DOCSLIB.ORG

A Commentary on the Shorter Text of the Acts of Thecla and Its New Testament Parallels

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Commentary on the Shorter Text of the Acts of Thecla and Its New Testament Parallels A Commentary on the Shorter Text of the Acts of Thecla and its New Testament Parallels Submitted by the Reverend Theresa Angert-Quilter Bachelor of Arts in Theology, Carlow University, 1975 Sacred Theological Bachelor in Scripture, University of Louvain, 1978 Masters of Arts in Theology, University of Louvain, 1978 Sacred Theological Licence in New Testament, Catholic Institute Sydney, 1983 Masters of Theology in New Testament, Catholic Institute Sydney, 1983 A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology School of Theology Faculty of Theology and Philosophy Australian Catholic University Date of Submission: 20 April 2014 Research Services Office Australian Catholic University PO Box 968 North Sydney NSW 2059 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP AND SOURCES This thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. This thesis has not been submitted and no part of this thesis has been submitted towards the award of any other degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis. All translations are my own unless otherwise specified and credited. The nature of the work required no ethics approvals. ____Rev’d T. A. Angert-Quilter_______ __5 June 2015__ Signature of Candidate Date ABSTRACT The thesis is a study of the shorter Greek text of the Acts of Thecla edited by Constantine Tischendorf in 1851. In 1891 R. A. Lipsius re-edited the Tischendorf text and dramatically changed the principles on which the text was chosen. This led him to support the longer text of the Acts of Thecla. The longer text of the Acts of Thecla was available to Tischendorf, though he decided against it. This thesis argues in detail that R. A. Lipsius has not followed the accepted scholarly methods for choosing a more original text and he has not demonstrated that he has convincing reasons for the choice of the longer text. Dennis MacDonald and others have posited an early oral tradition of the Acts of Thecla, without recommending the Tischendorf text as evidence of a written text earlier than that of Lipsius. This thesis recommends returning to the Tischendorf Greek text until a scholarly twenty first century version of the shorter text is available. As a written text, the Tischendorf edition reads earlier than the commonly accepted Lipsius text, perhaps by as much as almost one hundred years. This thesis also offers a new translation of the Acts of Thecla and a commentary on the narrative exploring its theology. The theology of this text is an important witness to the early Christian faith; in particular it is an important witness to the theological understanding of salvation and pastoral care of women. The thesis argues that the return to the Tischendorf text presents the Acts of Thecla in a form theologically compatible with New Testament narrative and theology. Although the thesis does not argue for, or defend, the historicity of Thecla’s story, it also does not argue against the possibility of an historical basis and oral tradition of St. Thecla. It leaves open historical possibilities compatible with the New Testament tradition of the missionary journeys of St. Paul. The thesis is a contribution to the recent scholarly movement toward a greater acceptance of the importance of Thecla in early Christianity. STATEMENT OF APPRECIATION I record here my thanks to Dr. Mary Sheather, of the Signadou Campus of Australian Catholic University, who has been my supervisor in this research. It is rarer and rarer these days to find someone who reads Greek and Latin as well as Dr. Sheather. Her attention to detail and her patience are exceptional. Dr. Sheather has been a faithful companion and steadying influence during my time of research on this text. During this time, my mother, my father, and my mother-in-law died and I changed the Christian denomination in which I hold Holy Orders. It was not an easy time to complete a research project that is so dependent on ancient language facility and insight. I also wish to thank my husband, Dr. John Quilter, lecturer in Philosophy at Australian Catholic University. His knowledge of the Greek language and the ancient world has made him an invaluable dialogue partner. The practical help in everyday life tasks which he provided made the completion of the thesis possible. I have completed this work while in full time employment with first the Uniting Church of Australia and then the Anglican Church of Australia. I wish both communions continued joy in their service of the Gospel. I am grateful for the many prayers, good wishes and encouragement of my friends and colleagues. Especially, I pray for strength for those women who follow St. Thecla in their service as leaders in the Christian Churches and those who continue to appreciate the Jewish heritage to which emerging Christianity in general, and this ancient text in particular, are indebted. I thank my women colleagues for their stalwart example as this thesis, and others like it, continue to recover women’s ancient heritage and mandate in ordained ministry. