Light Through the Past

"Christian discipleship is one of leaving the world and following Christ. This episode Dr. Jenkins explores how the Church in the shadow of Martyrdom became the Church of monasticism, and why this shift was not as great as it might seem."

A cold has seized Dr. Jenkins, and so we have but an abbreviated version of Path to the Academy this week. You should however, read St. Ignatius of Antioch's beautiful Epistle to the Romans, as it will be discussed next week. You can find it here: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/richardson/fathers.vi.ii.iii.iv.html

Why do we have monks? Why do we have laity? Shouldn't all seek to lay aside all earthly cares all the time? This episode Dr. Jenkins explores the place of "simplicity" in the Christian life, both lay and monastic and how this informs the life of the desert. Fr. Patrick Reardon interview. https://tinyurl.com/FrReardon Are We All Cyborgs discount. https://tinyurl.com/cyborgsreduced

This episode Dr. Jenkins begins looking at Orthodox Monasticism and the question of the search and pursuit of God.

The "Three Chapters" caused real consternation among Latin Christians, and embroiled the duplicitous Pope Vigilius for years in a game of cat and mouse with the ever-exasperated Emperor St. Justinian. This episode Dr. Jenkins details how this issue was resolved in the 5th ecumenical council.

This episode Dr. Jenkins jumps into the deep, muddy, and at times turbulent waters that comprise the world of the Ecumenical councils, how the Church in the fifth and sixth centuries inchoately seemed to understand them, and how we should think about them.

Dr. Jenkins dives into the Christology of the Emperor St. Justinian, who, though not an original thinker, full grasped the theological currents of his day, and his writings set down the path the Church would follow in Her understanding of the Union of Christ in the One Hypostasis of the second Person of the All Holy Trinity.

This episode, abbreviated for the American holiday, Dr. Jenkins begins our look at Emperor St. Justinian.

The Cyrillian Defense of Chalcedon 2: Leontius of Jerusalem Description: Leontius of Jerusalem was the foremost of the defenders of Chalcedon in the early sixth century who showed how the council was not only faithful to Cyril, but the only way to understand Cyril. Links: Pelikan, Bach, Tolkien Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdYpFTQc3FM&t=1060s Rule of Faith subscription: https://stbasilcotc.org/journal/

This week Dr. Jenkins looks at three defenders of Chalcedon and touches on a fourth, and treats their varied approaches to the question, each of which aims to show that Cyril of Alexandria was a Chalcedonian.