Department of Biblical Studies

Research Focus

The Department focuses on the study of historical, philological, philosophical and theological questions related to the Bible and its impact on the European culture. The researchers of the department concentrate mainly on these areas of study: the Bible and the Hellenistic Antiquity; the Bible and the early Christian literature; and the Bible in the Czech lands.

NEWS

Under the auspices of the CSF grant, the Department is organizing the international conference  "Hellenism, Early Judaism and Early Christianity: Transmission and Transformation of Ideas" which will take place in Prague, Vila Lanna,  on September 12.-13. 2019. Keynote speakers will include Ilaria L. E. Ramelli (Oxford), Anders Klostergaard Petersen (Aarhus) and Daniel Boyarin (Berkeley). The programme of the conference is to be found here and on the website.

Current projects

Team projects

THE TRANSMISSION AND TRANSFORMATION OF IDEAS: HELLENISM, EARLY JUDAISM, AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY (2019-2021; CSF grant no. 19-02741S; principal investigator: doc. Mgr. Jiří Hoblík, Ph.D., research collaborators: mgr. David Cielontko, dr. Jan A. Dus, mgr. Radka Fialová, dr. Juraj Franek, dr. Petr Kitzler)

In many respects, the Hellenistic period shares some features with the global tendencies of modern world: the hegemony of one or two communication languages (Greek and Latin – today: English); lively commercial and cultural contacts across huge geographical space (Mediteranean – today: global); intermingling of philosophical and religious movements. The religious world of the Old Testament is, at this time, organically transformed into the early Judaism with Hellenistic elements (the Alexandrian diaspora; deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament; apocalypticism; Jewish philosophy etc.). The traditional philosophy of Antiquity is also enriched, at this time, by new impulses (Middle Platonism, Stoicism, mystery cults). In this context the Christianity evolves. For all these reasons the study of Hellenism becomes topical from the international point of view today. The project is dedicated especially to Hellenistic and early Christian literature and to its fascinating testimony to multi-layered, harmonical as well as polemical, dialogue (Gnosis; Philo of Alexandria, Justin the Martyr etc.). The main methodological advantage of this project can be seen in the efforts to overcome the separation of biblical studies from the classical scholarship devoted to the literature of Antiquity. This is mirrored by the thematic focus of planned international conference which is to be held in Prague at the autumn of 2019, as well as planned publications.

THE LIBRARY OF EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE

Early Christian writings (often treated in the introductory sections of patristics) are usually divided into apocryphal writings, apologetic treatises, works of the Apostolic Fathers and of the Church Fathers; the limits between these groups may be fluid and do not match boundaries between genres. In the second half of the 20th century, when the humanities were under strict ideological control of the state, the old Christian texts remained on the periphery of interest and attention was paid to them almost exclusively by religious circles. Now we make them accessible to wider Czech public (some of them for the first time) in modern translations from Greek, Latin and other languages, equipped with detailed commentaries aiming especially at setting them in the context of contemporary ancient literature. The texts are published especially in the series The Library of Early Christian Literature (Vyšehrad publishing house) and in the Library of Early Christian Tradition (OIKOYMENH publishing house, with dr. Petr Kitzler as a principal editor).

Collaborations on Projects Run by Other Institutions

THE NEW TESTAMENT 1601: THE PEAK OF BIBLICAL WORK OF THE UNITY OF BRETHERN (2018-2020; CSF grant no. 18-07309S; principal investigator: PhDr. Robert Dittmann, Ph.D., Charles University, Faculty of Arts; for the Centre for Classical Studies: Mgr. Jan Dus Th.D. and Bc. Vojtěch Pelc).

NAG HAMMADI MANUSCRIPTS. The volumes of the book series “Library of Early Christian Texts” (Vyšehrad publishing house), published since 2008, present commented Czech translations of texts created in a mostly gnostic environment and discovered in Egypt. The project is carried out in collaboration with the Czech Institute of Egyptology at the Charles University, Prague, the representative of the Centre is mgr. Bc. Radka Fialová.

Individual Projects

THE MANUAL BY J. A. COMENIUS. A little known Biblical paraphrase, compiled from the Kralice translation by the bishop of the Unity of the Brethren, who is known today rather for his pedagogical writings. The project is directed by dr. Jiří Beneš, the planned output is a commented edition.

LETTERS OF IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH IN TWO VERSIONS. The standard collection of seven authentic letters by Ignatius of Antioch (2nd c. CE) was later expanded by an anonymous author who also enriched it by adding independent exegetical and dogmatical emphases (the so-called expanded version from 4th c. CE). The planned outputs are confrontational studies with special reference to the Bible as a firm reference base of the ignatiana, and later the synoptical edition of both versions. Investigator: Mgr. Jan A. Dus, Th.D.

