The purpose of the volume is to explore how specific historical and socio-cultura conditions of late antiquity shaped the development of Christian thought.The authors of the volume analyse various aspects of these conditions, particularly those of a textual and institutional nature, as they are reflected in the hermeneutic and philosophical principles of Christian discourse. This focus sheds new light on unexplored features of Christian literature, such as the influence of manuscript culture, early church institutions and practices, exegetical techniques, and philosophical curricula.

Anders Christian Jacobsen is Professor in Systematic Theology, Arts, at Aarhus Universitet, Denmark. Anna Usacheva is a Doctor of Classical Philology and Core Fellow of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, Finland.