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Welcome to A History of Christian Theology! Today, Chad sits down with his friend and colleague, Dr. Andrew Chronister. Like Chad, Dr. Chronister teaches ancient languages at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in addition to serving as a professor of patristics. Similarly, they both received their PhDs from Saint Louis University and studied St. Augustine's work there. Their conversation today centers around Dr. Chorinister's newest book: "Augustine in the Pelagian Controversy: Defending Church Unity," which was released in December (2024) with Catholic University of America Press. As Augustinian scholars, their conversation is lively and interesting as they approach the issue of the Pelagian Controversy from multiple angles. Thanks to Dr. Chronister for taking the time to chat on this important topic and for providing Chad with a copy of his book. We hope you enjoy!Buy "Augustine in the Pelagian Controversy"Subscribe to our Patreontwitter: @theologyxianFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahistoryofchristiantheology

CULTIVATING SAINTS, SAGES, AND STATESMEN THROUGH THE GREAT TRADITION OF CHRISTENDOMIn this third Lenten episode, we read St. Augustine's Sermon 207, delivered during Lent approximately 1,600 years ago. We then offer an exhortation based on his words to finish Lent strong by taking up Christ's cross this Holy Week as we approach the paschal joy of Easter.Thank you to the Catholic University of America Press, who has given Eternal Christendom permission to read from their "Fathers of the Church" series for our podcast.You can purchase the volume this sermon came from here:https://www.cuapress.org/9780813215655/sermons-on-the-liturgical-seasons/VISIT OUR WEBSITEhttps://eternalchristendom.com/BECOME A PATRON OF THE GREAT TRADITIONHelp us continue to dig into the Great Tradition; produce beautiful, substantive content; and gift these treasures to cultural orphans around the world for free:https://eternalchristendom.com/become-a-patron/Have your Lenten almsgiving DOUBLED thanks to a generous $50,000 matching gift from a patron:https://donorbox.org/eternal-christendom-double-your-impactEXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS AT ETERNAL CHRISTENDOM BOOKSTOREhttps://eternalchristendom.com/bookstore/CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIAX: https://twitter.com/JoshuaTCharlesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshuatcharles/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuatcharles/DIVE DEEPERCheck out Eternal Christendom's "Becoming Catholic," where you'll find hundreds of thousands of words of free content (as big as the Bible!) in the form of Articles, Quote Archives, and Study Banks to help you become, remain, and deepen your life as a Catholic:https://eternalchristendom.com/becoming-catholic/EPISODE CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro03:58 - Reading: St. Augustine, Sermon 20711:37 - Taking up Christ's Cross This Holy WeekLISTEN ON APPLEhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eternal-christendom-podcast/id1725000526 LISTEN ON SPOTIFYhttps://open.spotify.com/show/3HoTTco6oJtApc21ggVevu

CULTIVATING SAINTS, SAGES, AND STATESMEN THROUGH THE GREAT TRADITION OF CHRISTENDOMIn this second Lenten episode, we read St. Augustine's Sermon 206, delivered during Lent approximately 1,600 years ago. We then offer our thoughts on this great Church Father's words about the kinds of sacrificial suffering Christ demands of us, and are necessary for our salvation.Thank you to the Catholic University of America Press, who has given Eternal Christendom permission to read from their "Fathers of the Church" series for our podcast.You can purchase the volume this sermon came from here:https://www.cuapress.org/9780813215655/sermons-on-the-liturgical-seasons/VISIT OUR WEBSITEhttps://eternalchristendom.com/BECOME A PATRON OF THE GREAT TRADITIONHelp us continue to dig into the Great Tradition; produce beautiful, substantive content; and gift these treasures to cultural orphans around the world for free:https://eternalchristendom.com/become-a-patron/DOUBLE your Lenten gift by clicking on the link at the top (thanks to a generous matching gift from a patron)EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS AT ETERNAL CHRISTENDOM BOOKSTOREhttps://eternalchristendom.com/bookstore/CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIAX: https://twitter.com/JoshuaTCharlesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshuatcharles/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuatcharles/DIVE DEEPERCheck out Eternal Christendom's "Becoming Catholic," where you'll find hundreds of thousands of words of free content (almost as big as the Bible!) in the form of Articles, Quote Archives, and Study Banks to help you become, remain, and deepen your life as a Catholic:https://eternalchristendom.com/becoming-catholic/EPISODE CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro08:55 - Reading: St. Augustine, Sermon 20615:59 - Reflections, and Thoughts on the Role of Penance in SalvationLISTEN ON APPLEhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eternal-christendom-podcast/id1725000526 LISTEN ON SPOTIFYhttps://open.spotify.com/show/3HoTTco6oJtApc21ggVevu

Show NotesScripture Referenced- John 14:15- 1 John 5:3- Romans 8- Matthew 7:12-14- Genesis 12:1-3- 1 Peter 3:9- Philippians 2:1-4- 1 Corinthians 13- 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18Book Review Referenced- Byron Williston, Wilfrid Laurier University, Tobias Hoffmann (ed.), Weakness of Will from Plato to the Present, The Catholic University of America Press, 2008 https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/weakness-of-will-from-plato-to-the-present/

CULTIVATING SAINTS, SAGES, AND STATESMEN THROUGH THE GREAT TRADITION OF CHRISTENDOM On this Ash Wednesday, in the humbling and penitential spirit of Lent, we are publishing our first audio-only episode.Thanks to the Catholic University of America Press, who has given Eternal Christendom permission to read from their "Fathers of the Church" series for our podcast, we are going to read Sermon 205, delivered by St. Augustine at the beginning of Lent approximately 1,600 years ago. We will then offer some reflections on both the sermon, and an exhortation to a sacrificial Lent, the season in which we most actively join ourselves to the sacrifice of Our Lord on the cross.You can purchase the volume this sermon came from here: https://www.cuapress.org/9780813215655/sermons-on-the-liturgical-seasons/VISIT OUR WEBSITEhttps://eternalchristendom.com/BECOME A PATRON OF THE GREAT TRADITIONHelp us continue to dig into the Great Tradition; produce beautiful, substantive content; and gift these treasures to cultural orphans around the world for free:https://eternalchristendom.com/become-a-patron/CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIAX: https://twitter.com/JoshuaTCharlesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshuatcharles/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuatcharles/DIVE DEEPERCheck out Eternal Christendom's "Becoming Catholic," where you'll find hundreds of thousands of words of free content (almost as big as the Bible!) in the form of Articles, Quote Archives, and Study Banks to help you become, remain, and deepen your life as a Catholic:https://eternalchristendom.com/becoming-catholic/EPISODE CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro03:44 - Thank You to Catholic University of America Press05:01 - Reading: St. Augustine, Sermon 20516:13 - Exhortation to a Sacrificial LentLISTEN ON APPLEhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eternal-christendom-podcast/id1725000526 LISTEN ON SPOTIFYhttps://open.spotify.com/show/3HoTTco6oJtApc21ggVevu

Revelation Class 15;  Heading to the Final Showdown 26 February 2025 Revelation, Chapter Twenty – Twenty-two   Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Fr. John Peck; Fr. Barnabas Powell. Rejecting RAPTUREMANIA: An Orthodox Look at a Dubious Doctrine (Function). Kindle Edition. Patrick Henry Reardon, Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2018). Chapter Twenty One thousand years.   Andrew of Caesarea:  … The one thousand years, therefore, is the time from the Incarnation of the Lord until the coming of the Antichrist. Gog and Magog. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  The name is not especially important for the identification of the invader; like the other names in these chapters of Ezekiel, it symbolizes evil realities much larger and more menacing than their historical references. Thus understood, Gog and his forces appear here in Revelation 20. On Eternal Punishment Andrew of Carsarea.  For also as there are “many mansions in my Father's” among those saved, thus, here too, there are different places and manners of punishments, those sharper and those milder, by which those not deemed worthy of the Book of Life will be tried. Chapter Twenty-One The End of Evil. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  In this final vision, which lasts two chapters, John is aware that seven things are gone forever: the sea, death, grief, crying, pain, the curse, and the night (21:1, 4; 22:3, 5). Here we are dealing with the definitive abolition of conflict, the end of chaos. The first symbol of this chaos is the sea... The New Eden. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  John's vision here, especially verses 19–21, is also related to Ezekiel 28:12–15, where we find joined the themes of the mountain and the precious stones, for this city is also the Garden of Eden, where those stones first grew (cf. Gen 2:10–12). An Example of Symbolic Interpretation (the stones) Andrew of Caesarea.  By the amethyst, being somehow fiery in appearance, I surmise Matthias is signified, having been deemed worthy of the divine fire in the distribution of tongues and filling again the place of the one who had fallen, with fiery yearning to be well pleasing to the One who had chosen . Chapter Twenty-Two The Living Waters. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  The theme of the living waters is very much central to the Johannine corpus (cf. Jn 4:7–15; 7:38; 19:34; 1 Jn 5:6–8). The Seal/Name. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  Heaven, portrayed here as vision and worship with the angels (verses 8–9), is for all those whose foreheads are sealed with the mark of the living God. This sealing, of course, stands in contrast to the mark of beast… Blessed is the Kingdom… Fr. Patrick Reardon.  In this book a great deal has been said about the worship in the heavenly sanctuary. Now we learn that Christians already share in the worship that the angels give to God (verses 8–9). The End of Old Time Fr. Patrick Reardon.  Verse 11 indicates a definite cut-off point in history, which is the final coming of Christ. Verse 12, which quotes Isaiah 40:10, promises the reward, which is access to the Holy City, eternal beatitude—the fullness of communion with God. In preparation for that reward, verses 14–16 are something of an altar call, an appeal for repentance, based on all that this book has said. The Final Partition Fr. Patrick Reardon.  In referring to those “outside” the City, John is relying on an ancient eucharistic discipline of the Church, called “excommunication,” which literally excluded the person from receiving holy communion. … Some Terms Chiliasm was (may have been?) renounced at the Second Ecumenical Council.   The millennium is now.  The first resurrection confused people: it is the one to hades or the bosom of Abraham. Pre-millennialism is very similar to chiliasm.  A literal reign.  It misunderstands the language. About the Rapture From Fr. John Peck and Fr. Barnabas Powell.  “There is no Rapture. It isn't in the Bible. It was invented in the 19th century, and spread because of new religious groups, and the use of a specifically tailored study Bible. Believers will be present for the Great Tribulation to give their witness and glorify God, as the Bible says. There is no Third Coming of Christ. When Christ returns, that is the end of this world, and it will be unmistakable. There will be no doubt whatsoever.  Stop worrying about what you will do if Jesus comes back before you die. Instead, worry about what will happen if you die before Jesus comes back.” From the OSB: Christ's second coming will entail a sudden revelation of judgment.  One will be taken to heaven and the other left for eternal condemnation.  The separation of the saints from the wicked will occur on “the day when the Son of man is revealed” (v. 30) and not, as some speculate today, at an event that occurs before His return. As for Preterism and Partial Preterism; the Orthodox Church does not look to the book of Revelation for specific data on the end times.  If you want to shoehorn it into this debate, it is partial-preterist.  

In this episode, we explore the profound philosophical and theological dimensions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, particularly his views on war. In his book Tolkien, Philosopher of War (Catholic University of America Press, 2024), McAleer uncovers Tolkien’s critique of Enlightenment thought and his deep concern with the apocalyptic politics of his time. He argues that Tolkien's metaphysical, political, […]

In this episode, we explore the profound philosophical and theological dimensions of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, particularly his views on war. In his book Tolkien, Philosopher of War (Catholic University of America Press, 2024), McAleer uncovers Tolkien's critique of Enlightenment thought and his deep concern with the apocalyptic politics of his time. He argues that Tolkien's metaphysical, political, and aesthetic views—shaped by a rejection of gnosticism, a defense of monarchy, and a resistance to Futurism—offer a unique perspective on the dangers of progressivism and total war. We explore Tolkien's personal experience which inform his writings and the processes by which he was able to sculpt these great works and systems of thought. This conversation sheds light on Tolkien's modern critique of political ideologies and offers new insights for readers of Catholic studies, war philosophy, and Tolkien Studies alike. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In this episode, we explore the profound philosophical and theological dimensions of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, particularly his views on war. In his book Tolkien, Philosopher of War (Catholic University of America Press, 2024), McAleer uncovers Tolkien's critique of Enlightenment thought and his deep concern with the apocalyptic politics of his time. He argues that Tolkien's metaphysical, political, and aesthetic views—shaped by a rejection of gnosticism, a defense of monarchy, and a resistance to Futurism—offer a unique perspective on the dangers of progressivism and total war. We explore Tolkien's personal experience which inform his writings and the processes by which he was able to sculpt these great works and systems of thought. This conversation sheds light on Tolkien's modern critique of political ideologies and offers new insights for readers of Catholic studies, war philosophy, and Tolkien Studies alike. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

In this episode, we explore the profound philosophical and theological dimensions of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, particularly his views on war. In his book Tolkien, Philosopher of War (Catholic University of America Press, 2024), McAleer uncovers Tolkien's critique of Enlightenment thought and his deep concern with the apocalyptic politics of his time. He argues that Tolkien's metaphysical, political, and aesthetic views—shaped by a rejection of gnosticism, a defense of monarchy, and a resistance to Futurism—offer a unique perspective on the dangers of progressivism and total war. We explore Tolkien's personal experience which inform his writings and the processes by which he was able to sculpt these great works and systems of thought. This conversation sheds light on Tolkien's modern critique of political ideologies and offers new insights for readers of Catholic studies, war philosophy, and Tolkien Studies alike. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

In this episode, we explore the profound philosophical and theological dimensions of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, particularly his views on war. In his book Tolkien, Philosopher of War (Catholic University of America Press, 2024), McAleer uncovers Tolkien's critique of Enlightenment thought and his deep concern with the apocalyptic politics of his time. He argues that Tolkien's metaphysical, political, and aesthetic views—shaped by a rejection of gnosticism, a defense of monarchy, and a resistance to Futurism—offer a unique perspective on the dangers of progressivism and total war. We explore Tolkien's personal experience which inform his writings and the processes by which he was able to sculpt these great works and systems of thought. This conversation sheds light on Tolkien's modern critique of political ideologies and offers new insights for readers of Catholic studies, war philosophy, and Tolkien Studies alike. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

In this episode, we explore the profound philosophical and theological dimensions of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, particularly his views on war. In his book Tolkien, Philosopher of War (Catholic University of America Press, 2024), McAleer uncovers Tolkien's critique of Enlightenment thought and his deep concern with the apocalyptic politics of his time. He argues that Tolkien's metaphysical, political, and aesthetic views—shaped by a rejection of gnosticism, a defense of monarchy, and a resistance to Futurism—offer a unique perspective on the dangers of progressivism and total war. We explore Tolkien's personal experience which inform his writings and the processes by which he was able to sculpt these great works and systems of thought. This conversation sheds light on Tolkien's modern critique of political ideologies and offers new insights for readers of Catholic studies, war philosophy, and Tolkien Studies alike. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/british-studies

In this episode, we explore the profound philosophical and theological dimensions of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, particularly his views on war. In his book Tolkien, Philosopher of War (Catholic University of America Press, 2024), McAleer uncovers Tolkien's critique of Enlightenment thought and his deep concern with the apocalyptic politics of his time. He argues that Tolkien's metaphysical, political, and aesthetic views—shaped by a rejection of gnosticism, a defense of monarchy, and a resistance to Futurism—offer a unique perspective on the dangers of progressivism and total war. We explore Tolkien's personal experience which inform his writings and the processes by which he was able to sculpt these great works and systems of thought. This conversation sheds light on Tolkien's modern critique of political ideologies and offers new insights for readers of Catholic studies, war philosophy, and Tolkien Studies alike. Madison's Notes is the podcast of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

In this conversation, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse and Dr. Deborah Savage discuss the Catholic Church's teachings on contraception, the importance of lived experience in understanding these teachings, and the challenges posed by the sexual revolution. They explore the philosophical foundations laid by John Paul II, the distinction between human acts and impulses, and the implications for sexual morality and human dignity.   Dr. Deborah Savage joined the Theology faculty during the 2021-22 academic year, having taught both philosophy and theology at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota for the previous thirteen years. She received her doctorate in Religious Studies from Marquette University in 2005; her degree is in both theology and philosophy. Dr. Savage is the co-founder and acting director of the Siena Symposium for Women, Family, and Culture, an interdisciplinary think tank, organized to respond to John Paul II's call for a new and explicitly Christian feminism.   Her writing has appeared in several publications, Nova et Vertera, Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, First Things, The Humanum Review, Catholic World Report, and Public Discourse. Some recent publications include “Redeeming Woman: A Catholic Response to the Second Sex Issue,” published in the journal Religions and “The Therapeutic and Pastoral Implications of Pope St. John Paul II's Account of the Person,” published in The Journal of Christian Bioethics. The most recent iteration of her theory of Man and Woman is a chapter in a volume entitled The Complementarity of Men and Women, edited by Dr. Paul Vitz and published by CUA Press (May 2021). She is currently at work on a book entitled “Woman and Man” for formal consideration by Catholic University of America Press.   Dr. Savage is a member of the Academy of Catholic Theology and the American Catholic Philosophical Association. She served for several years as a member of the Board of Trustees at Franciscan University, resigning in 2021. She moved to Steubenville along with her husband of 32 years, Andrew Percic, and their daughter, Madeline.   Lived Experience and the Search for Truth: Revisiting Catholic Sexual Morality Buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Lived-Experience-Search-Truth-Revisiting/dp/B0DG2PVQ6K/ref=sr_1_1   A World Without Fathers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjNiVYfDdSU   Male and Female He Created Them: Complementarity as Mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJBgR6krKaY https://drdeborahsavage.com/   Is There A War On Men? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWz4iLHFwKE     Other videos of Dr. Savage: https://drdeborahsavage.com/videos/   Catholic Women's Forum Interview with Dr. Savage: https://catholicwomensforum.org/staff/woman-know-deborah-savage/   Active Projects: https://drdeborahsavage.com/active-projects/   Publications: https://drdeborahsavage.com/publications/   Department of Theology of Fransiscan University at Steubenville: https://spt.franciscan.edu/faculty/savage-dr-deborah/

