This past week has been horrible for Egypt’s Christians. I offer this quote from the New York Times: In Sohag, Bishop of Mar Girgis [St. George] Church Moussa Ibrahim told Mada Masr that the church was set ablaze by Muslim Brotherhood supporters at 9:30 a.m. in the absence of police forces, despite repeated threats against the church. The biggest church in the governorate, Mar Girgis, is located in Thakafa Square near the Brotherhood sit-in. Three other small churches were also... Read more
Over at the Religion in American History blog, Randall Stephens has a fascinating interview with Larry Eskridge of Wheaton College about his new book God’s Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America (Oxford University Press, 2013), which Anxious Bench contributor John Turner recently reviewed at Christianity Today. Excerpt: Randall Stephens: What first got you interested in the topic of the Jesus People? Larry Eskridge: I found the Jesus People an interesting topic at several levels. At the most basic was the fact... Read more
Once upon a time, the Alexandrian Patriarch Mark was visiting a provincial Egyptian city called Agharwah (Aghra). “And the clergy came out to meet him according to the custom, that they might chant before him, with a body of the laity, chief men and leaders of the people; and he blessed them and prayed for all of them. And there came out among the others a person possessed by a devil, which threw him down in the midst of the... Read more
Continuing in the vein of last week’s post on liberal Protestantism, I recently got my hands on the August 21 edition of the Christian Century. The biweekly editorial mentions the suddenly burgeoning historical scholarship on liberal religion (in particular, works by Elesha Coffman, David Hollinger, and Matthew Hedstrom), noting that it complicates the “question of how winning and losing is to be defined.” More significantly, the Century reminds us of “just how much both liberal and conservative Protestants have changed... Read more
This fall, I am teaching the most pedagogically challenging course of my short teaching career. Earlier in my tenure as a seminary professor, I expected that upper-level electives in the Master of Divinity program, doctoral reading seminars, and classes that stretched beyond my primary areas of teaching competency would provide the biggest challenges in course planning and preparation. Over the past eight years, I have taught courses that fall into each of these categories. This coming semester, I am slated... Read more
I have been reading Molly Oshatz’s thought-provoking new book Slavery and Sin: The Fight against Slavery and the Rise of Liberal Protestantism. Oshatz argues that the theological difficulties surrounding antebellum slavery gave rise to beliefs that became “hallmarks of liberal Protestant theology: God’s revelation unfolded progressively through human history, moral action had to be considered in its historical and social context, and the ultimate source of Protestant truth was the shared experience of believers rather than the letter of the biblical... Read more
I described the Egyptian monk Shenoute and his fierce wars for orthodoxy in the fourth and fifth centuries. If we look at his struggles against Egypt’s still continuing Gnostic movement, it helps us understand the context of many of the key books and documents that have surfaced in modern times, revolutionzing our understanding of early Christianity. Egypt had always played a key role in the development of Gnosticism, which survived even after the triumph of orthodox Christianity. Even in the... Read more
The Egyptian abbot Shenoute is one of the major Christian figures of Late Antiquity. He never shied away from a fight, and often a literal physical confrontation. As a result, he has left a mixed historical reputation, and he is easily stereotyped as a crude and even thuggish figure. But the abundant evidence we find in his writings gives us a startlingly detailed picture of the world in which he lived, and its many dangers. It sometimes evokes the modern... Read more
Over at First Things, Collin Garbarino has a fascinating interview with Timothy Michael Law about his new book When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible. Excerpt: Where did your interest in the Septuagint begin? One night in 2002, I was sitting with one of my best friends from college and seminary, Kyle McDaniel, and he threw (literally!) a big blue book at me from across the room. The book was Alfred Rahlfs’ handbook edition of the Greek... Read more
Who’s the odd man out: Ambrose, Patrick, John Chrysostom, Leo the Great, Shenoute? All were great Christian leaders who lived in the century after 350. But it’s a trick question, as there are two answers. One answer is “Patrick” as we have virtually nothing written by him, while the others all left copious literary remains. Alternatively, we should say “Shenoute,” as he’s the only one whose name is unknown to the vast majority of educated Christians, even those with long... Read more
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