The strange thing about studying early Christianity in Turkey is that there are not a lot of Christians left in Turkey the lands that were home to so much of the earliest growth and development of Christianity and the location of all seven of the first Ecumenical Councils As we discuss how Christi
The Good Word
Paul in Thessalonica and Beroea
For reasons having to do with airline flights we trace the Apostle Paul s journey through Greece backwards at least Paul s first journey through Greece described in Acts which is often titled The Second Missionary Journey Acording to Acts 17 1-15 and 1 Thessalonians itself Paul was persecute
The Baptism of the Lord
The manifestations of what God is doing for creation in Jesus continue apace suggesting that there are even more facets for exploration than we have seen to date liturgically rich though the past weeks have been The template today is complex the Isaian servant closely resembling Moses declares
On the Areopagus
We went on a tour of classical Athens today with stops at the Acropolis and the Parthenon which sits majectically upon it and the ancient Agora In between quite literally we went to the Areopagus called Mars Hill by the Romans The Areopagus associated with the Greek god of war Ares and m
Choice and the Epiphany
I want to position my reflection between two catalysts nbsp First is Karen Armstrong rsquo s assertion that mythos or sacred narrative assists us to review and experience deeply the many facets of the human predicament notably here the choice between Good and Evil Second is the genre of imaginat
Happy New Year!
I want to wish all readers of this blog a Happy New Year I also want to let you know that I will be leaving for Greece and Turkey tomorrow with Dr Pavel Gavrilyuk and 25 students to explore the sites of ancient Christianity When able I will try to post on the sites the readings for our course
O Immanuel-Gospel-12/22/09
Elohim is something of a generic name for god it can be used to talk about many other gods than the God of Israel Each god had his proper name in the case of Israel that name was Yahweh nbsp When Matthew comments on the child described to Joseph by the angel of the Lord he says that this chil
O King of all Nations-Gospel-12/21/09
One of the most important titles used to describe Jesus is King nbsp Given that Jesus and the people of the Gospels come from the culture of the Old Testament it is no surprise that when they wish to express their deepest hopes and desires they think of the greatest benefactor of their histor
O Radiant Dawn-Gospel-12/20/09
One of the most enduring images of the Scriptures is light nbsp Divinity understanding love grace goodness divine presence are all symbolized by light nbsp The Radiant Dawn offers light to those who have lost their way has offered us the a way to follow that leads to peace with God and thu
Advent IV
For the Third Sunday in Advent I reflected on the joy inherent in the Christmas promises as we look to the past present and future Then some two days later I was felled by a bacterial infection that kept me in bed for the next five days unable to do much beyond sleep take my antibiotics and dr