Revelation 10 04 December 2024 Revelation 5:1 -  Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011), 85–112. o can stand?” Loosening of the First Seal 6:1. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living beings saying, with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And here the good order of those in heaven is shown, from the first orders coming down to the second. Thus, from one of the fourfold-appearing living beings, that is, the lion, he heard originating from the first voice the command “come” to the angel forming the vision through an angel in a figurative fashion. The first living being, the lion, seems to me to show the princely spirit of the apostles against the demons, about whom it has been said: “Behold, the kings of the earth have been gathered together,” and also, “You will appoint them as rulers upon all the earth.”2 [60] 6:2. And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and the one sitting on it having a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. … Thus we explained the loosening of the first seal as meaning the generation of the apostles, [61] those who bend the gospel message like a bow against the demons … [and the return of the nations] Loosening of the Second Seal 6:3. And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living being saying, “Come.” I think the second living being, the calf, is said to characterize the priestly sacrifice of the holy martyrs, while the first describes the apostolic authority, as was said. 6:4. And out came another horse, bright red, and the one sitting [62] upon it was permitted to take the peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another; and he was given a large sword. We suppose that this means the second succession of the apostles, which is completely fulfilled through martyrs and teachers, during which, while the remainder of the gospel message was spreading, the peace of the world was abolished, nature having been divided against itself according to that which had been said by Christ, “I did not come to bring peace to the earth but a sword,” through which the slain martyrs were lifted up to the heavenly altar. The fire-red horse a symbol of either the shedding of blood or the flaming disposition of those suffering for Christ. What was written about the one seated on , that he was permitted to take the peace, shows the all-wise allowance of God testing the faithful servants through trials. Loosening of the Third Seal 6:5. And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living being saying, “Come!” I think the third living being, the man, is said to signify the fall of people and, because of that, torment, on account of the easy fall into sin through the power of free choice. 6:5b–6. 5b And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and the one sitting on it having a scale in his hand; 6 and I heard like a voice in the midst of the four living beings saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm oil and wine!” It is likely and sensible for a literal famine to occur then, just as it will also be announced by what follows. … Loosening of the Fourth Seal, Showing the Chastisements Which Befall the Impious 6:7. And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living being saying, “Come!” [65] The fourth living being, that is, the eagle, its high flight and keen eyesight coming down upon its prey from above, can signify the wounds from the divinely led wrath of God for the revenge of the pious and the punishment of the impious, unless being improved by these they return. 6:8. And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and the name of the one sitting upon was Death. And Hades follows him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword and by famine and by death and by wild beasts of the earth. The series drawn out previously are connected to the present events. For as Eusebius says in the eighth chapter of the ninth book of his Ecclesiastical History, in the zenith of the persecutions, during the reign of Maximin the Roman Emperor, innumerable crowds were killed by the coming of famine and plague among them, along with other calamities; and such that were not able to bury them, and yet the Christians then generously busied themselves with the burial , and many of those who had been deceived2 were led to [66] the knowledge of the truth by the philanthropy of the Christians. … Seal, Meaning the Saints Crying Out to the Lord About the End of the World 6:9–10. 9 And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of people who had been slain on account of the word of God and on account of the witness which they had . They cried out with a loud voice, saying, 10 “How long, O holy and true Master, before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?” 6:11. And he gave them each a white robe and told them to rest again a little longer, until their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed in the future, even as they , completed . And by these the saints seem to be asking for the full consummation of the world. Wherefore, they are called upon to endure patiently until the completion of the brothers, so that they will not become complete without them, according to the Apostle Loosening of the Sixth Seal, Signifying the Upcoming Plagues at the End of Time 6:12–13. 12 And I saw, and when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake occurred, and the sun became black as sackcloth, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree casts its winter fruit when shaken by a great wind; It seems to us that here a shift has taken place beginning from the time of persecutions to the time before the departure of the pseudo-Christ, during which so many afflictions were prophesied to come, and perhaps the people, being practiced in these afflictions, did not renounce the punishments brought upon them by the Antichrist, of such a sort as we have never known. We often find in the Scriptures that an earthquake certainly a change in events. … 6:14a. And the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up, The sky rolled up like a scroll hints at either the unknown of the second coming of Christ—because silently and in a moment the scroll is opened—or also that the heavenly powers feel pain over those who fall from the faith as if they will suffer some kind of twisting on account of sympathy and sorrow. … 6:14b–17. 14b And every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich and the commanders of thousands [and the strong], and every slave and every freeman, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of his wrath has come, and who can stand?”  

Revelation: Lesson 8 Revelation 4:1 – 5:1 Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011), 81–90.   4:1. After these I saw, and behold, an open door in heaven! And the first voice that I heard was like a trumpet [47] speaking to me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after these.” [Compare to the Ascent of Moses]. 4:2–3. 2 And immediately I was in the Spirit. And behold, a throne stood in heaven, 3 and one sitting upon the throne who appeared like the stone jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow was around the throne that looked like an emerald. … First, jasper, meaning, as pale green, the evergreen at once both the life-bringer and bestower of the food of the divine nature, through which every seed brings forth young sprouts. … And the rainbow like an emerald shows the variety and blooming virtues of the angelic orders. 4:4. And around the throne twenty-four thrones, and sitting on the thrones twenty-four elders wrapped in white garments, and upon their heads gold crowns. [49] … by the twelve elders those who excelled in the Old, and by the twelve others those who excelled in the New. … 4:5a. From out of the throne came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. 4:5b–6a. 5b And seven torches of fire burn before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God; 6a and before the throne like a glass sea like crystal. …  The glass sea designates the multitude of the holy powers, and also the clarity, spotlessness, and calmness of the future life. …  4:6b. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, four living beings, full of eyes in front and behind: The throne is shown by this to be signifying the reign and resting-place of God, in which and around which he saw the seraphim, being taught through the multitude of their eyes their ability to see God with regard to the divine light, and also that those eyes behind and in front receive light and knowledge from God. 4:7. And the first living being like a lion, the second living being like a calf, the third living being had a face like a man, and the fourth living being like an eagle flying. These living beings, we think, were also seen by Isaiah…   4:8a. And the four living beings, each of them having six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, … 4:8b. And they do not rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!” These holy powers do not rest, never ceasing the divine hymnody and offering the threefold blessing to the Tri-hypostatic Divinity. And the who is and who was and who is to come we said means the Holy Trinity. 4:9–10a. 9 And whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanksgiving [53] to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10a the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. [LITURGY!] 4:10b–11. 10b They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “You are worthy, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” They say, “You, Master, are the cause and the provider of the crowns of victory, and thanksgiving is due to You from all things as creatures.” About the Small Scroll Sealed With Seven Seals Which No One Who Has a Created Nature is Able to Open 5:1. And I saw in the right of the One who was seated on the throne a small scroll covered in writing on the inside and outside, sealed with seven seals. … The seven seals, which no one of created nature is able to loosen, either the fulfillment of the scroll, which is obscure and unknown to all, or the dispensation of the one “who searches the depths of the Spirit of God.” The scroll also means the prophecy which Christ himself said in the Gospel according to Luke had been fulfilled, which things occurring thereafter are to be fulfilled in the last days.  

Revelation, Session Seven Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Chapters Two and Three – the letters to the seven churches Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Jack Norman Sparks, The Orthodox Study Bible: Notes (Thomas Nelson, 2008), 1712. Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005).       Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011), 63–80. The Things Declared to the Angel of the Church in Pergamum 2:12–13a. 12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: “Thus says the one who has the sharp two-edged sword: 13a I know your works and where you dwell, where the throne of Satan is. This city was full of idols…  2:13b. And you keep my name. You did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, that all-faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. … 2:14–15. 14 But I have a few things against you: that you have there keeping the teaching of Balaam, who in Balaam taught [30] Balak to put a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat meat sacrificed to idols, and to practice fornication. 15 Thus you also have those who keep the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which I likewise hate. So it seems this city had possessed two difficulties: First, the majority was Greek, and second, among those who were called believers, the shameful Nicolaitans had sown evil “tares among the wheat.”8 … 2:16. Repent. If not, I will come to you soon, and I will war against them by the sword of my mouth. Love for humankind is also in the threat. For he does not say, “against you,” but I will war against them, those who are incurably “diseased.” 2:17. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches: To the one who is victorious I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, [31] and I will give to him a small white stone, and a new name written upon the stone, which no one knows except the one receiving it.” The “Bread of Life” is the hidden manna, the One who descended from heaven for us and has become edible. …   Things Declared to the Angel of the Church in Thyatira 2:18. And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: “Thus says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire and whose feet are like glowing brass. [32] … [T]his union, ignited by means of the divine Spirit, cannot be grasped by human reasoning. 2:19–20. 19 I know your works and your love and faith and service and your patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this very much against you, that you allow the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet, to teach and to lead my servants astray to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. … 2:21. I gave her time to repent of her immorality. The evil a choice, he says, since, having received time to repent rightly, she did not use it. 2:22–23a. 22 Behold, I will throw her on a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23a And I will strike her children dead. … 2:23b–25. 23b And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches reins and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 And I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, any who have not learned the deep things of Satan, as they say: I do not lay upon you any other burden; 25 only hold fast to that which you have until I come. These things are to the deceived heretics and those deceiving others. [34] To the more simple he says: “Since you, through your simple manner, are not able to endure the cunning and quick-witted men, inasmuch as you do not know the deep things of Satan, as you say, I do not request that you do battle through words but that you safeguard the teaching which you have received, until I will take you from there.” 2:26–28a. 26 And he who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him authority over the nations, 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as earthen vessels they will be shattered, 28a just as I myself have received from my Father. To him who does my works,” he says, I will give authority “over five or ten cities,” as the Gospel said. … 2:28b–29. 28b And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Morning star, or, it says, the one about whom Isaiah was saying, “How did he fall from heaven, the bright rising morning star?” whom he promised he will hand over to be “crushed under the feet of the saints.”22 Or the One who brings light, as has been said by the blessed Peter, [35] “dawning in the hearts” of the faithful, the well-known illumination of Christ. …. It is not surprising that we have taken this as referring to two things totally contradictory to each other. For we learn from the divine Scriptures that the lion of Judah the Christ,30 and from Bashan the Antichrist. According to what is meant, it is this or the other. It also implies both the dawn of the future day, by which the darkness of the present life will be covered, and also its “messenger” bringing the good news of this .32…   The Things Declared to the Angel of the Church in Sardis 3:1. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: “Thus says the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works, that in name you live, and you are dead. … 3:2. Wake up and strengthen those things which remain and which were about to die; for I have not found your works being fulfilled in the sight of God. “Shake off the sleep of laziness,” he says, “and strengthen your members, who are about to die completely through unbelief.” For it is not the beginning of good works that crowns the worker, but the completion. 3:3a. Remember, therefore, what you received and heard, and keep [that], and repent. [37] “Keep the tradition which you received from the apostles, and repent of laziness.” 3:3b. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Naturally. … 3:4. You have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. “You possess this good,” he says, “that some people, those who have not soiled the garment of the flesh by filthy deeds, will be with me in the rebirth brilliantly attired because they have kept ‘the garment of incorruption'5 spotless.” 3:5–6. 5 He who conquers shall be wrapped about in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” He who is victorious in the above-mentioned victory will shine like the sun in the clothing of his own virtues, and his name will remain indelible in the book of the living. [38] “He will be confessed before my Father and the holy powers,” even as triumphant martyrs, just as he says in the Gospel, “the righteous will shine as the sun.”7   The Things Declared to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia 3:7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: “Thus says the Holy One, the True One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shuts, who shuts and no one opens. His kingdom is called the key of David, for it is the symbol of authority. The key is also the Holy Spirit, of both the book of Psalms and every prophecy, through which the “treasures of knowledge” are opened … 3:8. I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut; that you have little [39] power, and you kept my word and did not deny my name. …  “I opened before you a door of instructive preaching, which cannot be closed by temptations. I am satisfied with the attitude, and I do not demand things beyond strength.” 3:9. Behold, I will give those of the synagogue of Satan—who say that they are Jews and are not, but they lie. I will make them so that they come and bow down before your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. “As a reward for the confession of my name,” he says, “you will have the return and repentance of the Jews, who will kneel before your feet, asking to approach me for the illumination which comes from me, remaining Judaizers secretly in their hearts, not in appearance.” 3:10–11. 10 Because you have kept the word of my patience, I will keep you from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth. I am coming soon. 11 Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. [40] …  He rightly says, I come quickly, for “after the affliction of those days immediately” the Lord will come, as he says. For this reason he suddenly commands to keep the treasure of the faith inviolate, so that no one loses the crown of patience. 3:12a. He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; he will never go out of it, Naturally. The victor over the opposing powers is established a pillar and a foundation of the truth, having in it the immovable base according to the Apostle. 12b. And I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from my God, and my new name. [41] “Upon the heart of such a pillar,” he says, “I will engrave the knowledge of the divine name and of the heavenly Jerusalem, so that he will see in her the beautiful things through the eyes of the Spirit, and also my new name which will be known by the saints in the future.” … 3:13. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Let us pray that we ourselves possess such a little ear.   Things Declared to the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans 3:14a. And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: “Thus says The Amen, the faithful and true witness, … 3:14b. the beginning of God's creation: …  For the beginning of creation is the primary and uncreated cause. 3:15–16a. 15 I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you be cold or hot! 16a Thus it is that you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, Gregory the Theologian says, “We must live exactly hot or exactly cold.” … [I]in faith, the middle way and the lukewarm are worthless. 3:16b–17. 16b I intend to vomit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,' and you do not know that you are miserable and wretched and poor and blind and naked. “Just as lukewarm water causes people who receive it to vomit,” he says, “hence I too, through a word of my mouth, will vomit you like detested food into eternal punishment, for you mingled the thorns of riches with the seed of the divine word and you are unaware of your own poverty in spiritual matters and the blindness of your spiritual eyes and the nakedness of good deeds.” 3:18. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you will become rich, and that you may put on white garments, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. … 3:19. If I love someone, I reproach and correct . Therefore, be zealous and repent. Oh, the love for humanity! How much goodness the reproach holds! 3:20. Behold, I stand at the door and I knock; if one will hear my voice and will open the door, I will come in to him, and I will dine with him, and he with me. “My presence is not forced,” he says. … 3:21. He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself have conquered and taken my seat with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” [45] The Kingdom and the repose of the future age are indicated by the throne.  …  Therefore, having made the cloud a vehicle for the rise heavenward in his Ascension,25 he also says through the Apostle that the saints will be “caught up in the clouds to meet him,” and he will come Judge, as Creator and Master of creation, handing over to the saints to judge those who opposed the truly divine and blessed slavery, as the Apostle says, “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” that is, the “rulers of darkness.”28 …  

Revelation, Session Six and Seven Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Chapters Two and Three – the letters to the seven churches Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Jack Norman Sparks, The Orthodox Study Bible: Notes (Thomas Nelson, 2008), 1712. Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011), 63–80. The Things that had been Written to the Angel of the Church of the Ephesians 2:1. To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: “Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. He discourses with the church through the angel just as if he were an educator to the one being instructed…. 2:2–5a. 2 I know your works and your toil and your patience, and that you cannot bear evil men, and you have tested those calling themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them false. 3 And you have endurance and patience on account of my name and did not grow weary. 4 But I hold it against you that you have left your first love. 5a Remember, therefore, [25] from where you fell, and repent and do the works first. Accepting the church in two ways, he reprimands it in one way. He has put the one in the middle and the achievements on either side...  2:5b–6. 5b If not, I will come to you soon and I will move your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent. 6 But this you have: that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. The movement of the church to deprive them of divine grace… 2:7. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” …  He promised to grant to such a victor in the war against the demons to eat of the Tree of Life, that is, to partake of the blessings of the future age, for, periphrastically, eternal life is meant by the Tree. … The Things Declared to the Angel of the Church of the Smyrnaeans 2:8. And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: “Thus says the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life. The first as god, and the Last as having become man in the latter times, and having opened eternal life to us through his three-day death. 2:9a. I know your works and the tribulation and the poverty, but you are rich. “Affliction and poverty in the bodily things, which you suffer patiently for my sake, being afflicted by the unbelievers and deprived of your possessions, but in spiritual things you are rich, having ‘the treasure hidden in the field' of your heart.” [28] 2:9b. And the blasphemy of those who say they themselves are Jews and are not, but a synagogue of Satan. …  “Judah” means “confession.”  [(Sept.) and they do not confess Christ] 2:10. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to put some of you in prison that you might be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He says, “Do not fear the tribulation from the enemies of God through afflictions and trials, for ten days and not long-lived.” For this reason, death must be despised, since in a little while it grants “the unfading crown of life.” 2:11. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches: The one who is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.” … He will not be harmed by the second death of Gehenna. [29] The Things Declared to the Angel of the Church in Pergamum 2:12–13a. 12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: “Thus says the one who has the sharp two-edged sword: 13a I know your works and where you dwell, where the throne of Satan is. This city was full of idols…  2:13b. And you keep my name. You did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, that all-faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. … 2:14–15. 14 But I have a few things against you: that you have there keeping the teaching of Balaam, who in Balaam taught [30] Balak to put a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat meat sacrificed to idols, and to practice fornication. 15 Thus you also have those who keep the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which I likewise hate. So it seems this city had possessed two difficulties: First, the majority was Greek, and second, among those who were called believers, the shameful Nicolaitans had sown evil “tares among the wheat.”8 … 2:16. Repent. If not, I will come to you soon, and I will war against them by the sword of my mouth. Love for humankind is also in the threat. For he does not say, “against you,” but I will war against them, those who are incurably “diseased.” 2:17. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches: To the one who is victorious I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, [31] and I will give to him a small white stone, and a new name written upon the stone, which no one knows except the one receiving it.” The “Bread of Life” is the hidden manna, the One who descended from heaven for us and has become edible. …

