Hexaemeron

1. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS

3. FOREWORD

4. INTRODUCTION

I. Author and Date

A. Anastasius research from Gretser to Sakkos

B. Anastasius research from Weiss to Munitiz

II. The Manuscripts of the Hexaemeron

A. List of the manuscripts

B. Textual basis for establishing the families

C. Summary and concordance

D. Stemma

III. First Printed Editions of the Hexaemeron

IV. Select Bibliography

5. CONSPECTUS SIGLORUM

6. GREEK TEXT

7. ENGLISH TRANSLATION

8. INDEX NOMINUM

BOOK DETAILS: The "Hexaemeron", attributed to Anastasius of Sinai (ob. post 700), is one of the most extensive mystical allegories surviving from the Byzantine era. Written in response to a request for guidance by one Theophilus, the author offers in twelve books an anagogical exegesis of the first three chapters of Genesis. Citing passages from the entire Bible, and especially from the Prophets and the Letters of Saint Paul, Anastasius warns against an exclusively literal reading of Scripture. He urges, rather, that one be open to the Spirit beyond the words: it is only then that one can receive the complete meaning and significance. Anastasius insists that the prophet Moses, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was writing not only about the creation of the visible and transient world, but also about the New Creation through Christ. Thus Adam represents the Savior, and Eve represents the Church, his eternal bride. It is this allegory that earned Anastasius the pseudonym "The New Moses". The "Hexaemeron" is not unlike Gregory of Nyssa’s famous exegesis "De vita Mosis". But while Gregory focused on the personal soul mystically approaching the divinity of God, Anastasius describes the whole Church, as Bride of Christ, mystically approaching and joining the divinity of God. The individual soul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, becomes an inseparable part of this unity, which incorporates and transcends the many human components. The spiritual integrity and the mystical transcendence of the Church, in fact, are two motifs in the "Hexaemeron". To support his typological reading, the author refers to the early Fathers and exegetes of the Church, especially Clement of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Ps.-Dionysius the Areopagite, and even Origen. He condemns Origen, however, for ignoring the literal and seeing everything exclusively as symbolic. The author has little patience for heresies, which he thinks arise largely from too literal a reading of Divine Scripture. Although he alludes to Monophysitism, Monothelitism, and Monoenergism, Anastasius strives in the "Hexaemeron" to go beyond the contentious issues dividing the Church—as is appropriate for a mystical anagogy. The "Hexaemeron" reveals an early Byzantine view of the cosmos, a genuine affection for Egypt, and a strong love and devotion to Christ and the Church. The present book is the first printed edition of the complete Greek text. It also contains a Foreword by Joseph A. Munitiz, S.J., and an English translation. It was published in the Orientalia Christiana Analecta series (278) by the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. ISSN 1590-7449 ISBN 978-88-7210-357-6 Related Subjects: Genesis, Mysticism, Exegesis, Typology, Patristics, Eastern Church. BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES: Clement A. Kuehn received his B.A. degree in English Literature from the University of Illinois, Chicago; he received his Master’s and Ph.D. in Classical Studies from Loyola University, Chicago. At Loyola, he studied under the guidance of Professor James G. Keenan, noted papyrologist and historian of Late Antiquity, and Leo Sweeney, S.J., author of numerous books on Christian philosophy and metaphysics. His dual interests in ancient documents and mystical theology led to several articles on papyrological topics and his first book: Channels of Imperishable Fire : The Beginnings of Christian Mystical Poetry and Dioscorus of Aphrodito (1995). When an archive of sixth century Greek papyri was discovered in Petra, Jordan, Kuehn joined Ludwig Koenen and Jaakko Frösén in an attempt to conserve and decipher them (The Petra Papyri I). As a Senior Research Fellow of the United States Information Agency, Kuehn remained in Jordan until 1996, when he became Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at Fordham University in New York City. His research then became devoted to the Hexaemeron and medieval manuscripts. He currently teaches AP Vergil and Medieval Paleography at Hopkins School in New Haven, CT. John Baggarly entered the Society of Jesus on August 18, 1949, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 12, 1960. He received his S.T.D. degree (Sacrae Theologiae Doctor) from the Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana (Rome), and an extract of his dissertation, The Conjugates Christ-Church in the Hexaemeron of Ps.-Anastasius of Sinai, written under the direction of Fr. Antonio Orbe, S.J., was published in 1974. He taught theology at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary (Mundelein) and at the Pontificium Institutum Studiorum Orientalium (Rome). In 1983 he became Assistant Librarian at the Pontificium Institutum, where he remained for the next eleven years. When Fr. Baggarly began to develop serious health problems, he asked Kuehn to continue his work on the Hexaemeron, and in 1996 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He retired to the Colombiere Center in Michigan, where he now resides. BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CLEMENT A. KUEHN: Books: Kuehn, Clement, and John Baggarly, S.J., editors. Anastasius of Sinai. Hexaemeron. (Orientalia Christiana Analecta 278). With a Foreword by Joseph Munitiz, S.J. Rome: Pontifical Oriental Institute, 2008. Frösén, Jaakko, Antti Arjava, Marjo Lehtinen, Zbigniew Fiema, Clement Kuehn, et al., editors. The Petra Papyri I. Amman: American Center of Oriental Research, 2002. Kuehn, Clement. Channels of Imperishable Fire : The Beginnings of Christian Mystical Poetry and Dioscorus of Aphrodito. (Lang Classical Studies 7). With a Foreword by J. Liebeschuetz. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1995. Principal Articles: Review of Patrology : The Eastern Fathers from the Council of Chalcedon (451) to John of Damascus (†750). Edited by Angelo Di Berardino. In Byzantinische Zeitschrift 101/2 (2008): in preparation. Review of P.Sta.Xyla. The Byzantine Papyri of the Greek Papyrological Society. Volume 1. Edited by Basil Mandilaras. In The Classical Bulletin 72 (1996): 74-76. Review of Griechische literarische Papyri christlichen Inhaltes II. Edited by Kurt Treu and Johannes Diethart. In The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 30 (1993): 155-164. “A New Papyrus of a Dioscorian Poem and Marriage Contract, P.Berol.Inv.No. 21334.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 97 (1993): 103-115, plates 2-3. “Dioskoros of Aphrodito and Romanos the Melodist.” The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 27 (1990): 103-107. Key Papers and Seminars: “The Medieval Book of Hours.” Oxford University, Oxford, England, August 2006. “Deciphering the Petra Papyri : A Pond in the Woods.” ACOR Seminar Series, Amman, Jordan, March 1996. “Two Dowry Documents of the Petra Papyri.” Association Internationale de Papyrologues, Berlin, Germany, August 1995. “The Cicada : Poet, Philosopher, Mystic. Cicada Imagery from Homer to Dioscorus.” American Philological Association, Atlanta, GA, December 1994. “The Comic Tradition of Exaggerated Compound Words.” American Philological Association, Washington, D.C., December 1993. “A New Papyrus of a Dioscorian Poem and Marriage Contract.” Byzantine Studies Conference, Urbana, IL, October 1992. “Human Victims in the Iliad's Similes.” Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Hamilton, Ontario, April 1991. Instructional Design: Sweeney, Leo, S.J. Christian Philosophy : Greek, Medieval, Contemporary Reflections. New York: Peter Lang, 1997. Sweeney, Leo, S.J. Divine Infinity in Greek and Medieval Thought. New York: Peter Lang, 1992. Karavites, Peter, and Thomas Wren. Promise-Giving and Treaty-Making : Homer and the Near East. (Mnemosyne, Supplements 119) Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1991.