Political Jesus: Journeys in Nonresistant Love

Welcome to Patristic Carnival XXVIII hosted by Political Jesus!  I would like to show my gratitude to Phil for giving me permission to host the carnival this time around.  I would also like to give an honorable mention to Joel Watts for inspiring the format for this carnival. I am indebted to all of my church history professors who opened up the eyes of this once “Baptist/Protestant-tradition onlyist” and helped me to see the rich tradition of the theology of the early church Fathers and Mothers.

Augustine of Hippo

First up, we have a few bloggers who talk about their experience with Augustine’s Confessions. Halden Doerg has questions about whether we should view Augustine of Hippo as Augustine our contemporary, or whether Augustine’s view of himself was shaped by narrative or doxology and takes a look at Augustine’s definition of confession as well as Augustinian feminism.

Ekaputra Tupamahu (now PhD student at Claremont) and  John Penniman give us their takes on Confessions. Three bloggers: Aaron Rathburn as well as Joel Watts and the guys over at Euangelion have a conversation pertaining to Augustine’s use of Scripture. Shawn Wamsley over at Theophiliacs posted a two part series comparing the Augustinian doctrine of predestination with Martin Luther’s (I know, scary right?) while at Fixed Nails there was a discussion of divine omniscience and love. Over at Search the Scripture, God’s greatness in the Augustine’s work is highlighted while Celucien reminds us of Augustine’s interpretation of John 1.

All of this talk about Augustine may lead one to wonder should we treat him as exclusively a hero for Roman Catholics, or an enemy to those who admire Eastern Orthodoxy or perhaps a champion of Christian feminism?

Suffering and Spirituality

One trend among bloggers this month had to do with understanding the early Christians’ response to tribulations through spiritual practices.  The life of Cyprian received some attention from Ignatius Insight , as well as Christine at A Catholic View and the Reformed Reader. Speaking of Ignatius, he had some words of wisdom for those who are going through persecution in the church in Rome. Theodoret of Cyrus apparently viewed the nature of death as God bestowing of wisdom so that humans would strive for holiness and have a disdain death.  Mark O. observes some of the self-denying practices of Patristic spirituality while Jonathan of Thick and Thorp shares some advice from the mystical tradition for those struggling with the notion of God’s forgiveness. Patrik Hagman contrasts Augustine’s approach to sin with the Eastern fathers and what it meant for eastern asceticism while Jessica explores fasting through the patristics era.  And exactly what did Terutllian’s worshipping community look like? Perhaps,was it emergent? Did Maximus the Confessor believe that our free will meant something about our spirituality? John of Damascus’ case for the use of icons has an interesting view of the Deuteronomic prohibition against image-making in light of New Testament revelation while Theodosius Walker explains why Mary is called the Mother of Mercy. The origins of the sign of the cross are noted by M J Hoskin while Will Huysman briefly reviews the Fathers’ take on the Light of Tabor and Transfiguration. Lastly, Kelby Cotton tells us the story of Basil of Caesarea, a defender of Nicene Orthodoxy and Christian justice for the poor.

The Didache

Rob Kashow has had a recent series on the Didache.

The authors of Euangelion examine the Didache as a response to the Pauline corpus.

Patristic Biblical Studies

Earlier this week, T.C. Robinson pointed to an article where Daniel B. Wallace compared NT Wright’s position in evangelical circles to an Athanasius-like one man against all situation. While I take exception to the comparison of NT Wright to Athanasius (considering that the man lived under a constant threat of exile), Wallace’s comparison does bring us to try to understand the relationship between the Scripture as the Fathers and Mothers saw them and how we view them today. If one does not know Scripture, as Saint Jerome pointed out, one does not really know Christ.  St. John of Chrysostom (another man like Athanasius who suffered persecution), thought that it was ridiculous to try to understand the things of heaven without God’s help (Scripture, the Holy Spirit, etc.).  But do not try to tell that to process theologians like Sallie McFague! Speaking of Christians who depend on the non-scriptural use of language to discuss God, Philip Whitehead discusses the Arian controversy as well as other religious sects’ opposition to the non-biblical word “Trinity.” James Bradford Pate posted on Christology in the Shepherd of Hermas as well as Origin’s view of the Sabbath and also here again Origin’s on the literal sense of Scripture. The Fathers and Mothers of our faith give us an appropriate witness to the truthfulness of the New Testament writings as,Ron Rhodes , Teofilo de Jesus and Alice C. Linsley explain. The Patristic and Medieval interpretation of Scripture had a prominent amount of posts at The Pocket Scroll: John Cassian’s On the Four Layers of Meaning as well as  the modern problem of violence in the Psalter in part One with a Patristic perspective on these Psalms in part Two.

