What he learned in Luke: Sunday, November 19
Father Spurlock and the participants of the Friday Bible study spent almost two years working their way line-by-line through the gospel of Luke. They learned some things along the way, and Father Spurlock is going to share some of those insights with the Sunday adult Christian education class on November 19 at 10:00 a.m. N.B.: If you’d like to find out what they’re hearing in Hebrews, please join them most Fridays at 12:45 p.m. The class takes its Thanksgiving break on November 24, resuming on December 1.
“One nature of the Word incarnate.”
The Sunday class on the origins of the Christian theological tradition resumes on November 26, at 10 a.m. The third ecumenical council was held in Ephesus in 431. It affirmed the description of the Virgin Mary as “God-bearer” or “Mother of God.” The controversy over the title was based on important theological questions regarding the relationship between the divine and human natures of Christ. In this class session, we examine those questions and the issues at stake.
In Advent, the theology of Christmas
The Genesis of Orthodoxy class takes a hiatus in December. Beginning on December 3 at 10 a.m., and continuing on December 10, 17, and 31, the Sunday class takes up the Theology of Christmas, in preparation for that season. A theological consideration of Christmas involves a host of fundamental issues related to the incarnation: the self-emptying of the Word (kenosis), Christ’s pre-existence, the particularity of God being born a first-century Jew. The class draws from Holy Scripture and writings from the tradition, including Athanasius’s masterful On the Incarnation. Note there is no class on December 24.
Audio of the Fall Theology Lecture now available
The audio of the lecture offered on November 8, “God is One: The Perfect Unity of the Triune God,” is now available on the Saint Thomas website here. The talk by Dr. Sonderegger was thought-provoking and well worth a listen, if you couldn’t be there, and probably helpful to hear again even if you were.
Speaking of Sonderegger: a précis.
After Dr. Sonderegger’s lecture, I was asked how one might explore some of her ideas further, perhaps in a more accessible format. After some research, I have three suggestions. The first is a brief interview that Dr. Sonderegger gave to her publisher on the occasion of her book’s publication. I found that it reads like her own abstract of the lecture we heard and includes previews of the forthcoming volumes of her Systematic Theology. The second and third are particularly good reviews that pick up on what I see as one of the most distinctive aspects of her work: its lyrical reliance on Scripture. (The reviews are more technical than the interview.) If you found the lecture stimulating and would like to learn more about Dr. Sonderegger’s project, those are three good places to start.
Yours in Christ,
Joel
