Theology
Bärbel Dümler
Zeno von Verona zu heidnischer Kultur und christlicher Bildung
[Pagan Culture and Christian Education in the Works of Zeno of Verona.]
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Published in German.
Barbara Dümler studies the tractates of Zeno of Verona, the oldest preserved corpus of Latin sermons from the period between 360 and 380 AD. Taking a philological perspective, she begins by analyzing the relationship between the bishop and paganism according to the Stoic schema of the theologia tripartita. Zeno's statements on the pagan cult, gods and mythological figures and their depiction as well as his statements on philosophy and intellectualism reveal that he considered Christianity to be the superior religion in every respect. The author then deals with Zeno's counterproposal to the pagan culture which he condemned. The essential difference is that all the elements of the counterproposal, in this case religious expertise, ethical knowledge and ethical skills, are focused on God, as expressed in the term »education,« a term which can be traced back to Meister Eckhart and which has been reassigned here.