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Patristic Humor

Adrian Murdoch gives us more of Synesius on baldness. Here’s Adrian’s lead-up:

Pages and pages of po-faced discussion on the nature of Christ or impenetrable and allusive epistles that turn out to be little more than recommendations for jobs can, at times, become wearisome when reading late Roman writers. One of the great pleasures of Synesius is that he had a sense of humour. By far his most entertaining piece is his eulogy on baldness. His tongue remains firmly in his cheek throughout.

His argument is that a bald head is superior to a hairy head because it resembles a sphere which is the most perfect object in the universe. The more perfect an object is, the closer it is to its immutable form. Therefore, the bald head is more real than the hairy head

Do read on! It’s cheaper than Rogaine.