J. Jayakiran Sebastian, Review: Allen Brent, Cyprian and Roman Carthage, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Pp. xv + 365. Paper. $99.00. ISBN 9780521515474.

Cyprian: His Life, His Times, His Work (London: Macmillan, Cyprian the Bishop  for all future work and research (London: Routledge, 2002), but this volume will provide the touchstone ...

This comprehensive work by Allen Brent will take a prominent place in the study of the

enduring contributions of the mid-third century martyr-bishop of Carthage, Cyprian, in

the first part of the twenty-first century, as the massive work by the archbishop of

Canterbury, E. W. Benson, 1897), did for the first part of the twentieth century. No doubt there are other recent works that provide an overarching view of Cyprian’s life, including J. Patout Burns,

Read the full review

Adam Couchman, Review: Markus Vinzent, Christ's Resurrection in Early Christianity and the Making of the New Testament (Surrey: Ashgate, 2011).

One of the critical aspects of Christian thought is the belief in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Belief in the risen Christ lies at the heart of Christian faith for, in the words of Paul, "If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain." (1 Cor 15:14). This is why Markus Vinzent's Christ's Resurrection in Early Christianity and the Making of the New Testament will make waves of tsunami proportions throughout Christian scholarship. To be clear, Vinzent's research is not about whether or not Christ rose from the dead. Rather when, how and to whom did it become important to confess the risen Christ? Vinzent's answer to this question is, to be frank, startling:

Had Marcion [of Sinope]... not picked up Paul's letters and put them together with a Gospel, the Resurrection of Christ would presumably never have made its way into the Christian creed. The myth of God incarnate gave way, though only slowly and never fully, to the other myth of Jesus, the Risen Christ. (pg 2)

Through careful and, it must be said, extremely meticulous research in early Christian writings Vinzent shows how, following Paul, there appears a "resurrection vacuum" (my words) until the mid-second Century. Importantly, this prompts the question "Why?". Throughout many of the early Christian writings there is an observable lack of reference to the resurrection. Or, at the very least, a greater importance placed upon the incarnation and death of Christ.
Vinzent's answer to this question is that it was Marcion of Sinope who provided the stimulus for the resurgence in importance placed upon the resurrection. Not just that, Vinzent also suggests that Marcion was the first to call a text "Gospel" (pg 82) and the first to suggest the need for a "New Testament" (in conjunction with his rejection of the "Old Testament"). New and Old Testament is, of course, common language in our modern Bibles, but was revolutionary at the time. Maricon proposed, for his New Testament, a version of Luke (which Vinzent calls "pre-Luke") combined with the writings of Paul. Marcion's strong emphasis upon the writings of Paul provided this stimulus for the resurgence in resurrection theology. Vinzent reminds us that Paul's apostleship was different to "the twelve" in that his only encounter with Jesus (and thus his right to be called an apostle) was with the Risen Christ on the Damascus road. This explains, for Vinzent, Paul's emphasis in his writings upon the Resurrection, and also provided a corpus of writings that appealed to Marcion's theological emphases.
What is particularly interesting, though, is just how far Vinzent takes his hypothesis, even suggesting that Marcion created "the Gospel", and did not just use it as a source.

With.. the noticed discrepancy in the reception of Paul and the non-reception of the Gospel narratives, we suggest taking the discussion one step further and ask, might it be the case that Marcion neither found, nor used, nor edited the Gospel, but produced it in his Roman classroom? (pg 86)

Working from this basis he then proposes that:

Marcion's venture was soon replicated by other teachers who contributed, altered, broadened or nuanced both the letters and the Gospel according to their respective needs and interests... In response to Marcion, others relying on him and on each other's texts and knowledge reworked Marcion's text, produced Mark..., Matthew..., Luke..., all with references to the added Old Testament. (pg 88)

In other words, there was in response to Marcion, and indeed because of Marcion, a kind of "Resurrection Mania"

