Robert E. Winn. Eusebius of Emesa: Church and Theology in the Mid Fourth Century. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011.
Eusebius, the bishop of Emesa (c. 300-359) is today not a well-known figure of late ancient Christianity. Yet he achieved apparent notoriety in antiquity: he was a student of the famous Eusebius of Caesarea, he was connected to the entourage of the emperor Constantius, he had earned the respect of prominent ecclesiastical figures in the mid-fourth century, and he was recognized as a talented orator and biblical commentator.
Through a careful examination of his extant sermons, some of which survive in Latin and others in classical Armenian, this book invites readers to hear a bishop’s voice from the mid- fourth century, an important period in late antique Christianity. The volume first introduces readers to the world of Eusebius by situating him in a historical context of places important in his life―Edessa, Antioch, and Emesa―as well as the people with which he was connected, Eusebius of Caesarea and George of Laodicea among others. After providing a rhetorical study of the sermons, the author then moves to a theological and historical analysis of Eusebius’s sermons. Robert E. Winn focuses on the four prominent theological concerns that appear in these sermons: the natural world and human nature, the nature of God, the divinity and humanity of Christ, and asceticism and the church.
Robert E. Winn. Christianity in the Roman Empire: Key Figures, Beliefs, and Practices of the Early Church. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2018.
Christianity in the Roman Empire is a topical and biographical introduction to Christianity before Constantine. While its focus is the historical development of the proto-orthodox community, Robert Winn aims to bridge the gap between contemporary Christians and those who lived in the Roman Empire. To do this, his chapters discuss particular topics such as prayer, biblical interpretation, worship, and persecution, as well as prominent and controversial individuals such as Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Melito of Sardis, and Tertullian. Part One addresses the world of the apostolic fathers, Part Two addresses hostility to Christianity and the response of Christians to this antagonism, and Part Three addresses doctrinal and communal issues of the third century.
Patrology 