SIBYLLINE ORACLES. The extensive collection of Judeo-Christian oracles written in Greek hexameter and edited repeatedly during the 4th-7th c. CE contains many older traditions and references to the Bible as well as to ancient mythology. The planned output is a commented Czech translation of last four books (XI-XIV) which have not been translated into Czech yet. Investigator: Mgr. Jan A. Dus, Th.D.

TERTULLIAN'S THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND HIS DOCTRINE OF THE SOUL. Tertullian of Carthage (3rd c. CE), one of the oldest Christian authors to write in Latin, is also the author of the oldest extant Christian treatise On the Soul (De anima). Besides partial studies, the planned output of the project is the first Czech commented translation of this extensive treatise.  Investigator: PhDr. Petr Kitzler, Ph.D., DSc.

Databases

The survey of Czech translations of the so-called "New Testament Apocrypha" aims at harmonizing the nomenclature, base on the authoritative Clavis Apocryphorum Novi Testamenti (Brepols publishing house). More information here.

Involvement in the Strategie AV 21

THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HELLENISM, POST-HELLENISM, AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY (investigators: Mgr. Bc. Radka Fialová, doc. Mgr. Jiří Hoblík, Ph.D., 2019)

Within the framework of the programme Memory in the Digital Age, we are preparing the electronical Encyclopaedia of Hellenism, Post-Hellenism, and Early Christianity. The planned output is an e-book prepared to be continuously expanded. In the first phase, the encyclopaedia shall contain  about 50 substantially elaborated entries with the emphasis on interdisciplinary research into religious and philosophical phenomena influenced by the Hellenistic milieu.

 
Educational Activities

The staff of the Department regularly takes part in teaching at various Czech universities, e. g. at the Protestant Theological Faculty of the Charles University in Prague (dr. Jan A. Dus) or at the Faculty of Arts of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (doc. Jiří Hoblík).

Completed Projects and Selected Important Publications

THE CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE “HISTORY AND INTERPRETATION OF BIBLE” (CSF grant no. P401/12/G168; 2012–2018)
Five institutions and some tens of scholars have joined their efforts in this extensive project supported by the Czech Science Foundation (for more details click here). Following researchers of the Department collaborated on this project: doc. Josef Bartoň, dr. Jiří Beneš, dr. Robert Dittmann, dr. Jan A. Dus, mgr. Radka Fialová, doc. Jiří Hoblík a dr. Petr Kitzler.

GRACE IN EARLY CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY (2004–2016)
In an extensive set of studies, printed first in three separate volumes in Czech and then in one volume in German, the theological theme of grace is presented from the points of view of various ancient authors. The project was co-organised with the Centre for Patristic, Medieval and Renaissance Texts. Dr. Jan A. Dus and dr. Petr Kitzler took part in the project.

Volumes published in Czech:
Karfíková, Lenka – Mrázek, Jiří (eds.), Milost podle Písma a starokřesťanských autorů. Jihlava: Mlýn 2004 [Grace according to the Scripture and Old Christian Authors].
Karfíková, Lenka – Dus, Jan A. (eds.), Milost v antické, židovské a křesťanské tradici. Jihlava: Mlýn 2008 [Grace in Classical, Jewish and Christian Tradition].
Karfíková, Lenka – Dus, Jan A. (eds.), Milost v patristice. Jihlava: Mlýn 2011 [Grace in Patristic Writings].

The German version of the studies was published under the following title in a prestigious theological book series devoted to the history of dogma:
Karfíková, Lenka – Hušek, Vít – Chvátal, Ladislav (eds.), Gnadenlehre in Schrift und Patristik. Freiburg: Herder 2016 (Handbuch der Dogmengeschichte, Bd. III, Fasz. 5a, Teil 1).

MARTYROLOGICAL LITERATURE (2009–2015)
A commented Czech translation of the oldest testimonies about Christian martyrs. The project was co-organised with the Centre for Patristic, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and was directed by Petr Kitzler.

Volumes published:
Kitzler, Petr (ed.), Příběhy raně křesťanských mučedníků: Výbor z nejstarší latinské a řecké martyrologické literatury. Praha: Vyšehrad 2009 [Stories of Early Christian Martyrs. Selection from the Oldest Latin and Greek Martyrological Literature].
Kitzler, Petr (ed.), Příběhy raně křesťanských mučedníků II: Výbor z latinské a řecké martyrologické literatury 4. a 5. století. Praha: Vyšehrad 2012 [Stories of Early Christian Martyrs II. Selection from Latin and Greek Martyrological Literature of the 4th and 5th Centuries].
Kitzler, Petr, From Passio Perpetuae to Acta Perpetuae. Recontextualizing a Martyr Story in the Literature of the Early Church. Berlin – Boston: Walter de Gruyter 2015 (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte, 127).