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction p. 1 Preliminary Matters The Endings of the Acts of Thecla p. 7 The Shorter Text edited by Tischendorf p. 7 Introduction to Textual Matters The Nineteenth-century Editions of the Acts of Thecla p. 11 Summary of New Testament Textual Matters p. 14 The Text and Manuscripts of the Acts of Thecla p. 16 A Discussion of How the Acts of Thecla (the Tischendorf and Lipsius texts) has been Received in the Scholarly Community p. 22 Some Considerations Concerning the Voyages of Saint Paul p. 31 Verse One p. 40 Verse Two p. 63 Verse Three p. 73 Verse Four p. 84 Verse Five p. 95 Verse Six p. 113 Verse Seven p. 127 Verse Eight p. 137 Verse Nine p. 147 Verse Ten p. 156 Verse Eleven p. 163 Verse Twelve p. 171 Verse Thirteen p. 177 Verse Fourteen p. 185 Verse Fifteen p. 192 Verse Sixteen p. 201 Verse Seventeen p. 209 Verse Eighteen p. 220 Verse Nineteen p. 228 Verse Twenty p. 236 Verse Twenty-one p. 246 Verse Twenty-two p. 255 Verse Twenty-three p. 266 Verse Twenty-four p. 275 Verse Twenty-five p. 284 Verse Twenty-six p. 293 Verse Twenty-seven p. 302 Verse Twenty-eight p. 308 Verse Twenty-nine p. 318 Verse Thirty p. 324 Verse Thirty-one p. 329 Verse Thirty-two p. 336 Verse Thirty-three p. 340 Verse Thirty-four p. 348 Verse Thirty-five p. 360 Verse Thirty-six p. 368 Verse Thirty-seven p. 375 Verse Thirty-eight p. 383 Verse Thirty-nine p. 390 Verse Forty p. 396 Verse Forty-one p. 402 Verse Forty-two p. 408 Verse Forty-three p. 413 Conclusions p. 419 Bibliography p. 437 A Commentary on the Shorter Text of the Acts of Thecla and its New Testament Parallels I. Introduction: The Main Aims and Context This commentary presents a study of the shorter Greek text of the Acts of Thecla which for many years has been neglected. The longer text edited by R.A. Lipsius1 has become the standard and most scholarly discussions of the Acts of Thecla today are based on it.2 Regrettably a number of scholars who are putting forth positions that the Acts of Thecla should be taken more seriously in terms of its historical or theological content have not realised that the shorter text would be a great support to their positions. The shorter text was edited by Constantine Tischendorf. This commentary cannot proceed under the ordinary model of New Testament commentaries because it is arguing for a text while at the same time translating and commenting on the narrative. The argument that the the shorter (i.e. Tischendorf text) is the primary written text is the main thesis of this study. I also argue that the Tischendorf text is appropriately situated in a New Testament time frame; from the end of the first century to the first part of the second century. I do this by comparing the shorter text of the Acts of Thecla to its New Testament parallels, showing that the theology is comparable and that the Acts of Thecla does not copy the New Testament. In this commentary it will be argued, case by case, that the Tischendorf text is the earlier written text. Overall, it is less polished, edited by fewer scribes and contains an earlier theology. The Lipsius text is the accepted text at this time, so it is not proper simply to assume that this is a mistake and work only with the Tischendorf text. The Lipsius text will be measured against the standard criterion for an early text as well as against Lipsius’ own thesis that the abridged text removes heretical material. The standard criteria for determining which reading is more original, case by case, may include the following: 1. The “lectio difficilior”: Texts were routinely corrected by scribes. Later texts show these corrections. Earlier texts contain spelling, 1 Richard Adelbert Lipsius, ed. Acta Petri, Acta Pauli, Acta Petri et Pauli, Acta Pauli et Theclae, Acta Thaddaei, in the collection Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha, revision and second edition of the work by Constantine Tischendorf, Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, Zürich, New York, 1990 originally published by Hermann Mendelssohn, Leipzig, 1891. This edition will be referred to as “Lipsius” and in footnotes cited without the author’s first initial. 2 Among these see the most recent by Jeremy Barrier, The Acts of Paul and Thecla, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, 2009.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018
    Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 Conforming to General Convention 2018 1 Preface Christians have since ancient times honored men and women whose lives represent heroic commitment to Christ and who have borne witness to their faith even at the cost of their lives. Such witnesses, by the grace of God, live in every age. The criteria used in the selection of those to be commemorated in the Episcopal Church are set out below and represent a growing consensus among provinces of the Anglican Communion also engaged in enriching their calendars. What we celebrate in the lives of the saints is the presence of Christ expressing itself in and through particular lives lived in the midst of specific historical circumstances. In the saints we are not dealing primarily with absolutes of perfection but human lives, in all their diversity, open to the motions of the Holy Spirit. Many a holy life, when carefully examined, will reveal flaws or the bias of a particular moment in history or ecclesial perspective. It should encourage us to realize that the saints, like us, are first and foremost redeemed sinners in whom the risen Christ’s words to St. Paul come to fulfillment, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The “lesser feasts” provide opportunities for optional observance. They are not intended to replace the fundamental celebration of Sunday and major Holy Days. As the Standing Liturgical Commission and the General Convention add or delete names from the calendar, successive editions of this volume will be published, each edition bearing in the title the date of the General Convention to which it is a response.