Revelation, Session Five Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Jack Norman Sparks, The Orthodox Study Bible: Notes (Thomas Nelson, 2008), 1712. Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Review – from the Orthodox Study Bible Introduction and Blessing 1:1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. 2. Who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. [speaking of the Gospel of St. John]  3.  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. Greeting to the Seven Churches 4.  John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,  5.  and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.  To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,  6.  and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever.  Amen. (OSB) 7.  Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.  And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.  Even so, Amen. 8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord (God), who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 10.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,  11.  saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” And, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. 12-13.  Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.  And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment  down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.   New Material – from the Orthodox Study Bible 14-20.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.  I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.  Amen.  And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.  Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.  The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.   1:14. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire OSB.  Further, Christ is here described as God, His hair (v. 14) being that of Daniel's vision of God as the “Ancient of Days” (7:9; see also 1En 46:1). His eyes signify knowledge; His feet (v. 15), permanence and stability; His voice, authority or teaching; His right hand (v. 16), power; His two-edged sword, complete discernment. This imagery continues throughout Revelation to affirm the preexistence and eternal divinity of the Son of Man (see also Jn 1:1–18). Thus, in Christ man (v. 14) and God (vv. 15, 16) are united. St. Bede.  14. white. The antiquity and eternity of majesty are represented by whiteness on the head, to which all the chief ones adhere, as hairs, who, because of the sheep which are to be on the right hand are white, like wool, and because of the innumerable multitude of the white-robed and the elect, who come forth from heaven, are glistering like snow. eyes. The eyes of the Lord are preachers, who, with spiritual fire, bring light to the faithful, and to the unbelieving a consuming flame. Andrew of Caesarea. 1:14. His head and his hair were white as white wool, as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire. For even though he is recent amidst us, nonetheless he is ancient; rather, he is before time. His white hair is a symbol of this. And his eyes are as a flame of fire, on the one hand, illuminating those who are holy and, on the other hand, burning the sacrilegious. 1:15.  His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; OSB. 1:15 Dan 2:31–44 indicates this mysterious metal foundation not only provides stability but has the ability to forcibly crush all opposition as well. These images are contrasted with the feet of clay found in Dan 2:33, 43: the kingdoms of this world are not permanent, nor ultimately triumphant. St. Andrew of Caesarea.  1:15a. And his feet were like glowing brass, red-hot as in a furnace. [21] The divine Gregory also understood that the feet meant the divine condescension through the flesh. For his feet by treading on the divinity achieved our salvation. The feet are also the foundations of the Church, like glowing brass, which physicians say is a sweet-smelling incense, which they call masculine incense. Or otherwise: On the one hand, meaning the human nature by the glowing brass, and on the other hand the divine nature by the incense, through both of which is also shown the sweetness of the faith and the unconfused union . Or the fine brass signifies the beautiful melody of the gospel proclamation, and the incense is the return of the nations by which the bride is summoned. And the feet of Christ are also the apostles, who have been tested by fire in the furnace of trials in imitation of their Teacher. 1:15b. And his voice like the sound of many waters. Naturally. His voice is in common with that of the Spirit, from which “rivers of living water flowed from the belly” of the faithful, and it made a penetrating sound over all the earth.   St. Bede.   15. feet. By the “fiery feet” he means the Church of the last time, which is to be searched and proved by severe afflictions. For orichalcum is brass, which, by much fire and various ingredients, is brought to the colour of gold. Another translation, which renders it, “like orichalcum of Lebanon,” signifies that in Judæa, of which Lebanon is a mountain, the Church will be persecuted, and especially at the last. The temple also frequently received the name of Lebanon, as there is said to ito, “Open, O Lebanon, thy gates, and let the fire devour thy cedars.” voice. The voice of confession, and preaching, and praise does not resound in Judæa alone, but among many peoples. 1:16.  He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. OSB: 1:16 The Lord holds the stars that represent the seven churches (1:20), and hence, the Church. For Christ is Lord of the Church. In His just judgment, the sword He wields is the Word of God, which cuts effortlessly to the very marrow and heart of humanity (see 2:16; 18:15; Is 11:4; 49:2; WSol 18:15; Eph 6:17; 2Th 2:9; Heb 4:12). The brilliance of His face recalls the Uncreated Light John saw radiating from the Savior at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. Andrew of Caesarea. 1:16. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and coming out from his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword, and his appearance as the sun shines in its power. [22] Further down he says that the seven stars are the seven angels of the churches. The sharp, double-edged sword means his decision against the wicked, “sharper than any two-edged sword,” or the sword of the Spirit circumcising our inner man.38 Like the sun his face shines, not in a splendor to the senses, but to the intellect. For he is the “sun of righteousness,” shining with his own power and authority, not like the sensory sun, which as a created object by God-given power and divine command.   St. Bede. 16. right hand. In the right hand of Christ is the spiritual Church. “On Thy right hand,” he says, “stood the queen in a vesture of gold.” And as it stands on His right hand, He saithq, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom.” mouth. He, the Judge of all things visible and invisible, “after He has killed, has power to cast into hell fire.” countenance. Such as the Lord appeared on the Mount, will He appear after the judgment to all the saints, for at the judgment the ungodly will behold Him Whom they pierced. But all this appearance of the Son of Man belongs also to the Church, for He Himself was made the Christ in the same nature with it, and He gives to it a sacerdotal dignity and a judicial power, and to “shine as the sun in the kingdom of His Father.” 1:17-18. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.  Amen.   OSB. 1:17, 18 Mortal humanity cannot bear the revelation of divine glory, a frequent biblical theme (see Ex 19:21; 33:20; Is 6:5). Just as he fell prostrate at Mount Tabor (Mt 17:6), so also does John here, in the presence of the glorified Savior (see Ezk 1:27; Dan 10:7–9; see also 1En 14:24). Do not be afraid is a revelatory formula from the OT. As a signal for the theophany, it was carried over into the NT (see the Annunciation, Lk 1:30; Jesus walking upon the water, Mt 14:27—“Fear not, I AM”; the Transfiguration, Mt 17:7). In the OT God was called “the first and the last” (Is 44:6; 48:12), and so, too, is the Messiah. Some early heresies (e.g. Docetism) held that Jesus only seemed to die. But the Lord Himself testified, I … was dead, affirming the authenticity of His death; alive forevermore, His Resurrection—the power of which effects His lordship over death and its realm. The Orthodox icon of the resurrected Christ depicts Him with these keys (v. 18) in hand, standing triumphantly on the open gates of Hades. Fr. John Farley.  Like those receiving such theophanic appearances in Old Testament days (e.g. Ezek. 1:28; Dan. 8:17), John fell at His feet as if dead. Even though he had leaned in familiarity upon His breast at the Last Supper (John 13:23), yet such is the power of the Lord in His heavenly exaltation that even the beloved disciple is overwhelmed. The Lord restores him in preparation to write the things he has seen and will see. He tells John, “Do not be afraid,” and in this He tells all of John's churches not to fear. They need not fear death, martyrdom, or anything in all the world. Why? Because Christ has overcome the world, trampling down death by death. He became dead, but now He is alive to ages of ages. As such, He is the first and the last, sovereign over all (compare God as the Alpha and Omega in 1:8) and the Living One, the source of all life. He had authority over death and Hades by His Resurrection. Death cannot now separate us from Him, for He is Lord of both the living and the dead. St. Andrew of Caesarea.  Christ revived the Apostle himself who had suffered through the weakness of human nature like Joshua son of Nun and Daniel, by saying to him, “Do not fear, for I have not come near to kill you, since I am beginningless and endless, having become dead for your sakes.” 1:18b. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. [23] Instead , he has authority over bodily and spiritual death. St. Bede.  17.  I fell. As a man, he trembles at the spiritual vision, but his human fear is banished by the clemency of the Lord. the first. He is the first, because “by Him were all things made;” the last, because in Him are all things restoredu. 18. keys. Not only, He saith, have I conquered death by resurrection, but I have dominion also over death itself. And this He also bestowed upon the Church by breathing upon it the Holy Spirit, saying, “Whose sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them,” and the rest. 1:19.  And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.  Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.   OSB.  John's visions have to do with both the present (things which are) and the future. Fr. John Finlay.  Then Christ gives John a command: he is to write the things which he has seen, and the things which are, and the things which are about to happen after these things and send them to the main churches under his care in Asia. (From these seven main locations, they could be sent out to other smaller church communities as well.) This gives a basic outline of the Book of Revelation as a whole: it relates what John has seen (the vision of Christ in ch. 1), the things which are (the present state of the churches, described in chs. 2–3), and the things which are about to happen in the future (the prophecies of chs. 4–22). St. Andrew of Caesarea.  [nothing] St. Bede.  Reveal to all the things which thou alone hast seen, that is, the various labours of the Church, and that the evil are to be mingled in it with the good unto the end of the world. 1:20.  The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. OSB. The angels of the seven churches have been variously interpreted as being (1) the guardian angels of the church communities; (2) the pastoral leadership of these local churches; (3) a personification of the prevailing spirit of the given congregations; or (4) simply the messengers responsible for delivering the letters. The term “angel” (heavenly or earthly messenger) is used over 60 times in Revelation. Fr. John Farley.  The introduction concludes with an explanation of the meaning of the seven stars in His hand and the seven lampstands among which He stands. The seven lampstands are the seven churches of Asia, and the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. This is a reference to what may be termed the individual corporate personality of each church community. Each local church is thus portrayed as having an angel, even as each person has his guardian angel. Just as a person's guardian angel resembles that person (see those who reacted to the announcement that Peter was standing unexpectedly at the door by suggesting that it was not Peter but his angel; Acts 12:15), so the church's angel sums up and embodies the local church. The angel of the church is an image of the strengths and weaknesses of each church. In writing to the angel of the church of Ephesus, the Lord actually speaks to the church of Ephesus in its corporate aspect. We see this today as well, in that church communities have corporate characteristics—some are loving, some judgmental, some zealous, some lax. The reference to each church's “angel” is a way of addressing each community as a community, using the language of the apocalyptic. St. Andrew of Caesarea.  Since Christ is the “true light,” because of this, those abundant in his light are lamps as they shine in the night of this present life. Naturally, the churches are called lampstands, because, as the luminaries, they “have the word of life” according to the Apostle. The lamps and lampstands are gold because of the honor and purity of the faith in them. An angel has stood guard for each of these, just as the Lord says,44 and Gregory the Theologian had understood the present chapter: he figuratively called them “stars” because of the brightness and clarity of their nature. St. Bede.   stars. That is, the rulers of the Church. For the priest, as Malachi says, is “the angel of the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 2:7.  “for the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth, for he is the messenger (malakh/angel) of the Lord Almighty.”  

Revelation, Session Four Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Jack Norman Sparks, The Orthodox Study Bible: Notes (Thomas Nelson, 2008), 1712. Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Review Introduction and Blessing 1:1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. 2. Who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. [speaking of the Gospel of St. John]  3.  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.   Greeting to the Seven Churches 4.  John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,  5.  and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.  To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,  6.  and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever.  Amen. (OSB) 7.  Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.  And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.  Even so, Amen. New Material 8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord (God), who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Andrew of Caesarea.  Christ is shown here both as God and as the Ruler of all things, both beginningless and at the same time endless, existing now and existing before and having no end, since he is coeternal with the Father, and on account of this he will render to each one the wages of deeds done. Ps 62(61):12; Prv 24:12; Wis 16:14; Rom 2:6; 1 Cor 5:10 St. Bede.  Who is. He had said this same thing of the Father, for God the Father came, as He also is to come, in the Son. St. Augustine.  The Lord himself said plainly in the Apocalypse, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first”—before whom is nobody—“the last”—after whom is nobody; he precedes all things and sets a term to all things. Do you want to gaze upon him as the first? “All things were made through him.”49 Do you seek him as the last? “For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified.” In order for you to live at some time or other, you had him as your creator. In order for you to live always, you have him as your redeemer. 9.  I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. OSB.  Patmos: A small rocky island 40 miles off the western coast of modern Turkey, fifty miles south of Ephesus, to which the Romans exiled criminals.  John's preaching must have been considered a seditious threat to the public interest if he was indeed a prisoner there. Logos.  According to a tradition preserved by Irenaeus, Eusebius, Jerome and others, John, the author of Revelation, was exiled there in the 14th year of the reign of Domitian and subsequently released to Ephesus under Nerva (96 ad). St. Andrew of Caesarea.  “Inasmuch as your brother,” he says, “being also a co-participant in the tribulations on account of Christ, I naturally have acquired trustworthiness among you. Being condemned to live on the island of Patmos on account of the witness of Jesus, I will announce to you the mysteries seen by me on it.” 10.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,  OSB.  In the Spirit may mean John received the revelation in a visionary ecstasy (see Ezk 3:12 - Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place.), but more probably that he was in the worship (“in Spirit and in truth”) of the Lord. The Lord's Day is the earliest reference to the Christian name for Sunday. The Didache and St. Ignatius of Antioch show this name was used very early for the day when Christians gathered to celebrate the Resurrection in the Holy Eucharist. As a fulfillment of the first day of the week of the old creation, Sunday becomes the “eighth day,” the “first day of the new creation.” The term “eighth day” is seen in 2En 33:1 (“On the eighth day I likewise appointed, so that the 8th day might be the 1st, the first-created of my week, and that it should revolve in the revolution of 7000; ⟨|so that the 8000|⟩ might be in the beginning of a time not reckoned and unending, neither years, nor months, nor weeks, nor days, nor hours ⟨like the first day of the week, so also that the eighth day of the week might return continually”⟩. and inaugurates the first day of the timeless age to come. The loud voice, as of a trumpet is a traditional, eschatological, apocalyptic introduction describing an appearance of the Lord (see Ex 19:16, 19; Mt 24:31; 1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:16). Andrew of Caesarea.  Having been possessed by the Holy Spirit and having a spiritual ear on the Lord's day, also would have been honored by him on account of the resurrection, he heard a voice that seemed like a trumpet because of the loud sound—“the sound of their voice went out to all the earth”—declaring the beginninglessness and endlessness of God signified by the Alpha and Omega. By it he was commanded to send out his visions to the seven churches, because of the aforementioned number seven applying to the Sabbath period of the future age. For this reason also the great Irenaeus had written that the seven heavens and seven angels leading the rest of them had been created by God first. 11.  saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” And, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. OSB.  The glorified Christ introduces himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, thus identifying Himself with God the Father (v. 8; 22:13). His position amidst the seven lampstands signifies His presence in the Church (see Mt 5:14) St. Bede.  Seven Churches.  The Church of Christ was not at the time in these places alone, but all fulness is comprised in the number seven. Asia, which is interpreted elevation, denotes the proud exaltation of the world in which the Church is sojourning, and, as is the method of the divine mystery, the genus is contained in the species. For the Apostle Paul also writes to seven churches, but not to the same as St. John. And although these seven churches are a sevenfold figure of the whole Church, still the things which he blames, or praises, came to pass in them one by one. Apringius of Beja (Latin Father of the 6th Century). Ephesus means “my will” or “my plan.” He wills that we know that the whole reality of our faith and the dignity of the catholic church is not to be ascribed to human merit, but they are the will of God and the disposition of the divine purpose. Smyrna means “their song.” And what else is the song of the perfect if not the celestial doctrine and the preaching of the gospel and the advance of the Christian religion, or the melodious confession of the catholic church? Pergamum means “to him who divides their horns.” This refers either to the insolence of the powers of the air, or to the arrogance of the heretics. And he teaches that the pride of the powers is always to be separated and divided from the congregation of the church, for the horns are either power or arrogance. He writes to Thyatira, that is “enlightened.” This signifies that, after the expulsion of heretical pride and after the defeat of temptations from the powers of the air, the holy church is deserving of the light of righteousness. Sardis means the “beginning of beauty.” The church is seized by the sun of righteousness and is illumined by the light of truth, so that she might have the beginning of beauty, the Lord Jesus Christ, and might always shine in perpetual light. Philadelphia means “preserving devotion to the Lord.” After possessing the sun of righteousness, after the illumination of holiness, after the comeliness of holy beauty, the church rightly is devoted to the Lord and preserves herself by an inviolable observation of devotion. Laodicea means either “a tribe beloved of the Lord,” or, as some would have it, “a birth is expected.” Both are meaningful, for she who has merited the beauty of faith and the sun of righteousness and knows that through faith the Lord cleaves to her, might also be a tribe whom the Lord loves, who is both loved by the Lord and preserved by the Lord. Furthermore, the church might well await her own birth, either the regeneration of baptism or the glory of the resurrection, whenever she preserves herself by humility and patience.  Pulpit Commentary (BibleHub).  [This] is just the order in which St. John would visit the Churches in making an apostolic circuit as metropolitan. With the exception of what is told us in these chapters, the history of the Churches of Pergamum, Thyatira, and Sardis in the apostolic or sub-apostolic age is quite unknown. 12-13.  Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.  And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment  down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. St. Bede.  Here the figure of the Church is beautifully represented, as holding forth the light of divine love in the brightness of a chaste breast, according to that which the Lord saith, “Let your loins be girt, and your lamps burning.” And he denotes its perfection within and without by the two parts of the number seven; and the individual members of it, consisting of the four qualities of the body, “love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their strength.” 13. Son of Man. He means that he is like the Son of man when He had overcome death, and had ascended into heaven. For “Although we knew Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth know we Him no more.” And it is well said, “in the midst,” for “All,” he saysl, “who are round about Him shall offer gifts.” garment. “Poderis,” which is called in Latin, “tunica talaris,” and is a sacerdotal vestment, shews the priesthood of Christ, by which He offered Himself for us, as a victim to the Father, upon the altar of the cross. girdle. By the “paps” he here means the two Testaments, with which He feeds the body of the saints in communion with Himself. For the golden girdle is the choir of saints, which cleaves to the Lord in harmonious love, and embraces the Testaments, “keeping,” as the Apostle says, “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Andrew of Caesarea.  That the voice was not sensory he signifies saying, I turned, not to hear it, but to see the voice, for spiritual hearing and seeing are the same. I turned, he says, and I saw seven lampstands—which he understood as representing the churches—and in their midst Christ, resembling a man—because he is also God and not a mere man—clothed in a long garment as a high priest of the things above, “according to the order of Melchizedek.” A golden belt was wrapped around him, not on the hip as other men in the era of hedonisms—the divine flesh is inaccessible to these —but on the chest by the breasts also how the boundless and righteous divine anger is restrained by love for humankind. The truth is shown in the girding of the Master's breasts, that is, the two Testaments, through which the faithful are nourished. The belt is gold on account of honor, purity, and genuineness. St. Jerome.  In the law, John had a leather girdle because the Jews thought that to sin in act was the only sin.… In the Apocalypse of John, our Lord Jesus, who is seen in the middle of the seven lampstands, also wore a girdle, a golden girdle, not about his loins but about the breasts. The law is girdled about the loins, but Christ, that is, the gospel and the fortitude of the monks, binds not only wanton passion but also mind and heart. In the gospel, one is not even supposed to think anything evil; in the law, the fornicator is accused for judgment.… “It is written,” he says, “in the law, ‘You shall not commit adultery.' ” This is the leather girdle clinging about the loins. “I say to you, anyone who even looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This is the golden girdle that is wrapped around the mind and heart. OSB. One like the Son of Man recalls Daniel's messianic figure (Dan 7:13—repeated by Stephen at his martyrdom, Acts 7:56). Christ called Himself Son of Man (see especially Mt 24:30ff.), for He is the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy. Additional parallels may be seen in both the Old and New Testaments (Dan 10:6; Mt 17:2; Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12). We also see Him vested in high-priestly garments (see Ex 28:4; 29:5; Lv 16:4; WSol 18:24; Zec 3:4, 5). The gold with which He is girded is both royal (1Mc 10:89) and priestly. 14-16.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. [17a.  And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.] OSB.  Further, Christ is here described as God, His hair (v. 14) being that of Daniel's vision of God as the “Ancient of Days” (7:9; see also 1En 46:1). His eyes signify knowledge; His feet (v. 15), permanence and stability; His voice, authority or teaching; His right hand (v. 16), power; His two-edged sword, complete discernment. This imagery continues throughout Revelation to affirm the preexistence and eternal divinity of the Son of Man (see also Jn 1:1–18). Thus, in Christ man (v. 14) and God (vv. 15, 16) are united. 1:15 Dan 2:31–44 indicates this mysterious metal foundation not only provides stability but has the ability to forcibly crush all opposition as well. These images are contrasted with the feet of clay found in Dan 2:33, 43: the kingdoms of this world are not permanent, nor ultimately triumphant. 1:16 The Lord holds the stars that represent the seven churches (1:20), and hence, the Church. For Christ is Lord of the Church. In His just judgment, the sword He wields is the Word of God, which cuts effortlessly to the very marrow and heart of humanity (see 2:16; 18:15; Is 11:4; 49:2; WSol 18:15; Eph 6:17; 2Th 2:9; Heb 4:12). The brilliance of His face recalls the Uncreated Light John saw radiating from the Savior at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. St. Bede.  14. white. The antiquity and eternity of majesty are represented by whiteness on the head, to which all the chief ones adhere, as hairs, who, because of the sheep which are to be on the right hand are white, like wool, and because of the innumerable multitude of the white-robed and the elect, who come forth from heaven, are glistering like snow. eyes. The eyes of the Lord are preachers, who, with spiritual fire, bring light to the faithful, and to the unbelieving a consuming flame. 15. feet. By the “fiery feet” he means the Church of the last time, which is to be searched and proved by severe afflictions. For orichalcum is brass, which, by much fire and various ingredients, is brought to the colour of gold. Another translation, which renders it, “like orichalcum of Lebanon,” signifies that in Judæa, of which Lebanon is a mountain, the Church will be persecuted, and especially at the last. The temple also frequently received the name of Lebanon, as there is said to ito, “Open, O Lebanon, thy gates, and let the fire devour thy cedars.” voice. The voice of confession, and preaching, and praise does not resound in Judæa alone, but among many peoples. 16. right hand. In the right hand of Christ is the spiritual Church. “On Thy right hand,” he says, “stood the queen in a vesture of gold.” And as it stands on His right hand, He saithq, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom.” mouth. He, the Judge of all things visible and invisible, “after He has killed, has power to cast into hell fire.” countenance. Such as the Lord appeared on the Mount, will He appear after the judgment to all the saints, for at the judgment the ungodly will behold Him Whom they pierced. But all this appearance of the Son of Man belongs also to the Church, for He Himself was made the Christ in the same nature with it, and He gives to it a sacerdotal dignity and a judicial power, and to “shine as the sun in the kingdom of His Father.”   Andrew of Caesarea. 1:14. His head and his hair were white as white wool, as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire. For even though he is recent amidst us, nonetheless he is ancient; rather, he is before time. His white hair is a symbol of this. And his eyes are as a flame of fire, on the one hand, illuminating those who are holy and, on the other hand, burning the sacrilegious.   1:15a. And his feet were like glowing brass, red-hot as in a furnace. [21] The divine Gregory also understood that the feet meant the divine condescension through the flesh. For his feet by treading on the divinity achieved our salvation. The feet are also the foundations of the Church, like glowing brass, which physicians say is a sweet-smelling incense, which they call masculine incense. Or otherwise: On the one hand, meaning the human nature by the glowing brass, and on the other hand the divine nature by the incense, through both of which is also shown the sweetness of the faith and the unconfused union . Or the fine brass signifies the beautiful melody of the gospel proclamation, and the incense is the return of the nations by which the bride is summoned.33 And the feet of Christ are also the apostles, who have been tested by fire in the furnace of trials in imitation of their Teacher.35 1:15b. And his voice like the sound of many waters. Naturally. His voice is in common with that of the Spirit, from which “rivers of living water flowed from the belly” of the faithful, and it made a penetrating sound over all the earth. 1:16. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and coming out from his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword, and his appearance as the sun shines in its power. [22] Further down he says that the seven stars are the seven angels of the churches. The sharp, double-edged sword means his decision against the wicked, “sharper than any two-edged sword,” or the sword of the Spirit circumcising our inner man.38 Like the sun his face shines, not in a splendor to the senses, but to the intellect. For he is the “sun of righteousness,” shining with his own power and authority, not like the sensory sun, which as a created object by God-given power and divine command.

