The “Pious Mind” of the Fourth Book of Maccabees
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2020-1-14-28
Abstract
The article is devoted to the noncanonical Fourth Book of Maccabees, especially the concept of “pious mind” (ὁ εὐσεβὴς λογισμός). An anonymous author uses the terminology of popular Greek philosophy to substantiate the supremacy of the Torah, the Divine law. A “pious mind” is a believing mind that, being wholly devoted to God, sanctions Hellenic wisdom, yet also surpasses it. A comparison is made of the “pious mind” and Wisdom, Hochma, Shekhinah. In the Fourth Book of Maccabees, there is the apology of martyrdom in the name of faith, which was alien to Greek philosophy and ethics, including the ethics of Stoicism. The apology of martyrdom in the Fourth (and also Second) Maccabees books anticipates Christian martyrology.
About the Authors
N. V. Braginskaya
Russian State University for the Humanities Russia
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nina V. Braginskaya - Dr. of Sci. (History), professor.
bld. 6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125993A. I. Shmaina-Velikanova
Russian State University for the Humanities Russia
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anna I. Shmaina-Velikanova, Dr. of Sci. (Cultural Studies), professor.
bld. 6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125993
References
1. Braginskaya, N.V. and Shmaina-Velikanova, A.I., transl., comment. (2014), Knigi Makkaveev (Chetyre Knigi Makkavev) [Books of the Maccabees (Four Books of the Maccabees)], Mosty kul’ tury/Gesharim, Moscow, Russia.
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5. Romodanovskaya, V.A. (2014), “Maccabees in Russian tradition”, in Braginskaya, N.V. and Shmaina-Velikanova, A.I., transl., comment. (2014), Knigi Makkaveev (Chetyre Knigi Makkavev) [Books of the Maccabees (Four Books of the Maccabees)], Mosty kul’ tury/Gesharim, Moscow, Russia, pp. 527-540.
6. Ziade, R. (2007), Les martyrs Maccabees: de I’histoire juive au culte chretien. Les home-lies de Gregoire de Nazianze et de Jean Chrysostome, Brill, Leiden, X, 392 p. (Supplements to «Vigiliae Christianae», vol. 80)
Review
For citations:
Braginskaya N.V., Shmaina-Velikanova A.I. The “Pious Mind” of the Fourth Book of Maccabees. Studia Religiosa Rossica: Russian Journal of Religion. 2020;(1):14-28. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2020-1-14-28
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