Podcasts about Sicilian

On this episode, Sarah and Rich welcome comedian Erica Rhodes back to into the cellar for an absolutely fabulous bottle of white Sicilian wine and some hilarious conversation. Go behind the curtain and find out what it means when a comedian says, "good set," get the scoop on which celebrity Erica had an interesting scene with during the filming of a little-known horror movie and get real as Erica shares some of her own story in dealing with the anxieties of show business. It is top to bottom an instant classic episode of Drinking During Business Hours, with a top-notch comedian, so pour a drink, and bottoms up! Cheers!

On this episode, Sarah and Rich welcome comedian Erica Rhodes back to into the cellar for an absolutely fabulous bottle of white Sicilian wine and some hilarious conversation. Go behind the curtain and find out what it means when a comedian says, "good set," get the scoop on which celebrity Erica had an interesting scene with during the filming of a little-known horror movie and get real as Erica shares some of her own story in dealing with the anxieties of show business. It is top to bottom an instant classic episode of Drinking During Business Hours, with a top-notch comedian, so pour a drink, and bottoms up! Cheers!

Nick Sicilian is a marine engineer turned real estate investor extraordinaire. From spending ten months of the year on offshore rigs and tankers, this guy switched gears when he realized his kids barely knew him. Enter his second act: becoming a real estate tycoon. Nick now co-leads a private mastermind of active investors in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, called #reiAF Mastermind, where he brings in his Marine Engineering experience to a very different type of strategizing. With his whole family rooted in real estate, the transition was as smooth as a polished marble floor. Now, he's here to share how he made that leap and what he's learned since.In this gripping episode, Nick delves into several groundbreaking topics. He talks about his love for building things, which led him from engineering to selling hard money loans. He details the psychological shift required to leave the safety net of employee benefits to embrace the untamed world of business ownership. Nick also touches on the "magic of commitment," emphasizing the act of getting ideas out of your head and onto paper. Tailoring your management style for your team, mastering productivity, and achieving work-life balance are other big-ticket items on the agenda. If you're grappling with feelings of isolation as an entrepreneur and aiming for mastery across business, family, and personal dimensions, then this episode is a must-listen.During this episode, you will learn about;00:00 Introduction02:03 Intro to Nick and his businesses 05:12 Why Nick got into real estate investing08:31 Nicks background 11:31 How Nick was able to break the chains of safety and dive into entrepreneurship14:41 The power of getting ideas out of your head onto paper33:01 A bad decision Nick made in business38:25 How Nick prioritizes business and family 45:34 What Nick would tell his younger self 47:44 How to connect with Nick48:42 How to connect with Chaz and Gathering the KingsLet's Connect!Nick Sicilian:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicksicilian/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reiafgroupWebsite: https://reiaf.com/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSicilianBrothersInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicksic/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thesicilianbrothers?lang=enChaz Wolfe (Host): Linktree: https://linktr.ee/chazwolfeWebsite: www.gatheringthekings.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/chazwolfe/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gatheringthekingsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gatheringthekings/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaz-wolfe-86767054/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/91415421/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chazwolfe_kingsFor more information on Gathering The Kings Peer to Peer Mastermind Group:https://go.oncehub.com/TheExceptionalLifeIf you liked this episode, please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, drop us a...

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).

Ciao, Creativo

Earlier this year, Judy chanced upon meeting Carolina Guthmann, who, with her husband (former Italian television journalist Piero di Pasquale), are the creative forces behind Manima World in Palermo; a digital atelier of fine, hand embroidered home linens and ready to wear. If there are two words that make my heart beat faster, they are hand embroidered. When Carolina told me it was her mission to preserve and empower the embroideresses of Sicily, I was in. Listen to Carolina discuss the history of Sicilian embroidery, her big career change and her passion for working with local women sustaining centuries-old skills, on Unpaused now. Show Notes: ⁠Manima World Fabergé Eggs Kazumi Yoshida // Hosted by Judy Stewart // Produced by Leonie Marsh // Sound Engineer: Jason Millhouse // // Instagram: ⁠@_unpaused⁠ // Website: ⁠www.unpaused.net

EPISODE 290. Sabino and Rocco sit down with comedian Paul Virzi to talk about growing up 50% Sicilian and 50% Greek, his comedy career, growing up in New Rochelle and so much more. This one was hilarious, you don't want to miss it. Be sure to follow Paul here https://www.instagram.com/paulvirzi Follow Sabino here https://instagram.com/sabinocurcio Follow Rocco Loguercio here https://instagram.com/rocloguercio To shop our merchandise, visit https://www.growingupitaliangui.com Be sure to check our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/growingupitalian As always, if you enjoyed this video, be sure to drop a Like, Comment and please SUBSCRIBE. Grazie a tutti!

From the fertile lands of Sicily, we bring you a captivating tale. What began as a promise to a grandmother, Agatha Luczo and her husband embarked on a journey that led to the birth of an 800 acre organic farm, La Furtuna Estate, and a transformative skincare brand, Furtuna Skin. Venture with us as we uncover the secrets of their regenerative farming process, the resilience of Mediterranean plants, and the luxurious blend of wild organic beet and chicory extracts that make their skincare products truly distinctive.Ever wondered about the magic of extinct plants? Agatha revives this enchantment with the creation of a distinctive herbarium that includes the previously extinct Bianca Leela Chantanada cultivar. The Furtuna Skin products, reminiscent of a herbarium in a bottle, nourish your skin with a concoction of organic extra virgin olive oil, olive leaf water, and wild kusa zura - the rare blue flower bursting with antioxidants. As Agatha puts it, their products are akin to "Botox in a bottle", providing essential nourishment and protection against environmental and free radical damage. The episode also sheds light on the stark differences between US and EU beauty standards, a significant aspect of the clean beauty movement.The conversation culminates with an exploration of the Furtuna Skin philosophy. More than a skincare brand, Furtuna Skin is a testament to the commitment of a couple who are dedicated to honoring their grandmother's legacy and giving back to the earth. Their product line is an embodiment of this ethos, with their Mediterranean-inspired day and night creams, miscellaneous water, and oil, working in harmony with the body's natural circadian rhythm. These products, crafted from plant-based ingredients resilient to harsh conditions, protect, nourish, and restore balance to the skin. So, come join us on this extraordinary journey into the heart of Sicily and discover the secrets behind the luxury skincare philosophy of Furtuna. Support the showFollow The Show On All Socials Using The Tag @skincareanarchy