Revelation, Session Three Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins We also went over: https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/orthodoxy/articles/tremors_of_doub Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Jack Norman Sparks, The Orthodox Study Bible: Notes (Thomas Nelson, 2008), 1712. Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Correction from Last Week Revelation was removed from active use because it was being used to support the Marcionists, not the Gnostics [or Montanism as I said in the class!].  Lord have mercy, my brain is too small! Review of Last Week 1:1-3. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.  Who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.   New Stuff 1:4 - 6.  (4) John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, (5) and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.  To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, (6) and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever.  Amen. (OSB) Orthodox Study Bible Notes 1:4 Church tradition maintains St. John dwelt and was bishop in Ephesus, in an area where the seven churches were located along a major roadway. The number seven signifies fullness, suggesting the entire Church is also in view. The doxology is Trinitarian, involving the Father (vv. 4, 6), the Spirit (v. 4), and the Son (vv. 5, 6). This initial greeting (lit., “the Existing, the Was, and the Coming”) may express the Father, the one who is (Ex 3:14); the Son, who was (Jn 1:1); and the Holy Spirit, who is to come (Acts 2) at Pentecost and shall always be present. Or it may denote the character of the Holy One, who is eternally present and exercises lordship throughout history (see Heb 13:8 – Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow). God reveals the meaning of the present in light of the past and the age to come. This title may be a paraphrase of the Tetragrammaton, YHWH (“I Am”), of Ex 3:14. Seven is the number of fullness or completion. The seven Spirits of God most likely refers to the Holy Spirit and His several gifts, as this phrase is included in the blessing with the Father and the Son. Alternately the term could refer to the seven archangels who, according to Jewish tradition, stand before the throne of God (Tb 12:15; see also 1En 20:1–8; 90:21, 22; TLev 8:2; “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.”). 1:5 Jesus Christ is presented as the Risen Savior, Lord of all (see Zec 12:10), giving hope to the early Christians that the Church will not always be dominated by a cruel state. Instead of washed, many Greek texts read “freed.” The term witness (Gr. martys), used only here and in 3:14 in the entire NT, refers to Christ, the authentic witness of all divine revelation; all that God has revealed is summed up in His life, witness, Passion, Resurrection, and exaltation. He has inaugurated the new age, for He is firstborn from the dead in His humanity and has achieved a universal sovereignty by His death, Resurrection, and revelation of His Kingdom for the world's salvation. 1:6 Those joined to the body of Christ in baptism comprise the messianic royal priesthood promised of old (see Ex 19:5, 6; Is 61:6; 1Pt 2:9; and the Anaphora of the Liturgy of St. Basil). This priestly ministry is to offer the world back to God in a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving—eucharistically—as in the Orthodox Church's Divine Liturgy. The universe itself thus becomes hallowed, transfigured, and sacramental. Amen is Semitic. It signifies ratification: an acknowledgment of something trustworthy. From Fr. Lawrence Farley John sends this message to the seven churches in Asia who were under his pastoral care. By choosing but seven of these churches, John widens the intended audience, for seven is also the number symbolic of perfection. Thus the Revelation is intended not only to the seven churches of Asia, but also for the perfect totality of all God's churches. In calling God Him who is and was and who is coming, John describes God the Father as the One who is sovereign over time and history and therefore over all the historical events that touch us. God sits enthroned as Lord of the present, the past, and the future, and therefore there is nothing in the past, present, or future that can ever hurt us. God is the Lord of time and of all our days. The message not only comes from the hand of God, it also comes from the entire heavenly court. All in heaven offer the Church on earth this word of encouragement and triumph. The seven spirits before His throne are the seven archangels (see 5:6, “the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth,” and 8:2, the “seven angels who stand before God”). (In chapter 20 of the Book of Enoch, these angels are listed as Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel, and Remiel.) Once again, the number seven is symbolic, an image for all the archangels who stand closest to God's throne and hear His counsel. In saying that this message comes from the seven spirits before His throne, John means that this message comes directly from the Throne itself, with secrets not given to the world at large. Later liturgical usage, in which reference to the Father and the Son was always followed by reference to the Holy Spirit, has misled some interpreters into seeing this reference to the seven spirits as a reference to the Holy Spirit. But when the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Book of Revelation, He is referred to simply as “the Spirit” (e.g. 2:7; 14:13; 22:17), always in the singular and never as “seven spirits” or as a “sevenfold” Spirit. These seven spirits stand before God's throne; that is, they are portrayed as waiting upon God as a part of His heavenly court. It is inconceivable that the Divine Spirit, co-eternal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son, could be portrayed as such a servant. Indeed, the other references to the Spirit in the Apocalypse carry the suggestion of His sovereignty and authority. The message also comes from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness (Gr. martus; compare our English “martyr”). Christ bore faithful witness before Pilate to the Truth, even at the cost of His Life (1 Tim. 6:13); John stresses this so that we may imitate His faithfulness. The Lord does not call us to walk in any place where He has not gone before. Jesus is further described as the firstborn of the dead. In using this Jewish concept of the firstborn (in which the firstborn son is the main heir), John shows that Jesus Christ is the heir of the whole age to come; the entire coming Kingdom belongs to Him. His faithfulness unto death resulted in His victory and His inheriting all the world. Our faithfulness unto death will result in our sharing that victory. Death has no terrors for Jesus Christ, and so it need have none for us. Thus Christ is also the ruler of the kings of the earth. Caesar may think he has no superior or master, but Jesus, the humble carpenter crucified under the governor Pontius Pilate, is the true Master of the Roman Empire and indeed of the whole cosmos. The Christians of St. John's day, haunted by a sense of their own powerlessness and humility, were thus made to see their true dignity and power. The Church is described as those whom the Lord loves and therefore continues to protect and care for (the present tense is used to denote Christ's ongoing care), and as those who were loosed from their sins by His Blood. This is an important theme in the Apocalypse. The Cross of Christ was seen by secular Rome as His defeat and proof of how pathetic and deluded the Christians were—that they would worship a crucified man. But for John, the Cross is proof of the power of God that defeats all other powers. The Lord Himself said of the Cross, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). For St. John, our faith in Christ and His Cross also “overcomes the world” (1 John 5:5). Thus the Apocalypse speaks not only of us “making our robes white” in His Blood (7:14) but also of us overcoming Satan “by the Blood of the Lamb” (12:11). The Christians are not to be ashamed of Christ's Cross, for through His Blood they overcome death, Satan, and the whole world. In describing the Christians as a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, John asserts the privileges of the Christians in the face of the pride of Rome. The Roman powers may think the Christians are but poor, uneducated, and powerless, to be utterly disdained. John knows them to be God's own Kingdom, one destined to outlast all the kingdoms of the earth, and to be priests to God Himself, with access to His awe-inspiring Presence. Priests had status and honor in the Roman secular world, and St. John says this is the true status of the Christians before God. Bishop Averky 1:4.  The number seven is usually taken as an expression of fullness.  St John addresses here only the seven churches with which he, as one who lived in Ephesus, was in especially close and frequent contact.  But in these seven he addresses, at the same time, the Christian Church as a whole. Grace to you and peace from the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity.  The phrase ‘which is' signifies the Father, Who said to Moses: I am He that Is (Exod 3:14).  The expression ‘which was' signifies the Word, Who was in the beginning with God (John 1:2).  The phrase ‘which is to come' indicates the Comforter, Who always descends upon the Church's children in holy baptism and in all fullness is to descend in the future age (Acts 2). (St. Andrew of Caeserea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, chapter 1). By these “seven Spirits,” it is most natural to understand the seven chief angels who are spoken of in Tobit 12:15.  St Andrew of Caesarea, however, understands them to be the angels who govern the seven churches.  Other commentaries, on the other hand, understand by by this expression the Holy Spirit Himself, Who manifests Himself in seven chief gifts: the spirit of the fear of God, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of might, the spirit of light, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of the Lord or the spirit of piety, and inspiration in the highest degree (compare Isa 11: 1-3; “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;.”) 1:5. The Lord Jesus Christ is called here “the faithful witness” in the sense that He has witnessed His Divinity and the truth of His teaching before men by His death on the Cross. “As Life and Resurrection, He is the first-born from the dead (Col 1:18, I Cor 15:20), and those over whom He rules will not see death, as did those who died and rose before, but will live eternally.  He is ‘prince of kings,' and Lord of lords (1 Tim 6:15), equal in might to the Father and one in Essence with Him” (St Andrew, chapter 1). 1:5-6.  “Kings and priest” are to be understood here not in the strict meaning, of course, but in the sense in which God has promised this to His chosen people through the prophets (Exod 19:6); that is, He has made us, true believers, to be the best, the holiest people, which is the same thing that a priest and king are with relation to the rest of mankind. Venerable Bede. 4. seven. By these seven churches he writes to every church, for universality is wont to be denoted by the number seven, in that all the time of this age is evolved from seven days. Grace. Grace he desires for us, and peace from God, the eternal Father, and from the sevenfold Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, Who gave testimony to the Father in His Incarnation. He names the Son in the third place, as he was to speak further of Him. He names Him also the last in order, as He is the first and the last; for He had already named Him in the Father by saying, “Who was to come.” 5. the first-begotten. This is the same that the Apostle says, “We have seen Jesus Christ for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour.” And in another place, in setting forth the reproach of the cross, he added, “Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave Him the Name which is above every name.” 6. priests. Because the King of kings and heavenly Priest united us unto His own body by offering Himself for us, there is not one of the saints who has not spiritually the office of priesthood, in that he is a member of the eternal Priest 7. cometh. He Who was concealed, when at the first He came to be judged, will be manifested at the time when He shall come to judge. He mentions this, that the Church which is now oppressed by enemies, but is then to reign with Christ, may be strengthened for the endurance of sufferings. pierced. When they see Him as a Judge with power, in the same form in which they pierced Him as the least of all, they will mourn for themselves with a repentance that is too late. Amen. By interposing an Amen, he confirms that without doubt that will happen, which, by the revelation of God, he knows most surely is to come to pass. Gregory of Caesarea. 1:4. John, to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from the One who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne. Due to the existence of many churches in many places, he sent to only seven, mystically meaning by this number the churches everywhere, also corresponding to the present-day life, in which the seventh period of days is taking place. For this reason also he mentions seven angels and seven churches, to whom he says, Grace to you and peace from the Tri-hypostatic Divinity. For by the who is the Father is signified, who said to Moses, “I am He who is,” and by the who was the Logos, “who was in the beginning with God,” and by the who is to come the Paraclete, who always enlightens the children of the Church through holy Baptism, more completely and more strongly in the future. It is possible to understand the seven spirits as the seven angels who were appointed to govern the churches, not counting them equal to the most divine and royal Trinity, but mentioned along with it as servants, just as the divine Apostle said, “I call upon you in the presence of God and the chosen angels.” By the same token, this may be understood differently: the One who is, and who was, and who is to come, meaning the Father, who contains in himself the beginning, middle, and end of all that exists, and the seven spirits the activities of the Life-giving Spirit, following Christ God, who became man for our sake. For in many places each divine Person is indifferently placed and arranged by the Apostle. For this he says here: 1:5a. And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. He is the one who witnessed to Pontius Pilate, faithful to his words in all things, the firstborn of the dead as life and resurrection, for those whom he governs will no more see death, like those who were dead before and rose, but will live eternally. Ruler of the kings, as “King of kings and Lord of lords,” equal in power with the Father and consubstantial. Elsewhere, ruler of the kings of the earth is also said earthly desires. If, according to the Blessed [15] Gregory, this usage of he who is, who was, and who is to come, the ruler of all refers to Christ, then it is not unreasonable that words similar to those which will be said shortly after refer to him, to which also the ruler of all is attached and without the repetition or introduction of another person. For here the addition of and from Jesus Christ appears to confirm the understanding we have presented. For it would be unnecessary if he were talking about the only Logos of God and the person of the Son to add immediately and from Jesus Christ in order to show him as distinct from the other one, the expressions that befit God equally honor and are appropriate to each of the divine Persons, and are common to the three, except for their distinctive properties, that is to say, the relationships , as said by Gregory the Theologian, and except for the Incarnation of the Logos. also clear from the things from which we learn, that in the Gospel the thrice-holy hymn of the Seraphim16 is said about the Son, in the speech of Paul in the Acts about the Holy Spirit, and then about the Father, in the offering of the awesome mysteries, to whom we are accustomed to say this prayer,19 as the blessed Epiphanios says in his homily On the Holy Spirit. these things to show that our own understanding does not contradict the patristic voices, and also, with God's help, we continue. 1:5b–6. To the One who loved us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us kings and priests to God and his Father. Glory and dominion to him to the ages of ages. Amen. The glory belongs to him, it says, who freed us through love from the bondage of death, and washed the stains of sin through the outpouring of his life-giving blood and water. And he has made us “a royal priesthood” so that we may offer, instead of irrational sacrifices, “rational worship”22 as a living sacrifice to the Father.    

Revelation, Session Two Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Correction from Last Week Revelation was removed from active use because it was being used to support the Marcionists, not the Gnostics [or Montanism as I said in the class!]. The Orthodox Study Bible; “[I]n the second and third centuries Revelation was widely twisted and sensationally misinterpreted, and the erroneous teachings brought troublesome confusion to Christians – a trend that continues to this day.” Review of Last Week The Church wants us to be aware of the Last Judgement but from WITHIN the sacraments and the “good defense” God gives us through them.  Authorship and Dating of the Work The author was St. John the Theologian St. John's disciple Papias of Hierapolis, St. Justin the Martyr (lived in Ephesus), St. Irenaeus (disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna who was a disciple of St. John), St. Hippolytus (disciple of St. Irenaeus), St. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen were early leaders of the Church who knew and witnessed to this. The work itself (see 1:2; also exile on Patmos). The date of the work is AD 95/96 St. Irenaeus; Against Heresies (5.30.3) Purpose of the Work To show things that must shortly come to pass (1:1). Pastoral protection and encouragement to the early Church against state persecution and (internal) heresy. Apokalypsis means uncovering of something that has been hidden. Style and Interpretation of the Work Apocalyptic Literature.  A “visceral” (Fr. Lawrence) and heavily symbolic genre.  It is meant to be prophetic in every sense of the word. “It is a human work.  But it is also an apostolic work, and as an apostle, John tells the truth, striving to convey to us the substance and power of what the Lord revealed to him for our sake.” (Fr. Lawrence) What are we to make of the diverse interpretations offered by saints? Not to be taken literally in the modern sense; “Thus, for example, a literalistic understanding of the images of this book has given occasion, and even now continues to give occasion, for the false teaching of “Chiliasm” – the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth.” (Bishop Averky) Bishop Averky says four main categories of interpretation (and calls for a combination): Visions and symbols of the “last times” (end of the world, the anti-christ, second coming) Description of the historical pagan Roman persecutions against the Church in the first century. Look for realization of the prophecies in recent history. Allegorical and moral meaning. The Orthodox Study Bible: “Faithfulness in tribulation” is the main theme, with subthemes of Divine Judgment of human wickedness and The symbolic presentation of most major New Testament teachings concerning eschatology, the study of the last things. 1:1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. Andrew of Caesarea. “An apocalypse is the manifestation of hidden mysteries when the intellect is illuminated either through divine dreams or according to waking visions from divine enlightenment. To be given to Christ, it says, making this statement about him especially with respect to his human , since in the Gospel he above all others dwelt on the sublime and things that befit God. And here, the magnitude of the divinity of Christ is shown through the attending angel, and through the name of the teaching servants, for “all things are his servants.” The must come to pass soon means that some of the predictions concerning them are to come to pass immediately thereafter and the things regarding the end are not to be delayed, because “one thousand years” to God is “like yesterday's day, which is reckoned as having elapsed.” St. Bede. The revelation of Jesus Christ.  The progress with which the Church that had been founded by the Apostles was to be extended, or the end with which it was to be perfected, had need to be revealed, in order to strengthen the preachers of the faith against the opposition of the world. And John, in his own manner, refers the glory of the Son to the Father, and testifies that Jesus Christ has received from God. shortly. That is, which are to happen to the Church in the present time. signified. He wrapped up this revelation in mystical words, that it might not be manifested to all, and become lightly esteemed. angel. For an angel appeared to John in the form of Christ, as will be seen more clearly in that which follows. John. That through John He might lay open to all His servants the things which he, by the privilege of a peculiar chastity, obtained above all others to behold. Oecumenius: When it is said to him, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him,” it is as though he said, “This revelation is given from the Father to the Son, and then from the Son to us,” his servants. By calling the saints the “servants” of Christ, he safeguards what is proper to his deity. For, to whom would men belong, unless to him who is the Maker and Creator of humankind? And who is the Creator of human-kind and of all creation? No one other than the only begotten Word and Son of God! For, the present author says in the Gospel, “All things were made through him.” And why does he wish to add “what must soon take place,” although those events which will take place have not yet occurred, even though a considerable span of time has passed, more than five hundred years, since these words were spoken? Because to the eyes of the eternal and endless God all ages are regarded as nothing, for, as the prophet says, “A thousand years in your sight, O Lord, are as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.”3 For this reason, therefore, he added “soon,” not to indicate a measure of time which must pass before the fulfillment of what must happen, but to indicate the power and eternality of God. For to him who is, any passage of time, even should it be great and considerable, is something small when compared with that which is unending   1:2. Who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.   OSB: Testimony of Jesus refers to a witness concerning Jesus; not the testimony of Christ Himself. Andrew of Caesarea.  “Christ,” he says, “declared these things to me through an angel, as a master to a household servant, as I had borne witness to my confession to him,” of which, on the basis of the visions to bear witness and, in view of the return of those who hear, to preach both the things which are and which escape human understanding and the things which will occur in the future, for, prophetically, he had seen them both. And clear from what he says: those things which are and those which must come to pass. These are descriptions both of the present time and of the future. St. Bede; testimony. That thou mayest not doubt of the person of John, he is the same who gave testimony to the eternal Word of God incarnate, according as he saw, saying, “Whose glory we saw, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.”   1:3.  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. Andrew of Caesarea.  He blesses those who read and hear through the actions, for the present time is near, through which it is possible to acquire the blessing, and to all the work is laid open. As the Lord says, “Work [13] while it is day.” And elsewhere, the time is near, the time of the distribution of prizes, on account of the brevity of the present life in comparison to the future. St. Bede. Blessed. Teachers and hearers are therefore blessed, because they who keep the Word of God find that a short time of labour is followed by everlasting joys. Averky; “The book of the Apocalypse has, consequently, not only a prophetic but also a moral significance.  The meaning of these words is as follows: blessed is he who, reading this book, will prepare himself by his life and deeds of piety for eternity, for the translation to eternity is near for each of us. Fr. Lawrence.  Seven beatitudes (blessings) are pronounced upon (Fr. Lawrence): 1:3 “the one who reads and the ones who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things which are written in it” 14:13 the martyrs “who die in the Lord from now on” 16:15 “the one who keeps alert,” faithfully awaiting the Lord's Coming 19:9 “those who are called to the wedding supper of the Lamb” 20:6 the martyrs who have “a part in the first resurrection” 22:7 all who “keep the words of the prophecy of this book” 22:14 all those in the martyric Church, “those who wash their robes, so that they may have their right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”  

