Letter from the Director, Revd Dr Liz Carmichael, liz.carmichael@sjc.ox.ac.uk, introducing Michaelmas Term 2025
Dear Friends of St Theosevia’s, Welcome to this new academic year, and to a Michaelmas Term with two intriguing Study Days preceded by a special evening event of remembrance. Thanks to those who made last term’s theological Garden Party a memorable event, with Pimms, strawberries, and dramatized Syriac sermon on the devil and the ‘fallen woman’! And thanks to the organisers and speakers at the two-day event on Ethiopian Orthodox devotion to Our Lady. The first event this term is on Monday 10 November, 7.30 for 8 pm: An Evening Remembering Archimandrite Lev Gillet and Nicholas Zernov. With wine, photos, introductions and, if you knew these significant figures, bring your own recollections and memorabilia – and do add to the refreshments if you wish. All are welcome. The first Study Day, on Sat 15 November looks at the Book of Genesis from three widely contrasting perspectives: those of a OT scholar, a Syriac scholar, and a modern novelist. .It promises to be a thoughtful day, informative and full of fresh insights. The second Study Day promises to engender lively debate! It recalls the first ecumenical council, held at Nicaea in AD 325, just 1700 years ago, and the universal Creed first formulated there. Our speakers are Bishop Tom Wright, now living in Oxford where he studied and taught, Fr John Behr now at Aberdeen, and Revd Andrew Teal, bringing his student Tilly Garvey from Pembroke College They ask: if we have the New Testament why do we need a Creed? How do the NT and Creed relate to each other? What has been the impact of the Creed? And what does Nicaea (Iznik) offer today’s visitor? Let us continue to pray and work for just and lasting peace. LIZ CARMICHAELMonday 10 November, 7.30 for 8 pm: An Evening Remembering Archimandrite Lev Gillet and Nicholas Zernov. With wine, photos, introductions and sharing your own recollections. No charge, all are welcome!
Saturday 15 November 10.30 am – 4 pm
The Book of Genesis: a Mosaic of Perspectives
How have discoveries over the last two centuries transformed our understanding of Genesis 1-11? Professor John Day,Our understanding of Genesis 1-11 has been transformed by three things: (1) advances in Science, (2) developments in Biblical criticism, and (3) Near Eastern archaeological discoveries, especially of texts (mainly from Mesopotamia). Consequently, we can no longer read Genesis 1-11 as literal history. However, I argue that the stories still convey profound theological truth and also psychological truth, if we see them as akin to parables.
John Day is Emeritus Professor of Old Testament at Oxford and Emeritus Fellow & Tutor of LMH. His PhD is from Cambridge, DD from Oxford, where he has been since 1980. In 2014 he was President of the Society for OT Study. He has authored or edited 17 books, and over 75 articles and 200 book reviews. His latest books, both on Genesis 1-11 (‘From Creation to Babel’, 2013; ‘From Creation to Abraham’, 2022), were spin-offs from writing the massive ICC commentary on Gen. 1-11, on which he slaves away every day.
Arguments for a Just and Loving God: Ephrem the Syrian’s Commentary on Genesis. Prof. David Taylor
Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373) is one of the most famous theologians of the early Church, writing many hundreds of hymns and poems in his native Syriac (a dialect of Aramaic), but also a small number of prose works, including a major commentary on Genesis. Ephrem had a passionate interest in the stories preserved within Genesis. For him, it provided the key to understanding God and God’s salvific plan for humanity. To fail to understand Genesis would, for Ephrem, be failure to understand God’s justice and love, and indeed the very Incarnation of the Son of God. This paper will provide a gentle introduction!David Taylor is Associate Professor of Aramaic and Syriac, with a particular interest in the theology and exegesis of the Syriac and Assyrian churches.
Reading Genesis with Marilynne Robinson. Rev Dr Will Lamb
In the twentieth century, a number of biblical commentators intentionally adopted a ‘literary’ approach to reading scripture. In Reading Genesis, the leading American novelist and essayist, Marilynne Robinson, challenges the reader to reflect on just how unusual this Book is. She invites us to see the depth of meaning within the text and draw out its resonance with our own preoccupations today.
Will Lamb is Vicar of the University Church. He studied Theology at Balliol, trained at Westcott House, Cambridge, and has served in parishes, at Halifax Minster, and in teaching theology, becoming Vice-Principal of Westcott House in 2010 and returning to Oxford in 2017.
Saturday 29 November, 10.30 am – 4.00 pm:
Why the Nicene Creed? Exploring its Nature and Impact
Between Nicaea and the New Testament. Bishop Tom Wright
As we celebrate this 1700th anniversary, the old questions arise: did the Creeds get it right? Is the ‘Trinity’ really found in the NT? Is the Bible simply raw material from which the ‘real thing’ – Christian dogma – can be mined? Why do the Creeds skip over everything between Jesus’ birth and his crucifixion – particularly his launching of God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven? These questions, and the striking answers that can be given, possess both historic significance and contemporary relevance.
N. T. (Tom) Wright taught New Testament in Cambridge, McGill, Oxford and St Andrews; was Dean of Lichfield, and Bishop of Durham 2003-2010. Recent highlights from his 85 books include his Gifford Lectures, History and Eschatology, and his new study, The Vision of Ephesians.
‘From the Gospel to the Creed and Back Again’ Fr John Behr
This talk will examine the grounding of the Creed of Nicaea in the earlier Canon of Truth [the core beliefs of the Christian Church] and how this is related to the proclamation of the Gospel ‘in accordance with the Scriptures’. It then turns to the content of the Creed and considers how this then frames how we hear the content of the Creed itself. John Behr is a former Dean of St Vladimir’s Seminary, New York, and now Professor of Humanity at Aberdeen. Metropolitan Kallistos was his doctoral supervisor. He works on early Christianity and serves in the Greek Orthodox Church.
Reflections on the impacts of the first Œcumenical Council
Tilly Garvey is a final year undergraduate in Theology & Religion at Pembroke College, and is focusing her studies on Patristic and contemporary theology. A native of the North East, she travelled to the recent conference at Istanbul and Nicaea hosted by the Œcumenical patriarchate.
Andrew Teal has been chaplain and Fellow in Theology at Pembroke College Oxford since 2003. He has published internationally in patristic and modern theology, art and the theology and ecclesiology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
All welcome, no registration required. Free for students; non-students £5. Tea and coffee provided. You are welcome to bring a sandwich lunch.
