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Theodore of Mopsuestia’s Biblical Exegesis in His Catechetical Homilies

In Brill, Marius Portaru, Patristic exegesis, Patristics, Theodore of Mopsuestia on March 9, 2026 at 9:54 pm

2026.03.02 | Sofia Puchkova. Re-envisioning Theodore: Theodore of Mopsuestia’s Biblical Exegesis in His Catechetical Homilies. SVC 185. Brill, Leiden-Boston: 2024.

Review by Marius Portaru, Pontificium Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Rome.

The present monograph addresses a gap in the scholarship on Theodore of Mopsuestia by examining his ‘invisible’ biblical exegesis in the Catechetical Homilies. While this topic was only briefly discussed in two previous studies by R. Greer and D. Keating (15), our monograph provides a comprehensive investigation: exploring the nature of Theodore’s exegesis, carefully identifying biblical quotations in the Catechetical Homilies (no less than 215 exegetical passages), comparing Theodore’s exegesis in his commentaries with that in the Homilies, and analysing Theodore’s connections with the pro-Nicene exegetical tradition, the Greco-Syrian liturgical tradition, John Chrysostom, and Origen. The outcome is a valuable contribution and an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand Theodore of Mopsuestia’s biblical exegesis in the Catechetical Homilies.

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Tradition and Innovation

In Baptism, Brill, Mystagogy, Narsai of Nisibis, Nathan WITKAMP, Patristics, Sofia Puchkova, Theodore of Mopsuestia on January 4, 2021 at 1:49 pm
Cover Tradition and Innovation: Baptismal Rite and Mystagogy in Theodore of Mopsuestia and Narsai of Nisibis

2021.1.1 | Nathan Witkamp. Tradition and Innovation: Baptismal Rite and Mystagogy in Theodore of Mopsuestia and Narsai of Nisibis. Supplements to Vigiliae Chrisitanae 149. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2018. ISBN 9789004377851.

Review by Sofia Puchkova, KU Leuven.

The book of Nathan Witkamp, a research fellow of the Netherlands Centre for Patristic Research, presents the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the baptismal rite and mystagogy in the Catechetical Homilies of Theodore of Mopsuestia and in the 21 and 22 memre of Narsai of Nisibis. Challenging the generally accepted view that Narsai had been primarily and significantly influenced by Theodore to the extent that up till now he was regarded as a mere copyist of his teacher, Witkamp demonstrates Narsai’s creativity in the use of Theodore’s material and of the sources of the East Syrian liturgical tradition.

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