A guest who needs no introduction, Jon Hamm, dives into the 1988 Italian film, Cinema Paradiso, directed by Guiseppe Tornatore. The film begins when Salvatore di Vita, a superstar filmmaker in Rome, recalls his childhood in a small Sicilian village during the aftermath of World War II. With his father lost at war, young Salvatore forms a deep friendship with Alberto, the projectionist at the local cinema, and falls in love with film. As a teenager growing up in St. Louis, Jon's moviegoing was primarily driven by his burning desire to escape the house. Nevertheless, Cinema Paradiso captured his imagination and has continued to resonate with him throughout his life. We also learn how Silence of the Lambs left a bloody impression, and the Cub Scout lesson that fuels his stratospheric career. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now that the weather has decidedly turned for the worst, even the most obstinate summer lover has got to admit that autumn is upon us. This is a weird time in Tuscany, where almost everyone adores the sun and the beach. While we long to complain again for the excessive heat, nature offers us a lot of seasonal treats to get ready for the cold and dark evening of the year. Back in the day, when poverty reigned over vast tracts of this land, people were eager to exploit one of nature's best treats that were sitting on trees: the lovely chestnuts. As regular flour was expensive, people in the mountains learned how to turn them into flour and use them in many recipes. One of them was so successful that, at least for us Tuscans, has become inextricably linked with this time of the year. It's a simple cake, not too sweet and was so cheap that everyone could afford it. Now things are quite different but this amazing treat is still very popular around here and it comes in many different versions, enough to be one of Tuscany's most popular sweets. That's why this week, What's Up Tuscany will tell you everything there is to know about the amazing castagnaccio, the most genuine taste of a Tuscan fall.If you listen to the full episode, you will learn about its curious history, how the recipe evolved with time, becoming more and more refined as it gained traction in the North of Italy and how it was almost forgotten during the economic boom of the 1950s. Now chestnuts have come back with a vengeance and people everywhere are rediscovering traditional recipes that use them. Chestnut flour sweets are almost ubiquitous in Tuscany but, if you look at Garfagnana and Lunigiana, they have gone above and beyond. Their "necci" are so good that they rival the famous Sicilian cannoli, with their incredible ricotta filling. In the last two chapters of the episode I will give you two options. If you haven't planned to come visit us in this period, I'll give you a step-by-step recipe that will allow you to bake an excellent castagnaccio to enjoy by the fireplace during the long winter evenings. If you're around here or plan to come to Tuscany before March, I'll give you a list of six places around our region where you will be able to find an amazing castagnaccio. Whatever your choice, this simple cake is really incredible. For us Tuscans it's almost impossible to think about autumn without craving a slice of this great cake. If you taste it just once, I'm sure you will agree.Email: podcast@larno.itFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/larno.itTwitter: @arno_it / @WhatsupTuscanyLINKS TO SOURCES (ITALIAN ONLY)https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castagnacciohttps://www.ciaotoscana.it/cucina-toscana/castagnaccio-la-ricetta-originale-toscana/https://www.visittuscany.com/it/ricette/La-Torta-di-Neccio-o-Castagnaccio-di-Stazzema/https://www.lacucinaitaliana.it/gallery/castagnaccio-toscana-dove-mangiarlo-buono/https://www.discovertuscany.com/it/mangiare-e-bere-in-toscana/le-castagne-in-toscana.htmlBACKGROUND MUSICPipe Choir - Bom Bom Breakthrough (Instrumental)Wayne John Bradley - Summercycle (Instrumental)Erio - MonolithCityfires - Blood Problems (Instrumental)Incompetech - Leopard Print ElevatorWayne John Bradley - Blues Rock Original InstrumentalAll released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licensehttps://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipe-choir-bom-bom-breakthrough-creative-commons-instrumentalhttps://soundcloud.com/ayneohnradley/summercycle-original-indie-style-instrumental-creative-commonshttps://soundcloud.com/argofox/erio-monolithhttps://soundcloud.com/ljayofficial/blood-problems-instrumentalby-cityfireshttps://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1500077https://soundcloud.com/ayneohnradley/blues-rock-original-instrumentalcreative-commonshttp://www.pipechoir.com/

Shat The Movies has dabbled in films from the 1970s, but we've never reached back this far. More than 50 years ago, a Francis Ford Coppola epic changed the way America viewed organized crime and set a new standard for storytelling. This is "The Godfather." And who better to commission this film about family than an Italian-American listener from New Jersey with fond memories of sharing mob movies with his dad? For Matt "Don Chachi" Ciampi, the Shat Crew pays its respects to Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, Abe Vigoda and, yes, even Talia Shire. Shat The Movies editor Rob joins Gene and Dick as they debate "The Godfather" pacing, dissect the wedding scene and give props to Don Corleone's cat. Gene explains why Tom Hagen is an absolute badass, while Big D finds heroes in Michael and Vito Corleone. And Rob praises the genius of the dinner scene.  This movie is full of morality questions, and the Shat Crew gets into them: Was Michael a jerk for marrying Apollonia? Were the killings personal or just business? Should Vito have been more generous? Is Michael a villain? And, naturally, could "The Godfather" have been better without all the nepotism?  This is a big one, and we hope you enjoy it. Here's "The Godfather." SUBSCRIBE Android: https://shatpod.com/android Apple: https://shatpod.com/apple All: https://shatpod.com/subscribe CONTACT Email: hosts@shatpod.com Website: https://shatpod.com/movies Leave a Voicemail: Web: https://shatpod.com/voicemail Leave a Voicemail: Call: (914) 719-7428 SUPPORT THE PODCAST Donate or Commission: https://shatpod.com/support Shop Merchandise: https://shatpod.com/shop Theme Song - Die Hard by Guyz Nite: https://www.facebook.com/guyznite

