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Lois Farag, Cyrille d’Alexandrie: Commentaire sur Jean. Tome I: Livre 1. Edited and translated by Bernard Meunier, The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume 71, Issue 1, April 2020, Pages 369–371, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flaa006
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Sources chrétiennes has published the series’ six hundredth volume, dedicated to the first book of Cyril of Alexandria’s Commentary on the Gospel of John. This is the first to be published of a twelve-volume project led and coordinated by Marie-Odile Boulnois and Bernard Meunier. It is the first French translation of Cyril’s commentary on the Gospel of John.
Meunier, the editor and translator of the first volume, gives a general introduction, addressing the questions of the date and genre of the commentary, which is followed by a discussion on Cyril and Scripture. He devotes chapter 3 to Cyril’s theology. Cyril himself described his commentary as ‘dogmatic exegesis’ (p. 196). Though the whole commentary is theological in nature, encompassing an extensive view of Cyril’s Trinitarian theology, Book I is devoted primarily to heresies or theological adversaries, especially Arianism. It also includes discussions of Eunomianism, Greek polytheism, and Apollinarism, especially the notion that Christ was incarnated in a body without a soul. Meunier informs the reader that each volume will discuss what is specific to the commentary book under consideration; thus Meunier’s theological analysis here is rather limited to the first book whose theme is more apologetic than theological. As is relevant to the theme of Book I, Meunier discusses syllogism, the preferred method Cyril employed in his debates with his adversaries. Syllogism is distinctive of Book I and Meunier explains that Cyril was working on the same basis as his adversaries and thus defended his position on an Aristotelian basis while at the same time being very hesitant to replace Scripture by Aristotle (pp. 64–5). Meunier’s discussion of syllogism is insightful and useful. He also provides a brief general survey and a collation of scholarly works on Cyril’s christological and Trinitarian vocabulary as well as his understanding of the Holy Spirit’s nature and work. Though a general theological survey is beneficial and provides a larger context, I hope that further volumes of the series will focus on the specific Cyrillian Trinitarian theology based on the Gospel of John. Meunier also collates the general scholarly consensus on Cyril’s use of philosophy and his attitude towards Jews.