Dr. Jeff Morrow, a Jewish convert to the Catholic faith, discusses his journey and the role of the investigation of Jesus' resurrection in his conversion. He emphasizes the importance of reason and evidence in understanding the faith and shares his own experience of being convinced of the rationality of Jesus' resurrection. Dr. Morrow also highlights the need for authentic friendships and the role they play in helping others grow closer to God. He explains that while apologetics is important, it should be approached in the context of friendship and personal encounters.Learn more about The Resurrection at the St. Paul Center's Emmaus Academy courses.Takeaways* The investigation of Jesus' resurrection played a crucial role in Dr. Jeff Morrow's conversion from Judaism to Catholicism.* Reason and evidence are important in understanding and defending the faith.* Authentic friendships can be a powerful means of helping others grow closer to God.* Apologetics should be approached in the context of friendship and personal encounters.Dr. Jeffrey L. Morrow is a Senior Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a Senior Fellow of the Principium Institute, a Fellow of the Institute for Biblical Research, and is Professor of Theology at Seton Hall University's Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. He earned his Ph.D. in Theology, in the program on the U.S. Catholic Experience, from the University of Dayton. His specialization is in Historical Theology and the History of Exegesis, particularly in the Modern Period and in the U.S. He has participated as a Visiting Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary, as well as at Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem in their Summer Scholars Program.Dr. Morrow was raised culturally Jewish, attended Hebrew school and had a bar mitzvah. He earned his B.A. from Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, with majors in both Comparative Religion and Classical Greek and with a minor in Jewish Studies. At Miami he became an evangelical Protestant, and then entered the Catholic Church, Easter Vigil of 1999. His M.A. from the University of Dayton in Theological Studies focused on Biblical Studies.Dr. Morrow is the author of Alfred Loisy and Modern Biblical Studies (Catholic University of America Press, 2019), Theology, Politics, and Exegesis: Essays on the History of Modern Biblical Criticism (Pickwick Publications, 2017), Seeking the Lord of Middle Earth (Cascade Books, 2017), Jesus' Resurrection: A Jewish Convert Examines the Evidence (Principium Institute, 2017), Three Skeptics and the Bible (Pickwick Publications, 2016) and has published articles in a variety of academic journals and popular periodicals, including Journal of Religious History, International Journal of Systematic Theology, New Blackfriars, Pro Ecclesia, Crisis, Homiletic & Pastoral Review, and The Catholic Answer.He resides with his wife Maria and their six children Maia, Eva, Patrick, Robert, John, and Nicholas in northern New Jersey. His wife Maria also earned her Theology Ph.D. from the University of Dayton.Keywords:resurrection Jesus conversion evidence reason faith friendship prayer Catholicism catholicThanks for listening to Good Distinctions! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.gooddistinctions.com

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Michael Gorman about moral relativism and the avoidance of conflict, the importance of charitable disagreement, and how to engage in difficult conversations with charity. You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/JSHeIYQI-os About the speaker: Michael Gorman is Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He has doctorates in philosophy and theology, and his work covers both areas, with a special emphasis on metaphysical themes. He is the author of over thirty-five scholarly articles, a book entitled Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Hypostatic Union (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and a book that will appear in the spring of 2024 entitled A Contemporary Introduction to Thomistic Metaphysics (The Catholic University of America Press, 2024).

This lecture was given on March 19th, 2024, at University of Edinburgh. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Fr. Reginald Lynch is a Dominican priest of the Province of St. Joseph and is currently an assistant professor of dogmatic and historical theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC (USA). His research has focused on a range of issues in historical and dogmatic theology, especially the sacramental theology of Thomas Aquinas. His first book, The Cleansing of the Heart: The Sacraments as Instrumental Causes in the Thomistic Tradition appeared in the Thomistic Ressourcement series at the Catholic University of America Press in 2017. This book examines Aquinas' approach to the efficacy of the sacraments, taking into account relevant textual developments and the implications of Aquinas' account of grace and sanctification in the context of broader developments in medieval theology. His most recent monograph focuses on Aquinas' Eucharistic theology in its original textual and historical context, and the reception history of Aquinas' approach to this subject. This book, Aquinas's Summa Theologiae and Eucharistic Sacrifice in the Early Modern Period is being published by Oxford University Press in the Changing Paradigms in Historical and Systematic Theology series. Scheduled to appear in early 2024, this volume begins with Aquinas' thought in its medieval textual and historical context, and then proceeds to examine a series of later Dominican and Jesuit receptions of Aquinas' text.

This is something of a special edition. This guest was on the show before, more than a year-and-a-half ago, back on Episode 190 in September 2022.  He is a professor and Kule Chair at St. Joseph's College, a Catholic college at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada.  And since we met him then – and you can go back and hear his story on that episode – this conversation instead gives us all the chance to learn all about a fascinating individual from the world of sports and our Catholic faith, because this guest just last month had a book come out that is a Number 1 New Release on Amazon in Canadian Historical Biographies, a book called, "Hockey Priest: Father David Bauer and the Spirit of the Canadian Game," published by The Catholic University of America Press.

The defining feature of this textbook is the treatment of classical and New Testament Greek as one language using primary sources. All the example sentences the students will translate are real Greek sentences, half of which are taken from classical literature and philosophy and half of which are directly from the New Testament. The advantage of this approach is that it highlights the linguistic, literary, and historical connections between classical Greece and early Christianity. Rather than having students memorize isolated tables and artificial sentences, Michael Boler spent years combing through thousands of pages of literature, philosophy, and scripture to find short, powerful sentences that not only teach the grammatical concepts in each chapter, but also contain seeds of wisdom that will spark wonder and discussion. Introduction to Classical and New Testament Greek: A Unified Approach (Catholic U of America Press, 2019) is born out of classroom experience in a Catholic liberal arts university whose students were disappointed to be forced to choose between textbooks that taught classical Greek in isolation and ones that focused exclusively on the New Testament. By the end of this book, students will have read over 200 lines of scripture and an equal amount of ancient literature from Homer to Aristotle. They will also have the grammatical knowledge to continue to read classical and New Testament Greek. Each chapter contains a section at the end that delves deeply into the etymology and background of the words and passages encountered in the respective chapter. Professors will thus be able to use these chapters as a bridge to philosophical, theological, historical, and literary topics that will enrich the class. Michael Boler is director and associate professor of classics as well as the director of the honors programs at University of St. Thomas, Houston. Justin McGeary is director of Christian studies at John Witherspoon College, a PhD candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Union School of Theology, Wales, and tutor at Trinity House Tutorials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The defining feature of this textbook is the treatment of classical and New Testament Greek as one language using primary sources. All the example sentences the students will translate are real Greek sentences, half of which are taken from classical literature and philosophy and half of which are directly from the New Testament. The advantage of this approach is that it highlights the linguistic, literary, and historical connections between classical Greece and early Christianity. Rather than having students memorize isolated tables and artificial sentences, Michael Boler spent years combing through thousands of pages of literature, philosophy, and scripture to find short, powerful sentences that not only teach the grammatical concepts in each chapter, but also contain seeds of wisdom that will spark wonder and discussion. Introduction to Classical and New Testament Greek: A Unified Approach (Catholic U of America Press, 2019) is born out of classroom experience in a Catholic liberal arts university whose students were disappointed to be forced to choose between textbooks that taught classical Greek in isolation and ones that focused exclusively on the New Testament. By the end of this book, students will have read over 200 lines of scripture and an equal amount of ancient literature from Homer to Aristotle. They will also have the grammatical knowledge to continue to read classical and New Testament Greek. Each chapter contains a section at the end that delves deeply into the etymology and background of the words and passages encountered in the respective chapter. Professors will thus be able to use these chapters as a bridge to philosophical, theological, historical, and literary topics that will enrich the class. Michael Boler is director and associate professor of classics as well as the director of the honors programs at University of St. Thomas, Houston. Justin McGeary is director of Christian studies at John Witherspoon College, a PhD candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Union School of Theology, Wales, and tutor at Trinity House Tutorials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/language

The defining feature of this textbook is the treatment of classical and New Testament Greek as one language using primary sources. All the example sentences the students will translate are real Greek sentences, half of which are taken from classical literature and philosophy and half of which are directly from the New Testament. The advantage of this approach is that it highlights the linguistic, literary, and historical connections between classical Greece and early Christianity. Rather than having students memorize isolated tables and artificial sentences, Michael Boler spent years combing through thousands of pages of literature, philosophy, and scripture to find short, powerful sentences that not only teach the grammatical concepts in each chapter, but also contain seeds of wisdom that will spark wonder and discussion. Introduction to Classical and New Testament Greek: A Unified Approach (Catholic U of America Press, 2019) is born out of classroom experience in a Catholic liberal arts university whose students were disappointed to be forced to choose between textbooks that taught classical Greek in isolation and ones that focused exclusively on the New Testament. By the end of this book, students will have read over 200 lines of scripture and an equal amount of ancient literature from Homer to Aristotle. They will also have the grammatical knowledge to continue to read classical and New Testament Greek. Each chapter contains a section at the end that delves deeply into the etymology and background of the words and passages encountered in the respective chapter. Professors will thus be able to use these chapters as a bridge to philosophical, theological, historical, and literary topics that will enrich the class. Michael Boler is director and associate professor of classics as well as the director of the honors programs at University of St. Thomas, Houston. Justin McGeary is director of Christian studies at John Witherspoon College, a PhD candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Union School of Theology, Wales, and tutor at Trinity House Tutorials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

The defining feature of this textbook is the treatment of classical and New Testament Greek as one language using primary sources. All the example sentences the students will translate are real Greek sentences, half of which are taken from classical literature and philosophy and half of which are directly from the New Testament. The advantage of this approach is that it highlights the linguistic, literary, and historical connections between classical Greece and early Christianity. Rather than having students memorize isolated tables and artificial sentences, Michael Boler spent years combing through thousands of pages of literature, philosophy, and scripture to find short, powerful sentences that not only teach the grammatical concepts in each chapter, but also contain seeds of wisdom that will spark wonder and discussion. Introduction to Classical and New Testament Greek: A Unified Approach (Catholic U of America Press, 2019) is born out of classroom experience in a Catholic liberal arts university whose students were disappointed to be forced to choose between textbooks that taught classical Greek in isolation and ones that focused exclusively on the New Testament. By the end of this book, students will have read over 200 lines of scripture and an equal amount of ancient literature from Homer to Aristotle. They will also have the grammatical knowledge to continue to read classical and New Testament Greek. Each chapter contains a section at the end that delves deeply into the etymology and background of the words and passages encountered in the respective chapter. Professors will thus be able to use these chapters as a bridge to philosophical, theological, historical, and literary topics that will enrich the class. Michael Boler is director and associate professor of classics as well as the director of the honors programs at University of St. Thomas, Houston. Justin McGeary is director of Christian studies at John Witherspoon College, a PhD candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Union School of Theology, Wales, and tutor at Trinity House Tutorials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

This lecture was given on February 16th, 2024, at St. Joseph's in Greenwich Village. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the speaker: Originally from a farm in Kansas, Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is a priest in the Dominican Province of St. Joseph who teaches on the pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC where he is editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He has authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023). He is editor or co-editor of several volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology, and Thomas Aquinas as Spiritual Teacher.

Is Christian belief rational? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. for an off-campus conversation with Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P. to find out — and to learn about a new book from Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.! You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/VI_iUH355y4 About the speaker: Fr. Thomas Joseph White is the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome. Originally a native of southeastern Georgia in the US, Fr. White studied at Brown University, where he converted to Catholicism. He did his doctoral studies in theology at Oxford University, and is the author of various books and articles including Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology (Sapientia Press, 2011), The Incarnate Lord, A Thomistic Study in Christology (The Catholic University of America Press, 2015) Exodus (Brazos Press, 2016), The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism (Catholic University Press, 2017), and The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (Catholic University Press, 2022). He is co-editor of the journal Nova et Vetera, a Distinguished Scholar of the McDonald Agape Foundation, and a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas.

For a fun twist, my dad asked if he could interview me about my new book The Way of Humility, St. Augustine's Theology of Preaching (Catholic University of America Press, 2023). I had a very good time and appreciate all the time he took to read it. He has read plenty of my bad high school papers, but this one took a lot more time. I am blessed that both of my parents have beens so supportive in my academic and spiritual journey. Thank you to all parents who support their kids! You do tremendous and live changing work. You can support the podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/AHOCTYou can buy the book here: https://www.cuapress.org/9780813237398/the-way-of-humility/

Dr. Kevin Clarke, Dean of the Institute for Lay Ministry and Associate Professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, joins us to talk about his 2018 book “The Seven Deadly Sins” from the “Sayings of the Father's of the Church” series from Catholic University of America Press, and a free, online course on the same topic at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. https://explore.shms.edu/seven-deadly-sins

This lecture was given on October 16th, 2023, at The College of William and Mary. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the speaker: Dr. Chad Pecknold received his PhD from the University of Cambridge (UK) and since 2008 he has been a Professor of Historical & Systematic Theology in the School of Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He teaches in the areas of fundamental theology, Christian anthropology, and political theology. Pecknold is the author of a number of scholarly articles and books including most recently, Christianity and Politics: A Brief Guide to the History (Cascade, 2010) and The T&T Clark Companion to Augustine and Modern Theology (Bloomsbury, 2014). Dr. Pecknold is also a frequent contributor to debates in the public square, writing regular columns for First Things and National Review on a range of topics related to the importance and impact of Church teaching on social and political questions. Dr. Pecknold is frequently sought after for his opinion on current events, and has been quoted in hundreds of news outlets around the world such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. A self-described "Augustinian-Thomist," Pecknold is an Associate Editor for the English Edition of the international Thomistic journal of theology, Nova et Vetera, and co-edits with Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P., the new Sacra Doctrina series at Catholic University of America Press. Dr Pecknold is currently writing a book on Augustine's City of God. Dr. Pecknold resides in Alexandria, VA with his wife, Dr. Sara Pecknold (who teaches Music history at CUA) and their five kids.

What does it mean to be grief-informed? In 2020, Dr. Donna Schuurman, EdD, FT, and Dr. Monique Mitchell, PhD, FT, authored the paper, "Becoming Grief-Informed: A Call to Action," which outlines: what it means to be grief-informed, why it's so important, and Dougy Center's 10 Core Principles and Tenets of Grief-Informed Practice. This paper is based on the foundational understanding of grief as a natural and normal response to loss that is interwoven into a sociocultural context. It recognizes grief not as an experience that needs to be fixed, treated, or pathologized, but one that deserves understanding, support, and community.  Donna L. Schuurman, EdD, FT, is the Senior Director of Advocacy & Education at Dougy Center. Dr. Schuurman was the Executive Director of Dougy Center from 1991–2015. Dr. Schuurman is an internationally recognized authority on grief and bereaved children, teens, and families, and the author of Never the Same: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Parent (St. Martin's Press, 2003), among other publications.  Monique B. Mitchell, PhD, FT is the Director of Training and Translational Research at Dougy Center. Dr. Mitchell is a nationally recognized authority on children, teens, and families who are grieving in foster care, and the author of The Neglected Transition: Building a Relational Home for Children Entering Foster Care (Oxford University Press, 2016) and Living in an Inspired World: Voices and Visions of Youth in Foster Care (Child Welfare League of America Press, 2017), among other publications. We discuss: Donna and Monique's connection to this work What it means to be grief-informed Why it's necessary to be grief-informed Examples of responses that are grief-informed and not grief-informed Seven core principles that describe what grief is and is not Three core principles that address how to provide grief-informed support Suggestions for how we can all work to be more grief-informed - for ourselves and others Sign up for our Grief Education Webinar - Becoming Grief-Informed: Foundations of Grief Education. Thursday, January 18th, 2024, 10 - 11:30 am PST. 