Welcome to Episode 1615 on Italian Wine Podcast, Wine, Food & Travel With Marc Millon. Today, he will be interviewing Antonio Bertone More about today's guest Trend spotter, brand builder, idea generator and ferocious entrepreneur, Antonio Bertone brings over 30 plus years of passion and experience in brand management and marketing expertise to everything he does. With a proven track record for elevating brands from local to global consumer consciousness, Bertone began his consumer acquisition journey back in the early nineties with his record shop in Milford, Massachusetts and putting on punk rock matinees in the clubs around Boston, Massachusetts. His style is known to be unorthodox but has a long list of wins to back up his methodology. In addition to his past work at WHOOP, Bertone currently serves on the board of Narragansett Beer. Bertone is also co-founder of Alileo, a Sicilian boxed natural wine brand. In its first year of production Alileo was awarded three medals by the Decanter World Wine Awards 2023, the world's leading wine competition, and has received countless accolades from national wine media. Created by husband and wife team Antonio Bertone and Alexandra Drane, Alileo is produced in partnership with Bertone's family in Sicily and imported to the United States. A family endeavor, Bertone's cousin lovingly crafts the wine in the seaside village of Marsala, Italy, also famous for its Marsala Wine and Sea Salt production. Bertone's family oversees the winemaking and logistics for the brand. Connect: Website: https://alileowines.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alileowines/ More about the host Marc Millon: Marc Millon, VIA Italian Wine Ambassador 2021, has been travelling, eating, drinking, learning and writing about wine, food and travel for nearly 40 years. Born in Mexico, with a mother from Hawaii via Korea and an anthropologist father from New York via Paris, he was weaned on exotic and delicious foods. Marc and his photographer wife Kim are the authors of 14 books including a pioneering series of illustrated wine-food-travel books: The Wine Roads of Europe, The Wine Roads of France, The Wine Roads of Italy (Premio Barbi Colombini), and The Wine Roads of Spain. Other titles include The Wine and Food of Europe, The Food Lovers' Companion Italy, The Food Lovers' Companion France, Wine, a global history. Marc regularly lectures and hosts gastronomic cultural tours to Italy and France with Martin Randall Travel, the UK's leading cultural travel specialist. He is soon to begin a regular series on Italian Wine Podcast, ‘Wine, food and travel with Marc Millon'. When not on the road Marc lives on the River Exe in Devon, England Connect: quaypress.uk/ marcmillon.co.uk vino.co.uk quaypress.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marc-millon-50868624 Twitter: @Marc_Millon _______________________________ Let's keep in touch! Follow us on our social media channels: Instagram www.instagram.com/italianwinepodcast/ Facebook www.facebook.com/ItalianWinePodcast Twitter www.twitter.com/itawinepodcast Tiktok www.tiktok.com/@mammajumboshrimp LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/italianwinepodcast If you feel like helping us, donate here www.italianwinepodcast.com/donate-to-show/ Until next time, Cin Cin!

The Siblings sit down to discuss one of The Sopranos most violent episodes that makes us wonder the best way to seek justice and exactly how many Sicilians it takes to screw in a lightbulb.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-sibling-sitdown/message

Meyer Lansky is one of the legendary figures of American organized crime. Lansky was a man of small stature: as a mature adult he measured 162 cm tall and weighed 61 kg. Perhaps it was because of his short stature that he was forced to use his intellectual abilities to succeed in the world. What Lansky lacked in brawn he made up for in brains. Although he was a member of the Jewish Mafia, Lansky undoubtedly had a strong influence with the Italian-American Mafia and played an important role in the consolidation of the criminal underworld.

MI-6 and the CIA join forces to take down a mafia family. A fake mafia widow, a gigilo fiancé, a fake priest and weapon wielding cousins who believe in a woman's virtue make for one hell of a season finale. https://www.patreon.com/Thefletcherfiles

We're examining the life and crimes of Mafia boss Joe Massino with former Bonanno associate Frank Fiordilino. Frank gives his unique insight into Massino's career with special emphasis on Massino's relationship with the Bonanno family's Sicilian faction.

We're examining the life and crimes of Mafia boss Joe Massino with former Bonanno associate Frank Fiordilino. Frank gives his unique insight into Massino's career with special emphasis on Massino's relationship with the Bonanno family's Sicilian faction.

Hi Creative Cutie! I am currently in Sicily with my parents--reconnecting with our roots and having a massive family reunion with the LoGrasso side. Can you believe my parents are both Sicilian and have never been there? Anyway, I am introducing my Dad to his first cousins for the very FIRST time after I met them (for the first time) last summer. Please follow along for this beautiful journey on Socials and enjoy the re-air of this powerful episode on rejection. This conversation came on the heels of putting out my first single. At the time, I was feeling a bit crestfallen that the song didn't have the wide reception I so craved. Since then, I have really had to rework my motivation. At this point, I was entirely outwardly motivated, making the rejection utterly brutal. Now, in 2023, I would still love recognition, but I now realize I have to give it to myself first. I sing because it is who I am. I hope to be recognized, but I will sing either way. This is the creative's journey to wholeness, I think. Always evolving. Anyway, if you're in a moment of rejection, I hope this helps you feel less alone. LOVE YOU! Original Episode Description (

On this week's episode of the podcast, Comedian Ayman Kalada comes through to tell of us his incredible story of coming to the US and beginning comedy. Along the way we learn a bit UK slang, some Sicilian kinks, and a whole lot more. Enjoy.

