contra Donatistas, Contra litteras Petiliani, and Letter 185 (works that were written before the publication of De Trinitate), Augustine links the Holy Spirit as caritas and the bond of unity in the Trinity as the source of unity within the Catholic church. Augustine would later develop an argument identifying the Holy Spirit as caritas and the bond of unity in length in De Trinitate Book XV.5. This indicates that Augustine already had a mature understanding of Trinitarian doctrine early on in his ministry.

Book Reviews

Previous copies of the journal can be found here. Volume 3 can be downloaded as (14.9 MB) pdf here.