Month: March 2011

The need to uphold biblical inerrancy

Posted on by Roger Pearse

I have just read an article at Cranmer’s Curate, Edmund Grindal and the need to uphold biblical inerrancy, with much interest.

 In the course of his spiritual reflections at Wycliffe, it struck your curate forcibly that the need for a clear conviction about biblical inerrancy is the underlying issue facing the modern Church.

Inerrancy is essentially the conviction that the Bible does not err in the theological, moral and historical truths that the God of all truth wishes to reveal to mankind this side of the Second Coming.

The word ‘inerrancy’ is one that I never came across as a young Christian.  I suspect it is the badge of a US position unfamiliar to me.

Nor do we need much familiarity with the fathers to know of the allegorical interpretations of the Old Testament by Origen and his school, but also that such an interpretation of Genesis could be regarded as ad litteram by Augustine. 

But in some ways whatever hesitations we might have about this miss the point.

The question is really whether we take our rule of life and thought from the bible, or from some approved subset of the customs and shibboleths currently in vogue in the society in which we happen to live.   Which of these twain is, for us, “the word of God”; “the laws of the Medes and the Persians”? 

Those seem to be the real choices before us.  And let us bear this in mind, in our own thoughts as much as in public debate. 

There is much too much writing which presumes that Christians must prove things, which leaves silent what the alternative is and what, if any, justification there might be for it.  It is possible, and common, for some to demand before agreeing that Christians must be able to prove X and Y and Z, to a level that a professor might find daunting, while at the same time accepting whatever is said on the TV evening news.  It is not unknown for Christians to do this to themselves!

There is very little that can be said for the conformity position, of course.  It is the lazy choice, usually, the path of least resistance, the path of convenience.  Let’s remember that, before we criticise ourselves.

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Oxford Patristics Conference

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Well I’ve booked my place at the Oxford Patristics Conference (Monday 8th August to Friday 12th August 2011), using the website.  The cost was less than I had feared — £256 — which is not too bad considering it includes accomodation.  But with my record on conferences and cancellations, I ought to insure it, I suspect.  I wonder how?

Accomodation seems to be going fast, tho.  I’ve ended up in Queens college, rather than Christ Church.   I don’t think I ever knew anyone there in my days at Oxford, and I don’t recall ever going there, so it will be a new experience for sure. 

UPDATE: Oops.  I seem to have only booked 1 night accomodation — poorly designed form.  Another £294 will be required, I suspect.  £550 is a much heftier sum, and will certainly need to be insured.

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A gospel manuscript that depicts the telegraph

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Yes, there is indeed a gospel manuscript which has a picture of a set of telegraph poles, running from Constantinople to “Babylon” — i.e. Baghdad.  Adam McCollum has written a fascinating post on it at the HMML blog.  There doesn’t seem to be a way to link to specific articles, but it’s here.

The manuscript is a Syriac manuscript, written in 1867 in the Ottoman empire.  The picture labels all the bits — the poles, the wires, etc.  

Adam also outlines how the telegraph came to run through the Ottoman lands (because our people wanted to be able to telegraph to India, basically).

Read it.  You’ll love it.

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From my diary

Posted on by Roger Pearse

All this work with James of Edessa has reminded me that I never got his preface to his Chronicle online.  It’s quite interesting, being a discussion of whether Eusebius’ calculation of years is correct.  I’ve emailed someone who might do it, offering the usual, and I’ll stick it on the web when it’s done.

I also found myself wondering about Arabic translations of James’ letters.  Vol. 1 of Graf does indeed have a short section on this, although there doesn’t seem to be much.  But there might well be more in existence than is listed here.

Meanwhile Eusebius grinds forward.  I think we probably have a final cover design.  It was down to two sets of choices yesterday, and I gave my thoughts.

I’ve also read much of Aaron Shepard’s “POD for Profit”, which really is a necessary purchase if you want to use Lightning Source.  In particular he discusses why assigning a margin of more than 20% is a great mistake.  I won’t reproduce that here — wouldn’t be fair to him — but you do need to read it if you’re going to use Lightning Source.  He also answers a number of questions that you’re going to have.  All of which will make the upload process much easier for me. 

Apparently it takes about a month from when you upload the book to when it is available to buy.  I hope to upload later this week.

UPDATE: I goofed on James’ intro — it’s 28 pages, and would cost about $500.  Just at the moment, that’s not a sum I want to spend.

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Clavis to the letters of James of Edessa

Posted on by Roger Pearse

This is J. J. van Ginkel’s list of all the extant letters of James of Edessa.  Since he has drawn it up, and it is visible online in toto, I hope he will not mind if I post it here.  My purpose in doing so, of course, is to bring this numbering into general use.  The numbering as far as #17 is ancient; beyond that is modern.