Creeds and Controversies

Because Sola Scriptura is not good enough, we need Spirit-led traditions, creeds, and practices to help Christians understand the Gospel message with each generational change. Stephan Huller contends that maybe the difference between heresy and orthodoxy is perhaps in the eye of the beholder, perhaps if one is located in the Middle East as opposed to Rome, and he cites the example of the Syrian church’s understanding of The Redemption in Mark 10:38 as well as the Jewish view of eunuchs in Marcionite literature.  David Brosnahan does Patristic studies as a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints and compares Clement of Rome’s understanding of priesthood with the LDS church’s. Francis Turretin quotes the Fathers who oppose the prayers to the dead just as Stephen Wedgewood has a case versus the use of icons by using some early church leaders as well as a clarification of John Calvin’s opinion of the Church fathers. Also Karen of Girded with Truth, claims that saints such as Jerome and Athanasius taught Sola Fide, by faith alone. Donovan Riley sees the Patristic witness as affirming Justification by Grace through Faith along Lutheran lines.  While the question arose whether or not Trinitarians and Oneness Christians can unite around the creeds, Joshua Hearne retells the story of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 C.E., while another blogger retells the story of the Nicene Creed. Taylor Marshall argues that Clement of Rome did not, in fact, support Justification by Fatih alone. In Eastern Orthodoxy, as Michael Garten notes, rather than Sola Scriptura, refer to a doctrine proceeding from an oral tradition called Prima Scriptura. Dyton L. Owen explains the difference between Tradition and Traditionalism; one is good, one is bad: decide for yourself. Father Cleopa of Romania further examines the Orthodox understanding of tradition and its relationship to revelation and Scripture.   Roger Pearse gives us a hint to whether or not Origen may have spoken in tongues.  Joel Watts had a series of posts on the Fathers’ view of baptismal regeneration: Tertullian; Cyprian of Carthage ; Barnabas , and some other Church Fathers.

The most recent controversy of our day, schisms within the church because of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender, and Queer community struggle for equality, make the Fathers’ words about human sexuality relevant. The Church Fathers believed that marriage was a sacrament between one man and one woman who became one flesh, as the Eastern orthodox posit. I added my two cents, in agreement with the Fathers’ stance, and taking the One Flesh logic to a conclusion that includes nonviolent praxis as part of the sacrament of marriage.

Developments in Patristic Studies

In September, the Second British National Patristic Conference took place at the University of Cambridge on the 9th through the 11th.  Some of the papers that were presented included: Michael Steenberg’s The Gospel of Truth and the Truth of the Gospel: assessing the scope of Valentinian influence on the works of Irenaeus, Peter M. Head’s Witnesses between you and us’: the role of the letter-carriers in 1 Clement ,and Hugh Houghton’s Chapter Divisions in the Old Latin Versions of John. Fr. Alexander Schmeman reminds us that the current return to the Patristic writers means really just a return to their writings; the study of the text themselves, however, is in sufficient: one needs, as Paul Rakowicz argues that the Fathers’ and Mothers’ historical context also needs to be examined. Chuck Baclagon decries the lack of knowledge of church history in our congregations.  Jeffrey B. Langlois considers the historical factors behind the growth of Christianity. andThomas of Faith and Reason blog and Derek Olson analyze the medieval setting where the first written recordings of the early church were kept and surveyed.

Books and Technology

Reverend Larry L. Beane II directs to a valuable online resource: The Church Fathers: A New Translation and Logos has more tips available for how to create your own collections of Patristic writings.

Nick Norelli featured six books on his blog recently:

• Gregory of Nazianzus — Brian E. Daley, S.J.
• Gregory of Nyssa — Anthony Meredith, S.J.
• Athanasius — Khaled Anatolios
• Athanasius: The Coherence of His Thought — Khaled Anatolios
• The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History Volume One
• St Cyril of Alexandria: a new testament exegete, his commentary on the Gospel of John

Ben of Dunhelm Road reviewed Daniel A. Keating’s Deification and Grace: An Introduction to Catholic Doctrine.

Hugh McNichol introduced Pope Benedict XVI’s Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine.

Roger Pearse brought forward the idea of a new translation of Origen’s commentary on 1st Corinthians.

At Haligweorc blog, the author gives us a sample of her/his dissertation on Paul the Deacon.

Celucien presented Tertullian the African: An Anthropological Reading of Tertullian’s Context and Identities by David Wilhite.

From the St. Athanasius & St. Cyril Theological Library, Feast of the Cross, was released as part of their series, Treasures of the Fathers of the Church.

Lastly, Patrologia Pacifica.selected-papers presented to the Western Pacific Rim Patristics society (the 3rd annual conference Ngoya, Japan: September 29 -October 1, 2006) is now available in print.