Christ is risen!
I'm starting this edition of 'This Week in Patristics' on Easter Sunday night after the standard busy time which is Holy Week. The week culminates in the 'Triduum triathlon' as we say in our house. In the 'triathlon', we begin with the celebration of the Last Supper and move directly into the arrest of Jesus on Maundy Thursday through Good Friday and the crucifixion to Easter Vigil on Saturday (the most luminous and longest service all year)and, of course, the joy of Easter Day. It is an exhausting, but, at the same time, invigorating three days- three days which remind us what makes Jesus different, condemned to die, only to save us all by defeating death on its own terms.
This Lent and Holy Week has been, of course, marked by the same marketing of religious skepticism (the 'Lead Tablet'- the latest update from PaleoJudaica- and crucifixion nails are this year's installments), but, for me, it has been marked by conversations with friends and colleagues as they wonder what it is that we Christians do in this week. Perhaps it is a query about how depressing Good Friday is (even if we can't get to Easter without it). Perhaps it is wondering who is this Jesus person is? Sometimes it is an agnostic, a Christian and a Muslim (it sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn't it?)sitting around and talking about God. Unlike most weeks of the year, this week is an occasion to talk about God. I'm not sure what was the result of all that talk this week, mind you- I leave that in God's hand-, but it was good to be reminded of the hope and grace which Jesus has taught me over the years.
Meanwhile, to business, patristics this week:
The Secretary-Treasurer of the NAPS (love that acronym- actually, North American Patristics Society) reviews John Leemans, Brian Metz, Stephan Verstraaten eds, Reading Patristics Texts on Social Ethics: Issues and Challenges for 21st Century Christian Thought. I'm already planning on getting a hold of it from my local university library. I'm excited already!
Alin Suciu on his self-named blog discusses aspects of his research on Coptic Patristics with a discussion of a newly-discovered fragment of the Coptic version of St. Athony's life found at Oxford, the appearence of a fragment of the Pseudo-Gospel of the Twelve Apostles at an auction at Southby's and a discussion of the Asceticon of Abba Isaiah. Thanks to Alin for contacting me. Really, if you want to be sure to appear in this update, contact me!
Rick Brannan on ricoblog features a review of two introductions to the Apostolic Fathers.
Nick Norelli on the Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth blog considers books on crucifixion and Jewish and Christian perceptions of it. He also alerts us to a sale of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers second series on CBD until midnight tonight.
Joel Watts on the Unsettled Christianity blog considers the Catholic reading of Matthew 16, 17-19 in the light of St. Cyprian.
Steve on Triablogue assembles Derrell Bock's chapter by chapter review of Bart Ehrman's book, Forged.
That is about it for this week. Hope you enjoyed the offerings.
The Lord is risen indeed!
Peace,
Phil
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