I need to go back and retrofit the Ginkel letter number to material from the letters which I have online.  Note that there are certainly some scanner artefacts in this, so use with care.

1. To John of Litarba: on two homilies of Jacob of Serug, which are not by Jacob nor Ephrem (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 79a 81a).
2. To John of Litarba: on medicine and its spiritual interpretation (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 81a-81b).
3. To John of Litarba: on 2 Pet. 2:5 referring to Noah as the eighth person (BL Add. 12172(b). fols. 81b-83a).
4. To George the deacon: on Ephrem’s Madrasha 25 on the Nativity of our Lord (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 83a-85a).
5. To John of Litarba: on the feast of the Invention of the Cross and on Ephrein s Madrasha 44 on Faith (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 85a-87b).
6. To John of Litarba: on problematic passages in the Gospels, e.g. descent of Christ from David (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 87b-91a).
7. To John of Litarba: on calculating the age of the world (discrepancy between Eusebius and the calculation of Jewish Passover) and on why Jacob dated Christ’s birth in A.Gr. 309 (against Eusebius A.Gr. 312: BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 91a-91b).
8. To John of Litarba: on the number of books by Solomon (five or three): why the books of Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Tobit, Esther, Judith, and (1-3) Maccabees are not canonical: on the additional year in the calculation of the Alexandrians (AM 5181 or 5180); chronological, theological, and exegetical topics: on earlier authors (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 94b-96b: followed by: Scholion on the book of Wisdom (fols. 96b-97b)).
9. To John of Litarba: on prayers, offerings, and alms on behalf of impious and sinful believers (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 97b-99a).
10. To John of Litarba: on Predestination (BL Add. 12172(b). fols. 99a-104a).
11. To John of Litarba: on Predestination (addition to previous letter; BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 104a-110a).
12. To John of Litarba: on Ephrem’s Madrasha 2 against false doctrines (Shabblaye, Quqaye. Palut) (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 110a-111b).
13. To John of Litarba. reply to eighteen questions: on Gen. 15:13, on literacy before Moses, on the Nubian woman in Num. 12:1, on the cause of Satan’s fall, on Job 2:6, on Behemoth, the bird in Job 30:13 and Leviathan, on Zachariah in Matt. 23:35/Luke 11:51, on Jonah, Tiglath-Pileser and Jonah 3:4 (40 or 3 days), on the wild gourds (2 Kgs. 4:39), on Obadiah. on the articles carried away from the temple by the Babylonians, on the rock spouting water, on the authors of the Psalms, on the Hebrews and the antiquity of their language, on 1 Kgs. 4:32-33. on Song of Songs 3:7-8, on 1 Sam. 17:55. on Gen. 18:32 (BL. Add. 12172(b), fols. 111b-121b).
14. To John of Litarba. reply to thirteen questions: on the composer of the Quqite hymns (Simeon the Potter): on the man in whose house our Lord celebrated the Passover: on 2 Cor. 12:7: on Philip, who baptised the eunuch of Candace: on John 19:25: on Peter the Fuller: on Timothy Ailouros; on the three people called Mar Isaac: on the Magi from Persia at the birth of Christ: on the direction of worship of Jews and Muslims: on Ezek. 37:1 14: on the distinction between XXX, XXX and XXX: and on the clause ‘to judge the living and the dead’ and Phil. 2:10 (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 121b-120b).
15. To John of Litarba: on Acts 10:34 35 and Rom. 2:10-11 (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 126b-129b).
16. To John of Litarba: on 1 Sam. 18:10; 15:35; 19:22-24: 28:3-20: 16:1-1-23; and 17:55 (BL Add. 12172(b), fols. 129b-134a).
17. To John of Litarba: on chronological, theological, and exegetical topics; on earlier authors (BL. Add. 12172(b): also Mingana 4: on the sinner and wicked: Mingana 9: Moses bar Kepa (quotations)).
18. To John of Litarba: introductory letter to a collection of canons (BL. Add. 14493: Harvard Syr. 93: Mardin Orth. 322: Damascus Patr. 8/11).