    [Show full text]
  • Destructive Pigment Characterization
    Looking for common fingerprints in Leonardo’s pupils through non- destructive pigment characterization LETIZIA BONIZZONI 1*, MARCO GARGANO 1, NICOLA LUDWIG 1, MARCO MARTINI 2, ANNA GALLI 2, 3 1 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, , via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano (Italy) 2 Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, via R. Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano (Italy) and INFN, Sezione Milano-Bicocca. 3 CNR-IFN,piazza L. da Vinci, 20132 Milano (Italy). *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract Non-invasive, portable analytical techniques are becoming increasingly widespread for the study and conservation in the field of cultural heritage, proving that a good data handling, supported by a deep knowledge of the techniques themselves, and the right synergy can give surprisingly substantial results when using portable but reliable instrumentation. In this work, pigment characterization was carried out on twenty-one Leonardesque paintings applying in situ XRF and FORS analyses. In-depth data evaluation allowed to get information on the colour palette and the painting technique of the different authors and workshops. Particular attention was paid to green pigments (for which a deeper study of possible pigments and alterations was performed with FORS analyses), flesh tones (for which a comparison with available data from cross sections was made) and ground preparation. Keywords pXRF, FORS, pigments, Leonardo’s workshop, Italian Renaissance INTRODUCTION “Tristo è quel discepolo che non ava[n]za il suo maestro” - Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master - Leonardo da Vinci, Libro di Pittura, about 1493 1. 1 The influence of Leonardo on his peers during his activity in Milan (1482-1499 and 1506/8-1512/3) has been deep and a multitude of painters is grouped under the name of leonardeschi , but it is necessary to distinguish between his direct pupils and those who adopted his manner, fascinated by his works even outside his circle.
    [Show full text]
  • Thecla Article
    The Paradox of Women in the Early Church: 1 Timothy and the Acts of Paul and Thecla 1 Timothy and the Acts of Paul and Thecla have frequently been portrayed as opposite responses to women’s roles and authority within the church. Thecla presents a woman who travels to teach and preach the gospel, roles that depart from culturally accepted norms for women. By contrast, 1 Timothy advocates women returning to socially acceptable, passive roles.1 To take one example from a popular textbook, Bart Ehrman writes the following about attitudes toward women in the early church: “The Pastoral epistles present a stark contrast to the views set forth in The Acts of Paul and 1 In the 1980’s, MacDonald argued that 1 Timothy represents a community’s rejection of the active leadership of women found in the Acts of Paul and Thecla. Dennis Ronald MacDonald, The Legend and the Apostle: The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983). See also the works in this period by Virginia Burrus, Chastity as Autonomy: Women in the Stories of Apocryphal Acts (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1987); Stevan L. Davies, The Revolt of the Widows: The Social World of the Apocryphal Acts (Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1980). More recently, scholars tend to see Thecla and 1 Timothy as independent literary works, but affirm that they take opposite stances regarding the roles of women and the emerging church structure. E.g., James W. Aageson, Paul, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Early Church (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008), 206.
