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Diarmaid MacCulloch on his book “Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years”
“God is not the answer; He’s the question.”
Diarmaid MacCulloch, Prof. of History of the Church at Oxford University, talking about his book, Christianity: The First 3000 Years, that we are currently going over.
Chapter 13: Faith in a New Rome – Part 2 – Icons and New Missions to the West; New Social media links
Emperors Constantine and Justinian Presenting Constantinople to the Virgin Mary Holding the Christ Child, Hagia Sophia
For next Tuesday, we will be finishing up the rest of Chapter 13 by covering the final two sections: Smashing Images: The Iconoclastic Controversy (726 – 843) and Photios and the New Missions to the West (850 – 900).
Before getting to the questions, please check out our new social media pages on facebook and twitter. Please join if you have accounts on both sites.
New Submissions for Chapter 13: “Hagia Sophia” & “Byzantine Spirituality”
Hi all,
New updates and submissions about the reign of Justinian I (aka Justinian the Great), the Byzantine Empire, Hagia Sophia, and the Orthodox theology of theosis. You can find them here.
Tonight, there were interesting talks about what constitutes theosis and how it perhaps relates to the more Reformed understanding of sanctification.
Also, to clarify some points on terminologies that often confused us tonight:
- Dyophysitism – the Chalcedonian position that full deity and full humanity exist in the person of Jesus Christ as two natures without confusion or change.
- Monophysitism – states that in the person of Jesus Christ, his human nature was absorbed into the divine nature like a cube of sugar dissolves in a cup of water. Therefore, Christ was left with only one nature, the Divine (Greek mono- one, physis – nature). (i.e. Christ had only a Divine nature.)
- Miaphysitism – holds that in the one person of Jesus Christ, his Divinity and Humanity are united in one “nature” (physis), the two being united without separation, without confusion, and without alteration. This is the position of the Orthodox and Coptic Churches.
It was also interesting to see tonight how hard it is for most Christians to articulate very basic terminologies we use all the time like:
- What is a spirit? How is it different from the soul? What is a soul anyway? After death, how exactly does the soul or the spirit separate from the body?
- How is a soul saved by God? Saved from what ? It’s saved from Hell? What is hell exactly and where exactly is it located within the known universe? If it’s outside the universe, how do know that? (Same questions apply to the notion/concept of heaven.)
- What is the nature of a “resurrected” or “spiritual” body? What type of matter will it consist of?
Chapter 13: Faith in a New Rome (451 – 900) – Part 1
Hello folks and Happy New Year!
We’ve definitely come a long way since we first embarked on this book last year and hopefully garnered much since then – let’s keep the momentum going throughout this year.
For our next meeting on Thursday, Jan. 9, we’ll cover the first two sections of Chapter 13 that deals with the Byzantine Empire and the Orthodox Church: “A Church to Shape Orthodoxy: Hagia Sophia” and “Byzantine Spirituality: Maximus and the Mystical Tradition”.
We’ll spend the next couple of months dealing with the Orthodox Church that will hopefully lift the veil of obscurity that most evangelical and Western Christians have of it.
A New New Testament
The process of canonization of the biblical text or the Bible that we have now, is long and complex.
Most people think that the 66 books that comprise the Bible have been set in stone and that they are a settled (and eternal) issue, but it really depends in most part what Christian tradition or denomination you’re affiliated with.
I can only imagine how (radically) different Christianity would have been like if such books were included and other current ones, like the Book of Revelation, had been omitted.
Very interesting article about a new book coming out soon.
http://articles.philly.com/2013-03-04/news/37412901_1_christianity-new-testament-bible-scholars
60 Minutes – The Coptic Church in Egypt
Fascinating look into the Coptic Church in Egypt and its present precarious plight.
Surprised that there were charismatic Coptic church services there.
Why study Thomas Aquinas?
In Chapter 12 of Prof. MacCulloch’s book, he went over one of the great “doctors” of the Catholic Church, St. Thomas Aquinas.
In this clip, Dr.Simon Oliver from the University of Nottingham discusses why he devotes so much attention to the medieval Dominican theologian, Thomas Aquinas (1225-74); he argues that when someone today comes to grips with his thought, that learning experience trains one to think theologically.
Also added a link to the “Resources” Page for the University of Nottingham’s youtube channel. Great talks with professors about Christian theology, philosophy, church history, and religion.
New Update: Chapter 12: A Church for All People? (1100 – 1300)
New updates here for Chapter 12. Please read our submissions.
We will be on break until January.
“Gay Reformers? Why the Medieval Church Banned Priests from Marrying”
In Chapter 11 of MacCulloch’s book he wrote about how clerical celibacy became mandatory (mostly due to fears of land ownership by the Church).
Here’s some additional material about other possible reasons for clerical celibacy and homosexuality in this article:
Chapter 12: A Church for All People? (1100 – 1300)
Hey everyone,
Next Wed. we will meet for the final PA meeting for 2013 when we will go over Chapter 12: A Church for All People? (1100 – 1300).
As we discussed last week in our meeting, please select and choose one topic to write on and let everyone know before the end of the week what topic you will be writing on.
This way, we can avoid having multiple writings on the same topic.
Bellini, Giovanni – “St. Francis in the Desert” c. 1480, The Frick Museum, NYC
Project Augustine 