Only as a result of Marcion's rediscovery of Paul, and his promotion of the 'Gospel' within his 'New Testament', did Christ's Resurrection regain a place in the memory of Christianity. As soon as the fourfold Gospel with Easter narratives was born, the Resurrection message, despite the inclusion of so many non-Resurrection letters in the broadened New Testament, began to grow in importance... Only in those circles that were heavily influenced by Marcion did a Resurrection 'mania' develop. (pg 111)

There is indeed much more that could be said about this monumental work. My own limited knowledge restricts my ability to fully engage with this work, simply because there is so much research that has gone into it. Scholars will debate this book for years to come. Not just historians, but theologians, Biblical scholars and indeed those interested in early forms of Christian worship. That is why this book will have a lasting legacy well beyond its publication year. I'm certain many will criticize Vinzent's thesis, methodology and conclusions, but one thing is for certain: this work will not and can not be ignored. His conclusions are wide-reaching and long-lasting and demand a considered and thoughtful response. For that alone, Vinzent's work should be respected. There is no greater way to do this, for a scholar, than to actually engage with it.
Regardless of whether one agrees with Vinzent or not, his research question remains highly significant and so demands an appropriate answer. Why, after Paul's death, is there an observable vacuum in references to the resurrection? When did this change? Who instigated this change? How did that change come about?
It is clear that by the fourth century the resurrection become central to Nicene faith ("On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures" - Nicene Creed). If indeed Marcion is the solution to this conundrum, as Vinzent proposes, then it will require a collective swallowing of pride to accept that one who is historically considered a heretic played such a vital role in the formation of Christian belief. Vinzent (in citing Stanton) reminds us of the pertinence of this often neglected aspect of the formation of theological belief.

Rivals often influence one another to a much greater extent that they - and scholars - are aware. (pg 79)

Those who would wish to disagree with Vinzent will need to keep that in mind.

This book will be necessary reading for Church historians, Pauline scholars (particularly those interested in the reception of Paul), historical theologians, liturgical scholars, Biblical Scholars (particularly those interested in the formation of the canon), and those interested in the interplay between orthodoxy and heresy. Did I miss anyone? I commend it to you.

source: http://www.setapartinchrist.com/2011/09/book-review-christs-resurrection-in.html

Primer Congreso Internacional de Patristica en San Juan-Argentina

The Universidad Catolica de Cuyo (Argentina) will hold its first
International Congress on Patristic Studies in San Juan, Argentina, on
the topic of: 

The Identity of Jesus: Unity and Diversity in the
Patristic period  

on August 8-10, 2012. 

Here the brochure:

If you are interested in attending or
participating in the conference, please contact Dr. Patricia Ciner at: patriciaciner@yahoo.com.ar
http://www.uccuyo.edu.ar/

A Celebration of Living Theology - A conference in Honour of Andrew Louth

Durham University in conjunction with the Department of Theology and Religion will be hosting the conference ‘A celebration of living theology: Engaging with the work of Andrew Louth’ on 9-12 July 2012 at Durham University. The conference aims to celebrate the work of Prof. Andrew Louth in the areas of Patristics, both Western and Eastern, Modern Theology and Theology as Life, as well as explore its reception outside the English-speaking world. The plenary papers will be collected into a Festschrift to be published after the conference.
Confirmed plenary speakers are:
Antoine Arjakovsky: ‘The orthodox theology and the future pan orthodox council’.
John Behr, ‘Studying the Fathers in the Twenty First Century’.
Mary Cunningham: ‘The concept of “image” according to an eighth-century Byzantine bishop: St Andrew of Crete’s response to ps-Dionysius the Areopagite’.
Pavel Gavrilyuk: ‘The Evolution of Florovsky’s Reading of Vladimir Solovyov and the Waywardness of Russian Theology’.
Cyril Hovorun: ‘British Patristic School: Its impact on modern Orthodox Theology’.
John Milbank, ‘The Far-Western Synthesis of East and West: Eriugena’s Promise for the Future’.
Norman Russell: ‘Living the Mystery: the limits of patristic theology as an academic discipline’.
Kallistos Ware: ‘The Future Path of Orthodox Thought: ‘Culture and Society’ or ‘Mystical Theology’?’.
Jane Baun, title tbc.
Augustine Casiday, title tbc.
Thomas Graumann, title tbc.

