Like last term, the tutorials will alternate between Greek and history (the two are actually closely related, as I'll explain in a minute). This term, the history part will focus entirely on the topic of the Council of Chalcedon. This is all in preparation for one of the big, scary exams I'll have to take next spring.
The Council of Chalcedon was a big council of Christian bishops held in Turkey in 451 AD. Most of you probably know that the first big council was the Council of Nicea, in 325 AD, where bishops debated whether Jesus was equal with God or a lesser kind of deity. The verdict of the Council of Nicea was that Christ is equal with God and the "same substance" (homoousios) as God. The other view - Arianism - was declared a heresy. Basically, Nicea made official the doctrine of the Trinity - that God is "one substance in three persons."
The next problem was how Jesus could have been man and God at the same time. This is what the Council of Chalcedon dealt with. The debate was sparked by an argument over whether it is proper to use the title Theotokos - "God-bearer" - for the Virgin Mary. It's a weird question, isn't it - If Jesus was God incarnate from birth, did Mary give birth to God? The word "Theotokos" had already been in use for several decades in hymns and popular devotion, and it did eventually win out as being orthodox and acceptable. It is still a much-used term in Orthodox churches, and sometimes in Catholic churches. (At right is a famous 12th-century Russian Orthodox icon of the Theotokos.)
I must say I have never been that interested in the Council of Chalcedon! The issues are so philosophical and abstract that it seems to me like much ado about very little. To figure out in what ways Jesus was divine and in what ways he was human requires understanding the relationship between the human body, mind and soul, and the fundamental differences between humanity and divinity (i.e. can God suffer?). These are the sort of things Plato pondered for fun, and yet it was made to be essential Christian doctrine by those who argued before the council.
As with most religious conflicts, the theological debate was combined with politics - especially rivalries between important cities in the Eastern Roman Empire. The two main players were Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria (eventual winner - pictured in photo, which is a fresco from a Serbian monastery) and Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople (eventual heretic). Pope Celestine (Bishop of Rome) got involved too, on the side of Alexandria. As a result of this controversy, including its political side, some churches broke off from the rest and remain separate today. This includes the Coptic Orthodox Church, who are the Christians of Egypt, and the Armenian and Syrian Orthodox Churches.
Ultimately, the decision of the council was that Theotokos was OK. They concluded that Jesus was both "fully God and fully man" and "one person with two natures" without trying to explain how that all works.
My Greek studies are actually closely tied into this topic, as I have been translating letters that Cyril wrote to Nestorius. This is good because when I take the exam on Chalcedon, I am required to comment on the original Greek text and incorporate it throughout my response. But it's otherwise not the text I would choose to learn Greek, because it is all so technical and philosophical! The Greek words for concepts like "nature," "substance," "person," and "role" all seem similar to me and yet have very precise meanings that are sometimes used differently by each side! Oy vey.
In addition to the tutorials, I'll be going to some lectures again this term. I had my first lecture this morning at 11. While the long spring break was wonderful, it was also very cool to be back to the Oxford-student thing.
My lecture was at Christ Church College, which was ideal. Love that place! I walked all the way there and it took about 35 minutes at a very fast pace (left a little late, as always). Despite light rain the entire time, it was warm-ish and there were lovely smells of blossoms in the air. The rain and the trees, combined with my headphones playing some old college favorites, brought back nice George Fox memories.I had a great time at my lecture. The inside of Christ Church is just like you'd picture an old Oxford college, with creaky stairs and lots of stone, and it all smells wonderfully of old wood. The lecture hall was small and really nice, as it had been renovated in 2003 (a plaque told me so). It had sort of a reversed-sloped floor (the professor was at the highest level) with rows of red, theatre-style seats in front of long desks. The side wall had a huge fireplace, which is not in use but is decorated with lovely porcelain tiles.
There were about 12 students there. The professor was Mark Edwards, whom I've mentioned before. The topic was "Christology after Nicea," a continuation from his lecture series last term. As you can tell from the title, it is closely related to the Council of Chalcedon, and his lecture helped a lot towards my understanding of the issues.
Dr. Edwards is one of the preeminent scholars in his field at Oxford, but unfortunately a rather dry lecturer. He is also known for his rather haphazard fashion sense. Today he was wearing a lime green button-down shirt with a red striped tie, both of which peeped out from under a too-short maroon sweater. His pants had white paint spatter on them. Over all this was a tan corduroy jacket topped by his black scholar's gown, which always hangs precariously off the back of his shoulders and looks like it's seen better days. Despite all this - or perhaps because of it! - I really like him.
As I left Christ Church after class (with the same viewpoint as the photo above), walking through the courtyard and under the famous "Tom Tower," its bells began to ring. It was just so good. Then I headed for the Theology library to check out three more books on Chalcedon, went to Sainsbury's for some groceries, and then to Blackwell's for some books on ancient Greek. Blackwell's is a lot of fun - it's supposedly the largest bookshop in Britain and has been in business on the same spot since like 1859. It has a great Classics section with a fun clerk who has a wonderfully dry, British sense of humor.
The Wolfson bus comes every 20 minutes outside of Blackwell's, and I caught that for home at around 1:00. And now I suppose I've spent enough time putting off my homework by writing this blog.
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