The Coptic Church and Coptic Christianity

As I finished my Coptic Class today, I noted this comment in a review by Philip Phan of The Lost History of Christianity by Penn State's Philip Jenkins on the Religion and Ethics PBS site:

In Egypt, which was conquered by the armies of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As in 640, not only did the Coptic church survive, but it continues, even today, to be the faith of at least 10 percent of the population. After discounting a number of explanations, Jenkins concludes that the key factor is “how deep a church planted its roots in a particular community, and how far the religion became part of the air that ordinary people breathed.” Whereas the Latin church of North Africa was essentially a colonial faith, appealing mainly to urban elites, the Coptic clergy translated their doctrine and practices into the idioms readily grasped by ordinary people, both city dwellers and rural peasants. Thus, despite persecutions, the Copts survived and their patriarchate spread Christianity up the Nile, deep into Africa to Nubia in present-day northern Sudan, which remained a Christian kingdom into the 15th century, and to Ethiopia (which also had contact with Syriac Christians), where the local church remains in communion with the see of Alexandria to this day. The lesson Jenkins draws here—although some might well be discomfited by the terms with which he articulates it—is that “for churches as for businesses, failure often results from a lack of diversification, from attaching one’s fortunes too closely to one particular set of circumstances, political or social.”

Ostia Antiqua: La case delle muse

Good piece on YouTube showing the House of the Muses at Ostia.

Prof James Kugel speaking

Congregation Ohab Zedek is hosting Prof James Kugel as scholar in residence starting tomorrow

April 29 8 PM
Cong. Or Zarua, 127 E. 82nd Street

Lucy Dawidowicz Memorial Lecture: "Yom Ha-Atzma'ut (Israeli Independence Day): A Biblical Perspective"

Installation of The Rev Dr Brad Braxton at Riverside Church

What an event! Singing, dancing, sermons, charges, commissions, prayers and The Holy Spirit. I was seated behind Governor David Patterson (dubbed "Pastor" Patterson by Senator Schumer after his remarks in the form of a sermon) and Senator Chuck Schumer with a wonderful view of the proceedings. If you went to church at Riverside in the morning, and then for the installation, you would have spent the whole day there.

A history of excavations in Bethsaida

Stephen Rosenberg writes in the Jerusalem Post about excavations on the site of the city Bethsaida going back to the 10th Century BCE. In the Hellenistic Period, two houses have been identified, one with fishing materials and one with wine bottles:

The fisherman's house contained lead weights and anchors, as well as fishhooks and needles, everything a fisherman and his wife needed for their trade. The wine merchant and his family had the necessary house cellar and will have drawn their stock of vines from the hills above the city, where the green valleys are both shaded and facing the sun, ideal for the vines of Roman times and likewise for those of today, which provide the fine wines of the Golan.

At a recent hearing in Augusta, Maine on a bill to extend marriage to same-sex couples, testimony came from the Episcopal Church. The Bangor Daily News reports:

Although Bishop Stephen Lane of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine did not attend the hearing, he submitted testimony in favor of the bill. The Worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is part, is deeply divided over the ordination of noncelibate gay and lesbian clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions. “If we, as Mainers, believe that faithful, lifelong monogamous relationships are among the building blocks of a healthy and stable society, then it is in our interest to extend the rights and obligations of civil marriage to all Maine citizens,” Lane wrote. “To deny those rights to certain persons on the basis of sexual orientation is to create two classes of citizens and to deny one group what we believe is best for them and for society."

The opinion page came out in favor of extending the benefits and rights of same-sex marriage to Mainers.

Mmmm....

Starting New Testament Study: Learning, Doing
Bruce Chilton and Deirdre Good
SPCK Publishing (22 Oct 2009)

Starting New Testament Study provides an introduction to the books of
the New Testament, their authors and their context for those just
beginning to study the Bible. It has an emphasis on 'learning by doing':
alongside the main narrative sweep come text boxes that introduce
readers to areas of critical scholarship, maps, timelines and questions
and exercises that encourage direct engagement with the biblical text.

This helpful and encouraging book will enable the beginning student to
start analysing New Testament texts for themselves and will develop
their confidence and skills in this area.

Hell's Classroom: teaching in the Gordon Ramsay style

Thomas H. Benton writes in the Chronicle for Higher Education:

The essence of his teaching method seems to be placing the quality of the food and service above all other considerations, including the feelings of the contestants, some of whom are humiliated on a weekly basis before an audience of millions. He is a figure of indisputable authority, and he doesn't wrap criticism in a warm fuzzy blanket of reassurance. If someone serves a sloppy meal, he'll call that person "a dirty pig" in a way that everyone will hear, remember, and, most important, learn from.

That is completely different from the way most faculty members in the last couple of generations have been trained to respond to students' work. We fear hurting their feelings, alienating them, or provoking them into complaining to some higher authority. So instead of calling a student out, we respond with something like this:

"The absence of conventional spelling and punctuation in your paper — while something we shall want to address at some point — certainly shows an abundance of creativity. Self-reliance is a good thing to have, but you may want to use some sources next time, too. Overall, your essay demonstrates considerable promise for even greater success in the future. Good job! I'm so glad I had the chance to read your work. B+"

Love the part about addressing snowflakes...missing however is a recognition that this kind of application presumes expertise in pursuit of a common goal. In other words, it would apply to an elective not an introductory course.

News of Palestinian and Israeli conversations in Donegal, Ireland through Combatants for Peace is being reported.

The "Combatants for Peace" movement was started jointly by Palestinians and Israelis, who have taken an active part in the cycle of violence; Israelis as soldiers in the Israeli army (IDF) and Palestinians as part of the violent struggle for Palestinian freedom. After brandishing weapons for so many years, and having seen one another only through weapon sights, we have decided to put down our guns, and to fight for peace.

Since the beginning of 2005 we have been organizing meetings between Israeli and Palestinian veterans, in which both sides tell about the violent actions that they have taken part in and about the turning point which led them to understand the limits of violence. Naturally, these meetings were fraught with many fears, however we soon learned that despite years of fear and hatred, there is more that unites us than divides. Therefore we have decided to act together in the following ways:

• To continue with the combatants' meetings, which allow each side to understand the other's narrative, via the approach of reconciliation rather than conflict.
• To implement an educational lecture series in public forums on both sides (universities, youth groups, schools etc.). The lectures will be given jointly by an Israeli and a Palestinian veteran, who will concentrate on the transition from violent struggle to the recognition of the limits of violence.
• To create joint projects which educate towards non- violence.
• To create joint frameworks in order to become familiar with the culture, history and current needs of the other nation.
• To set up Bi-National media teams, which will act in order to influence public opinion in Israel, Palestine and the rest of the world.
• To participate in demonstrations and other non-violent actions against the occupation as a bi-national group.

Church Publishing has published Reasonable and Holy by Tobias Haller. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Reasonable and Holy addresses the conflict over homosexuality within the Anglican tradition, demonstrating that the church is able to provide for and support faithful and loving relationships between persons of the same sex, not as a departure from that tradition, but as a reasonable extension of it.

It offers a carefully argued, but accessible means of engagement with Scripture, the Jewish and Christian traditions, and the use of reason in dealing with the experience and lives of fellow-Christians. Unlike most reflections on the topic of homosexuality, Reasonable and Holy examines same-sex relationships through the lens of the traditional teaching on the “ends” or “goods” of marriage: procreation, union, the upbuilding of society, the symbolic representation of Christ and the Church, and the now often unmentioned “remedy for fornication.” Throughout, it responds to objections based on reason, tradition and Scripture.