    [Show full text]
  • Martyred for the Church
    Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament · 2. Reihe Herausgeber / Editor Jörg Frey (Zürich) Mitherausgeber/Associate Editors Markus Bockmuehl (Oxford) · James A. Kelhoffer (Uppsala) Tobias Nicklas (Regensburg) · J. Ross Wagner (Durham, NC) 471 Justin Buol Martyred for the Church Memorializations of the Effective Deaths of Bishop Martyrs in the Second Century CE Mohr Siebeck Justin Buol, born 1983; 2005 BA in Biblical and Theological Studies, Bethel University; 2007 MA in New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; 2009 MA in Classical and Near Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota; 2017 PhD in Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity, University of Notre Dame; currently an adjunct professor at Bethel University. ISBN 978-3-16-156389-8 / eISBN 978-3-16-156390-4 DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-156390-4 ISSN 0340-9570 / eISSN 2568-7484 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 2. Reihe) The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2018 Mohr Siebeck Tübingen, Germany. www.mohrsiebeck.com This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission. This applies particularly to repro- ductions, translations and storage and processing in electronic systems. The book was printed by Laupp & Göbel in Gomaringen on non-aging paper and bound by Buchbinderei Nädele in Nehren. Printed in Germany. Preface This monograph represents a revised version of my doctoral dissertation. It has been updated to take into account additional scholarly literature, bring in new argumentation, and shorten some sections for relevance.
    [Show full text]
  • Acts of Thecla
    Thecla, Female Martyrs, and Markers of Masculinity: The Gender, Martyrdom, and Authority of the Protagonist in the Acts of Thecla Early Christian female martyrs are often situated as performing masculine virtues and, especially post-martyrdom, depicted in masculine manners. Christian martyrdom accounts in late antiquity often played up the feminine features of female martyrs in the arena via their nudity while simultaneously having them extol traditional masculine virtues and later bequeathing them with masculine authority and even appearance; thus, aligning martyrdom with masculinity (Cobb 2008; Streete 2009). The character of Thecla, renown as protomartyr among women, is no exception, despite surviving her ordeals in the Acts of Thecla (ATh) and later tales. While scholarship has explored themes of Thecla's virginal femininity within the context of the arena, the generally positive portrayal of women contrasted with the generally negative portrayal of men, and Thecla's later cross-dressing and performance of masculine responsibilities (Bremmer 1996), the relation of gender-transformative motifs to Thecla's status as a martyr has been under-explored due, in part, to the frequent bracketing of ATh within martyrdom studies because of the survival of its protagonist. Though the character of Thecla as portrayed in ATh is thus not frequently considered a martyr in modern scholarship, nevertheless similarities between the ATh and martyrdom narratives have been well-documented with the greatest concentration of the generic similarities being
    [Show full text]
  • St. Thecla Parish Bulletin
    St. Thecla Orthodox Church November 2020 Parish Bulletin 10335 Kensington Pkwy, Kensington MD 20895 (240) 776-2959 | www.st-thecla.org A Parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia The Nativity of Christ Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh, 1975 In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. There is anguish when a woman is in labor, but all this is forgotten when the child is born, because a man has come into the world. Someone has come into the world to live, someone has entered into the realm of transitory life in order to grow into life eternal, and the birth of a child is always perceived as the beginning of life and as the beginning of eternity, once more incarnate, once more made real, visible, tangible, become part of human joy and human simplicity. And yet, when we think of the nativity of Christ, the birth on earth of the Son of God, we see it in a quite different way. One of the ancient miniatures representing the birth of the Lord, shows us, apart from the habitual features of a cave, of the Mother Virgin, of Joseph, of the familiar animals, the manger standing by, deposited on an altar of sacrifice. And the child is lying on it as probably Isaac laid on the altar which Abraham had built in order to bring him as a blood offering to the Lord. Every one of us is born through temporary life into eternal life; the Eternal One, He who is life itself, is born into the world in order to enter into the realm of death.
