Looks very interesting.

Vines Intertwined: A History of Jews and Christians from the Babylonian Exile to the Advent of Islam, by Leo Duprée Sandgren (Hendrickson).

The study of Jewish/Christian history in antiquity is experiencing a renaissance. Textual witnesses and archaeological sites are being reevaluated and revisited. As a result, author Sandgren asserts, the relationship between Jews and Christians has shifted from a “mother-daughter” paradigm to one better described as “siblings.”

Recognizing that Judaism and Christianity are what they are because of each other and were not formed in isolation, Sandgren provides readers and researchers with a comprehensive generation-by-generation political history of the Jews—from the fall of the First Temple and the Babylonian Exile through the rise of Christianity out of Judaism—to the conquest of Jerusalem by Muslim Arabs and the rise of Christianity out of Judaism, to the point where both are fully defined against each other at the start of the Middle Ages.

With a good subject index and a strong chronological framework, this book is a convenient reference work to this extended period of antiquity, with sufficient “bookends” of history to show where it began and how it ends. Making use of numerous contemporary studies as well as often neglected classics, Sandgren thoroughly develops the concept of “the people of God” and the core ideology behind Jewish and Christian self-definition. A ready resource for both students and scholars, pastors and laypeople, this accessible reference also includes a bibliography and an ancient sources index as well as a CD. The attached CD will have the entire book as a searchable PDF as well as a list of names of emperors, rabbis, and church fathers.

Word has arrived of a newly-typeset edition of Irenaeus’s “Against the Heresies.” The text is that of the ANF, with the original page numbers embedded in the text. The only revision is to the introduction, to fill out some of the background on Pope Victor and St. Irenaeus; the new editors have removed Bp. Coxe’s anti-Catholic footnotes, while retaining the original numbering on the remaining notes. The book is available in  softcover and  hardcover.

If you’ve visited this blog more than twice, you know by now that I’m a big fan of Rod Bennett’s book Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words. It’s a novelistic re-telling of the earliest Christian history, using the very words of the Apostolic Fathers. It’s one of the great “imaginative entries” into the world of the Fathers that I’m always recommending, especially for young Christians.

Here’s the great news: Four Witnesses is now available for download in a professionally produced audio edition. So you can do your daily aerobics with the Apostolic Fathers. You can drive with the Apostolic Fathers. You can cook with the Apostolic Fathers. The possibilities are innumerable.

In BMCR …

Benjamin Garstad reviews Roger S. Bagnall’s Early Christian Books in Egypt.

Scott Carson reviews Luigi Gioia’s The Theological Epistemology of Augustine’s De Trinitate.

Gerard O’Daly reviews Philip Rousseau and Jutta Raithel’s A Companion to Late Antiquity.

I learned, from an obituary in our diocesan newspaper, that Fr. Christopher Rengers, OFM Cap., died on January 25. He was 92.

Fr. Christopher was a noted confessor, spiritual mentor — and author of some excellent works on the Church Fathers. He’s best known for his book The 33 Doctors Of The Church. He is the man who started, back in 1977, the custom of observing an all-night prayer vigil in the crypt church of the Basilica of the National Shrine on the eve of the March for Life. The event has grown since then. It’s quite huge now. He was a kind and gentle man, brilliant but childlike. He ended every conversation with a request to pray together with you. Such habits die hard, if at all. I suspect he’ll continue all these customs for the duration.

The 33 Doctors Of The Church includes excellent brief biographies of many figures from the patristic era, namely:

St. Gregory the Great
St. Ambrose
St. Augustine
St. Jerome
St. John Chrysostom
St. Basil
St. Gregory Nazianzus
St. Athanasius
St. Isidore
St. Peter Chrysologus
St. Leo the Great
St. Hilary of Poitiers
St. Cyril of Alexandria
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
St. John Damascene
St. Ephrem

Carl Sommer directs our attention to Sandro Magister’s discussion of the latest developments in Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, noting that the discussion “appears to focus on Clement of Rome’s intervention in Corinth, the precise meaning of Ignatius of Antioch’s designation of Rome as ‘first in love,’ and exactly what Cyprian of Carthage thought of Rome’s primacy.” These are issues that Carl himself discussed at some length in his book We Look for a Kingdom.

