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| Vigiliae Christianae | |
|---|---|
| Title | Vigiliae Christianae |
| Discipline | Early Christianity; Patristics; Late Antiquity |
| Language | English; French; German; Italian |
| Publisher | Brill |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| History | 1947–present |
| Issn | 0042-6436 |
Vigiliae Christianae is an international peer-reviewed journal specializing in Patristics, Early Christianity, Late Antiquity, and the study of Christianity in antiquity and the medieval period. The journal publishes articles, critical editions, survey essays, and book reviews that engage with primary sources such as New Testament texts, Apocrypha, Church Fathers, and material evidence from archaeological contexts. It serves scholars affiliated with universities and research institutes across Europe and North America, contributing to debates connected to the fields represented by centers like the Institute for Advanced Study, the British Museum, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Vigiliae Christianae addresses intersections among textual criticism of the New Testament, continuity between Judaism and Christianity, reception history involving figures such as Augustine of Hippo, Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria, and Gregory of Nazianzus, and material culture studies linked to sites like Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Dura-Europos. Contributors often work at institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, University of Toronto, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Université de Paris, Heidelberg University, University of Vienna, and Leiden University. The journal fosters dialogue among specialists in fields associated with projects at Cambridge University Library, the Vatican Library, and the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library.
Founded in 1947, the journal emerged in postwar scholarly networks that included scholars from the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, the École pratique des hautes études, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (historical collaborations). Early editors corresponded with figures from Harvard Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, University of Chicago Divinity School, and the Catholic University of Leuven. Over decades the journal has documented developments linked to archaeological projects at Oxyrhynchus, publication programs like the Loeb Classical Library, and editorial enterprises such as the Corpus Christianorum and the Patrologia Latina.
The journal publishes research on texts and contexts concerning writers like Tertullian, Irenaeus of Lyons, Jerome, Eusebius of Caesarea, Cyril of Alexandria, and Basil of Caesarea, as well as studies on councils such as the Council of Nicaea, the Council of Chalcedon, and the Third Council of Constantinople. It addresses manuscript traditions exemplified by codices like Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, and Codex Alexandrinus, and engages with inscriptional corpora from Palmyra, Ephesus, and Carthage. Methodological plurality appears through work on philology in the tradition of Friedrich Nietzsche (as literary historian influence), textual criticism following paradigms established by Tischendorf and Westcott and Hort, and interdisciplinary projects linked to the British School at Rome and the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft.
The editorial board comprises scholars affiliated with institutions such as University of Basel, University of Göttingen, University of Munich, Columbia University, Duke University, Brown University, University of Chicago, and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Submissions undergo anonymous peer review by external referees drawn from networks including members of the Society of Biblical Literature, the International Association for Patristic Studies, the North American Patristics Society, and the European Association of Biblical Studies. The journal adheres to standards comparable to those of publishers like Brill, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press with editorial policies mindful of intellectual property concerns raised by institutions like the Vatican Secret Archive and national libraries such as the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze.
Vigiliae Christianae is indexed in bibliographic services and databases including ATLA Religion Database, Scopus, Web of Science, JSTOR, Project MUSE (via related coverage), and national catalogues like the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Its impact is visible in citation networks linking monographs published by Brill, Peeters Publishers, Walter de Gruyter, Routledge, and Oxford University Press and in its influence on edited collections from series such as the Cambridge Companions and the Oxford Early Christian Texts.
The journal has printed influential pieces on topics such as the reception of Philo of Alexandria in Christian exegesis, re-evaluations of the Gospel of Thomas, studies of Manichaeism in late antiquity, and editions of sermons by John Chrysostom. It has hosted articles reassessing texts from Nag Hammadi, discussions concerning the Didache, and paleographic analyses of manuscripts from Mount Athos and Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai. Contributions have intersected with work on the archaeology of Byzantium, the historiography of Procopius, and editions informing digital projects such as Thesaurus Linguae Graecae and the Digital Vatican Library.
Scholars in the fields represented by Vigiliae Christianae—those associated with departments at Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Sorbonne University, University of St Andrews, and Humboldt University of Berlin—regularly cite the journal. Criticism has occasionally centered on debates over editorial direction similar to controversies in journals like Journal of Theological Studies and Church History, methodological disputes mirrored in exchanges across Society for Classical Studies panels, and discussions about linguistic balance between English, French, German, and Italian contributions. The journal has responded to critiques by revising submission guidelines and expanding its international editorial representation to include scholars from University of Nairobi, University of Cape Town, and University of São Paulo.
Category:Academic journals