19. To George of Serug on Syriac orthography (BL. Add. 7183. Add. 12178, Add. 17134; Mingana 101: Berlin 174 (Sachau 70): Vat.sir. 118).
20. To an anonymous person: poetic exhortation to seek wisdom, not only in words, but also in deeds after reflecting on the three creative agencies: God. Nature, and Mind, and Jacob as a poet (seven-syllabic metre: fragment: BL Add. 12172(a), fols. 65a-70a).
21. To Eustatius of Dara: on Jacob as an ascetic or a man of the world (fragment: BL Add. 12172(a), fols. 70a-72b).
22. To Eustatius of Dara: reply to an invitation to visit (fragment: BL. Add. 12172(a), fols. 72b-73a).
23 To Eustatius of Dara: explanations to a previous poetic (twelve-syllable metre) letter (fragment: BL. Add. 12172(a), fols. 73a-73b).
24. To Eustatius of Dara: on two letters of the Greek alphabet (i and k: fragment: BL Add. 12172(a), fols. 73b-74b).
25. To Eustatius of Dara: on Gibeonites and Joshua bar Nun (fragment: BL Add. 12172(a), fol. 74b).
26. To Eustatius of Dara: on the pros and cons of ‘East’ and ‘West’ (i.e. Byzantine Empire) (fragment (?): twelve-syllable metre: BL Add. 12172(a). fols. 74b 77a).
27. To the priest Abraham: allegory on viticulture (BL Add. 12172(a), fols. 77a 77b).
28. To the sculptor Thomas: questions to be put to Nestorians (BL Add. 12172(a), fols. 77b-78a).
29. To Kyrisuna of Dara: (fragment, in twelve-syllable metre; BL Add. 12172(a), fol. 78a).
30. To Kyrisuna of Dara: contains references to philosophy (Aristotelian ὅρος) and contains Greek sayings (fragment: referred to in a letter by George of the Arabs).
31. To the priest Simeon the Stylite: on he who has doubts about his profession (BL Add. 17168).
32. To the deacon Barhadbshabba: on Chalcedonians (BL Add. 14631: compare George of the Arabs to Barhadbshahba).
33. To the priest Addai: baptism and blessing of water in the Night of Epiphany (BL Add. 14715).
34. To an anonymous person: brief sketch of history (BL Or. 2307).
35. To the priest Thomas: Syriac liturgy (BL Add. 14525. Vat. sir. 581. Mingana 3: also used by Dionysius bar Salibi (H. Labourt, Dionysius bar Salibi. Expositio Liturgiae (CSCO 13-14, Syr. 13 14; Paris 1903), ed. 6-12. trans. 36-40).
36. To Daniel (fragment: possibly a pupil of Jacob of Edessa and later (after Constantine) bishop of Emesa; Michael the Syrian. Chronicle 11.15, ed. Chabot, 2:472: 11.17. ed. Chabot, 2:480).
37. To Moses (fragment): Paul reaching the third heaven (possibly Moses of Tur Abdin: Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis 1, 607: also quotation in Mingana 4).
38. On the day of Nativity of Jesus (to Moses of Tur Abdin according to Dionysius bar Salibi. Expositio Liturgiae, ed. Labourt. 49, trans. 67).
39. To Bar Hadad, Bishop of Tella (BL Add. 14731: quotation by Moses bar Kepa).
40. Addressee unknown (ending of a letter: Berlin 201 (Sachau 165)).
41. To Constantine (quoted by Moses bar Kepa: cf. the Hexaemeron which is dedicated to Constantine; possibly a pupil of Jacob of Edessa and later bishop of Bithynia, Emesa. later Edessa: cf. Michael the Syrian. Chronicle 1 1.15, ed. Chabot, 2:472: 11.17, ed. Chabot. 2:480: 11.20. ed. Chabot, 2:496: Oxford Syr. 142 (Marsh 101)).
42. To George the Stylite (although possibly spurious: Jacob third person) (Berlin 188 (Sachau 218). Mingana 317).
43-5. Three letters to Stephen (Seert 81; now lost (?)).
46. To Lazarus: on the mysterium of the Incarnation (fragment: Mingana 4: Charfet Patr. 79. fol. 27a).
47. To Isho`yahb (fragment: BL Add. 7190).
48. To Harran (‘Malakites’) (Berlin 116 (Sachau 12). Cambridge Add. 2889).
49. On the Divine Economy (Oxford Syr. 142 (Marsh 101): Mingana 105. Mingana 152. Mingana 480 (1-13). Mingana 522: Vatican Borg. 147 and 108 (possibly related to Damascus Patr. 8/11).
50. To Paul of Antioch (fragment: Assemani. Bibliotheca Orientalis I. 477-478).

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Collecting information about the letters of James of Edessa

Posted on by Roger Pearse

On Friday I started hunting around the web for more information about the letters of James of Edessa.  I knew that there was a collection in a single British Library manuscript, consisting of a bunch of letters (numbered) to John the Stylite, plus a bunch of letters to other people.  But that was about it.