It's no secret that warehouse clubs like Costco have fantastic deals, especially when it comes to feeding a family. Whether it's olive oil, cheese, or something as simple as half-and-half, there are so many reasons why we love Costco! It continuously proves itself to be one of the best places to find deals to fit the budget and lifestyle of many families. If you prefer video, watch the full episode 19 YouTube video version. Why we love Costco Watch any of my YouTube videos and you're likely to find that I'm not only using pots, pans, and ingredients purchased at Costco, but I'm probably wearing a shirt from Costco too! In this episode we explore the very best food-related deals Costco has to offer, from nuts, oils, and cheese, to meat, honey, and seafood, we outline all the reasons why we love Costco! Note: we did not receive any compensation from Costco and the opinions expressed in this podcast are solely our own. Resources Biscotti Walnut Snowball Cookies Pignoli Cookies Braciole Salmon Oreganata Riso al Forno If you enjoyed the Exploring the Best Food Deals at Costco episode, leave us a comment below and let us know!   We love your questions.  Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact).  There's no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page. Transcript Intro James (00:00):Welcome back to The Sip and Feast Podcast. This is episode 19. We're talking Costco today. What exactly about Costco, Tara? Tara (00:08):We're talking about the things that we love to buy at Costco because they're the best value possible. And I'd like to add here that, although we wish we were, this video is not in any way sponsored by Costco. James (00:24):That's right. I mean, I often joke, I joke all the time on the main channel because we get a lot of comments, be like, "You keep shilling for Costco." Costco does not sponsor us one bit, and I don't know if they really sponsor anybody. They don't have to. They're just a great business. They're one of the best success stories of a business probably in the world, and they have extreme brand loyalty. People will travel. Not everything is like here in Long Island where we have a location every 20 minutes away. There's parts of America that people will drive two hours to get to a Costco and they do it because the deals are just phenomenal. And we're going to talk specifically about food deals for you today. We're not going to talk about office supplies and- Tara (01:12):Tires. James (01:12):… tires, landscaping equipment, cars. We're not going to talk about that. This is a podcast about food. So Tara, let's get right into it. We kind of bulleted these out and not priority-wise, but I think maybe you could tell by the tone of my voice what are the best deals and which I really think you should pursue. Olive and other oils Tara (01:33):First stop Jim, oil. James (01:35):Okay. Olive oil. This is just an unbelievable deal at Costco. I recommend you wait to buy your oil until you get to Costco. Now that being said, we do use different types of olive oil. We use Partanna quite frequently, and that's the good extra virgin olive oil. That's a Sicilian olive oil. I use that a lot for when I want a high quality extra virgin but not the highest quality. And when I'm using the highest quality, that is Frantoia Barbera. So let's just get those two out of the way. Those you will not find at a Costco. Tara (02:10):That's right. The brand that we are talking about is the Kirkland brand, which is Costco's own brand. James (02:17):Yeah, it's their in-house brand. Obviously they're not in the olive oil making business, so it is probably one of the larger olive oil brands that Kirk is selling directly to...

This week on the Here's What We Know Podcast, host Gary Scott Thomas welcomes Sam Liccardo, the 64th mayor of San Jose, for an insightful discussion on technology's impact on legacy and memory. Join us on a fascinating journey as we explore his lineage and the intriguing blend of Sicilian, Irish, and Mexican roots that converge in his family tree. During this engaging episode, Sam Liccardo delves into the unique leadership challenges he encountered, particularly those faced by mayors of big cities. A role often regarded as one of the most demanding. Yet amidst these difficulties lie opportunities for growth and resilience.Tune in to this conversation filled with captivating stories about our past while providing thought-provoking insights about our present and future! In this Episode:Unity and Division: A Historical PerspectiveTechnology's Role in Remembering Personalities Candid Conversations with LeadersAncestry Documentation and its SignificanceDebunking 'The Good Old Days' Concept Future Technology and Social ImplicationsThe Power of Mementos Transition from Physical Spaces to Virtual Studios  Story Topping: A Conversation KillerPolitics, Human Interaction, and Quick ConnectionsDoor-to-Door Politics: A Deep Insight into Community Concerns The Rise of AI and Trust IssuesResilience: A Recurring Theme Ego and Hubris: Obstacles to Scientific DiscourseHousing Crisis: Need for Innovation Balancing Ideological Differences: Finding Middle GroundPandemic Response: Challenges and TriumphsHigh Construction Cost: Need for Innovative ModelsDigital Divide: Bridging the GapLeadership Effectiveness in High-Pressure Situations Name-dropping and Celebrity EncountersFuture Political Aspirations: A Return to Public ServiceFree Speech and Diverse Viewpoints This episode is sponsored by:Habana CubaDignity MemorialAbout Sam:Sam Liccardo became the 64th mayor and one of the youngest individuals to serve in San José, California's highest elected office. A member of the Democratic Party, Sam was elected mayor in November 2014. He was re-elected in 2018 with 75.8% of the vote. After graduating from Bellarmine College Preparatory in San José, Sam attended Georgetown University, where he rowed crew as captain of the heavyweight squad. He graduated magna cum laude in 1991 and enrolled at Harvard Law School and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. After graduating with honors with a law degree and a master's degree in public policy, Sam returned to the Bay Area in 1996. Sam's writing has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other publications.Under his leadership, San Jose thrived with his efforts by growing the economy equitably, supporting struggling neighbors and broadening inclusion, investing in youth, beautifying San Jose and advancing smart environmental policies, improving public safety, building a 21st-century transportation network, and embracing innovation in the government. Sam and his wife, Jessica Garcia-Kohl, live near downtown San Jose.Website: https://www.samliccardo.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamLiccardo1/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samliccardo/X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/sliccardo/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-liccardo-a9a1759/www.GaryScottThomas.com

The Sicilian powerhouse is proving to be one of the best big men in the SoCal independent scene. He's even been proving himself on an international level down in Mexico. Be sure to follow him at the social media spots below… X(Twitter)- VFratelli Instagram- realvitofratelli Thank you to Reaper Apparel for having Drinkin At MO's as a Brand Ambassador… be sure to use the code below for 10% off your order.. https://www.reaperapparelco.com/discount/Drinkin?ref=ApFLTTMU Promo code:Drinkinatmos #prowrestling #independentwrestling #wwe #aew #ringofhonor #impactwrestling #gcw #czw #ecw #letsfngo #drinkingatmos #njpw #nwa #flophousewrestling #socalprowrestling #luchaunderground #luchaundergroundtemple --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/drinkinatmos/message