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

• Bartoň, Josef - Dittmann, Robert, Český obrozenec překládá Písmo: překladatelské dílo Františka Novotného z Luže: edice Janova evangelia. Praha: Scriptorium, 2018. 158 s. ISBN 978-80-88013-72-3.
• Dus, Jan A., První list Petrův. Praha: Česká biblická společnost, 2017. 308 s. Český ekumenický komentář k Novému zákonu, 18. ISBN 978-80-7545-064-7.
• Fialová, Radka, Justin Mučedník a jeho Bible. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2018. 230 s. Teologie. ISBN 978-80-7601-081-9.
• Kitzler, Petr, Duše a tělo u Tertulliana. Dvě studie k Tertullianově antropologii. Praha: Filosofický ústav AV ČR: OIKOYMENH, 2018. 123 s. Edice Oikúmené, 198. ISBN 978-80-7298-346-9.
• Kitzler, Petr, From Passio Perpetuae to Acta Perpetuae. Recontextualizing a Martyr Story in the Literature of the Early Church. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2015. 159 s. Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte, 127. ISBN 978-3-11-041942-9.

STUDIES

• Bartoň, Josef, "Translation Tradition as a Source of Errors and Clichés in Modern Czech Translations of the New Testament", in: J. Dušek - J. Roskovec (eds.), The Process of Authority: the Dynamics in Transmission and Reception of Canonical Texts, Berlin: De Gruyter 2016, s. 337–348. Deuterocanonical and cognate literature studies, 27. ISBN 978-3-11-037694-4.
• Beneš, Jiří, „J. A. Comenius on Translation and Interpretation of the Bible“, in: W. Goris – M. A. Meyer – V. Urbánek (eds.), Gewalt sei ferne den Dingen. Contemporary Perspectives on the Works of John Amos Comenius, Wiesbaden: Springer VS 2016, s. 159–168. ISBN 978-3-658-08260-4.
• Dittmann, Robert, "Vokalismus Bible kralické šestidílné II: uplatnění změn proběhlých od konce 14. století", in: Listy filologické, 141, 2018, s. 95-130. ISSN 0024-4457.
• Dittmann, Robert, "Vokalismus Bible kralické šestidílné I. Uplatnění změn proběhlých před staročeskými diftongizacemi", in: Listy filologické, 140, 2017, s. 407-427. ISSN 0024-4457.
• Dus, Jan A., "Papers or Principles? Ignatius of Antioch on the Authority of the Old Testament", in: J. Dušek - J. Roskovec (eds.), The Process of Authority: the Dynamics in Transmission and Reception of Canonical Texts, Berlin: De Gruyter 2016, s. 151–163. Deuterocanonical and cognate literature studies, 27. ISBN 978-3-11-037694-4.
• Dus, Jan A., "Die Apostolischen Väter", in: L. Karfíková - V. Hušek - L. Chvátal (eds.), Gnadenlehre in Schrift und Patristik. Freiburg: Herder 2016, s. 174-188. Handbuch der Dogmengeschichte. Bd. 3, Christologie, Soteriologie, Ekklesiologie, Mariologie, Gnadenlehre. Faszikel 5a (1. Teil). ISBN 978-3-451-00708-8.
• Fialová, Radka, "'Scripture' and the 'Memoires of the Apostels': Justin Martyr and his Bible.", in: J. Dušek - J. Roskovec (eds.), The Process of Authority: the Dynamics in Transmission and Reception of Canonical Texts, Berlin: De Gruyter 2016, s. 165-178. Deuterocanonical and cognate literature studies, 27. ISBN 978-3-11-037694-4.
• Hoblík, Jiří, "Moudrost po čase své krize – v knize, jíž propůjčila jméno", in: Teologická reflexe, 22, 2016, s. 126-144. ISSN 1211-1872.
• Kitzler, Petr, "Tertullian's Concept of the Soul and His Corporealistic Ontology", in: J. Lagouanère - S. Fialon (eds.), Tertullianus Afer. Tertullien et la littérature chrétienne d'Afrique (IIe-VIe siècles). Turnhout: Brepols 2015, s. 43-62. Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia, 70. ISBN 978-2-503-55578-2.
• Kitzler, Petr, "Tertullian", in: L. Karfíková - V. Hušek - L. Chvátal (eds.), Gnadenlehre in Schrift und Patristik. Freiburg: Herder 2016, s. 265-281. Handbuch der Dogmengeschichte. Bd. 3, Christologie, Soteriologie, Ekklesiologie, Mariologie, Gnadenlehre. Faszikel 5a (1. Teil). ISBN 978-3-451-00708-8.