more information at: http://andrewlouthconference2012.wordpress.com/

Patristics in Italy under threat

From the many messages, related to the 16th International Conference on Patristic Studies, I received the following one on the precarious state of Patristics in Italy, a message so full of passion, hope and despair that I thought I should share it with you:

Dear Markus,

I regret to confirm that I cannot -- at least physically -- participate at the present Conference. I am very very sad for this: I prepared an intriguing communication according to your indications and I was very joyful all the time expecting such an occasion to "breath" the Patristic pure air. Unfortunately, the economic status of my University is close to a "default" -- so to use an instant term. In the last biennium I reserved a short amount of euros just for my Oxford's expenses and also for any other necessity connected to the event. However, a Rector 's decree prevented me (and, of course, other associate professors) from using money to subscribe for congresses and for inviting colleagues. One might wonder: Is this not a harakiri for a university? Anyway, this is for the being time Italy. Moreover, the academic situation of Patristic studies -- and, in general, of the whole Classical realm -- is marching towards a collapse. The whole idea of Classical Studies is under attack in the Italian context dominated by (dis-)human scientists and, especially, by paedagogists and docimologists. Plus, the danger is not overt, but concealed in the political usual manner. The energies and food to resist such a globalized attack are poor and random-like, at least as for those scholars who -- like me -- do not have academic power and/or academic relations capable of yielding "apotropaic" fear...  What one might oppose to this? I have not but my personal efforts and scientific honesty. ...

As I usually say, my job is working "in partibus infidelium", and this is an interesting task for a scholar as well as for a christian. However, despite the number of papers written by me in the last years, I did not have my very chance to show in an appropriate context my account of Greek Patristic philosophical approach. This is the topic I was prepared to submit to your judgement at Oxford.
The state of affairs prevented me from having this opportunity. At least, for the the moment. I hope I could have another chance.
Finally, you could give me a great joy taking me, next week, as a "virtual" participant to the Conference: be sure that every day during the conference I will be spiritually unite to each participant by praying and studying Fathers in my room as it is possible.
Economy robbed me the joy to stay with you: however, it cannot robbe me the joy of connecting my soul with yours, Colleagues of any Country, as friendly as possible. 

4th British Patristics Conference Wednesday 5th – Friday 7th September 2012

The Department of Theology and Religion and the Centre for Biblical Studies at the University of Exeter

announce the

4th British Patristics Conference,

Wednesday 5th – Friday 7th September 2012,

at St. Luke’s Campus, University of Exeter.
 

Prof. Sebastian Brock and Dr. Alastair Logan have already kindly agreed to give plenary papers.
 The call for other papers will open on September 10th, 2011.  If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact:- britishpatristics@gmail.com.

Please support this event and let others know!  We look forward to seeing you there. On behalf of the conference committee,

Morwenna Ludlow

Could the Foremost Preachers of the Early Church be Tapped to Enrich Preaching Today?

Present-day preaching is so often tame and boring, but it is reported that congregations burst into applause during the sermons of the foremost representatives of the ‘golden age’ of preaching in the Early Church - not always to the joy of the preachers themselves!  But what was the secret of their success?  Can we learn from these preachers principles that could enrich preaching today?  To grapple with this matter presumably some knowledge of classical rhetoric is necessary and of course familiarity with the sermons of the greatest preachers.  To make the study manageable it might be wise to focus on just a few eminent preachers, say, Gregory of Nazianzus, Chrysostom and Augustine.  As time permits, I should like to engage in this project, but since my Patristic studies hitherto have focused very largely on the Pre-Nicene Church, I scarcely know where to start!  I would greatly value the advice of anyone familiar with classical rhetoric and with the sermons of these Fathers.  If you think you might be able to help please contact me during the Patristics conference (there is a noticeboard for contacts), or simply leave a message and reply here at this blog and we can get in touch.

(Rev. Dr.) Andrew Daunton-Fear