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1. Filip Ivanovic (ed.), Dionysius the Areopagite between Orthodoxy & Heresy

   Filip Ivanovic (ed.), Dionysius the Areopagite between Orthodoxy and Heresy, Newcastle: CSP, 2011.
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   Dionysius the Areopagite between Orthodoxy and Heresy aims to explore the thought of one of the most controversial characters of Christian history, Dionysius the Areopagite, and put it in a correct context, between pagan (namely Neoplatonic) philosophy on the one side, and Christian theology, on the other. In significant part, the book examines Dionysius’ Neoplatonic sources, but it also offers insights into the original points of his philosophy and theology, thus showing how he managed to achieve a masterful integration of pagan thought and newly revealed faith.

   The chapters of the book, taken together, try to offer a broad insight into the Areopagite’s thought, through examining not just his intellectual background and milieu, but also some of the crucial features of his work, such as notions of hierarchy, deification, apophatic and cataphatic theologies, icon, and others. This work is of a multidisciplinary character, since Dionysius’ thought has been studied from different points of view, so the contributions range from philosophy and theology to history and art history.

   Dionysius the Areopagite between Orthodoxy and Heresy is intended for both specialists and non-specialists. Apart from being a collection of specific studies, it can also serve as an introduction to the Areopagite’s thought, and will be useful to all those interested in late antique and early Christian philosophy and theology, patristics, and cultural studies in general.

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   December 7th, 2011 11:32 am | Continue Reading

2. New Book: Reading Patristic Social Ethics: Issues & Challenges for 21st Century Christian Social Thought.

   Johan Leemans, Brian Matz, and Johan Verstraeten, eds. Reading Patristic Texts on Social Ethics: Issues and Challenges for 21^st Century Christian Social Thought. CUA Studies in Early Christianity. Washington, D.C.: CUA Press, 2011.

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   Can writings of the church fathers related to the field of social ethics be of value to contemporary discussions on the topic? In addressing this question, the authors of this book discuss the exciting challenges that scholars of both early Christianity and contemporary Catholic social thought face regarding the interaction of historical sources and present issues.

   Essays explore concerns related to hermeneutics, audiences, and political and social contexts. Some of the essays take interest in particular social issues, including usury, property, justice, and common good. Others evaluate the nature of the disciplines of early Christian studies and social ethics and why those disciplines may have difficulty carrying on a dialogue.

   Overall, the essays reflect on the potential difficulty of contextualizing early Christian documents that purport to address socio-ethical themes both within their own time and place and within the research interests of Christian social ethicists. Where one author may see this problem as insurmountable, another argues that early Christian texts were written with multiple audiences in mind, especially future audiences such as readers today. Several of the authors discuss the relevance of social ideas of the Fathers and how they resonate with modern readers.

   Johan Leemans is professor of Christianity in late antiquity at the Catholic University of Leuven and co-author of “Let Us Die That We May Live”: Greek Homilies on Christian Martyrs. Brian Matz, assistant professor of historical theology at Carroll College, is author of Patristic Sources and Catholic Social Teaching. Johan Verstraeten is professor of ethics at the Catholic University of Leuven and editor of Scrutinizing the Signs of the Times in the Light of the Gospel.

   Contributors: Pauline Allen, Reimund Bieringer, Susan Holman, Thomas Hughson, Brenda Ihssen, Johan Leemans, Brian Matz, Wendy Mayer, Helen Rhee, Richard Schenk, Peter van Nuffelen, and Johan Verstraeten

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   April 20th, 2011 4:09 pm | Continue Reading

3. Prayer of the Publican: Justification in the Desert Fathers

   NAPS member Joseph Lucas has published his first book with the Orthodox Research Institute (Rollinsford, NH). In “Prayer of the Publican,” Lucas examines the various ways in which “dikaiosyne” is understood in the Alphabetical Collection of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. You can find the book at this link: http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/store/books/lucas_prayer_publican.html

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   April 18th, 2011 9:52 am | Continue Reading

4. SAINT JEROME, COMMENTARY ON GALATIANS, transl. Andrew Cain

   Saint Jerome, Commentary on Galatians. Fathers of the Church vol. 121. 2010. By Andrew Cain

   Prior to the middle of the fourth century, the exegesis of St. Paul had been monopolized by Greek and Syriac commentators. Then, in the space of half a century (c. 360 – c. 409), there appeared no less than 52 commentaries by six different Latin authors. This sudden flurry of literary activity has been dubbed the western “Renaissance of Paul.” Jerome’s commentaries on four Pauline epistles (Galatians, Ephesians, Titus, Philemon), which he composed in 386 shortly after establishing himself in Bethlehem, occupy a central place in this relatively short but prolific segment of the history of Pauline exegesis in Latin.

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   December 17th, 2010 2:42 pm | Continue Reading

5. St. Jerome’s Commentaries on Galatians, Titus, & Philemon, transl. Thomas P. Scheck

   St. Jerome’s Commentaries on Galatians, Titus, and Philemon, transl. Thomas P. Scheck (Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 2010).

   [From the publisher]: St. Jerome is regarded as one of the four great doctors of the western Christian Church. Termed by the Council of Trent, “the greatest doctor in explaining the Scriptures,” the Latin Church regards St. Jerome as its preeminent scriptural commentator. Nevertheless, much of his prodigious exegetical output has never been translated into English. In this volume, Thomas Scheck provides the first translation in English (and in any modern language) of Jerome’s important commentary on Galatians, with two shorter commentaries on Titus and Philemon.

   Thomas P. Scheck is assistant professor of classics and theology at Ave Maria University. He is the author of Origen and the History of Justification: The Legacy of Origen’s Commentary on Romans (Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 2008).

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   December 1st, 2010 12:43 pm | Continue Reading