Here’s something sweet. BMCR sizes up a new book on a sixth-century figure, The Humblest Sparrow: The Poetry of Venantius Fortunatus. (We’re still singing VF’s hymns today.) The review begins with a word patristics students will find encouraging: “The extraordinary growth of interest in late antiquity has been among the most significant developments in the humanities over the last few decades.”

In his splendid book The Spirit of Early Christian Thought, Robert Louis Wilken spends a chapter examining the development of a distinctive Christian poetry.

Atlanta’s Cathedral of Christ the King is sponsoring a six-week lecture series based on my book Sharing Christ’s Priesthood: A Bible Study for Catholics. It starts Sunday, January 24, in the parish’s Hyland Center, and the lectures will be given by priests of the Archdiocese. Coffee will be available at 10:15 am, lecture begins at 10:30 am. The lecture series is free. They’re making the book available for $10. RSVP to evangelization@ctking.com or 404-267-3671 and indicate if you will need a book. Click here for more information.

Here’s a Christmas present for you. News comes from CHResources — the publishing arm of Marcus Grodi’s Coming Home Network — of an expanded first volume of Dr. Kenneth Howell’s series on the Apostolic Fathers. I blogged at midyear about his Ignatius of Antioch. Now, the Ignatian material is combined in one volume with Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians and his acta, the Martyrdom of Polycarp. Here’s the publisher blurb:

Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna were two of the greatest leaders of Christianity in the first half of the second century.  Both suffered martyrdom: Ignatius in Rome during the reign of Trajan, and Polycarp in Smyrna some time in the mid-century.  The letters of Ignatius advance the teachings of Christ and the apostles on such important subjects as church unity, the Eucharist, and the governmental structure of the church.  The Martyrdom of Polycarp represents one of the earliest and most inspiring accounts of a Christian martyr that we possess.  Their combined writings provide a unique window on the faith, life and practice of Christians in the second century.  Careful reading of these writings demonstrates the unique place that the early fathers of the church hold in establishing the foundations of historic Christianity.  Their relevance for contemporary ecumenical discussions is beyond dispute.

Kenneth J. Howell is a seasoned scholar of ancient Greek whose translations of Ignatius and Polycarp are accurate, vivid, and illuminating. His commentary in the accompanying notes on each document draws out the connections between Ignatius, Polycarp, and the New Testament. The six introductory essays in this book explain the context and content of these eastern fathers in language accessible to moderns.

OK, so that’s overstating it. But I’m very much impressed by my wife’s recent purchase, Recipes For Life, A Catholic Family Cookbook. Who knew that the abstemious ascetics of the ancient Church could inspire such culinary delights? The book marks the feast of the Great Cappadocian, for example, with “St. Basil’s Vegetable Cheese Squares.” The recipe is preceded by a portrait of the saint and a short bio, questions for consideration in prayer, and then it’s followed by an excerpt from Basil’s Morals.

And it gets even better. At the beginning of the book is a list of “Trusted Authors,” and Yours Truly is second. Of course, it’s an alphabetical list. So I’d even beat Basil, if he were contemporary.

I’ve got to talk my daughter — the house baker — into making “Perpetua and Felicity’s Berry Puff.” Or should I start with “St. Jerome’s Lion Claws”?

I know my baker will like the book, because it’s also stocked with Bil Keane cartoons, and she’s a fan.

Amazing.

The publisher’s selling it as a fundraiser. Here’s a summary from the website:

† Over 300 tried and true recipes

† 80 saint biographies with motivational tips to help you imitate the saint coupled with a recipe to have during your once a week “Saint’s Night”

† “Family Circus” Dividers

† Eucharistic quotes sprinkled throughout

† Suggestions on how to become a saint, getting connected to the Catholic world, prayers, conversion table for metric measurements  and much more

A great fund raiser for those wanting to spread the Gospel through holy men and women AND make money for their organization.

There is no work on your part.  No collecting recipes, taking pictures, making deadlines…no hassles! Just order these cookbooks and sell them.

Order as little as 50 at wholesale prices.