    [Show full text]
  • ASCETICISM and WOMEN's FREEDOM in CHRISTIAN LATE ANTIQUITY: Some Aspects of Thecla Cults and Egeria's Journey
    ASCETICISM AND WOMEN'S FREEDOM IN CHRISTIAN LATE ANTIQUITY: Some Aspects of Thecla Cults and Egeria's Journey Hiroaki ADACHI* How women involved with history? Recently, there have been many attempts to scrutinize the women's experiences in history. ln this article, I try to reconstruct the women's traditions in late antique Christian society in the Mediterranean World, by reading some written materials on women, especially about Saint Thecla and a woman pilgrim Egeria. First of all, I briefly summarize the new tide of the reinterpretations of the late antique female hagiographies. In spite of the strong misogynistic tendency of the Church Fathers, Christian societies in late antiquity left us a vast amount of the Lives of female saints. We can easily realize how some aristocratic women had great influence on the society through ascetic renunciation. However, we should bear in mind the text was distorted by male authors. On the account of the problem, I pick out the legendary heroine Thecla. She is the heroine of an apocryphal text called the Acts of Paul and Thecla. In the Acts, she is really independent. She abandons her fiance and her mother and follows Paul in the first part. On the second part, Paul disappears and she baptizes herself in the battle with wild beasts. At that time, crowd of women encourage her. Though there have been many disputations about the mythological Acts, all scholars agree with the "fact" that late antique women accepted the Thecla Acts as the story for themselves. In spite of serious condemnation of Tertullian, Thecla cults flourished throughout the late antique times and a woman pilgrim Egeria visited her shirine Hagia Thecla in Asia Minor.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critical Introduction and Commentary on the Acts Of
    A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF PAUL AND THECLA by Jeremy W. Barrier Bachelor of Science, 2000 Freed-Hardeman University Henderson, TN Master of Arts, 2002 Freed-Hardeman University Henderson, TN Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Brite Divinity School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical Interpretation Fort Worth, TX May 2008 3 WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish photocopy or reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS: • Title Page….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…...1 • Dissertation Approval…………………………………………………………2 • Copyright Acknowledgment………………………………………………......3 • Table of Contents……………………………………………………………...4 • Abbreviations….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…..6 • Abbreviations of Textual Witnesses.….….….….….….….….….….….….….7 • Key to the Numeration of various Acts of Paul texts………………………...10 • Foreword…..….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….14 • Introduction:………………………………………………………………….15 o 1. The Ancient Novel..…………………………………………..…...15 1.1 The Ancient Novel and the Early Christian Novel..……..15 1.2 The Ancient Novel and the Acts of Paul and Thecla …….24 1.3 Historical Reliabilty……………………………………...29 1.4 Intended/Actual Readers of the Ancient Novel...………..30 1.5 Intended/Actual Readers of the Acts of Paul ..…………...34 o 2.
    [Show full text]
  • The Acts of Paul and Thecla, a Single Episode Which Has Been Preserved Complete in Greek and Many Versions: Parts of It Exist in the Coptic
    The Acts of Paul From "The Apocryphal New Testament" M.R. James-Translation and Notes Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924 credit goes to www.earlychristianwritings.com Introduction This book, Tertullian tells us, was composed shortly before his time in honour of Paul by a presbyter of Asia, who was convicted of the imposture and degraded from his office. The date of it may therefore be about A.D. 160. The author was an orthodox Christian. Our authorities for it are: 1. The sadly mutilated Coptic MS. at Heidelberg, of the sixth century at latest. 2. The Acts of Paul and Thecla, a single episode which has been preserved complete in Greek and many versions: parts of it exist in the Coptic. 3. The correspondence with the Corinthians, partly preserved in the Coptic, and current separately in Armenian and Latin. 4. The Martyrdom, the concluding episode of the Acts, preserved separately (as in the case of John and others) in Greek and other versions. 5.Detached fragments or quotations. The length of the whole book is given as 8,600 lines (Stichometry of Nicephorus), or 8,560 (Stichometry of the Codex Claromontanus): the Canonical Acts are given by the same two authorities respectively as 2,800 and 2,600. We have, perhaps, 1,800 lines of the Acts of Paul. The text of the Coptic MS. is miserably defective, and the restoration of it, in the episodes which are preserved in it alone, is a most difficult process: Professor Carl Schmidt has done practically all that can be expected, with infinite labour and great acuteness.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Thecla Catholic Church
