Join us at 7 p.m. for this second talk in our series, “Fathers Know Best: Patristic Solutions to Post-Modern Problems,” at the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill with the presentations beginning at 7:30 p.m.  We hope to see you there!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

“What has Cappadocia to do with Boston? Basil and the two Gregories on Education, Spirituality, and the 99%”

Dr. Jim Skedros
Kantonis Professor of Byzantine Studies, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology

Dr. Skedros’ talk will introduce the social context of the Cappadocian Fathers [Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzan), and Gregory Nyssa; all fourth-century Greek fathers] and focus specifically on issues of education (theological and secular), spirituality, and social justice in their writings.

James C. Skedros is the Michael G. and Anastasia Cantonis Professor of Byzantine Studies and Professor of Early Christianity at Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA, where from 1998 to 2002 he served as Acting Dean of Holy Cross. A graduate of Holy Cross, Dr. Skedros received his Th.D. from Harvard Divinity School in the History of Christianity. From 1996 to 1998 he was Assistant Professor of Orthodox Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. His research areas include popular religious practices in Late Antiquity and Byzantium, history of the Byzantine church, Byzantine hagiography, pilgrimage, and Christian and Muslim relations. As a Fulbright Scholar, he has conducted field and archaeological research in Thessaloniki, Greece related to the veneration of St. Demetrios.  He has served as co-chair for the Eastern Orthodox Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion as well as secretary for the Orthodox Theological Society in America. His publications include “Festivals, Shrines, and the ‘Undistinguished Mob'” in Byzantine Christianity: A People’s History of Christianity (2006); “The Heroikos and Popular Christianity in the Third Century,” in Philostratus’s Heroikos: Religion and Cultural Identity in the Third Century C.E. (2004); “The Cappadocian Fathers on the Veneration of the Martyrs” in Studia Patristica (2001); and St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki: Civic Patron and Divine Protector (1999).

“Fathers Know Best: Patristic Solutions to Post-Modern Problems” Series

In this series we explore a variety of themes in Patristic theology, the theology of the early Christian writers from c. AD 100 to AD 451 who are typically referred to as the “Church Fathers.”