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Augustine of Hippo's The City of God is generally considered to be one of the key works of Late Antiquity. Written in response to allegations that Christianity had brought about the decline of Rome, Augustine here explores themes in history, political science, and Christian theology, and argues for the truth of Christianity over competing religions and philosophies. This Companion volume includes specially-commissioned essays by an international team of scholars that provide new insights into The City of God. Offering commentary on each of this massive work's 22 books chapters, they sequentially and systematically explore The City of God as a whole. Collectively, these essays demonstrate the development and coherence of Augustine's argument. The volume will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of ancient and contemporary theology, philosophy, cultural studies, and political theory.
In the context of the discovery of the cerebral ligand for the cannabis receptor, and the elucidation of its genetic sequence, we discuss the psychomimetic properties of Cannabis sativa, and explore the relationship between cannabis intoxication and mood. We suggest that renewed study of acute cannabis encephalopathy would be rewarding not only in deepening our understanding of consciousness in healthy adults, but also in helping us to understand the perceptual world of the child, the elderly, and some of our patients.
The defeat of the great Arab Islamic siege of Constantinople in the late 660s and the formal closure of the debate over the nature of willing in the person of Christ, at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in 680–1, were landmark events in the geopolitical and religious history of the Byzantine Empire.
John Geometres (ca. 935/40–1000) flourished in Constantinople during the second half of the tenth century, counting among his contemporaries Symeon Metaphrastes (d. ca. 1000), Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022), Athanasios of Athos (ca. 925/30–ca. 1001), and Leo the Deacon (ca. 950–1000).
The feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple (Ta Eisodia tes Theotokou), celebrated according to the Byzantine liturgical calendar on 21 November, constitutes one of the twelve great feasts of the church year.
Even when he is measured by the yardstick for Christian saints, St. Thomas Aquinas stands tall. What other doctor of the Church disparaged his writings as nothing more than straw? Whom else has the Roman Catholic Church canonized as a saint just fifty years after suggesting that he was a heretic? How many other saints drove off, with a burning torch, a prostitute deliberately sent to seduce them? Many of Aquinas's con-freres recognized his saintly genius in his time, and the whole of the Church acknowledges it in our time. To come to understand his particular expression of the holy life, it is essential to begin with the fact that for most of his life Aquinas dedicated himself to teaching, writing, and engaging in controversies over religious and philosophical issues. Even though many of his most memorable moments in life took place at the University of Paris, he lived much of his life in Italy, notably in Rome as a resident of the Dominican Order's magnificent Basilica of Santa Sabina. Despite his early canonization, Aquinas's thought has received an uneven reception from his death through to today. One crucial reason for his enduring importance to theologians and philosophers, however, is his solution to the problem of faith and reason. For this and other of his many remarkable insights he is called the “Angelic Doctor,” an honorific title that today is reflected in the unofficial name of one of Rome's eleven pontifical universities, the Angelicum (Pontificia Università S. Tommaso D’Aquino).
Naples, Paris, Cologne: The Young Aquinas
Aquinas was born in 1225 into a family of minor nobility in Roccasecca, a town south of Rome. At the age of five he was sent to the nearby Abbey of Monte Cassino for his primary education. Ten years later he began higher studies at the newly founded University of Naples. During his five years there from 1239 to 1244, he studied the liberal arts and natural philosophy, especially the newly translated writings of Aristotle. These studies provided the grounding he needed in later years for his thinking on ethics, natural philosophy, rational psychology, metaphysics, and theology. Moreover, at the University of Naples he became acquainted with and inspired by the friars of Dominic Guzman's (1170–1221) newly founded Order of Preachers, usually referred to as the Dominicans.
One would perhaps expect to find the name Petrus (Peter) emblazoned on the façade of the Basilica di S. Pietro, the edifice built to honour the sacred relics of the first pope and the appointed “rock” of the Church (Matt. 16:18). However, the prominent inscription running across the front of S. Pietro features Paulus (Paul) in a central position instead. It was the proud Borghese pope, Paul V (r. 1605–21), who elected to honour his famous namesake in this special way upon his completion of S. Pietro in 1612, and doubtless this decision to use the apostle Paul's name to promote his own papal name ruffled some ecclesiastical feathers. Peter, after all, was a companion of Jesus and universally regarded as the “prince of the apostles,” whereas Paul was not among the first disciples, and violently persecuted the first Christians. Both history and tradition thus weighed against the pope's decision. Yet Paul V boldly put his own name on the façade of S. Pietro anyway, counting on his great power and influence to win over skeptics. History was not positioned entirely against this pope's plans either. Indeed, the presence of Paulus on Petrus's territory nicely symbolized the connection between the two greatest apostles of the early Church. In later centuries, the bond between Peter and Paul came to be further emphasized at the corners of the steps leading up to S. Pietro. Holding vigil over the Piazza San Pietro and guarding the entrance to the basilica are two grand statues, placed there in 1847. To the right is Paul, looking out toward the piazza and bearing a sword, a scroll, and a scowl; to the left stands Peter, clutching the keys representing the temporal and spiritual power of the bishop of Rome.
The origins of the Christian Church in Rome are bound up with the lives and glorious martyrdoms of these two men. In recognition of that fact, visitors have come to Rome for centuries to commemorate them and walk in their footsteps, and in doing so they have encountered many traces of their memory.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the deadliest brain tumor with an approximate 14 month survival rate after diagnosis and treatment. Temozolomide (TMZ), the chemotherapeutic drug of choice for GBM, is an alkylating agent that causes DNA damage. TMZ treatment results in the induction of apoptosis in GBM cells, however, it induces autophagy and consequently chemoresistance. Statins are mevalonate (MEV) cascade inhibitors with beneficial effects on the enhancement of the survival rate of patients with different types of cancer. Here, we determined the effect of simvastatin (Simva), a blood brain barrier permeable statin, on the sensitization of GBM cells to TMZ induced apoptosis through inhibition of autophagy flux. We pretreated two GMB cell lines, U251 and U87 cells, with low doses of Simva (1 and 2.5 M, respectively) with or without different intermediates of the mevalonate cascade and then treated cells with TMZ (100 M) for 48-96 hrs. A signficiantly reduced viability and increased in the population of apoptotic dead cells were observed in GBM cells treated with the Simva-TMZ compared to cells treated with TMZ alone. Addition of MEV, Farnesyl pyrophosphate, Geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate and cholesterol did not attenuate these effects significantly. Sima-TMZ treatment did not alter the total cholesterol pool in U87 and U251 cells compared to controls. Western blot analysis, immunocytochemistry and transmission electron microscopy revealed that Simva-TMZ inhibited autophagic flux. Overall, the results suggest that sensitization of GBM cells to TMZ-induced apoptosis by Simva is independent on the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway but may involve inhibition of autophagy.