4,981 research outputs found
THEOLOGIA AND OIKONOMIA: THE SOTERIOLOGICAL GROUND OF GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS’S TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY.
No full textThis dissertation explores the soteriological ground of the trinitarian theology of
Gregory of Nazianzus and establishes a consistent link in his thought between the
spheres of oikonomia and theologia. His writings are studied against the background of
contemporary theological and philosophical trends thus demonstrating the context
within which he elaborated his main theological concepts as well as their novelty.
Although Gregory drew heavily on the heritage of his intellectual master Origen, he
significantly changed his perspective from cosmological speculations to reflections on
the historical embodiment of Christ’s salvific activity. This shift was to lead Gregory
towards a positive view of the body and of bodily desire which he considered a vital
force in human existence capable of union with God in the process of deification.
Gregory thus fully identified Christ with humanity in its total manifestation, including
the human mind with its fallen and rebellious desire, now assumed and redeemed in the
incarnation. Hence Gregory placed the suffering image of Christ at the heart of his
trinitarian theological construction. As this thesis argues, around this image evolves the
whole dogmatic edifice of Gregory’s theology. Christ’s divine sovereignty is
understood not in separation and independence from the passion on Cross. Rather, its
full manifestation is only possible because of the cross, because of Christ’s free and
willing acceptance of it. The whole set of interrelationships between the suffering
Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit are depicted according to the logic of
coincidence of sovereignty and humiliation. It is precisely in this combination of
theological themes – expressed with our new concept of “kenotic sovereignty” – that
the focus of the present thesis is located. This innovative spiritual disposition shapes
both Gregory’s theological epistemology and his hermeneutical strategy. Arguing for
the possibility of knowing the divine in and through human bodily existence and
corroborating this view with suitably interpreted Scriptural evidence, he opens the
horizons for the human ascension to the realm of the divine trinitarian life. In this way
Gregory envisages access to the transcendent theology of the Trinity which is
understood by him in purely personal terms, insofar as it implies the intimate
conversation of God with us “as friends” (Or. 38.7). This unique reworking of classical
and Christian themes is possible because of Gregory’s insistence that divine
sovereignty and transcendence become intelligible exclusively in the context of Easter.
Thus the habitually neglected narrative of the cross and resurrection of Christ in the
thought of the Theologian is the only key to unlock his understanding of the luminous
mystery of the Trinity
The 'Prehistory' of Gregory of Tours: An Analysis of Books I-IV of Gregory's Histories
No full textThis thesis is concerned with the structure and agenda of the first four books of Gregory of Tours� Histories. Building on the idea that it was the death of Gregory�s patron, king Sigibert, at the end of Book IV, that stimulated the writing of the Histories, I argue that the agenda of the first four books, the �Prehistory�, relates directly to the events that brought about the Civil War that resulted in Sigibert�s death. This focus has previously gone unrecognised. I suggest that there is a strong structural framework to this section of the Histories, designed to promote the author�s agenda. This confirms that Books I-IV were conceived as one unit, and also heightens the level at which modern scholarship should view Gregory�s literary achievement. This in turn should illuminate the state of Merovingian education and society as a whole.
The message behind Gregory�s carefully structured �Prehistory� is an expansion of the Preface to Book V, in which Gregory pleads with his audience, his contemporary kings, to follow the path of God, like their ancestor, Clovis. This will bring peace and an end to greed and Civil War. This path, continually espoused by the agents of the Lord, His bishops, would lead to a successful reign and a healthy kingdom. Failure to listen to Gregory and his colleagues, would lead only to ruin, a message reiterated throughout the Prehistory, and highlighted in the death of king Sigibert
Language and theology in St Gregory of Nyssa
No full textThis MA thesis focuses on the work of one of the most influential and authoritative theologians of the early Church: St Gregory of Nyssa (†396). My topic of research consists in the relationship between language and theology, as it shaped in Gregory’s polemical works against the radical Arians, in particular against Eunomius of Cyzicus (†395).The first chapter tackles the historical side of the controversy and provides the chronology of the dogmatic disputes on the dogma of Trinity following the Council of Nicaea (325). The second chapters illustrate the conflict being at stake between two theological methodologies: Gregory's grammar of thought is scriptural, whereas Eunomius' theology is much more philosophical and inflexible in its terms. Eunomius claimed that one can know God by his essence in the concept of 'ingenerate'. On the contrary, for Gregory of Nyssa, God 'is above all names'. For him, language and sexuality are realitites of the post-lapsarian world, which made human mind opaque and the exercise of interpretation indispensable. Gregory included also the episode of Babel in the genealogy of our linguistic finitude. The third and the fourth chapters focus on the relationship between language and theological knowledge in St Gregory's third book Contra Eunomium. All words used in human language - including Eunomius' concept of agennetos – have complementary meanings, since no one can describe the essence of an object or of any part of reality. On this basis, Gregory develops his 'theory of relativity' of names, which can never befit God's majesty and glory. In the last chapter, under the heading 'Pragmatics of Language', I investigate the immediate consequences of Gregory's 'theory of relativity'. Speech is treated as a sphere, which resembles the creative power of the hypostatic Word. Therefore, rhetoric becomes the perfect tool for his pastoral concern in doing theology. By choosing rhetoric, Gregory is free to start his theological argument from anywhere, since theology is a discourse about God's redemptive economy. In conclusion, I try to emphasise the actuality of Gregory's theory of names and its importance for the contemporary debates in the Church on thorny issues as Trinitarian theology or gender. I also evaluate Gregory of Nyssa's self-consistency in positive terms
