Lincoln College Summer School of Greek Palaeography

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity of attending the 8th Lincoln College Summer School of Greek Palaeography at the University of Oxford (July 25-30, 2022). Originally the school was to take place in 2020, but due to Covid restrictions, the school was postponed until this year. The classes were composed of three elements; in classroom reading sessions facilitated by expert instructors; library visits in which instruction was given with manuscripts in various institution libraries; finally, with an evening lecture on a particular topic related to Greek palaeography. The in class reading sessions and the evening lectures occurred at the Ioannou Centre for Classical & Byzantine Studies, which was right behind the Ashmolean Museum off of St. Giles Street. This was a very nice facility, with a central location, and a close proximity to the Ashmolean that was nice to stroll through and read Greek inscriptions on lunch breaks and grab a quick bite on the rooftop restaurant.

There were twenty students in total organized into three separate reading groups facilitated by a different instructor. These instructors were, Dr Georgi Parpulov, Dr Christos Simelidis, and Dr Dimitrios Skrekas. I was in Dr Georgi Parpulov's reading group.

Each day of class we were greeted by this
Roman statue of a Greek athlete

(I will post pictures from each of the library visits below with each picture labelled for their location. WARNING: there are many pictures)

For the Monday library excursion visited the Christ Church library lead by Dr. Georgi Parpulov. The Christ Church library was a beautiful facility and the manuscripts were truly striking. One in particular had several paintings of the evangelists. To be honest, it was difficult to pay attention to the excellent instruction because the surroundings were so overwhelmingly beautiful and the codices were open before us in all their glory.

For the Tuesday library visit we made the first of two trips to the new Bodleian Library, called the Weston Library. Though the library was not as visually pleasing as Christ Church (there were no intricately carved wooden bookcases with volume upon volume stacked before us), the facilities were new and state of the art in the Horton Reading Room. Dr. Parpulov lead this visit for our group and the reading room had a large screen TV tied to a high quality camera that allowed Dr. Parpulov to point out features in the manuscript. After the presentation, the codices were laid out on the table and we were free to examine them in greater detail with either Dr. Parpulov or the curator turning the pages.

For the Wednesday library visit, we went to the Weston Library again, this time with Dr Dimitrios Skrekas facilitating the excursion and with a another curator. We were once again in the Horton Reading Room but with a new series of manuscripts. Unlike the last visit, the curator (a different one from the previous day) gave an interesting discussion on conservation practices and philosophy at the Bodleian. After the presentations, we were once again free to examine each manuscript and make observations.

My favorite library trip was by far the Old Magdalen Library at Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin). It was facilitated by Dr. Nigel Wilson who was a wellspring of knowledge. The library room itself was something out of a medieval monastery. Ancient books lined the shelves and the windows looked past statues overlooking the cloistered garden. What was particularly enjoyable is that the Magdalen College policies allowed for us to handle the manuscripts ourselves. This provided great enjoyment flipping through the manuscripts and examining them in greater detail. Incidentally, I stayed on the Magdalene College Grounds, which are beautiful and well kept. The dining hall is fabulous and Addison's walk was lovely to stroll around in the evenings.

On Friday we had no library visits, only in class reading sessions. The school ended on Saturday with a three hour test in which we had to transcribe images of manuscripts. Overall, it was an amazing week filled with world class instruction, fantastic surroundings, ancient books, and meeting fellow manuscript nerds. I am grateful for the opportunity of attending the Lincoln College Summer School of Greek Palaeography.

Christ Church

Christ Church

Christ Church

Christ Church

Christ Church

Christ Church

Christ Church

Christ Church

Christ Church

Christ Church

Christ Church

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Tuesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Weston Library Wednesday Visit

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College dining Hall

Magdalen College. Windows of the Old Library are to the right of the tower

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Addison's Walk behind Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Magdalen College

Demetrius on Letter Writing and Christian Epistles

I came across an interesting reference by a figure dating from either the second or first century BCE, Demetrius, who some have attributed as the Demitrius under whom Cicero studied. He is famous for being familiar with Aristotle's work "Rhetoric" and references it throughout his own writing, "On Style" (Περι Ερμηνειας).

In a fascinating section of this work Demitrius gives instructions on the proper style of letters and correspondence. He describes what he believes is the correct manner of writing correspondence; " A letter’s aim is to express friendship briefly, and set out a simple subject in simple terms" (231).

"(223) We will next discuss the style for letters, since that too should be plain. Artemon, the editor of Aristotle’s "Letters", says that a letter should be written in the same manner as a dialogue; the letter, he says, is like one of the two sides to a dialogue.
(224) There is perhaps some truth in what he says, but not the whole truth. The letter should be a little more formal than the dialogue, since the latter imitates improvised conversation, while the former is written and sent as a kind of gift."

"(227) Like the dialogue, the letter should be strong in characterisation. Everyone writes a letter in the virtual image of his own soul. In every other form of speech it is possible to see the writer’s character, but in none so clearly as in the letter.
(228) The length of a letter, no less than its range of style, should be restricted. Those that are too long, not to mention too inflated in style, are not in any true sense letters at all but treatises with the heading, “Dear Sir.” This is true of many of Plato’s letters, and that one of Thucydides."

"(231) If anyone should write in a letter about problems of logic or natural philosophy, he may indeed write, but he does not write a letter. A letter’s aim is to express friendship briefly, and set out a simple subject in simple terms.
(232) It has its own beauty, but only in expressions of warm friendship and the inclusion of numerous proverbs. This should be its only permitted philosophy, permitted since the proverb is ordinary, popular wisdom. But the man who utters sententious maxims and exhortations seems to be no longer chatting in a letter but preaching from the pulpit."

It is interesting how many of the New Testament epistles and not a few of the Apostolic Fathers's letters fall into these descriptions. For example, Romans and Hebrews in the New Testament, and 1st Clement and the Epistle of Barnabas can very much be described in the words of Demetrius as "not in any true sense letters at all but treatises with the heading, “Dear Sir.” (228). His reference to a letter including expressions of friendship and "the inclusion of numerous proverbs" broadly encompasses some of the more informal pastoral epistles, or the letters of John.

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Aristotle, Longinus, Demetrius, Poetics. Longinus: On the Sublime. Demetrius: On Style (Translated by Stephen Halliwell, W. Hamilton Fyfe, Doreen C. Innes, W. Rhys Roberts. Revised by Donald A. Russell. Loeb Classical Library 199. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995), 477-483

Interview With Apologist Wes Huff on Textual Criticism, Inspiration, and Inerrancy

Here is an interview that I had with Wes Huff, Director of Central Canada for Apologetics Canada. Wes has a lot of great Christian Apologetics content on his website(https://www.wesleyhuff.com/). Please be sure to check it out!

(https://youtu.be/ffg3AMIVWJI)