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The Cambridge History of the Bible. Vol. I, From the Beginnings to Jerome . Edited By P. R. Ackroyd and C. F. Evans. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1970. x + 649 pp. $14.50.

The thesis of Evans' scholarly book is that Leontius was an Origenist monk whose christology derived from that of Evagrius of Pontus, the heretic. Painstakingly, Evans examines the Vita Sabae of Cyril of Scythopolis and seven Greek and one Latin versions of Leontius' original works, the corpus Leontianum and the Contra Nestorianos et Eutychianos, concluding that his subject is also the famous aprocrisarius patrum in sancta civitate constitutorutn who is referred to in the acta of the Council of Constantinople of 536. As did other Origenists, particularly Evagrius of Pontus, Leontius defines Jesus Christ not only dialectically but also positively: he is the single unfallen nous, and as such perfectly united to the Logos in that contemplation of the Logos which constitutes the very nature or activity of nous. The one hypostasis of Jesus Christ, the subject of the incarnation, is not a name or an event, as the Dyophysites hold, but a real being. For Leontius ousia and hypostasis are not links in a chain of being, much less beings themselves, but rather are simultaneous determinations of the essential relations of beings. Both the world and the flesh of Jesus Christ are enhypostasized natures. Evans further shows that Leontius following Evagrius divides the soul into nous, thumos, and epithumia, which he calls parts of the soul. His peculiar definition of enhypostasized nature as a formal critique of the Orthodox definition, prompts Evans to state that the reconstruction of the program of the Origenist party in the christological controversies has only begun. He concludes that the history of the concepts of ousia and hypostasis must be completely rewritten in the light of his findings. The Origenist monk stands on the side of the Orthodox Chalcedonians both in his writings and in his public discussions. However, within the ranks of the Chalcedonians, Leontius holds a special place; he is the theologian of that party called Origenist Chalcedonian, that is, that party which expounds the fonnulae of Chalcedon by means of the Origenist christology of Evagrius of Pontus. The scholarly apparatus used by Evans occasionally makes painful reading. Yet it is difficult not to agree with him in his resolution of the difficult question of the identity of Leontius and that his theology is definitely Origenist. There is great value in the careful results of his research, especially in the chapter on Leontius' life and the struggle against the Monophysites. The author supplies an extensive bibliography and a wealth of helpful footnotes with frequent references to the studies of other scholars. His careful exegesis of Leontius' works is profound and at times brilliant, providing valuable insights into the theology of this Palestinian monk. The work casts considerable illumination on sixth century Eastern history and theology.