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Fredric W. Schlatter
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Sat Nov 3 11:29:43 2007
Vigiliae Christianae 42 (1988), 364-375, E . J . Brill, Leiden
But in the case of laymen this role of teaching is not literally fulfilled
in the present life: Laicus enim in die judicii stolam sacerdotalem
accipiet, et a Deo chrismate ungetur in sacerdotium (852B). Hence the
doctor must be a sacerdos, but the office also includes anyone who is
a clericus:
sic sacerdos, et omnis clericus, etsi specialiter non promittat, tamen per hoc
ipsum quod doctor constituitur aliorum, tacite promittere Deo videtur, in
omnibus obauditurum se Deo (852B).
In one passage he seems to include the office of lector under the opus
clericale (624C). Beside the sacerdos or clericus and laicus is the
ecclesiasticus vir (686C) who is in the general category of spiritualesper-
sonae among whom are included aut continens vidua, aut monachus,
aut virgo, id est, qui se Deo tradidit (858C). The author further specifies
who have the honor sacerdotalis by distinguishing them from the
diaconi, ecclesiastici, and laici: et ejicit omnes vendentes gratiam Dei de
Ecclesia, episcopos, presbyteros, diaconos, omnesque ecclesiasticos,
necnon et laicos (841C). Finally, the generic term doctores is further
specified through the function of those who are praedicatores (677D-
678B) and by the reason of that function must be members of the
presbyterium (934D). Hence when the author speaks of sacerdotes
caeterique doctores (686A), he implicitly denies the lay status of our
author, who is among the doctores. But his specific status must be
366 FREDRIC W . SCHLATTER, S . J
A third passage records high praise for the priesthood and a low esteem
for the diaconate in the contrast he finds between an apostolus, a term
which for him includes here the presbyter," and the deacon: apostoli
apostolatus putatur a nobis honor esse ipsius apostoli ... Similiter et
diaconatus diaconi contemptibilitas videtur a nobis (831B-C). He states
THE AUTHOR OF THE OPUS IMPERFECTUM IN MATTHAEUM 367
does not rule out the setting in a western locale, e.g. in Sicily or Africa.
The possibility of Constantinople as the locale of the author is similarly
present in remarks on the academic institutions on the Capitolium of
Constantinople, but again the presence of the remark may reflect no
more than acquired knowledge or the memory of a stay in that city. So
also, for the other citations which may show an awareness of imperial
practice in C o n ~ t a n t i n o p l e . ~ the
~ u tpresence of an imperial court in
the west with Valentinian 111, who was installed at Rome in 425, should
be a reminder that imperial protocol, besides being a matter of general
knowledge, could also be experienced in the western part of the empire.
It would be attractive if the words beginning the oldest manuscripts
of the text (798D-799A) were shown to be authentic since they would
substantiate the author's presence in a place not his usual habitat:
Legite, inquam, fidelissimi, horror, fratres, legite vobiscum, crescite in
fide, ut vobiscum corpore absens, efficiar in Christo vobiscum praesens
in fide. The reminiscence of 1 Cor. 5.3 further emphasizes the point.
However, the analysis of P . Nautin underscores the internal problems
of this text and proposes an imaginative explanation for its presence
which suggests caution in accepting the reliability of the p a s ~ a g e . ~ '
This part of our study has concluded that the author is a Latin cleric,
possibly a deacon, writing the Opus irnperfectum early in the second
quarter of the fifth century after producing other exegetical works. He
has, in this analysis, a good knowledge of Greek, a thorough acquaint-
ance with the works of Origen, heterodox theology with a specially
strong connection with Pelagianism, and an awareness of contemporary
Constantinople that could indicate a stay there but not necessarily that
he wrote this work while in the capital.
Other critics, perceiving the work as characteristically Arian have
sought to find the author within an Arian community. In such an iden-
tification what divides the critics is their judgment whether or not the
Opus imperfectum is an original Latin composition by a western writer
or a Latin translation of a Greek work. In the first hypothesis the
favored candidate is Maximinus, the Arian bishop against whom St.
Augustine wrote.22.In the second hypothesis Timotheos, a priest of
Constantinople, has been strongly s u p p ~ r t e dThe . ~ ~validity of the pres-
ent study particularly hinges on its own hypothesis that the Latin
author, who may be a deacon, must be sought in Pelagian circles. On
this basis Annianus2Qf Celeda is the nominee with the most suitable
credentials.
370 FREDRIC W . SCHLATTER, S.J
' See the analysis of J.-P. Bouhot, Remarques sur l'histoire du texte de l'Opus imperfec-
tum in Matthaeum, Vigiliae Christianae 24 (1970) 197-209; and J. Lemarie, Les
homiliaires de Bobbio et la tradition textuelle de 1' "Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum,"
Revue benedictine 85 (1975) 358-362.