    St. Thecla Catholic Church Welcome Bishop Mark Bartosic, Confirmation Candidates—2019, Parents, families, relatives and friends to the Sacrament of Confirmation and Mass Sunday, March 3rd , 3:00pm The Candidates—St. Thecla Parish 2019 ⑨ ⑨ Emma Anthony Alvarado Coleman Timothy McDonagh ⑨ ⑨ Mark Christopher Arnold Makenzie Francis Miklasz ⑨ ⑨ Katie Margaret Ashworth Maeve Genevieve Miller ⑨ ⑨ Annie Dorothy Atamas Tyler George Milz ⑨ ⑨ Nicholas Michael Bacoulis Connor Richard Mosele ⑨ ⑨ Nathan Michael Betancourt Evan Ignatius Nelson ⑨ ⑨ Matthew Michael Boduch Gavin Francis Riley ⑨ ⑨ Michael Joseph Brosnan Ryan Michael Riley ⑨ ⑨ Madeleine Catherine Clyde Finley Abigail Rocha ⑨ ⑨ Alex Vincent Conley Catherine Philomena Sabal ⑨ ⑨ Jack Patrick Conley Henry Maximilian Sadler ⑨ ⑨ Christy Hedwig Correa William Francis Sadler ⑨ ⑨ Jeremy Joseph Ewing Alex Michael Shannon ⑨ ⑨ Juan Raphael Favela Liam Michael Sheedy ⑨ ⑨ Jack Michael Fuller Nora Cecilia Sheedy ⑨ ⑨ Tara Evelyn Gillespie Kevin Patrick Sheehy ⑨ ⑨ Cara Teresa Lewandowski Hailey Elizabeth Shrader ⑨ ⑨ Sara Monica Martorano Tony Bernard Tirado ⑨ ⑨ Michael Jose McCarthy Timothy Bernard Valente March 3rd, 2019 8th Sunday in ordinary time RENEW MY CHURCH Called by Jesus Christ, we are making disciples, building communities and inspiring witness. 6725 W. Devon Avenue Chicago, IL 60631 773-792-3077 GOSPEL MEDITATION Emails. Carpools. Shopping lists. Home repairs. It can seem like we move so quickly from one thing to the next. Our news comes in sound bites and headlines. How often do we take time for silence, for prayer, for reflection, for wisdom? Jesus warns us of stumbling through life without an adequate sense of where we✂ re going. Can a ✂ ✂ blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? This Sunday s Gospel isn t about fumbling along but o✁ ers a self-check on our own motivations.
    [Show full text]
  • Virginity Discourse and Ascetic Politics in the Writings of Ambrose of Milan
    Virginity Discourse and Ascetic Politics in the Writings of Ambrose of Milan by Ariel Bybee Laughton Department of Religion Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Dr. Elizabeth A. Clark, Supervisor ___________________________ Dr. Lucas Van Rompay ___________________________ Dr. J. Warren Smith ___________________________ Dr. J. Clare Woods ___________________________ Dr. Zlatko Pleše Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Religion in the Graduate School of Duke University 2010 ABSTRACT Virginity Discourse and Ascetic Politics in the Writings of Ambrose of Milan by Ariel Bybee Laughton Department of Religion Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Dr. Elizabeth A. Clark, Supervisor ___________________________ Dr. Lucas Van Rompay ___________________________ Dr. J. Warren Smith ___________________________ Dr. J. Clare Woods ___________________________ Dr. Zlatko Pleše An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Religion in the Graduate School of Duke University 2010 Copyright by Ariel Bybee Laughton 2010 ABSTRACT Ambrose, bishop of Milan, was one of the most outspoken advocates of Christian female virginity in the fourth century C.E. This dissertation examines his writings on virginity in the interest of illuminating the historical and social contexts of his teachings. Considering Ambrose’s treatises on virginity as literary productions with social, political, and theological functions in Milanese society, I look at the various ways in which the bishop of Milan formulated ascetic discourse in response to the needs and expectations of his audience. Furthermore, I attend to the various discontinuities in Ambrose’s ascetic writings in the hope of illuminating what kinds of ideological work these texts were intended to perform by the bishop within Milanese society and beyond.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Ambrose and the Architecture of the Churches of Northern Italy : Ecclesiastical Architecture As a Function of Liturgy
    University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 12-2008 St. Ambrose and the architecture of the churches of northern Italy : ecclesiastical architecture as a function of liturgy. Sylvia Crenshaw Schneider 1948- University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation Schneider, Sylvia Crenshaw 1948-, "St. Ambrose and the architecture of the churches of northern Italy : ecclesiastical architecture as a function of liturgy." (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1275. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1275 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ST. AMBROSE AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CHURCHES OF NORTHERN ITALY: ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE AS A FUNCTION OF LITURGY By Sylvia Crenshaw Schneider B.A., University of Missouri, 1970 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Art History University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky December 2008 Copyright 2008 by Sylvia A. Schneider All rights reserved ST. AMBROSE AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CHURCHES OF NORTHERN ITALY: ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE AS A FUNCTION OF LITURGY By Sylvia Crenshaw Schneider B. A., University of Missouri, 1970 A Thesis Approved on November 22, 2008 By the following Thesis Committee: ____________________________________________ Dr.
    [Show full text]