Γενναδίου Σχολαρίου, Νόμος Ευαγγελικός

The study concerns the patriarch Gennadius II Scholarius, who was a great historical and ecclesiastical figure of the last years of the Byzantine Empire and a representative of Byzantine scholarship. Reference is made to the rich literary fruition of the years of his maturity during his stay at the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist of Serres. The reasons for the choice by the patriarch of this particular monastery for his abdication after his resignation from the patriarchal throne in the year 1456 and until his death (after 1472) are also cited. Gennadius Scholarius was one of the most prolific ecclesiastical writers of the 15th century. In particular, this study presents Gennadius’ work entitled Νόμος Εὐαγγελικός (Evangelical Law), which was written in the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist of Serres. We proceed to cite the manuscript tradition and present the editions of the work. The circumstances of the work’s writing, the place, the time, the occasion and the purpose of its writing, the structure and thematics are also analyzed, as well as its usefulness for the Christian life. Thereinafter, the content of the work in question is presented. The evangelical precepts are developed on the topics discussed by the patriarch, the virtues of faith, prayer, love, humility, repentance, almsgiving, justice, mourning, the memory of death, but also the passions of condemnation, wrath and anger, and fasting. In particular, the definition, characteristics, types, the Christian way of practicing the virtues and avoiding the passions, the fruits of the former and the consequences of the latter, their connection with other virtues and passions respectively, and their social and spiritual dimension are analyzed.