Welcome to Episode 1586, in which Cynthia Chaplin interviews Gianluca Calì of the Al-Cantàra winery in this installment of Voices, on the Italian Wine Podcast. Al-Cantàra won the Gran Vinitaly 5StarWines “Winery of the Year” and the “Best Rosé Wine” for its Etna DOC Nerello Mascalese Rosato Amuri di Fimmina e Amuri di Matri 2021. More about today's guest From the happy intuition that a good wine is "poetry" and to make it takes "art", Al-Cantàra was born in 2005. Since the beginning, the winery has established itself at a national and international level thanks to the high quality of its wines, recognized by several important awards and, last but not the least, by the amazing results achieved both at Vinitaly, where with seven wines reported in the 5 StarWines - The Book, Al-Cantàra has been the second most awarded winery in Sicily and the sixth in Italy, and at Decanter where, with a gold medal and two silver medals, Al-Cantàra has been the first winery of Etna for number of important awards. These results have been achieved thanks to the care with which all our workers manage the vineyards and to the professionalism of our winemaker, Salvatore Rizzuto, graduated in Alba and with experience in Bordeaux and Langhe. The sophisticated and modern packaging is another distinctive feature of the products Al-Cantàra, whose unmistakable labels are embellished by the suggestive representations of young Sicilian artists, among which lately Annachiara Di Pietro, that exalt the traditions, the culture and the Etna territory. Connect: Website: https://www.al-cantara.it/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlCantara2005 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alcantara_winery/ About today's Host: Cynthia Chaplin is a VIA certified Italian Wine Ambassador, a professional sommelier with FIS and the WSA, a member of Le Donne del Vino, and a Professor of Italian wine and culture. Born in the USA, she's lived in Europe since 1990. Italian wine, in particular rosé, is her passion. She works with embassies, corporations and private clients, creating and presenting tastings, events, seminars and in-depth courses. Cynthia is a wine writer, a judge at international wine and sake competitions, she consults with restaurants and enotecas developing comprehensive wine lists and food pairings, and she advises clients who want to curate an Italian wine collection. She currently works for Vinitaly International in Verona as a Project Manager, Educator, and the host of VOICES Series on The Italian Wine Podcast, focusing on diversity and inclusion in the global wine industry. Connect: Facebook: Italian Wines in English Instagram: kiss_my_glassx Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-chaplin-190647179/ _______________________________ Let's keep in touch! Follow us on our social media channels: Instagram www.instagram.com/italianwinepodcast/ Facebook www.facebook.com/ItalianWinePodcast Twitter www.twitter.com/itawinepodcast Tiktok www.tiktok.com/@mammajumboshrimp LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/italianwinepodcast If you feel like helping us, donate here www.italianwinepodcast.com/donate-to-show/ Until next time, Cin Cin! Share this pod! Remember Voices is all about diversity, equity, and heart-warming personal stories about real people!

Pasta fazool, or pasta e fagioli, quite literally translates to "pasta and beans", but it's so much more than that. It's a bowl of comfort seasoned with nostalgia and a heavy sprinkle of history. And while there are many ways to make it, and many ways to pronounce it, one thing is consistent: it's always delicious! If you prefer video, watch the full episode 18 YouTube video version. What is pasta e fagioli? The only requirement for a dish to be called pasta e fagioli, or pasta fazool, is to contain pasta and beans. There are many variations but the most common combination is a small-shaped pasta, such as tubetti/ditalini, or elbows, and cannellini beans, navy beans, or borlotti beans. Some versions will be soupy, while others will be thicker; some may include pancetta, while others will be vegetarian. Some variations of pasta fazool will include tomato, while others will be "in bianco". I've eaten many variations throughout my life, and each time I make it I change it up ever so slightly. No matter how I make it, we always enjoy it and find it ultra comforting. Why do you pronounce it "pasta fazool"? I've been pronouncing this dish "pasta fazool" my entire life but I never understood the linguistic background until recently. In the Neapolitan dialect, fagioli, the Italian word for beans, is fasule; in Sicilian, the word is fasulu. Considering the fact that most of the Italian immigrants that came to the US are from Southern Italy, that would explain why many here in the US call it pasta fazool. In this episode, we dive a bit deeper into the linguistic and culinary backstory of this amazing dish! Resources Sip and Feast Pasta e Fagioli Recipe Sip and Feast Sausage Pasta Fagioli Recipe Sip and Feast Pasta e Ceci Recipe Sip and Feast Pasta e Patate Recipe Sip and Feast Pasta e Lenticchie Recipe Sip and Feast Garlic Butter Roast Chicken Recipe Philosokitchen History of Pasta Fazool If you enjoyed the discussion of Pasta Fazool episode, leave us a comment below and let us know!   We love your questions.  Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact).  There's no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page. Transcript Intro James (00:00):Welcome back to the Sip and Feast podcast, episode number 19, I believe this is? Tara (00:04):18. James (00:05):Thank you, Tara. This is pasta fagioli or pasta fazool, or pasta and beans. This is a discussion of one of the most quintessential Italian dishes and definitely an Italian-American favorite. And we're going to go into, again, the little bit of history in there, how to make it really good, and we'll share a couple personal stories about pasta fazool. How's that sound, Tara? Tara (00:32):Sounds good. James (00:33):So what are we doing next? Let's describe it Tara (00:34):Let's talk about pasta fazool. Let's describe it, maybe, for folks who aren't familiar with it, because I think for many people, even if they live in this area, they might not have actually had it. They may have heard about it because it is kind of a thing in pop culture. It's been in songs. Like that song I think everybody knows. That's Amore. One of the line's in it when something starts to drool like pasta fazool. James (01:04):Oh, really? Yeah, that's right. Tara (01:05):Yeah. So anyway, I think it would be helpful if you take a few minutes and describe it. James (01:12):We'll go more into detail later about it, but it's simply, at its core, pasta and beans. Think of this dish as typically done with white beans, sometimes other types of beans, but it's a small pasta, beans in a broth. Some people will make it brothier, some people will make it more thick.