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Let's face it the New Testament probably calls Jesus God (or god) a couple of times and so do early Christian authors in the second century. However, no one offers much of an explanation for what they mean by the title. Did early Christians think Jesus was God because he represented Yahweh? Did they think he was God because he shared the same eternal being as the Father? Did they think he was a god because that's just what they would call any immortalized human who lived in heaven? In this presentation I focus on the question from the perspective of Greco-Roman theology. Drawing on the work of David Litwa, Andrew Perriman, Barry Blackburn, and tons of ancient sources I seek to show how Mediterranean converts to Christianity would have perceived Jesus based on their cultural and religious assumptions. This presentation is from the 3rd Unitarian Christian Alliance Conference on October 20, 2023 in Springfield, OH. Here is the original pdf of this paper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Z3QbQ7dHc —— Links —— See more scholarly articles by Sean Finnegan Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Introduction When early Christian authors called Jesus “god” (or “God”) what did they mean?[1] Modern apologists routinely point to pre-Nicene quotations in order to prove that early Christians always believed in the deity of Christ, by which they mean that he is of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father. However, most historians agree that Christians before the fourth century simply didn't have the cognitive categories available yet to think of Christ in Nicene or Chalcedonian ways. If this consensus is correct, it behooves us to consider other options for defining what early Christian authors meant. The obvious place to go to get an answer to our initial question is the New Testament. However, as is well known, the handful of instances in which authors unambiguously applied god (θεός) to Christ are fraught with textual uncertainty, grammatical ambiguity, and hermeneutical elasticity.[2]  What's more, granting that these contested texts[3] all call Jesus “god” provides little insight into what they might mean by that phrase. Turning to the second century, the earliest handful of texts that say Jesus is god are likewise textually uncertain or terse.[4] We must wait until the second half of the second century and beyond to have more helpful material to examine. We know that in the meanwhile some Christians were saying Jesus was god. What did they mean? One promising approach is to analyze biblical texts that call others gods. We find helpful parallels with the word god (אֱלֹהִים) applied to Moses (Exod 7.1; 4.16), judges (Exod 21.6; 22.8-9), kings (Is 9.6; Ps 45.6), the divine council (Ps 82.1, 6), and angels (Ps 8.6). These are texts in which God imbues his agents with his authority to represent him in some way. This rare though significant way of calling a representative “god,” continues in the NT with Jesus' clever defense to his accusers in John 10.34-36. Lexicons[5] have long recognized this “Hebraistic” usage and recent study tools such as the New English Translation (NET)[6] and the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary[7] also note this phenomenon. But, even if this agency perspective is the most natural reading of texts like Heb 1.8, later Christians, apart from one or two exceptions appear to be ignorant of this usage.[8] This interpretation was likely a casualty of the so-called parting of the ways whereby Christianity transitioned from a second-temple-Jewish movement to a Gentile-majority religion. As such, to grasp what early postapostolic Christians believed, we must turn our attention elsewhere. Michael Bird is right when he says, “Christian discourses about deity belong incontrovertibly in the Greco-Roman context because it provided the cultural encyclopedia that, in diverse ways, shaped the early church's Christological conceptuality and vocabulary.”[9] Learning Greco-Roman theology is not only important because that was the context in which early Christians wrote, but also because from the late first century onward, most of our Christian authors converted from that worldview. Rather than talking about the Hellenization of Christianity, we should begin by asking how Hellenists experienced Christianization. In other words, Greco-Roman beliefs about the gods were the default lens through which converts first saw Christ. In order to explore how Greco-Roman theology shaped what people believed about Jesus as god, we do well to begin by asking how they defined a god. Andrew Perriman offers a helpful starting point. “The gods,” he writes, “are mostly understood as corporeal beings, blessed with immortality, larger, more beautiful, and more powerful than their mortal analogues.”[10] Furthermore, there were lots of them! The sublunar realm was, in the words of Paula Fredriksen, “a god-congested place.”[11] What's more, “[S]harp lines and clearly demarcated boundaries between divinity and humanity were lacking."[12] Gods could appear as people and people could ascend to become gods. Comprehending what Greco-Roman people believed about gods coming down and humans going up will occupy the first part of this paper. Only once we've adjusted our thinking to their culture, will we walk through key moments in the life of Jesus of Nazareth to hear the story with ancient Mediterranean ears. Lastly, we'll consider the evidence from sources that think of Jesus in Greco-Roman categories. Bringing this all together we'll enumerate the primary ways to interpret the phrase “Jesus is god” available to Christians in the pre-Nicene period. Gods Coming Down and Humans Going Up The idea that a god would visit someone is not as unusual as it first sounds. We find plenty of examples of Yahweh himself or non-human representatives visiting people in the Hebrew Bible.[13] One psalmist even referred to angels or “heavenly beings” (ESV) as אֱלֹהִים (gods).[14] The Greco-Roman world too told stories about divine entities coming down to interact with people. Euripides tells about the time Zeus forced the god Apollo to become a human servant in the house of Admetus, performing menial labor as punishment for killing the Cyclopes (Alcestis 1). Baucis and Philemon offered hospitality to Jupiter and Mercury when they appeared in human form (Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.26-34). In Homer's Odyssey onlookers warn Antinous for flinging a stool against a stranger since “the gods do take on the look of strangers dropping in from abroad”[15] (17.534-9). Because they believed the boundary between the divine realm and the Earth was so permeable, Mediterranean people were always on guard for an encounter with a god in disguise. In addition to gods coming down, in special circumstances, humans could ascend and become gods too. Diodorus of Sicily demarcated two types of gods: those who are “eternal and imperishable, such as the sun and the moon” and “the other gods…terrestrial beings who attained to immortal honour”[16] (The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian 6.1). By some accounts, even the Olympian gods, including Kronos and Uranus were once mortal men.[17] Among humans who could become divine, we find several distinguishable categories, including heroes, miracle workers, and rulers. We'll look at each briefly before considering how the story of Jesus would resonate with those holding a Greco-Roman worldview. Deified Heroes Cornutus the Stoic said, “[T]he ancients called heroes those who were so strong in body and soul that they seemed to be part of a divine race.” (Greek Theology 31)[18] At first this statement appears to be a mere simile, but he goes on to say of Heracles (Hercules), the Greek hero par excellence, “his services had earned him apotheosis” (ibid.). Apotheosis (or deification) is the process by which a human ascends into the divine realm. Beyond Heracles and his feats of strength, other exceptional individuals became deified for various reasons. Amphiarus was a seer who died in the battle at Thebes. After opening a chasm in the earth to swallow him in battle, “Zeus made him immortal”[19] (Apollodorus, Library of Greek Mythology 3.6). Pausanias says the custom of the inhabitants of Oropos was to drop coins into Amphiarus' spring “because this is where they say Amphiarus rose up as a god”[20] (Guide to Greece 1.34). Likewise, Strabo speaks about a shrine for Calchas, a deceased diviner from the Trojan war (Homer, Illiad 1.79-84), “where those consulting the oracle sacrifice a black ram to the dead and sleep in its hide”[21] (Strabo, Geography 6.3.9). Though the great majority of the dead were locked away in the lower world of Hades, leading a shadowy pitiful existence, the exceptional few could visit or speak from beyond the grave. Lastly, there was Zoroaster the Persian prophet who, according to Dio Chrysostom, was enveloped by fire while he meditated upon a mountain. He was unharmed and gave advice on how to properly make offerings to the gods (Dio Chrysostom, Discourses 36.40). The Psuedo-Clementine Homilies include a story about a lightning bolt striking and killing Zoroaster. After his devotees buried his body, they built a temple on the site, thinking that “his soul had been sent for by lightning” and they “worshipped him as a god”[22] (Homily 9.5.2). Thus, a hero could have extraordinary strength, foresight, or closeness to the gods resulting in apotheosis and ongoing worship and communication. Deified Miracle Workers Beyond heroes, Greco-Roman people loved to tell stories about deified miracle workers. Twice Orpheus rescued a ship from a storm by praying to the gods (Diodorus of Sicily 4.43.1f; 48.5f). After his death, surviving inscriptions indicate that he both received worship and was regarded as a god in several cities.[23] Epimenides “fell asleep in a cave for fifty-seven years”[24] (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 1.109). He also predicted a ten-year period of reprieve from Persian attack in Athens (Plato Laws 1.642D-E). Plato called him a divine man (θεῖος ἀνήρ) (ibid.) and Diogenes talked of Cretans sacrificing to him as a god (Diogenes, Lives 1.114). Iamblichus said Pythagoras was the son of Apollo and a mortal woman (Life of Pythagoras 2). Nonetheless, the soul of Pythagoras enjoyed multiple lives, having originally been “sent to mankind from the empire of Apollo”[25] (Life 2). Diogenes and Lucian enumerate the lives the pre-existent Pythagoras led, including Aethalides, Euphorbus, Hermotimus, and Pyrrhus (Diogenes, Life of Pythagoras 4; Lucian, The Cock 16-20). Hermes had granted Pythagoras the gift of “perpetual transmigration of his soul”[26] so he could remember his lives while living or dead (Diogenes, Life 4). Ancient sources are replete with Pythagorean miracle stories.[27] Porphyry mentions several, including taming a bear, persuading an ox to stop eating beans, and accurately predicting a catch of fish (Life of Pythagoras 23-25). Porphyry said Pythagoras accurately predicted earthquakes and “chased away a pestilence, suppressed violent winds and hail, [and] calmed storms on rivers and on seas” (Life 29).[28] Such miracles, argued the Pythagoreans made Pythagoras “a being superior to man, and not to a mere man” (Iamblichus, Life 28).[29] Iamblichus lays out the views of Pythagoras' followers, including that he was a god, a philanthropic daemon, the Pythian, the Hyperborean Apollo, a Paeon, a daemon inhabiting the moon, or an Olympian god (Life 6). Another pre-Socratic philosopher was Empedocles who studied under Pythagoras. To him sources attribute several miracles, including stopping a damaging wind, restoring the wind, bringing dry weather, causing it to rain, and even bringing someone back from Hades (Diogenes, Lives 8.59).[30] Diogenes records an incident in which Empedocles put a woman into a trance for thirty days before sending her away alive (8.61). He also includes a poem in which Empedocles says, “I am a deathless god, no longer mortal, I go among you honored by all, as is right”[31] (8.62). Asclepius was a son of the god Apollo and a human woman (Cornutus, Greek Theology 33). He was known for healing people from diseases and injuries (Pindar, Pythian 3.47-50). “[H]e invented any medicine he wished for the sick, and raised up the dead”[32] (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 2.26.4). However, as Diodorus relates, Hades complained to Zeus on account of Asclepius' diminishing his realm, which resulted in Zeus zapping Asclepius with a thunderbolt, killing him (4.71.2-3). Nevertheless, Asclepius later ascended into heaven to become a god (Hyginus, Fables 224; Cicero, Nature of the Gods 2.62).[33] Apollonius of Tyana was a famous first century miracle worker. According to Philostratus' account, the locals of Tyana regard Apollonius to be the son of Zeus (Life 1.6). Apollonius predicted many events, interpreted dreams, and knew private facts about people. He rebuked and ridiculed a demon, causing it to flee, shrieking as it went (Life 2.4).[34] He even once stopped a funeral procession and raised the deceased to life (Life 4.45). What's more he knew every human language (Life 1.19) and could understand what sparrows chirped to each other (Life 4.3). Once he instantaneously transported himself from Smyrna to Ephesus (Life 4.10). He claimed knowledge of his previous incarnation as the captain of an Egyptian ship (Life 3.23) and, in the end, Apollonius entered the temple of Athena and vanished, ascending from earth into heaven to the sound of a choir singing (Life 8.30). We have plenty of literary evidence that contemporaries and those who lived later regarded him as a divine man (Letters 48.3)[35] or godlike (ἰσόθεος) (Letters 44.1) or even just a god (θεός) (Life 5.24). Deified Rulers Our last category of deified humans to consider before seeing how this all relates to Jesus is rulers. Egyptians, as indicated from the hieroglyphs left in the pyramids, believed their deceased kings to enjoy afterlives as gods. They could become star gods or even hunt and consume other gods to absorb their powers.[36] The famous Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great, carried himself as a god towards the Persians though Plutarch opines, “[he] was not at all vain or deluded but rather used belief in his divinity to enslave others”[37] (Life of Alexander 28). This worship continued after his death, especially in Alexandria where Ptolemy built a tomb and established a priesthood to conduct religious honors to the deified ruler. Even the emperor Trajan offered a sacrifice to the spirit of Alexander (Cassius Dio, Roman History 68.30). Another interesting example is Antiochus I of Comagene who called himself “Antiochus the just [and] manifest god, friend of the Romans [and] friend of the Greeks.”[38] His tomb boasted four colossal figures seated on thrones: Zeus, Heracles, Apollo, and himself. The message was clear: Antiochus I wanted his subjects to recognize his place among the gods after death. Of course, the most relevant rulers for the Christian era were the Roman emperors. The first official Roman emperor Augustus deified his predecessor, Julius Caesar, celebrating his apotheosis with games (Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar 88). Only five years after Augustus died, eastern inhabitants of the Roman Empire at Priene happily declared “the birthday of the god Augustus” (ἡ γενέθλιος ἡμέρα τοῦ θεοῦ)[39] to be the start of their provincial year. By the time of Tacitus, a century after Augustus died, the wealthy in Rome had statues of the first emperor in their gardens for worship (Annals 1.73). The Roman historian Appian explained that the Romans regularly deify emperors at death “provided he has not been a despot or a disgrace”[40] (The Civil Wars 2.148).  In other words, deification was the default setting for deceased emperors. Pliny the Younger lays it on pretty thick when he describes the process. He says Nero deified Claudius to expose him; Titus deified Vespasian and Domitian so he could be the son and brother of gods. However, Trajan deified Nerva because he genuinely believed him to be more than a human (Panegyric 11). In our little survey, we've seen three main categories of deified humans: heroes, miracle workers, and good rulers. These “conceptions of deity,” writes David Litwa, “were part of the “preunderstanding” of Hellenistic culture.”[41] He continues: If actual cases of deification were rare, traditions of deification were not. They were the stuff of heroic epic, lyric song, ancient mythology, cultic hymns, Hellenistic novels, and popular plays all over the first-century Mediterranean world. Such discourses were part of mainstream, urban culture to which most early Christians belonged. If Christians were socialized in predominantly Greco-Roman environments, it is no surprise that they employed and adapted common traits of deities and deified men to exalt their lord to divine status.[42] Now that we've attuned our thinking to Mediterranean sensibilities about gods coming down in the shape of humans and humans experiencing apotheosis to permanently dwell as gods in the divine realm, our ears are attuned to hear the story of Jesus with Greco-Roman ears. Hearing the Story of Jesus with Greco-Roman Ears How would second or third century inhabitants of the Roman empire have categorized Jesus? Taking my cue from Litwa's treatment in Iesus Deus, I'll briefly work through Jesus' conception, transfiguration, miracles, resurrection, and ascension. Miraculous Conception Although set within the context of Jewish messianism, Christ's miraculous birth would have resonated differently with Greco-Roman people. Stories of gods coming down and having intercourse with women are common in classical literature. That these stories made sense of why certain individuals were so exceptional is obvious. For example, Origen related a story about Apollo impregnating Amphictione who then gave birth to Plato (Against Celsus 1.37). Though Mary's conception did not come about through intercourse with a divine visitor, the fact that Jesus had no human father would call to mind divine sonship like Pythagoras or Asclepius. Celsus pointed out that the ancients “attributed a divine origin to Perseus, and Amphion, and Aeacus, and Minos” (Origen, Against Celsus 1.67). Philostratus records a story of the Egyptian god Proteus saying to Apollonius' mother that she would give birth to himself (Life of Apollonius of Tyana 1.4). Since people were primed to connect miraculous origins with divinity, typical hearers of the birth narratives of Matthew or Luke would likely think that this baby might be either be a descended god or a man destined to ascend to become a god. Miracles and Healing As we've seen, Jesus' miracles would not have sounded unbelievable or even unprecedent to Mediterranean people. Like Jesus, Orpheus and Empedocles calmed storms, rescuing ships. Though Jesus provided miraculous guidance on how to catch fish, Pythagoras foretold the number of fish in a great catch. After the fishermen painstakingly counted them all, they were astounded that when they threw them back in, they were still alive (Porphyry, Life 23-25). Jesus' ability to foretell the future, know people's thoughts, and cast out demons all find parallels in Apollonius of Tyana. As for resurrecting the dead, we have the stories of Empedocles, Asclepius, and Apollonius. The last of which even stopped a funeral procession to raise the dead, calling to mind Jesus' deeds in Luke 7.11-17. When Lycaonians witnessed Paul's healing of a man crippled from birth, they cried out, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men” (Acts 14.11). Another time when no harm befell Paul after a poisonous snake bit him on Malta, Gentile onlookers concluded “he was a god” (Acts 28.6). Barry Blackburn makes the following observation: [I]n view of the tendency, most clearly seen in the Epimenidean, Pythagorean, and Apollonian traditions, to correlate impressive miracle-working with divine status, one may justifiably conclude that the evangelical miracle traditions would have helped numerous gentile Christians to arrive at and maintain belief in Jesus' divine status.[43] Transfiguration Ancient Mediterranean inhabitants believed that the gods occasionally came down disguised as people. Only when gods revealed their inner brilliant natures could people know that they weren't mere humans. After his ship grounded on the sands of Krisa, Apollo leaped from the ship emitting flashes of fire “like a star in the middle of day…his radiance shot to heaven”[44] (Homeric Hymns, Hymn to Apollo 440). Likewise, Aphrodite appeared in shining garments, brighter than a fire and shimmering like the moon (Hymn to Aphrodite 85-89). When Demeter appeared to Metaneira, she initially looked like an old woman, but she transformed herself before her. “Casting old age away…a delightful perfume spread…a radiance shone out far from the goddess' immortal flesh…and the solid-made house was filled with a light like the lightning-flash”[45] (Hymn to Demeter 275-280). Homer wrote about Odysseus' transformation at the golden wand of Athena in which his clothes became clean, he became taller, and his skin looked younger. His son, Telemachus cried out, “Surely you are some god who rules the vaulting skies”[46] (Odyssey 16.206). Each time the observers conclude the transfigured person is a god. Resurrection & Ascension In defending the resurrection of Jesus, Theophilus of Antioch said, “[Y]ou believe that Hercules, who burned himself, lives; and that Aesculapius [Asclepius], who was struck with lightning, was raised”[47] (Autolycus 1.13). Although Hercules' physical body burnt, his transformed pneumatic body continued on as the poet Callimachus said, “under a Phrygian oak his limbs had been deified”[48] (Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis 159). Others thought Hercules ascended to heaven in his burnt body, which Asclepius subsequently healed (Lucian, Dialogue of the Gods 13). After his ascent, Diodorus relates how the people first sacrificed to him “as to a hero” then in Athens they began to honor him “with sacrifices like as to a god”[49] (The Historical Library 4.39). As for Asclepius, his ascension resulted in his deification as Cyprian said, “Aesculapius is struck by lightning, that he may rise into a god”[50] (On the Vanity of Idols 2). Romulus too “was torn to pieces by the hands of a hundred senators”[51] and after death ascended into heaven and received worship (Arnobius, Against the Heathen 1.41). Livy tells of how Romulus was “carried up on high by a whirlwind” and that immediately afterward “every man present hailed him as a god and son of a god”[52] (The Early History of Rome 1.16). As we can see from these three cases—Hercules, Asclepius, and Romulus—ascent into heaven was a common way of talking about deification. For Cicero, this was an obvious fact. People “who conferred outstanding benefits were translated to heaven through their fame and our gratitude”[53] (Nature 2.62). Consequently, Jesus' own resurrection and ascension would have triggered Gentiles to intuit his divinity. Commenting on the appearance of the immortalized Christ to the eleven in Galilee, Wendy Cotter said, “It is fair to say that the scene found in [Mat] 28:16-20 would be understood by a Greco-Roman audience, Jew or Gentile, as an apotheosis of Jesus.”[54] Although I beg to differ with Cotter's whole cloth inclusion of Jews here, it's hard to see how else non-Jews would have regarded the risen Christ. Litwa adds Rev 1.13-16 “[W]here he [Jesus] appears with all the accoutrements of the divine: a shining face, an overwhelming voice, luminescent clothing, and so on.”[55] In this brief survey we've seen that several key events in the story of Jesus told in the Gospels would have caused Greco-Roman hearers to intuit deity, including his divine conception, miracles, healing ministry, transfiguration, resurrection, and ascension. In their original context of second temple Judaism, these very same incidents would have resonated quite differently. His divine conception authenticated Jesus as the second Adam (Luke 3.38; Rom 5.14; 1 Cor 15.45) and God's Davidic son (2 Sam 7.14; Ps 2.7; Lk 1.32, 35). If Matthew or Luke wanted readers to understand that Jesus was divine based on his conception and birth, they failed to make such intentions explicit in the text. Rather, the birth narratives appear to have a much more modest aim—to persuade readers that Jesus had a credible claim to be Israel's messiah. His miracles show that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power…for God was with him” (Acts 10.38; cf. Jn 3.2; 10.32, 38). Rather than concluding Jesus to be a god, Jewish witnesses to his healing of a paralyzed man “glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (Mat 9.8). Over and over, especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus directs people's attention to his Father who was doing the works in and through him (Jn 5.19, 30; 8.28; 12.49; 14.10). Seeing Jesus raise someone from the dead suggested to his original Jewish audience that “a great prophet has arisen among us” (Lk 7.16). The transfiguration, in its original setting, is an eschatological vision not a divine epiphany. Placement in the synoptic Gospels just after Jesus' promise that some there would not die before seeing the kingdom come sets the hermeneutical frame. “The transfiguration,” says William Lane, “was a momentary, but real (and witnessed) manifestation of Jesus' sovereign power which pointed beyond itself to the Parousia, when he will come ‘with power and glory.'”[56] If eschatology is the foreground, the background for the transfiguration was Moses' ascent of Sinai when he also encountered God and became radiant.