Becoming Christian: The Conversion of Roman Cappadocia

Preachers and Audiences

Preachers and Audiences Preachers and Audiences People had always watched and listened to the Cappadocian Fathers. Always they had lived in public and performed in public, as students praised by their teachers, as patrons interceding on behalf of friends and cities, as clerics ministering to congregations, even as ascetics who publicized their ideas about the benefits of seclusion. As bishops one of their primary responsibilities was to preach. In their sermons they articulated their own theology,criticized rival doctrines, offered hortatory advice about proper morality, commemorated new buildings, honored saints and their cults, and consoled people over their misfortunes. Sometimes they commented on current events, a devastating drought, the fire that almost destroyed a church "yesterday," the heavy drinking that filled long winter nights. Their sermons were hence not simply theological treatises, moral homilies, or laudatory panegyrics. In the small towns of eastern Asia Minor they were the equivalents of today's newscasts and editorials.' Modern historians have carefully sifted sermons as historical sources for biographical details, political events, and many aspects of everyday life. But for all their success at extracting these golden nuggets of information, modern studies have often overlooked the most obvious question about these sermons. Did ancient audiences actually understand them? Both the theology and the language posed formidable obstacles. The Cappadocian Fathers were highly educated orators who articulated complex theology by means of intricate philosophical ideas and the techniques of formal rhetoric . The overwhelming output of modern exegesis on patristic writings is a more than adequate indication of our own difficulty in interpreting the theology, and it should raise hesitations about the ability of ancient audiences to comprehend these doctrines. In addition, in many cases the grammar and vocabulary of the language were as sophisticated and complex as the theology.The Cappadocian Fathers and other bishops were participants in the movement to revive the Attic Greek that had been used centuries earlier during the classical period. In their writings, and frequently also when delivering sermons, they used a rather archaic literary Greek that was quite different from the common spoken Greek. Because much of the New Testament had been written in this People had always watched and listened to the Cappadocian Fathers. Always they had lived in public and performed in public, as students praised by their teachers, as patrons interceding on behalf of friends and cities, as clerics ministering to congregations, even as ascetics who publicized their ideas about the benefits of seclusion. As bishops one of their primary responsibilities was to preach. In their sermons they articulated their own theology, criticized rival doctrines, offered hortatory advice about proper morality, commemorated new buildings, honored saints and their cults, and consoled people over their misfortunes. Sometimes they commented on current events, a devastating drought, the fire that almost destroyed a church "yesterday;' the heavy drinking that filled long winter nights. Their sermons were hence not simply theological treatises, moral homilies, or laudatory panegyrics. In the small towns of eastern Asia Minor they were the equivalents of today's newscasts and editorials.! Modern historians have carefully sifted sermons as historical sources for biographical details, political events, and many aspects of everyday life. But for all their success at extracting these golden nuggets of information, modern studies have often overlooked the most obvious question about these sermons. Did ancient audiences actually understand them? Both the theology and the language posed formidable obstacles. The Cappadocian Fathers were highly educated orators who articulated complex theology by means of intricate philosophical ideas and the techniques of formal rhetoric . The overwhelming output of modern exegesis on patristic writings is a more than adequate indication of our own difficulty in interpreting the theology, and it should raise hesitations about the ability of ancient audiences to comprehend these doctrines. In addition, in many cases the grammar and vocabulary of the language were as sophisticated and complex as the theology. The Cappadocian Fathers and other bishops were participants in the movement to revive the Attic Greek that had been used centuries earlier during the classical period. In their writings, and frequently also when delivering sermons, they used a rather archaic literary Greek that was quite different from the common spoken Greek. Because much of the New Testament had been written in this 102 Preachers and Atidiences vulgar Greek, some of these learned bishops and clerics were embarrassed by their own biblical texts. Whenever they cited passages from the Septuagint , the Greek translation...