The public is becoming more familiar with Sicilian wines, and now Al has found the Luna Gaia family of wines that show off the best Sicilian grapes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The public is becoming more familiar with Sicilian wines, and now Al has found the Luna Gaia family of wines that show off the best Sicilian grapes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest this week is Mya Anitai. She owns Franny's Pizzeria & Restaurant, Highlands, New Jersey. She took over a longstanding pizzeria Francesco's Italian Restaurant in May 2019 and rebranding the business into Franny's in February 2020.Mya discussed the rebranding with us in a previous Conversation. She said, “Francesco's had been in business for 40 years before I purchased the restaurant and took over. With great bones and a neighborhood of nostalgic support, I worked steadily to modernize the menu and increase ingredient quality across the board. The most popular dishes from Francesco's stayed as well as specials directly from my Richmond, Virginia restaurant Dinamo (@dinamorichmond). I spent months monitoring sales and learning my customer's dining desires before fully rebranding and becoming Franny's.”Mya also owns Dinamo in Richmond, Virginia. We explore each restaurant's menu and what makes Franny's different.Franny's has a full menu with pizza at its center. Franny's serves three types of pizza: classic, New York style flour-tossed round, oil-pressed, square granny pie and deep-dish Sicilian. And we get into what makes those styles unique and what's behind that oil-pressed grandma pie.  Other menu items include pastas, entrees, sandwiches, appetizers, salads and soups. We talk about Franny's menu focus, as well as its new seasonal menu and what produce she will highlight.Listen that and more on this week's The Hot Slice Podcast.Explore more on Franny's at https://frannyshighlands.com/  and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/frannyshighlandsRead Mya's Conversation in Pizza Today at https://pizzatoday.com/topics/people-pizzerias/conversation-mya-anitai-frannys-pizzeria-restaurant-highlands-new-jersey/Show Notes: Submit your pizzeria for the 2024 Pizzerias to Watch List. Complete the form today at https://pizzatoday.com/pizzerias-to-watch-questionnaire/Learn more about Pizza and Pasta Northeast in Atlantic City on October 1-2 at https://ppne.pizzatoday.com/Don't forget October is National Pizza Month. We have ideas and marketing resources to help you. Visit: https://pizzatoday.com/national-pizza-month-october-2019-pizzeria-tool-kit/

Matteo Messina Denaro of the Sicilian mafia has died after a long illness, Italian media have reported. Known as ‘The Last Godfather', he was accused of orchestrating some of the most heinous crimes perpetrated by the Cosa Nostra. Nick Squires is the Rome Correspondent for the Telegraph and joins me on the line now. Nick, good afternoon.

John J. Miller is joined by Paul Rahe to discuss his new book, 'Sparta's Sicilian Proxy War.'

It's time for our movie review episode and this week's theme is Best Picture Oscar Winners! Justin evaluates class warfare in Korea with his review of Parasite (9:51). Kayla relates to her Sicilian heritage (minus the mob) with her review of The Godfather (36:04). As always, we end with our SOTW (1:13:47).

TONIGHT: The show begins in Sacramento with the policies endorsed by Governor Gavin Newsom as he prepares hisfuture presidential campaign.  From Caracas to NYC to follow the fate of the Venezuelan people, some refugees, some asylum seekers.  To Lampedusa Island in the Sicilian chain where 6000 residents are overwhelmed with thecare of ten thousand migrants frmm Tunisia. Later on a watch on Mars to imagine how to fetch and return the soil samples deposited by Perseverance.  And attention to a debate about the Saudi request for a US nuclear power plant in exchange for rapproachment with Israel. 1900 Jerusalem

Projekt Records present's Italy's DELREI. Alessandro Mercanzin imagines a visionary dystopia where a solitary figure navigates an inhospitable post-nuclear desert. It's a hypnotic land of cold haunted nights, lonely red vistas and somber personal solitude."Desolation and Radiation" is Produced by Maurizio Baggio (recently producing Soft Moon, Boy Harsher, & Nuovo Testamento) The adventurous sound of the album is coaxed from various guitars, vintage instruments, reverbs, and the marranzanu (a traditional Sicilian harp.) Mercanzin plays most of the instruments and is augmented by Maurizio's vintage synths and old 60s organs, Michele Tedesco's trumpets on "Nowhere to Ride," and Stefano Miozzo's pedal steel guitar on "Far from Here.” https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/desolation-and-radiationhttp://www.projekt.comhttps://www.youtube.com/c/DJNocturnaListen : http://modsnapradio.comQUEEN OF WANDS with DJ Nocturna Every Saturday on ModSnap Radio�KMOD: San Antonio�2pm (HST), 5pm (PST), 6pm (MST), 7pm (CST), 8pm (EST)#modsnapradio #postpunk #goth #darkwave  #DJNocturna #delrei #AlessandroMercanzin #ProjektRecords

Michael Symon is the star of Symon's Dinners Cooking Out and the author of a great new cookbook, Simply Symon Suppers, as well as a longtime TV host, Iron Chef, and food commentator. But we know Michael best as a really, really great chef who's run well-regarded restaurants in New York City and Cleveland, where he was born. On this action-packed episode, we talk about Symon's Greek and Sicilian background and how he hosts raucous dinner parties in all seasons. We discuss his star turn and what celebrity chefdom has meant for this true Midwesterner. It's a great talk, and we hope you enjoy it.Also on the show, we have a great conversation with The Bear's set decorator, Eric Frankel. Eric, along with his team, is responsible for creating the kitchen and restaurant spaces on the hit show, and we find out how building the set was very similar to opening a real restaurant (with real fire and flame). We also learn about how he selected the many cookbooks featured on the show.Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We'd love to hear from you. MORE FROM MICHAEL SYMON AND THE BEAR:2 Easy Recipes For Fall [Good Morning America]Michael Symon's Deviled Eggs [Food Network]Here's the Complete List of Every Cookbook Featured on ‘The Bear' [Eater]

Greetings to all our devoted listeners and a warm welcome to those joining us for the first time. My name is Hazel Baker, and it's an honour to guide you through another intriguing episode of the London History Podcast. As those familiar with our show will undoubtedly know, we delve into the enigmatic tapestry of London's past, spotlighting the lives, landmarks, and lore that have shaped this magnificent city. Standing at only 19.5 inches tall, Caroline Crachami became an object of immense fascination, a subject of medical scrutiny, and a participant—willing or not—in London's burgeoning entertainment scene centred around ‘curiosities'. Caroline Crachami's life offers us not merely an intriguing biographical account but also serves as a window through which we can explore broader societal attitudes, scientific inquiries, and ethical quandaries of her time. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/londonguidedwalks/message