[57] Viewed from the lenses of Moses' ascent and the eschaton, the transfiguration of Jesus is about his identity as God's definitive chosen ruler, not about any kind of innate divinity. Lastly, the resurrection and ascension validated Jesus' messianic claims to be the ruler of the age to come (Acts 17.31; Rom 1.4). Rather than concluding Jesus was deity, early Jewish Christians concluded these events showed that “God has made him both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2.36). The interpretative backgrounds for Jesus' ascension were not stories about Heracles, Asclepius, or Romulus. No, the key oracle that framed the Israelite understanding was the messianic psalm in which Yahweh told David's Lord to “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Psalm 110.1). The idea is of a temporary sojourn in heaven until exercising the authority of his scepter to rule over earth from Zion. Once again, the biblical texts remain completely silent about deification. But even if the original meanings of Jesus' birth, ministry, transfiguration, resurrection, and ascension have messianic overtones when interpreted within the Jewish milieu, these same stories began to communicate various ideas of deity to Gentile converts in the generations that followed. We find little snippets from historical sources beginning in the second century and growing with time. Evidence of Belief in Jesus' as a Greco-Roman Deity To begin with, we have two non-Christian instances where Romans regarded Jesus as a deity within typical Greco-Roman categories. The first comes to us from Tertullian and Eusebius who mention an intriguing story about Tiberius' request to the Roman senate to deify Christ. Convinced by “intelligence from Palestine of events which had clearly shown the truth of Christ's divinity”[58] Tiberius proposed the matter to the senate (Apology 5). Eusebius adds that Tiberius learned that “many believed him to be a god in rising from the dead”[59] (Church History 2.2). As expected, the senate rejected the proposal. I mention this story, not because I can establish its historicity, but because it portrays how Tiberius would have thought about Jesus if he had heard about his miracles and resurrection. Another important incident is from one of the governor Pliny the Younger's letters to the emperor Trajan. Having investigated some people accused of Christianity, he found “they had met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately amongst themselves in honour of Christ as if to a god”[60] (Letter 96). To an outside imperial observer like Pliny, the Christians believed in a man who had performed miracles, defeated death, and now lived in heaven. Calling him a god was just the natural way of talking about such a person. Pliny would not have thought Jesus was superior to the deified Roman emperors much less Zeus or the Olympic gods. If he believed in Jesus at all, he would have regarded him as another Mediterranean prophet who escaped Hades to enjoy apotheosis. Another interesting text to consider is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. This apocryphal text tells the story of Jesus' childhood between the ages of five and twelve. Jesus is impetuous, powerful, and brilliant. Unsure to conclude that Jesus was “either god or angel,”[61] his teacher remands him to Joseph's custody (7). Later, a crowd of onlookers ponders whether the child is a god or a heavenly messenger after he raises an infant from the dead (17). A year later Jesus raised a construction man who had fallen to his death back to life (18). Once again, the crowd asked if the child was from heaven. Although some historians are quick to assume the lofty conceptions of Justin and his successors about the logos were commonplace in the early Christianity, Litwa points out, “The spell of the Logos could only bewitch a very small circle of Christian elites… In IGT, we find a Jesus who is divine according to different canons, the canons of popular Mediterranean theology.”[62] Another important though often overlooked scholarly group of Christians in the second century was led by a certain Theodotus of Byzantium.[63] Typically referred to by their heresiological label “Theodotians,” these dynamic monarchians lived in Rome and claimed that they held to the original Christology before it had been corrupted under Bishop Zephyrinus (Eusebius, Church History 5.28). Theodotus believed in the virgin birth, but not in his pre-existence or that he was god/God (Pseudo-Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 7.35.1-2; 10.23.1-2). He thought that Jesus was not able to perform any miracles until his baptism when he received the Christ/Spirit. Pseudo-Hippolytus goes on to say, “But they do not want him to have become a god when the Spirit descended. Others say that he became a god after he rose from the dead.”[64] This last tantalizing remark implies that the Theodotians could affirm Jesus as a god after his resurrection though they denied his pre-existence. Although strict unitarians, they could regard Jesus as a god in that he was an ascended immortalized being who lived in heaven—not equal to the Father, but far superior to all humans on earth. Justin Martyr presents another interesting case to consider. Thoroughly acquainted with Greco-Roman literature and especially the philosophy of Plato, Justin sees Christ as a god whom the Father begot before all other creatures. He calls him “son, or wisdom, or angel, or god, or lord, or word”[65] (Dialogue with Trypho 61).  For Justin Christ is “at the same time angel and god and lord and man”[66] (59). Jesus was “of old the Word, appearing at one time in the form of fire, at another under the guise of incorporeal beings, but now, at the will of God, after becoming man for mankind”[67] (First Apology 63). In fact, Justin is quite comfortable to compare Christ to deified heroes and emperors. He says, “[W]e propose nothing new or different from that which you say about the so-called sons of Jupiter [Zeus] by your respected writers… And what about the emperors who die among you, whom you think worthy to be deified?”[68] (21). He readily accepts the parallels with Mercury, Perseus, Asclepius, Bacchus, and Hercules, but argues that Jesus is superior to them (22).[69] Nevertheless, he considered Jesus to be in “a place second to the unchanging and eternal God”[70] (13). The Father is “the Most True God” whereas the Son is he “who came forth from Him”[71] (6). Even as lates as Origen, Greco-Roman concepts of deity persist. In responding to Celsus' claim that no god or son of God has ever come down, Origen responds by stating such a statement would overthrow the stories of Pythian Apollo, Asclepius, and the other gods who descended (Against Celsus 5.2). My point here is not to say Origen believed in all the old myths, but to show how Origen reached for these stories as analogies to explain the incarnation of the logos. When Celsus argued that he would rather believe in the deity of Asclepius, Dionysus, and Hercules than Christ, Origen responded with a moral rather than ontological argument (3.42). He asks how these gods have improved the characters of anyone. Origen admits Celsus' argument “which places the forenamed individuals upon an equality with Jesus” might have force, however in light of the disreputable behavior of these gods, “how could you any longer say, with any show of reason, that these men, on putting aside their mortal body, became gods rather than Jesus?”[72] (3.42). Origen's Christology is far too broad and complicated to cover here. Undoubtedly, his work on eternal generation laid the foundation on which fourth century Christians could build homoousion Christology. Nevertheless, he retained some of the earlier subordinationist impulses of his forebearers. In his book On Prayer, he rebukes praying to Jesus as a crude error, instead advocating prayer to God alone (10). In his Commentary on John he repeatedly asserts that the Father is greater than his logos (1.40; 2.6; 6.23). Thus, Origen is a theologian on the seam of the times. He's both a subordinationist and a believer in the Son's eternal and divine ontology. Now, I want to be careful here. I'm not saying that all early Christians believed Jesus was a deified man like Asclepius or a descended god like Apollo or a reincarnated soul like Pythagoras. More often than not, thinking Christians whose works survive until today tended to eschew the parallels, simultaneously elevating Christ as high as possible while demoting the gods to mere demons. Still, Litwa is inciteful when he writes: It seems likely that early Christians shared the widespread cultural assumption that a resurrected, immortalized being was worthy of worship and thus divine. …Nonetheless there is a difference…Jesus, it appears, was never honored as an independent deity. Rather, he was always worshiped as Yahweh's subordinate. Naturally Heracles and Asclepius were Zeus' subordinates, but they were also members of a larger divine family. Jesus does not enter a pantheon but assumes a distinctive status as God's chief agent and plenipotentiary. It is this status that, to Christian insiders, placed Jesus in a category far above the likes of Heracles, Romulus, and Asclepius who were in turn demoted to the rank of δαίμονες [daimons].[73] Conclusion I began by asking the question, "What did early Christians mean by saying Jesus is god?" We noted that the ancient idea of agency (Jesus is God/god because he represents Yahweh), though present in Hebrew and Christian scripture, didn't play much of a role in how Gentile Christians thought about Jesus. Or if it did, those texts did not survive. By the time we enter the postapostolic era, a majority of Christianity was Gentile and little communication occurred with the Jewish Christians that survived in the East. As such, we turned our attention to Greco-Roman theology to tune our ears to hear the story of Jesus the way they would have. We learned about their multifaceted array of divinities. We saw that gods can come down and take the form of humans and humans can go up and take the form of gods. We found evidence for this kind of thinking in both non-Christian and Christian sources in the second and third centuries. Now it is time to return to the question I began with: “When early Christian authors called Jesus “god” what did they mean?” We saw that the idea of a deified man was present in the non-Christian witnesses of Tiberius and Pliny but made scant appearance in our Christian literature except for the Theodotians. As for the idea that a god came down to become a man, we found evidence in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Justin, and Origen.[74] Of course, we find a spectrum within this view, from Justin's designation of Jesus as a second god to Origen's more philosophically nuanced understanding. Still, it's worth noting as R. P. C. Hanson observed that, “With the exception of Athanasius virtually every theologian, East and West, accepted some form of subordinationism at least up to the year 355.”[75] Whether any Christians before Alexander and Athanasius of Alexandria held to the sophisticated idea of consubstantiality depends on showing evidence of the belief that the Son was coequal, coeternal, and coessential with the Father prior to Nicea. (Readers interested in the case for this view should consult Michael Bird's Jesus among the Gods in which he attempted the extraordinary feat of finding proto-Nicene Christology in the first two centuries, a task typically associated with maverick apologists not peer-reviewed historians.) In conclusion, the answer to our driving question about the meaning of “Jesus as god” is that the answer depends on whom we ask. If we ask the Theodotians, Jesus is a god because that's just what one calls an immortalized man who lives in heaven.[76] If we ask those holding a docetic Christology, the answer is that a god came down in appearance as a man. If we ask a logos subordinationist, they'll tell us that Jesus existed as the god through whom the supreme God created the universe before he became a human being. If we ask Tertullian, Jesus is god because he derives his substance from the Father, though he has a lesser portion of divinity.[77] If we ask Athanasius, he'll wax eloquent about how Jesus is of the same substance as the Father equal in status and eternality. The bottom line is that there was not one answer to this question prior to the fourth century. Answers depend on whom we ask and when they lived. Still, we can't help but wonder about the more tantalizing question of development. Which Christology was first and which ones evolved under social, intellectual, and political pressures? In the quest to specify the various stages of development in the Christologies of the ante-Nicene period, this Greco-Roman perspective may just provide the missing link between the reserved and limited way that the NT applies theos to Jesus in the first century and the homoousian view that eventually garnered imperial support in the fourth century. How easy would it have been for fresh converts from the Greco-Roman world to unintentionally mishear the story of Jesus? How easy would it have been for them to fit Jesus into their own categories of descended gods and ascended humans? With the unmooring of Gentile Christianity from its Jewish heritage, is it any wonder that Christologies began to drift out to sea? Now I'm not suggesting that all Christians went through a steady development from a human Jesus to a pre-existent Christ, to an eternal God the Son, to the Chalcedonian hypostatic union. As I mentioned above, plenty of other options were around and every church had its conservatives in addition to its innovators. The story is messy and uneven with competing views spread across huge geographic distances. Furthermore, many Christians probably were content to leave such theological nuances fuzzy, rather than seeking doctrinal precision on Christ's relation to his God and Father. Whatever the case may be, we dare not ignore the influence of Greco-Roman theology in our accounts of Christological development in the Mediterranean world of the first three centuries.    Bibliography The Homeric Hymns. Translated by Michael Crudden. New York, NY: Oxford, 2008. Antioch, Theophilus of. To Autolycus. Translated by Marcus Dods. Vol. 2. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001. Aphrahat. The Demonstrations. Translated by Ellen Muehlberger. Vol. 3. The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings. 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End Notes [1] For the remainder of this paper, I will use the lower case “god” for all references to deity outside of Yahweh, the Father of Christ. I do this because all our ancient texts lack capitalization and our modern capitalization rules imply a theology that is anachronistic and unhelpful for the present inquiry. [2] Christopher Kaiser wrote, “Explicit references to Jesus as ‘God' in the New Testament are very few, and even those few are generally plagued with uncertainties of either text or interpretation.” Christopher B. Kaiser, The Doctrine of God: A Historical Survey (London: Marshall Morgan & Scott, 1982), 29. Other scholars such as Raymond Brown (Jesus: God and Man), Jason David BeDuhn (Truth in Translation), and Brian Wright (“Jesus as θεός: A Textual Examination” in Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament) have expressed similar sentiments. [3] John 20.28; Hebrews 1.8; Titus 2.13; 2 Peter 1.1; Romans 9.5; and 1 John 5.20. [4] See Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians 12.2 where a manuscript difference determines whether or not Polycarp called Jesus god or lord. Textual corruption is most acute in Igantius' corpus. Although it's been common to dismiss the long recension as an “Arian” corruption, claiming the middle recension to be as pure and uncontaminated as freshly fallen snow upon which a foot has never trodden, such an uncritical view is beginning to give way to more honest analysis. See Paul Gilliam III's Ignatius of Antioch and the Arian Controversy (Leiden: Brill, 2017) for a recent treatment of Christological corruption in the middle recension. [5] See the entries for  אֱלֹהִיםand θεός in the Hebrew Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT), the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon (BDB), Eerdmans Dictionary, Kohlenberger/Mounce Concise Hebrew-Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament, the Bauer Danker Arndt Gingrich Lexicon (BDAG), Friberg Greek Lexicon, and Thayer's Greek Lexicon. [6] See notes on Is 9.6 and Ps 45.6. [7] ZIBBC: “In what sense can the king be called “god”? By virtue of his divine appointment, the king in the ancient Near East stood before his subjects as a representative of the divine realm. …In fact, the term “gods“ (ʾelōhı̂m) is used of priests who functioned as judges in the Israelite temple judicial system (Ex. 21:6; 22:8-9; see comments on 58:1; 82:6-7).” John W. Hilber, “Psalms,” in The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 5 of Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament. ed. John H. Walton (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 358. [8] Around a.d. 340, Aphrahat of Persia advised his fellow Christians to reply to Jewish critics who questioned why “You call a human being ‘God'” (Demonstrations 17.1). He said, “For the honored name of the divinity is granted event ot rightoues human beings, when they are worthy of being called by it…[W]hen he chose Moses, his friend and his beloved…he called him “god.” …We call him God, just as he named Moses with his own name…The name of the divinity was granted for great honor in the world. To whom he wishes, God appoints it” (17.3, 4, 5). Aphrahat, The Demonstrations, trans., Ellen Muehlberger, vol. 3, The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2022), 213-15. In the Clementine Recognitions we find a brief mention of the concept:  “Therefore the name God is applied in three ways: either because he to whom it is given is truly God, or because he is the servant of him who is truly; and for the honour of the sender, that his authority may be full, he that is sent is called by the name of him who sends, as is often done in respect of angels: for when they appear to a man, if he is a wise and intelligent man, he asks the name of him who appears to him, that he may acknowledge at once the honour of the sent, and the authority of the sender” (2.42). Pseudo-Clement, Recognitions, trans., Thomas Smith, vol. 8, Ante Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). [9] Michael F. Bird, Jesus among the Gods (Waco, TX: Baylor, 2022), 13. [10] Andrew Perriman, In the Form of a God, Studies in Early Christology, ed. David Capes Michael Bird, and Scott Harrower (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022), 130. [11] Paula Fredriksen, "How High Can Early High Christology Be?," in Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity, ed. Matthew V. Novenson, vol. 180 (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 296, 99. [12] ibid. [13] See Gen 18.1; Ex 3.2; 24.11; Is 6.1; Ezk 1.28. [14] Compare the Masoretic Text of Psalm 8.6 to the Septuagint and Hebrews 2.7. [15] Homer, The Odyssey, trans., Robert Fagles (New York, NY: Penguin, 1997), 370. [16] Diodorus Siculus, The Historical Library, trans., Charles Henry Oldfather, vol. 1 (Sophron Editor, 2017), 340. [17] Uranus met death at the brutal hands of his own son, Kronos who emasculated him and let bleed out, resulting in his deification (Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel 1.10). Later on, after suffering a fatal disease, Kronos himself experienced deification, becoming the planet Saturn (ibid.). Zeus married Hera and they produced Osiris (Dionysus), Isis (Demeter), Typhon, Apollo, and Aphrodite (ibid. 2.1). [18] Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, Greek Theology, trans., George Boys-Stones, Greek Theology, Fragments, and Testimonia (Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2018), 123. [19] Apollodorus, The Library of Greek Mythology, trans., Robin Hard (Oxford, UK: Oxford, 1998), 111. [20] Pausanias, Guide to Greece, trans., Peter Levi (London, UK: Penguin, 1979), 98. [21] Strabo, The Geography, trans., Duane W. Roller (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2020), 281. [22] Psuedo-Clement, Homilies, trans., Peter Peterson, vol. 8, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1897). Greek: “αὐτὸν δὲ ὡς θεὸν ἐθρήσκευσαν” from Jacques Paul Migne, Patrologia Graeca, taken from Accordance (PSCLEMH-T), OakTree Software, Inc., 2018, Version 1.1. [23] See Barry Blackburn, Theios Aner and the Markan Miracle Traditions (Tübingen, Germany: J. C. B. Mohr, 1991), 32. [24] Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, trans., Pamela Mensch (New York, NY: Oxford, 2020), 39. [25] Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras, trans., Thomas Taylor, Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras (Delhi, IN: Zinc Read, 2023), 2. [26] Diogenes Laertius, Life of Pythagoras, trans., Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988), 142. [27] See the list in Blackburn, 39. He corroborates miracle stories from Diogenus Laertius, Iamblichus, Apollonius, Nicomachus, and Philostratus. [28] Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras, trans., Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988), 128-9. [29] Iamblichus,  68. [30] What I call “resurrection” refers to the phrase, “Thou shalt bring back from Hades a dead man's strength.” Diogenes Laertius 8.2.59, trans. R. D. Hicks. [31] Laertius, "Lives of the Eminent Philosophers," 306. Two stories of his deification survive: in one Empedocles disappears in the middle of the night after hearing an extremely loud voice calling his name. After this the people concluded that they should sacrifice to him since he had become a god (8.68). In the other account, Empedocles climbs Etna and leaps into the fiery volcanic crater “to strengthen the rumor that he had become a god” (8.69). [32] Pausanias,  192. Sextus Empiricus says Asclepius raised up people who had died at Thebes as well as raising up the dead body of Tyndaros (Against the Professors 1.261). [33] Cicero adds that the Arcadians worship Asclepius (Nature 3.57). [34] In another instance, he confronted and cast out a demon from a licentious young man (Life 4.20). [35] The phrase is “περὶ ἐμοῦ καὶ θεοῖς εἴρηται ὡς περὶ θείου ἀνδρὸς.” Philostratus, Letters of Apollonius, vol. 458, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 2006). [36] See George Hart, The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, 2nd ed. (Oxford, UK: Routledge, 2005), 3. [37] Plutarch, Life of Alexander, trans., Ian Scott-Kilvert and Timothy E. Duff, The Age of Alexander (London, UK: Penguin, 2011), 311. Arrian includes a story about Anaxarchus advocating paying divine honors to Alexander through prostration. The Macedonians refused but the Persian members of his entourage “rose from their seats and one by one grovelled on the floor before the King.” Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, trans., Aubrey De Sélincourt (London, UK: Penguin, 1971), 222. [38] Translation my own from “Ἀντίοχος ὁ Θεὸς Δίκαιος Ἐπιφανὴς Φιλορωμαῖος Φιλέλλην.” Inscription at Nemrut Dağ, accessible at https://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/display.php?page=cimrm32. See also https://zeugma.packhum.org/pdfs/v1ch09.pdf. [39] Greek taken from W. Dittenberger, Orientis Graecae Inscriptiones Selectae, vol. 2 (Hildesheim: Olms, 1960), 48-60. Of particular note is the definite article before θεός. They didn't celebrate the birthday of a god, but the birthday of the god. [40] Appian, The Civil Wars, trans., John Carter (London, UK: Penguin, 1996), 149. [41] M. David Litwa, Iesus Deus (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014), 20. [42] ibid. [43] Blackburn, 92-3. [44] The Homeric Hymns, trans., Michael Crudden (New York, NY: Oxford, 2008), 38. [45] "The Homeric Hymns," 14. [46] Homer,  344. [47] Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus, trans., Marcus Dods, vol. 2, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001). [48] Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis, trans., Susan A. Stephens, Callimachus: The Hymns (New York, NY: Oxford, 2015), 119. [49] Siculus,  234. [50] Cyprian, Treatise 6: On the Vanity of Idols, trans., Ernest Wallis, vol. 5, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995). [51] Arnobius, Against the Heathen, trans., Hamilton Bryce and Hugh Campbell, vol. 6, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995). [52] Livy, The Early History of Rome, trans., Aubrey De Sélincourt (London, UK: Penguin, 2002), 49. [53] Cicero, The Nature of the Gods, trans., Patrick Gerard Walsh (Oxford, UK: Oxford, 2008), 69. [54] Wendy Cotter, "Greco-Roman Apotheosis Traditions and the Resurrection Appearances in Matthew," in The Gospel of Matthew in Current Study, ed. David E. Aune (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 149. [55] Litwa, 170. [56] William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, Nicnt, ed. F. F. Bruce Ned B. Stonehouse, and Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974). [57] “Recent commentators have stressed that the best background for understanding the Markan transfiguration is the story of Moses' ascent up Mount Sinai (Exod. 24 and 34).” Litwa, 123. [58] Tertullian, Apology, trans. S. Thelwall, vol. 3, Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). [59] Eusebius, The Church History, trans. Paul L. Maier (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007), 54. [60] Pliny the Younger, The Letters of the Younger Pliny, trans., Betty Radice (London: Penguin, 1969), 294. [61] Pseudo-Thomas, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, trans., James Orr (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1903), 25. [62] Litwa, 83. [63] For sources on Theodotus, see Pseduo-Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 7.35.1-2; 10.23.1-2; Pseudo-Tertullian, Against All Heresies 8.2; Eusebius, Church History 5.28. [64] Pseudo-Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, trans., David Litwa (Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2016), 571. [65] I took the liberty to decapitalize these appellatives. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, trans. Thomas B. Falls (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2003), 244. [66] Justin Martyr, 241. (Altered, see previous footnote.) [67] Justin Martyr, 102. [68] Justin Martyr, 56-7. [69] Arnobius makes a similar argument in Against the Heathen 1.38-39 “Is he not worthy to be called a god by us and felt to be a god on account of the favor or such great benefits? For if you have enrolled Liber among the gods because he discovered the use of wine, and Ceres the use of bread, Aesculapius the use of medicines, Minerva the use of oil, Triptolemus plowing, and Hercules because he conquered and restrained beasts, thieves, and the many-headed hydra…So then, ought we not to consider Christ a god, and to bestow upon him all the worship due to his divinity?” Translation from Litwa, 105. [70] Justin Martyr, 46. [71] Justin Martyr, 39. [72] Origen, Against Celsus, trans. Frederick Crombie, vol. 4, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). [73] Litwa, 173. [74] I could easily multiply examples of this by looking at Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and many others. [75] The obvious exception to Hanson's statement were thinkers like Sabellius and Praxeas who believed that the Father himself came down as a human being. R. P. C. Hanson, Search for a Christian Doctrine of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007), xix. [76] Interestingly, even some of the biblical unitarians of the period were comfortable with calling Jesus god, though they limited his divinity to his post-resurrection life. [77] Tertullian writes, “[T]he Father is not the same as the Son, since they differ one from the other in the mode of their being. For the Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: “My Father is greater than I.” In the Psalm His inferiority is described as being “a little lower than the angels.” Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son” (Against Praxeas 9). Tertullian, Against Praxeas, trans., Holmes, vol. 3, Ante Nice Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003).

