One of the matters on which the layman Januarius questioned Augustine was on differences regarding the celebration of the foot washing in various churches. Augustine, unwilling to accept the assumptions of his questioner’s ecclesiology, defends the practice – in all its variety – as a useful means of communication of the gospel. The exchange allows us to see aspects of Augustine’s view of both liturgy and catechesis using a very precise screen. This, in turn, reminds modern scholarship of just how (...) little we know about the north African liturgy. (shrink)

We humans construct time around us: in it we live, organise our activities, mark events, and celebrate our memories. This celebration of our memories, anamnesis, is part of who we are as the community who profess and proclaim faith. But because religious calendars have been part of every religion, Christians have sometimes been suspicious of marking time – this paper suggests that in a world where ‘time is money’, we should also assert that time is precious; and we should be (...) sensitive to its place in celebrating the Christian mystery. (shrink)

In Acts 10–11: 18, Luke use a set of connected stories about Peter, shared eating, and food to explore issues of Christian boundaries and the boundaries between Christians. Luke’s presentation of the apostolic history argues for a genuine ecumenism between Jewish and Gentile Christians characterized and enacted through commensality. Moreover, when this commensality within the Eucharistic pattern of all early Christian community meals, we see that it has a bearing on how Luke viewed the Christian symposium; while it has definite (...) implications for Christian Eucharistic sharing/ecumenism today. (shrink)

The PhD is one of the most demanding investments made by most aspiring theologians. This article argues that apart from thinking about the topic of the PhD, the student needs to think through some basic questions about why she/he wants to go through this process. How does one see one’s topic in relation to the work one is going to do? How does it related to your interests in life and religion? And are you willing to engage in the change/growth (...) in your own theology that is part of the process? (shrink)