In the early '80s, undercover DEA Agent Frank Panessa posed successfully as a made member of the Sicilian mafia in order to combat an international $1.6B heroin smuggling ring that operated through pizza parlors across the U.S, and from various global locales in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Frank takes us inside the colorful and highly successful operation, describing the unique mafia culture he encountered in his guise as a mafioso, including the surprising divide between the Sicilian and the American mafia families who worked with each other 'at arms length.' His  undercover work and his team's stellar efforts ultimately resulted in over 19 arrests and 18 convictions after a 17-month trial completed in 1987. This case was one of the first "super-indictments," seeking to simultaneously impact a whole criminal organization, not just a handful of perpetrators, and it sent shockwaves through international crime circles.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

It's the September episode of the STAY F. HOMEKINS podcast! In our latest episode, we discuss our worst nightmare and greatest feelings of accomplishment? What a ride! PFT tests out some Sicilian accents, Janie tests out a Ted Talk and TOGETHER the two discover a type of humor they tend to shy away from?THANK YOU for listening and hanging in there with us! Please subscribe to our Weekend Water substack publication to NEVER MISS A BEAT!Be well and be sane. The Haddad Tompkins(our OFFICIAL podcast merchandise is available at www.kinshipgoods.com!)Thanks, Y'all!Thank you for reading Weekend Water with Paul F. Tompkins & Janie Haddad Tompkins. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit weekendwater.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Episode 1547 Stevie Kim moderates Clubhouse's Ambassadors' Corner – In this episode, Jodie Hellman Interviews Gaetana Jacono. These sessions are recorded from Clubhouse and replayed here on the Italian Wine Podcast! Listen in on this series as Italian Wine Ambassadors all over the world chat with Stevie and their chosen wine producer. Which producer would you interview if you had your pick? Co-Moderator - Jodie Hellman Jodie is an avid traveler, and she especially loves Italy and attending the massive trade shows such as Vinitaly and visiting wineries all around the country. Currently she is the Western Regional Manager for Michael Corso Selections in the US. In the past she was the Luxury Manager for Johnson Bros Distribution, Manager of The Sorting Table for the West and has worked as a sommelier on the Las Vegas strip for Daniel Boulud, Tom Collichio, Wolfgang Puck and Bobby Flay, among others. Connect: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jojowinegirl/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodie-hellman-a07a382a/ Guest Producer – Gaetana Jacono Gaetana Jacono was born into a family of winemakers in the Ragusa province, in Sicily. After earning a degree in pharmaceutical science, she chose to return to her origins and cultivate a passion for winemaking she inherited from her father, a passion that has been handed down in her family over six generations. In 2001, together with her father Giuseppe, she initiated an extensive restoration project to conserve and renew the old palmento building located on Valle dell'Acate property, restoring the construction to its ancient splendor in order to exalt Sicilian culture and traditions. Gaetana stands out for her high-level professional involvement, as well as her strong sense of irony and friendliness. She runs Valle dell'Acate, dedicating her time and applying a strong sense of entrepreneurial know- how. Currently other members of the family work in the company as well, including her father Giuseppe, her siblings Antonio and Maria Gabriella. Gaetana and the company have set lofty goals: to foster a continuous search for increased quality, from grapevine to cantina, paying particular attention to the soil. Connect: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ValleDellAcate/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/valledellacate/?hl=it LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaetana-jacono-7b68383a/?originalSubdomain=it Website https://www.valledellacate.com/ More about the moderator Stevie Kim: Stevie hosts Clubhouse sessions each week (visit Italian Wine Club & Wine Business on Clubhouse), these recorded sessions are then released on the podcast to immortalize them! She often also joins Professor Scienza in his shows to lend a hand keeping our Professor in check! You can also find her taking a hit for the team when she goes “On the Road”, all over the Italian countryside, visiting wineries and interviewing producers, enjoying their best food and wine – all in the name of bringing us great Pods! To find out more about Stevie Kim visit: Facebook: @steviekim222 Instagram: @steviekim222 Website: vinitalyinternational.com/wordpress/ _______________________________ Let's keep in touch! Follow us on our social media channels: Instagram www.instagram.com/italianwinepodcast/ Facebook www.facebook.com/ItalianWinePodcast Twitter www.twitter.com/itawinepodcast Tiktok www.tiktok.com/@mammajumboshrimp LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/italianwinepodcast If you feel like helping us, donate here www.italianwinepodcast.com/donate-to-show/ Until next time, Cin Cin! Follow Italian Wine Podcast for more great content - winery interviews from the Clubhouse sessions! Psssst…FYI, this show is our most popular show, find out why by tuning-in!

Syracuse's 18th-century cathedral and piazza were inspired by the Baroque style of Rome, but amped up with a Sicilian architectural razzle-dazzle. For European travel information, visit https://www.ricksteves.com.

As we ramp up to the new season, three episodes from the archives about RUDY GIULIANI. This content has been re-edited and digitally remastered, previously exclusive to premium members. If you want to see or hear more content like this, join narativ on Patreon or YouTube.. Step into the gritty world of 1980s New York City, where mob families claimed dominion over the streets. We're ripping back the curtain to reveal an era of unbounded criminality and the consequential crackdown led by US Attorney Rudy Giuliani. This isn't just a story of law enforcement versus organized crime. It's a convoluted tale, bursting with tension between the Italian and Sicilian families, the emerging Russian and Ukrainian mobs, and a controversial figure - Rudy Giuliani himself. Could his buried mafia history drive Giuliani's mission to dismantle the mob?  Get ready to question everything you thought you knew about recent history as we dig into the intricate ties between Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the grimy underbelly of NYC's criminal world. We'll scrutinize the alleged connections between Trump, Giuliani, and the FBI Agents Association - making you wonder just how far the rabbit hole of corruption truly extends. As we highlight Trump and Giuliani's audacious political ambitions and law enforcement's complex dance with organized crime, we'll expose a side of New York City you never knew existed. This is no ordinary tale; it's a gripping narrative full of unexpected twists that you won't soon forget. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we ramp up to the new season, three episodes from the archives about RUDY GIULIANI. This content has been re-edited and digitally remastered, previously exclusive to premium members. If you want to see or hear more content like this, join narativ on Patreon or YouTube. Step into the gritty world of 1980s New York City, where mob families claimed dominion over the streets. We're ripping back the curtain to reveal an era of unbounded criminality and the consequential crackdown by US Attorney Rudy Giuliani. This isn't just a story of law enforcement versus organized crime. It's a convoluted tale, bursting with tension between the Italian and Sicilian families, the emerging Russian and Ukrainian mobs, and a controversial figure - Rudy Giuliani himself. Could his buried mafia history drive Giuliani's mission to dismantle the mob?  Get ready to question everything you thought you knew about recent history as we dig into the intricate ties between Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the grimy underbelly of NYC's criminal world. We'll scrutinize the alleged connections between Trump, Giuliani, and the FBI Agents Association - making you wonder just how far the rabbit hole of corruption indeed extends. As we highlight Trump and Giuliani's audacious political ambitions and law enforcement's complex dance with organized crime, we'll expose a side of New York City you never knew existed. This is no ordinary tale; it's a gripping narrative full of unexpected twists that you won't soon forget.