This lecture was given on September 11, 2023, at the University of Florida For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Originally from a farm in Kansas, Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is a priest in the Dominican Province of St. Joseph who teaches on the pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC where he is editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He has authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023). He is editor or co-editor of several volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology, and Thomas Aquinas as Spiritual Teacher.

This lecture was given on March 18th, 2023, at "The Passion & the Sacred Wounds: An Intellectual Retreat" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Originally from a farm in Kansas, Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is a priest in the Dominican Province of St. Joseph who teaches on the pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC where he is editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He has authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023). He is editor or co-editor of several volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology, and Thomas Aquinas as Spiritual Teacher.

This lecture was given on March 18th, 2023, at "The Passion & the Sacred Wounds: An Intellectual Retreat" at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Originally from a farm in Kansas, Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is a priest in the Dominican Province of St. Joseph who teaches on the pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC where he is editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He has authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023). He is editor or co-editor of several volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology, and Thomas Aquinas as Spiritual Teacher.

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P. about his latest Thomistic Institute, "St. Thomas Aquinas on Love in the Incarnation of God." St. Thomas Aquinas on Love in the Incarnation of God w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P. (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://on.soundcloud.com/f9Wve For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Originally from a farm in Kansas, Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is a priest in the Dominican Province of St. Joseph who teaches on the pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC where he is editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He has authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023). He is editor or co-editor of several volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology, and Thomas Aquinas as Spiritual Teacher.

Let's go back to the beginning, where it all began: Episode 1 on Flannery O'Connor with Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P. ! In Episode 1, I speak with Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. about Aquinas on grace and charity, and how Thomistic concepts of grace and charity operate in the short stories of Flannery O'Connor. The episode covers themes of grace, redemption, the comic unveiling of the human person to itself, and the violence of Divine Love as a necessary antidote to human folly and brokenness. Fr. Thomas Joseph White is the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome. He is the author of various books and articles including ⁠Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology ⁠(Sapientia Press, 2011), ⁠The Incarnate Lord, A Thomistic Study in Christology⁠ (The Catholic University of America Press, 2015) Exodus (Brazos Press, 2016), ⁠The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism⁠ (Catholic University Press, 2017), and ⁠The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God⁠ (Catholic University Press, 2022). He is co-editor of the journal Nova et Vetera, a Distinguished Scholar of the McDonald Agape Foundation, and a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. ⁠Jennifer Frey⁠ is the inaugural dean of the Honors College at the University of Tulsa. Through Spring of 2023, she served as Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina and as a fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America. She also previously served as a Collegiate Assistant Professor of Humanities at the University of Chicago, where she was a member of the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts and an affiliated faculty in the philosophy department. Frey holds a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. from Indiana University-Bloomington. She has published widely on action, virtue, practical reason, and meta-ethics, and has recently co-edited an interdisciplinary volume, ⁠Self-Transcendence and Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology, and Psychology⁠ (Routledge, 2018). You can follow her on Twitter ⁠@ jennfrey⁠. Sacred and Profane Love is a podcast in which philosophers, theologians, and literary critics discuss some of their favorite works of literature, and how these works have shaped their own ideas about love, happiness, and meaning in human life. Host Jennifer A. Frey is inaugural dean of the Honors College at the University of Tulsa. The podcast is generously supported by The Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America and produced by Catholics for Hire.

Let's go back to the beginning, where it all began: Episode 1 on Flannery O'Connor with Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P. !! In Episode 1, I speak with Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. about Aquinas on grace and charity, and how Thomistic concepts of grace and charity operate in the short stories of Flannery O'Connor. The episode covers themes of grace, redemption, the comic unveiling of the human person to itself, and the violence of Divine Love as a necessary antidote to human folly and brokenness. Fr. Thomas Joseph White is the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome. He is the author of various books and articles including Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology (Sapientia Press, 2011), The Incarnate Lord, A Thomistic Study in Christology (The Catholic University of America Press, 2015) Exodus (Brazos Press, 2016), The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism (Catholic University Press, 2017), and The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (Catholic University Press, 2022). He is co-editor of the journal Nova et Vetera, a Distinguished Scholar of the McDonald Agape Foundation, and a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Jennifer Frey is the inaugural dean of the Honors College at the University of Tulsa. Through Spring of 2023, she served as Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina and as a fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America. She also previously served as a Collegiate Assistant Professor of Humanities at the University of Chicago, where she was a member of the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts and an affiliated faculty in the philosophy department. Frey holds a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. from Indiana University-Bloomington. She has published widely on action, virtue, practical reason, and meta-ethics, and has recently co-edited an interdisciplinary volume, Self-Transcendence and Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology, and Psychology (Routledge, 2018). You can follow her on Twitter @jennfrey. Sacred and Profane Love is a podcast in which philosophers, theologians, and literary critics discuss some of their favorite works of literature, and how these works have shaped their own ideas about love, happiness, and meaning in human life. Host Jennifer A. Frey is inaugural dean of the Honors College at the University of Tulsa. The podcast is generously supported by The Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America and produced by Catholics for Hire.

This lecture was given on July 17th, 2023, at St. Peter's Church on Capitol Hill. For more information about upcoming events, please visit our website: https://thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., grew up as the youngest of ten children on a farm in Kansas and studied history, philosophy, and classics at Benedictine College. He then went to St Andrews, Scotland for a Master of Letters in medieval history. He entered the Order of Preachers as a son of the Province of St. Joseph and was ordained a priest in 2002. After finishing his S.T.L. and serving as an associate pastor for a brief time, he was sent to Kenya as a missionary for two years. He taught at the Tangaza College of The Catholic University of Eastern Africa and other institutions in Nairobi. He returned to the U.S. and completed a Ph.D. in Theology at the University of Notre Dame, with the primary area of history of Christianity, specializing in patristic theology with additional studies in medieval theology and the secondary area of systematic theology. His research appears in such journals as Vigiliae Christianae, Augustinianum, International Journal of Systematic Theology, New Blackfriars, Nova et Vetera, Pro Ecclesia, The Thomist, Communio, and Angelicum and in books published by Catholic University of America Press and Ignatius Press. He is the author of Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford Early Christian Studies), Oxford University Press, 2013, and the editor of Divinization: Becoming Icons of Christ through the Liturgy, Hillenbrand Books, 2015.

"The helpers of our faith are fear and patience; our allies are long-suffering and self-control." The so-called Letter of Barnabas is neither a letter nor by St. Barnabas. Written by an anonymous author sometime between the years 70 and 150 AD, it is a work of allegorical scriptural interpretation chiefly notable for its early date. Having been composed well before collection of the New Testament into a canon, the Letter of Barnabas attempts to illustrate the Old Testament's fulfillment in Christ and to warn the early Christians against accepting it in a strictly literal sense. Relying on his own imagination and best lights, the author succeeds to a greater and lesser extent throughout, sometimes reading an unhistorical meaning into the sacred texts. The letter ends with an exposition of the "Two Ways" similar to that found in the Didache. Links Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120401/the-apostolic-fathers Alternate translation: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3840 Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

This lecture was given on March 8th, 2023, at West Virginia University. For more information about upcoming events, visit thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. Speaker Bio: Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., grew up as the youngest of ten children on a farm in Kansas, and studied history, philosophy, and classics at Benedictine College. He then went to St Andrews, Scotland for a Master of Letters in medieval history. He entered the Order of Preachers as a son of the Province of St. Joseph, and was ordained a priest in 2002. After finishing his S.T.L. and serving as an associate pastor for a brief time, he was sent to Kenya as a missionary for two years. He taught at the Tangaza College of The Catholic University of Eastern Africa and other institutions in Nairobi. He returned to the U.S. and completed a Ph.D. in theology at the University of Notre Dame, with the primary area of history of Christianity, specializing in patristic theology with additional studies in medieval theology, and the secondary area of systematic theology. His research appears in such journals as Vigiliae Christianae, Augustinianum, International Journal of Systematic Theology, New Blackfriars, Nova et Vetera, Pro Ecclesia, The Thomist, Communio, and Angelicum and in books published by Catholic University of America Press and Ignatius Press. He is the author of Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford Early Christian Studies), Oxford University Press, 2013, and the editor of Divinization: Becoming Icons of Christ through the Liturgy, Hillenbrand Books, 2015.

This lecture was given at North Carolina State University on January 24, 2023. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Joe McInerney is the Director of Leadership and Ethics Education for the Knights of Columbus, a worldwide fraternal association of more than two million members with headquarters in New Haven, CT. Prior to retiring as a Captain from the United States Navy he served as the Chairman of the Department of Leadership, Ethics, and Law and as Permanent Military Professor of Applied Ethics and Leadership at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. After working in a variety of leadership positions in the Navy, Captain McInerney was selected for the Navy's Permanent Military Professor Program. As a member of that program, he graduated from The Catholic University of America with a doctorate in systematic theology. Captain McInerney also holds a bachelor's degree in history from the United States Naval Academy and a Masters of Theological Studies from the John Paul II Institute in Washington DC. A writer of both academic and popular essays, Captain McInerney is also author of The Greatness of Humility: St. Augustine on Moral Excellence (Wipf &Stock, 2016) and Passion and Paradox: The Leadership Genius of Jesus Christ (Catholic Information Service, 2018). His most recent book, From Achilles to Superman: A Leader's Guide to the History of Ethics, has been accepted for publication with The Catholic University of America Press.

TRADCAST EXPRESS - Episode 174 Topics covered: A response to Kennedy Hall's video, 'Why I am Not a Sedevacantist' (Part 1). Links: YouTube Video: Kevin Davis and Mario Derksen, "5 SSPX Myths Debunked? Novus Ordo Watch Answers Kennedy Hall on Catholic Family Podcast" (May 19, 2023) YouTube Video: Kennedy Hall, "Why I am not a Sedevacantist" (May 19, 2023) St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 39 Cardinal Francesco Roberti, et al., eds., Dictionary of Moral Theology (Westminster, MD: The Newman Press, 1962) Rev. Ignatius Szal, The Communication of Catholics with Schismatics (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1948) "Rethinking Peter Kwasniewski: A Sedevacantist Critique of his Anti-Papal Traditionalism", Novus Ordo Wire (Jan. 21, 2023) Robert Morrison, "How the Modernists and Francis Turn Catholic Foundations into Sand", The Remnant (Nov. 16, 2021) Robert Morrison, "Can We Accurately Diagnose the Bergoglio Disorder Afflicting the Church?", The Remnant (July 28, 2022) Jason Morgan, "Pope Refuses to Meet with Trump's Pro-Life Sec. of State, Mike Pompeo", The Remnant (Oct. 2, 2020) The Catholic Teaching on the Papacy (Collection of quotes from the papal magisterium) Sign up to be notified of new episode releases automatically at tradcast.org. Produced by NOVUSORDOWATCH.org Support us by making a tax-deductible contribution at NovusOrdoWatch.org/donate/

This talk was given on February 16th, 2023 at the University of Texas at Austin. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., grew up as the youngest of ten children on a farm in Kansas, and studied history, philosophy, and classics at Benedictine College. He then went to St Andrews, Scotland for a Master of Letters in medieval history. He entered the Order of Preachers as a son of the Province of St. Joseph, and was ordained a priest in 2002. After finishing his S.T.L. and serving as an associate pastor for a brief time, he was sent to Kenya as a missionary for two years. He taught at the Tangaza College of The Catholic University of Eastern Africa and other institutions in Nairobi. He returned to the U.S. and completed a Ph.D. in theology at the University of Notre Dame, with the primary area of history of Christianity, specializing in patristic theology with additional studies in medieval theology, and the secondary area of systematic theology. His research appears in such journals as Vigiliae Christianae, Augustinianum, International Journal of Systematic Theology, New Blackfriars, Nova et Vetera, Pro Ecclesia, The Thomist, Communio, and Angelicum and in books published by Catholic University of America Press and Ignatius Press. He is the author of Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford Early Christian Studies), Oxford University Press, 2013, and the editor of Divinization: Becoming Icons of Christ through the Liturgy, Hillenbrand Books, 2015.

This talk was given on October 5th, 2022 at Dartmouth College. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., completed his Bachelor's Degree (B.S.E.) in Bioengineering, summa cum laude, at the University of Pennsylvania, and then earned his Ph.D. in Biology from M.I.T. in the laboratory of Professor Leonard Guarente, where he was a fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). He was ordained a priest in the Order of Preachers in May of 2004. He completed his Pontifical License in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) in Moral Theology, summa cum laude, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, in 2005, and a Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.), magna cum laude, at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, in 2015. Fr. Austriaco currently serves as Professor of Biological Sciences & Professor of Sacred Theology at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. Before this position, he was Professor of Biology and of Theology at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. His NIH-funded laboratory at Providence College is investigating the genetics of programmed cell death using the yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans, as model organisms. Papers describing his research have been published in PLoS ONE, FEMS Yeast Research, Microbial Cell, Cell, the Journal of Cell Biology, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, among others. In philosophy and theology, his essays have been published in the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Theological Studies, Nova et Vetera, The Thomist, Science and Theology, and the Linacre Quarterly. His first book, Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics, was published by the Catholic University of America Press in 2011. It was recognized as a 2012 Choice outstanding academic title by the Association of College and Research Libraries.