It seems that J. J. Van Ginkel has been working on the letters.  A very useful article by him on the subject, J van Ginkel, “Greetings to a virtuous man: the correspondence of Jacob of Edessa” in “Jacob of Edessa and the Syriac culture of his day” is here in Google Books preview, and fortunately visible complete.  It includes a list of all 50 extant letters here. 

I will OCR this list and put it online shortly, because it must be indispensable to everyone interested in the subject.

I’ve also written to Dr van Ginkel and asked about his edition and translation, but with no response so far.

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Eusebius update

Posted on by Roger Pearse

The cover photo is chosen and purchased from istockphoto.com, for the trivial sum of $50 for the largest size image — a tenth of what other libraries wanted.  I sent that to the designer last night. 

We’re getting very close to the final cover design.  I wrote a blurb this morning and sent that over.  His logo designs were not as good as the one I commissioned some time back so we’ll use that.

I also started the process of submitting the book to Lightning Source.  All went well until I had to input price and wholesaler margin.  There’s no indication of what I ought to do here.  Apparently 55% margin for the retailer is normal — that’s not very good!  So I need to find out some more about this — because if I set it to 0%, I don’t know what would happen, but probably nothing good.  I need to know what the constraints are on this.

I’ve also started thinking about a website.  Another book selling site told me what they had paid for their site, which was rather poorly designed — $700!  But it looks as if a WordPress blog with an eCommerce theme might do me very nicely.  I need to set up another instance of WordPress here and experiment!

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Further attack on Christians in Britain

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Well that didn’t take long. 

Yesterday I posted on how the Prime Minister endorsed the court judgement that forcing Christians to promise to endorse homosexuality was legal.  Several of us said this was a green light for further attacks on Christians.

Today I learn that the two gays who sued the elderly owners of a Christian B&B for not giving them a double bed (and were awarded “damages”) are dragging them again into court to demand more money still.   The “Equalities commission” — i.e. the state — is funding the prosecution.

Expect a rash of such attacks and attempts to plunder and loot, now the PM has supported the courts, and the courts have made clear they will cooperate.

UPDATE: The case has been withdrawn!  The Daily Mail reports: that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission said:

Legal director John Wadham said: ‘This morning we withdrew our cross appeal in this case.

‘It was filed initially because of an error of judgment on the part of our legal team.

‘They submitted the cross appeal in an attempt to clarify the law around how damages are calculated in cases such as this.

‘This resulted in it appearing that Steve Preddy and Martyn Hall were seeking to increase the amount of damages they receive because Mr and Mrs Bull’s Christian beliefs had led them to break the law.

This was not our intention and it was certainly not the intention of Steve and Martyn.

‘I would like to confirm that public money will not be spent funding a claim for increased damages in this case.’

I think the last sentence tells us what has happened, for we must never forget that we don’t know who is talking to who, in the corridors of power, and what is really being done here, any more than one would in a corporate power struggle.  But I infer from this that someone in the government got nervous.

The government is currently slashing spending, which is very unpopular.  It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that a populist politician could ask why government money, at such a time, is being spent to enrich a pair of campaigners.  Someone has decided not to take that political risk.

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James of Edessa on the Old Testament apocrypha

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Ca. 700, the Syriac writer James of Edessa had this to say in response to a question:

Let’s look at the second question: Why are these books not counted among the canonical books of the Church? I speak of the great Wisdom and of Jesus son of Sirach, and of many others which are rejected, like Tobit and those of the  women Esther and Judith, and the three (books) on the Maccabees.

I will answer again, that the truth is exactly known to the prophetic, apostolic and learned Spirit. I also would like to tell you the opinion of my feeble intelligence: it is that they are not entirely composed of words revealed by the (Holy) Spirit or of prophecies from God, but that they contain either words of human wisdom written by pious men, or stories about holy and pious men themselves, which is why  they were separated from the number of the canonical books of the Church, and were placed for special reading outside of the (books) for regular use in the correction and correcting of morals, actions and deeds, for those who are of a very teachable spirit, and want to hear some useful and loving advice for word and deed and for the knowledge of good conduct.

I hope to place the whole of this letter online soon.

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From my diary

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Some more designs have reached me for the dust-jacket cover of the translation of Eusebius’ Gospel Problems and Solutions, that I commissioned and shall be publishing.  I hope to have the book out this month. 

The new designs refine the direction of the last set, and confirm which cover image we will be using.  When Nick the graphic designer tells me the URL, I shall purchase that. 

I’m also translating another letter of James of Edessa, which I will place online when it is done. 

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