Returning to our traditional format in this episode, Mike and Jake interview Jerah Hutchins to discuss her work helping get women out of abusive relationships, being a 2nd Amendment actionist, and more. Jerah is a firearms trainer, 2nd Amendment actionist, and entrepreneur.  She began shooting when she was 11 years old, taught by her grandfather (a Sicilian immigrant who loved the 2nd amendment). She was a competition 3 gunner in her youth and began teaching firearms in 2008. Jerah consulted on several gun range projects from 2013 to 2019, then concentrated on speaking engagements and testifying in gun rights hearings beginning in 2019. In 2018, she founded WADE (Women's Awareness & Defense Endeavor), a non-profit that assists women in liberating themselves from abusive relationships and provides self-defense education. To date, 56 women have been through the WADE program, and 55 remain free from their abusers. 

Denzel and Antoine have clearly decided they want a holiday on the Sicilian coast, but to ensure they don't have to pay for the whole thing themselves, they decide to tack on making a movie. And that movie is The Equalizer 3.   Will Robert McCall finally meet his match? Or will he continue to ensure all are equal when it comes to violent endings? And can Wayne get over his hatred of all things Fuqua? Or will it be Paul who gets Fuquad on this occasion?   Learn the answers to all these questions and more, as The Countdown continues ...   Time Stamps: Strays NON-SPOILER Review: 0:00 - 13:58 Strays SPOILER-FILLED Discussion: 13:58 - 23:48 Final Thoughts Including Potential Spoilers: 23:48 - 24:56   Check out the show's first draft of a website for your one-stop shop for all things related to The Countdown. But if you want more specific directions, find so many more Countdowns - all the way back to Episode 40! - on our Podbean site. Join The Countdown Podcast Listener Community on Facebook so you can interact more directly with Paul and Wayne and vote in the weekly poll for who has the best list! Want to hear a whole bunch of additional content? Head on over to Patreon to fond out how and see what you're missing.

No Denzel isn't Malcolm X or a dirty cop or a Civil War soldier in The Equalizer 3. He again plays Robert McCall, a ex-government contracted killer who just wants to help even the score, or equalize, against bad people in the name of good people. In this finale in the Equalizer trilogy, McCall is in Sicily trying to equalize a situation and it gets bloody. Afterwards, he ends up in a small Sicilian town where he learns to care about the people and finds a home. However, some evil Italian mobsters terrorize the town and they're interrupting McCall's peace and tranquility. That's the last mistake they'll ever make. Is this movie worth the drive to the theater? Check out this spoiler-free review to find out. The Equalizer 3 also stars Dakota Fanning, Eugenio Mastrandrea, David Denman, Gaia Scodellaro, Remo Girone, Andrea Scarduzio, Andrea Dodero, Daniel Perrone, Sonia Ben Ammar and Zakaria Hamza. Support the showFeel free to reach out to me via:@MoviesMerica on Twitter @moviesmerica on InstagramMovies Merica on Facebook

Full Text of ReadingsTwenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 124The Saint of the day is Saint Gregory the GreatSaint Gregory the Great’s Story Gregory was the prefect of Rome before he was 30. After five years in office he resigned, founded six monasteries on his Sicilian estate, and became a Benedictine monk in his own home at Rome. Ordained a priest, Gregory became one of the pope’s seven deacons, and also served six years in the East as papal representative in Constantinople. He was recalled to become abbot, but at the age of 50 was elected pope by the clergy and people of Rome. Gregory was direct and firm. He removed unworthy priests from office, forbade taking money for many services, emptied the papal treasury to ransom prisoners of the Lombards and to care for persecuted Jews and the victims of plague and famine. He was very concerned about the conversion of England, sending 40 monks from his own monastery. He is known for his reform of the liturgy, and for strengthening respect for doctrine. Whether he was largely responsible for the revision of “Gregorian” chant is disputed. Gregory lived in a time of perpetual strife with invading Lombards and difficult relations with the East. When Rome itself was under attack, he interviewed the Lombard king. His book, Pastoral Care, on the duties and qualities of a bishop, was read for centuries after his death. He described bishops mainly as physicians whose main duties were preaching and the enforcement of discipline. In his own down-to-earth preaching, Gregory was skilled at applying the daily Gospel to the needs of his listeners. Called “the Great,” Gregory has been given a place with Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome, as one of the four key doctors of the Western Church. An Anglican historian has written: “It is impossible to conceive what would have been the confusion, the lawlessness, the chaotic state of the Middle Ages without the medieval papacy; and of the medieval papacy, the real father is Gregory the Great.” Reflection Gregory was content to be a monk, but he willingly served the Church in other ways when asked. He sacrificed his own preferences in many ways, especially when he was called to be Bishop of Rome. Once he was called to public service, Gregory gave his considerable energies completely to this work. Gregory’s description of bishops as physicians fits in well with Pope Francis’ description of the Church as a “field hospital.” Saint Gregory the Great is the Patron Saint of: EnglandEpilepsyMusiciansTeachers Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media