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Briefly Noted

From the opening declaration that “biblical interpretation is not a historical discipline,” it is clear that Hans Boersma is addressing scholars committed to viewing the Bible as Scripture. Many biblical scholars do not share this commitment, and many who do were not trained in graduate school . . . . Continue Reading »

From Crete to Romania

In Iași, Romania, in January 2019, some three hundred Orthodox scholars gathered for the inaugural conference of the ­International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA). Pioneered by IOTA’s president, Paul Gavrilyuk, the gathering overcame forces that have prevented intra-Orthodox dialogue . . . . Continue Reading »

Baptism of Blood

It is a scrupulously made short film, shot with several ­cameras in 2015. Arabic letters dance atop a black background, as if afloat on a whirling current of water, finally coming together and forming a droplet of closely intertwined characters. In Arabic calligraphy—one of Islam’s most . . . . Continue Reading »

Orthodox Origen

Origen:  On First Principles edited and translated by john behr oxford, 800 pages, $200 In its eleventh canon, the Second Council of ­Constantinople (553) anathematized Arius, ­Eunomius, Macedonius, ­Apollinaris, Nestorius, and ­Origen, along with their impious writings. Adding Origen’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Evangelical Gnosticism

I teach in a great books program at an Evangelical university. Almost all students in the program are born-and-bred Christians of the nondenominational variety. A number of them have been both thoroughly churched and educated through Christian schools or homeschooling curricula. Yet an . . . . Continue Reading »

Where the Icons Aren't Yet Dry

This monk is not letting us go without a sermon, but he’s earned it. We—a group of scholars brought together for a conference in Romania celebrating the legacy of the historian Peter Brown—have been treated well. We are standing in the Neamț monastery library, where the Philokalia, that . . . . Continue Reading »

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