Recent Progress in Decarboxylative Oxidative Cross-Couplings for Biaryl Synthesis
No full textThe beginning of the 21st century has seen a tremendous growth in the field of decarboxylative activation. Benzoic acids are now recognised as atom-economicalternatives to traditional cross-coupling partners and they also benefit from being inexpensive, readily-available and shelfstable reagents. In this microreview, we discuss recent developments in the coupling of benzoic acids with either anarene or a second benzoic acid, a process often labelled as decarboxylative oxidative cross-coupling. These procedures hold great promise for the development of highly selective and atom-economic cross-couplings
Aromatic C-H amination: a radical approach for adding new functions into biology-and materials-oriented aromatics
No full textC-H amination is the most powerful method to directly add nitrogen functionalities into a variety of arenes including biology- and materials-oriented molecules. Recent developments in aromatic C-H amination chemistry have enabled the conversion of unactivated arenes into a range of arylamine derivatives without using directing groups or excess amounts of arenes. The key for such successful transformations is the catalytic generation of nitrogen or arene radical intermediates. In this perspective, we discuss recent developments in the radical C-H amination of aromatic molecules. We believe the resulting arylamines, which are hitherto difficult to access, will exhibit unexplored functions for biological and materials application.</p
Late-stage sulfonic acid/sulfonate formation from sulfonamides via sulfonyl pyrroles
No full textSulfonamides are present in a range of useful molecules, such as drugs and agrochemicals. In recent years, the functionalization of sulfonamides via S–N bond cleavage has received increased attention. In this report, we detail an accessible and low-cost route for transforming primary sulfonamides into the corresponding sulfonic acids/sulfonates via sulfonyl pyrroles. The reaction is demonstrated with a range of substrates including aryl and alkyl sulfonamides, and in the late-stage functionalization of several sulfonamide-containing drug molecules.</p
Sulfur(IV) in Transition-Metal-Free Cross-Couplings for Biaryl Synthesis
No full textThe reactivity of sulfur(IV) compounds is of great current interest among organic chemists. In this Perspective, we discuss the chemistry of sulfur(IV) (namely, sulfoxides, sulfonium salts, and sulfinates) within the area of transition-metal-free cross-couplings for biaryl synthesis. These sulfur(IV)-based methods show potential in sustainable biaryl formation and can deliver unique biaryl structures that are difficult to access by other means. This Perspective also highlights how the versatile reactivity of sulfur(IV) has helped design new reagents, mediators, and catalysts.</p
Sulfonium-aided coupling of aromatic rings via sigmatropic rearrangement
No full textBiaryl synthesis continues to occupy a central role in chemical synthesis. From blockbuster drug molecules to organic electronics, biaryls present numerous possibilities and new applications continue to emerge. Transition-metal-catalyzed coupling reactions represent the gold standard for biaryl synthesis and the mechanistic steps, such as reductive elimination, are well established. Developing routes that exploit alternative mechanistic scenarios could give unprecedented biaryl structures and expand the portfolio of biaryl applications. We have developed metal-free C–H/C–H couplings of aryl sulfoxides with phenols to afford 2-hydroxy-2′-sulfanylbiaryls. This cascade strategy consists of an interrupted Pummerer reaction and [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement. Our method enables the synthesis of intriguing aromatic molecules, including oligoarenes, enantioenriched dihetero[8]helicenes, and polyfluorobiaryls. From our successes in aryl sulfoxide/phenol couplings and a deeper understanding of sigmatropic rearrangements for biaryl synthesis, we have established related methods, such as aryl sulfoxide/aniline and aryl iodane/phenol couplings. Overall, our fundamental interests in underexplored reaction mechanisms have led to various methods for accessing important biaryl architectures
Primary Sulfonamide Functionalization via Sulfonyl Pyrroles: Seeing the N−Ts Bond in a Different Light
No full textDespite common occurrence in molecules of value, methods for transforming sulfonamides are distinctly lacking. Here we introduce easy-to-access sulfonyl pyrroles as synthetic linchpins for sulfonamide functionalization. The versatility of the sulfonyl pyrrole unit is shown by generating a variety of products through chemical, electrochemical and photochemical pathways. Preliminary results on the direct functionalization of primary sulfonamides are also provided, which may lead to new modes of activation.</p
Voice Compression and Communications: Principles and Applications for Fixes and Wireless Channels
No full textUp-to-date, expert coverage of topics in wireless voice communications Voice communication is the most important facet of mobile radio service. Even when the predicted surge of wireless data and Internet services becomes a reality, voice will remain the most natural means of human communication. Voice Compression and Communications details issues in wireless voice communications and treats compression, channel coding, and wireless transmission as a joint subject. Part I covers background material, whereas Part II provides detailed information on both proprietary and standardized analysis-by-synthesis codecs, including the speech codecs of virtually all existing wireline-based and wireless systems. Parts III and IV discuss mainly research-based wideband, audio, as well as very low-rate schemes likely to find their way into future standards. Voice Compression and Communications describes fundamental concepts in a non-mathematical way early in the book for those with only a background knowledge of signal processing and communications. More advanced readers will find detailed discussions of theoretical principles, future concepts, and solutions to various specific wireless voice communications problems
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