M. Simonetti, Per una retta valutazione dell' Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum, Vetera
Christianorum 8 (1971) 87-97; R. ~ t a i x Fragments
, inedits de 1' "Opus imperfectum in
Matthaeum," Revue benedictine," 84 (1974) 274-276; F. W. Schlatter, The Opus
Imperfectum in Matthaeum and the Fragmenta in Lucam, Vigiliae Christianae 39 (1985)
384-392.
P G 56, 611-946, with the six fragments recovered by R. ~ t a i x Fragments
, inedits de
1' "Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum," Revue benidictine 84 (1974) 271-300. According
to F. Glorie, in W. J. Burghardt, Literature of Christian Antiquity: 1979-1983,
Theological Studies 45 (1984) 282, a new edition is to appear in Corpus Christianorum.
' Les Ariens d'occident, 335-430 (Paris 1967) 172.
' L' "Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum" et les Ariens de Constantinople, Revue
d'histoire ecclesiastique 67 (1972) 747.
In epistolam ad Ephesios, 364-365, P L Supplement 1. 1298.
' L. Duchesne, Le Liber Pontificalis, I' (Paris 1955) 148.
remarks in The Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum and the Fragmenta in Lucam, Vigiliae
Christianae 39 (1985) 391, note 16.
' * See my article: The Pelagianism of the Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Vigiliae
Christianae 41 (1987) 267-284.
The presence of Arianism in a movement influenced by Pelagius is unexpected in view
of his orthodoxy and explicit rejection of Arianism. See G . de Plinval, Pelage: ses ecrits,
sa vie et sa reforme (Paris 1943) 124-127, and T. Bohlin, Die Theologie des Pelagius und
ihre Genesis (Uppsala 1957) 10-12. This problem deserves a separate treatment.
" 901C, 907A.
" Codex Theodosii, 14.9.3. See P. Lemerle, Le premier humanisme byzantin (Paris
1971) 63-66.
905C. Meslin, op.cit., 169, on the basis of H. Delehaye, Les saints stylites (Bruxelles
1923) xv-xvii, deduces a date "apres les annees 416-417," while Nautin, op.cit., 747 has
arrived at 429. A. Vbobus, History of Asceticism in the Syrian Orient, 2 (Louvain 1960)
213, note 30, and 218, note 54, shows that the pillar years of Simon Stylites extend from
421-459 although his stay on the highest pillar was from 439. However, a letter of
Theodosius I1 in September 432, ed. E. Schwartz, ACO, I. 1. 4 (p. 5-6) shows Simon's
fame well established by that date and presumably as a stylites.
" Op. cit., 756, following J. Stiglmayr, Das Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum, in
Zeitschrift fur katholische Theologie 34 (1910) 477-478.
641D-642A, 920A-B, 941B, 943A. See Nautin, op. cit., 756-758.
" Ibid., 764-766.
l2
Collatio cum Maximino and Contra Maximinum, P L 42. 709-742, 742-814. Meslin,
op. cit., 174-180, has presented this position.
' Nautin, op. cit., 760-764, has revived this identification as proposed earlier by Josef
Stiglmayr, op. cit., 483-495.
'' For the form Annianus rather than Anianus, see the references in H. Musurillo, John
Chrysostom's Homilies in Matthew and the Version of Annianus, Kyriakon. Festschriff
Joannes Quasten 1 (Miinster/Westf. 1970) 453, note 6.
"
Ep. 143. 2, CSEL 56, p. 293.
l6
J . Garnier, Dissertatio I, De primis auctoribus et praecipuis defensoribus haeresis
Pelagianae, PL 48. 303D, would have the word refer not to the place of his ministry but
rather to the place of his birth, which he conjectures is Celenna and would be located in
Campania. H. Rahner, LThK (ed. 2) 1. 56, s.v. Anianus, accepts the reading Ceneda,
which C. Baur had recorded in ed. 1, and repeats the identification with the modern Vit-
torio, near Treviso.
'' For the text of the prefaces, see P L 48. 626B-630C. For the number of translated
homilies on Matthew, see B. Altaner, Altlateinische Ubersetzungen von
from the evidence of the preface that Annianus translated the entire collection of
Chrysostom's homilies on Matthew, of which twenty-five have survived, not merely the
(Paris 1982) 98-99, note 5, has called attention to omissions, paraphrases, and inap-
4t
Commonitorium, 3 , ed. E. Schwartz, ACO I. 5 (p. 5).