Open to current graduate students at the University of Chicago. Participants can come to whichever sessions they choose. Others interested in participating should contact Garett Ashlock at gashlock@uchicago.edu. Books and drinks will be provided. This will be held at the LCI Residence (5554 S Wooodlawn Ave).
Saint Ignatius, the second-century Bishop of Antioch, is known as a martyr, an “Apostolic Father,” and the first writer to call the church “catholic.” However, much like Saint Paul, who served as his literary model, Ignatius did not compose theological treatises, summas, or tractates but seven epistles sent to the churches in Rome and Asia Minor. They represent some of the earliest Christian writings apart from the New Testament itself and are an invaluable resource for theologians and historians alike. This reading group will journey with Ignatius to his eventual martyrdom in Rome, encountering along the way his sophisticated musings and instructions on topics like the nature of Christ, the role of the bishop, the canon of scripture, and the meaning of martyrdom. We will find in him an author who, in addition to being a portal into the early church, is remarkably personal and prescient and an expert guide to thinking about Christianity today.
SCHEDULE:
This group will meet on Mondays (beginning January 20th) from 6:00pm – 7:30pm over dinner.
A copy of The Letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch will be provided to all participants. The reading may be picked up at Gavin House (1220 E 58th street) during buisness hours at the start of the fall quarter.
The University of Chicago is famous for its graduate student reading groups, in which students pursue their own intellectual interests among friends in an informal setting. The Lumen Christi Institute supports this endeavor by sponsoring a number of graduate student reading groups each quarter. LCI provides space, hospitality, and books.
Reading groups cover the whole spectrum of ideas. Texts do not need to be explicitly Catholic, though we follow St. Paul’s injunction to attend to whatever is true, noble, right, admirable, and lovely (Phil 4:8). Groups follow LCI’s guiding principles, which…
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Affirm the intellectual life as good in itself
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Ask questions animated by the principle that “all knowledge forms one whole”
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Transcend the ideological / political divide (i.e., programs should not be partisan in nature)
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Welcome religious perspectives as part of the intellectual life (i.e., programs need not be theological in nature but conversations should be open to religious insights)
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Nurture friendships, to support the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness (i.e., programs should have a social component)