Monday, August 06, 2007

Patristics Carnival- July, 2007

I'm back from a busy trip to Winnipeg and a rest from blogging. As my July 20th post noted, I decided to change the format of the patristic updates away from a weekly roundup to a monthly roundup. That works better for my own time and allows for the expansion of the Carnival idea to include other hosts (if you want to be a host for a future Carnival, e-mail me from my profile.

Please note that any entries I accept must be written within the month indicated. It is not enough to tag an old entry and send it in as has been done. Also, please remember to send me entries because the only suggested entry was an old one from 2006 which I did not include in this edition for the above stated reason.

You will also notice some format changes within the Carnival. I've decided to eliminate links to mere quotes of patristic authors, largely because, while these are edifying on their own, there are far too many of these for me to keep track of. Instead, I'm focusing on articles which do something with the patristic material. I've given more categories to structure these, as you'll notice below.

To commemorate all these changes, I've done some template changes to a minimalistic approach. I expect to add some graphics/pictures and more links as time goes on.

So, on to the Carnival!

Front Gate: Introductions to the Fathers

No introductions this month.

The Midway: Articles on the Fathers

Brandon Watson on the Siris blog reviews the impact of the negative evaluation of the Victorians on the reputation of St. Cyril of Alexandria.

Bret Saunders on the In Alcuin's Shadow blog features a discussion of several opinions on the formation of the canon with commentary from a Protestant point of view.

On the same blog, Tim Enloe discusses the contrast between the pagan and Christian concepts of the Roman past and how this debate shaped patristic thought. This is an interesting and enlightening attempt to get at the relationship between classical culture and Christianity inspired by R.A. Markus.

reynor on the cafe theology blog posts Pope Benedict's catechetical address on St. Basil the Great.

Melinda on the Stand to Reason blog exhorts us to remember the Christian past, starting with St. Justin Martyr.
Oswald Sobrino on the

Catholic Analysis
blog features a book review of Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit by Fr. Kilian McDonnell and Fr. George T. Montague which features patristic evidence on baptism.

K.B. Enthusiasmos on the Mere Orthodoxy blog discusses the need for evangelicals to recover tradition in parts one and two.
Exhibition Place: Biographies on the Fathers

Michael Hidalgo features St. Polycarp of Smyrna in his Heroes of the Faith series.
The Food Tent: Book-Reviews on patristic books

Alice C. Linsley on the Just Genesis blog features a discussion on St. Ephrem's handling of Genesis. . She continues with a discussion of St. John Chyrsosthom's handling of Lamech in part one and two.

Mike Aquilina on The Way of the Father's blog features an interview with him conducted by the Catholic Servant on Pope Benedict's catechetical lectures. Also, continue to check in on Mike's useful links to resources and other discussions.

God Fearin' Fiddler on God Fearin' Forum discusses the contact points between Montanism and Pentacostals, discusses papal authority and Pope Victor and answers my criticisms on the same subject.

Ben Smith on the Thoughts on Antiquity blog continue his series on canonical lists with the Canon of Athanasius.

The Rodeo: Patristic catenae
Coemgenus on the Catholic Apologetics of America blog features a catena on the Early Fathers and the Catholic Church.

mattymoho on the matty's moorish grotto blog features a patristic catena on reincarnation. Some are a bit of a stretch.

The Foreign Exchange Tent: Translations
John F. Hobbins on the Ancient Hebrew Poetry blog features St. Augustine's use of the Psalsm followed up with translations of Psalms from Latin and Hebrew versions.

Kevin Edgecomb on the biblicalia blog continues his translation series on the sayings of the Desert Fathers with St. Agathon and again.

The Apocryphral Aisle: Christian Apocrypha

Justin Halter on The Truth Shall Set you Free blog features a discussion of Gnosticism and connects it with liberal theology today. Perhaps this is a bit of an unfair comparision? For a good balance, see the April DeConick and Tony Chartrand-Burke articles below.

April DeConick on The Forbidden Gospels blog has had a busy July with an extensive series of discussions. Among her topics are a review of the BYU Studies on the Gospel of Judas, a series on why the non-canonical gospels make people uneasy (in parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine)and a series on Nag Hammadi's impact on culture in parts one, two, three, four). All of these are well worth reading, although I would hasten to add Dr. DeConick's positions, while scholarly, will not necessarily please those committed to the canon as we have it from the Fathers.

Tony Chartrand-Burke on Apocryphicity weighs in on April DeConick's discussion on why Christian apocrypha makes us uneasy and discusses the first five of his ten arguments of why Christian anti-Christian Apocrypha apologetics get it wrong (and recaptulates here)

I think that is for the carnival. The next carnival for August will close on August 31st and by about September 3rd. If anyone is interested in hosting, please e-mail me and we'll work out times. I'd appreciate help with the hosting, if anyone can lessen my load.

Peace,
Phil

2 comments:

James H said...

Wow thanks alot for comoling this. I will be up late tonight

Alice C. Linsley said...

Thanks, Phil, for noting my short essays on St. Ephrem and St. Chrysostom at Just Genesis. As soon as I settle down with teaching this new semester at college, I hope to write more on the Fathers' understanding of Genesis.