Book Series Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia, vol. 79

In Defence of Faith, Against the Manichaeans

Critical Edition and Historical, Literary and Theological Study of the Treatise Aduersus Manichaeos, Attributed to Evodius of Uzalis

Aäron Vanspauwen

  • Pages: 520 p.
  • Size:156 x 234 mm
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2021

  • € 120,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
  • ISBN: 978-2-503-58995-4
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  • ISBN: 978-2-503-58996-1
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This publication is the first comprehensive study of Evodius’ treatise Aduersus Manichaeos. It offers a new critical edition of the treatise as well as a thorough study of the treatise, its contents, and its historical context.

Review(s)

“Abgesehen von den monierten Kleinigkeiten stellt das Buch mit seiner profunden Zusammenstellung manichäischer Theologie im Allgemeinen und der Einbettung des Werks in seinen geistesgeschichtlichen Kontext im Besonderen eine Bereicherung der Forschung da, zu der man seinem Verfasser uneingeschränkt gratulieren darf.” (Clemens Weidmann, in Plekos 23, 2021, S. 435-443, https://www.plekos.uni-muenchen.de/2021/r-vanspauwen.pdf)

In Defence of Faith is an impressive and comprehensive work of scholarship. (...) A wide range of scholars across guilds (historical, theological, and philological) will find invaluable aspects of Vanspauwen’s study. (...) the translation and critical apparatus are of singular importance.” (Thomas Clemmons, in Augustiniana 71/2, 2021, p. 520-523)

“(Vanspauwen)’s methodical and comprehensive presentation of Adversus Manichaeos puts the work on a much better footing than it has ever had before as a source for the study of early fifth-century North African Christianity and Manichaeism.” (Jason BeDuhn, in Church History, 3, 2022, p. 122)

« C’est donc une part importante du livre qui était déjà disponible ; on ne peut cependant que regretter que l’auteur – et sans doute l’éditeur – ait fait le choix de ne pas reprendre la démonstration philologique qui justifie l’établissement du texte dans le volume ici présenté ; de ce fait, le lecteur sera obligé de se reporter à l’article de Sacris erudiri (Aäron Vanspauwen, « The Anti-Manichaean Treatise De fide contra Manichaeos, Attributed to Evodius of Uzalis : Critical Edition and Translation », Sacris erudiri 57 [2018], p. 7-116), pour cette seule raison, alors qu’il aurait sinon pu disposer, en un seul livre, de tout le nécessaire pour l’étude de cette oeuvre. » (Matthieu Cassin, dans Revues des Sciences philosophiques et théologiques 107, 2023, Bulletin de patrologie, p. 96-98)

BIO

Aäron Vanspauwen is a postdoctoral researcher (FWO) at the Research Unit 'History of Church and Theology' of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at KU Leuven (Belgium). His research interests lie in patristics, Manichaean studies, and the medieval and early modern reception of late antiquity.

Summary

The subject of this publication is the treatise Aduersus Manichaeos, attributed to Evodius of Uzalis. Evodius was a friend and contemporary of Augustine of Hippo. The treatise Aduersus Manichaeos is an important source on the North African Catholic church and its polemics against the Manichaeans. Although the treatise is strongly influenced by the anti-Manichaean writings of Augustine of Hippo, it also offers much original and likely authentic information on the Manichaean movement. Thus far, however, no systematic study had been conducted on this anti-Manichaean treatise attributed to Evodius. As a result, some of its historical circumstances have been shrouded in mystery.

The present volume reconstructs the circumstances in which Aduersus Manichaeos was written, and studies the treatise in relation to its fifth-century North African context. The study offers a literary, historical and theological analysis of Aduersus Manichaeos. The publication also complements the study of Aduersus Manichaeos with a new critical edition of the original Latin text, with a facing English translation.

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