Set Apart In Christ

Many of my friends would be aware that I injured my knee on Saturday, but others would not know all the details so I thought I would post a short update to let you know how things are going... Saturday 30th October was the annual Gala Day at the School for Officer Training. A big part of this day is the annual Touch Football competition. I was playing for Miranda Mixed team and during the semi-final I attempted to side-step. My foot planted firmly and my lower leg followed but my upper leg shifted. I felt me knee joint move out and back into place. This was accompanied by an almighty "crack" which I'm assured could be heard by many others on the field and sideline. Of course, this ended the game for me. Fortunately, the team won and went through to the final. I went to St George Emergency and was assessed there. After a few hours wait, and some Panadeine Forte, I was feeling a lot better. I was seen by a Nurse Practitioner who tried to move my knee in all sorts of d...

Ok, so the voice is really bizarre... even bordering on creepy... but the content of this short clip actually outliens one of Gregory's best paradoxes, "luminous darkness", quite well. Enjoy Adam

This is definitely worth a look. Also it's interesting to see Wright's new title in print. Enjoy Adam

Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? For Gregory of Nyssa the answer is clearly "yes". Here's what he has to say:  Virtue is discerned in the mean [meaning 'average' or 'centre' here]. Accordingly, all evil naturally operates in a deficiency or an excess of virtue. In the case of courage, cowardice is the lack of virtue, and rashness is its excess. What is pure of each of these is seen to lie between these corresponding evils and is virtue. Gregory of Nyssa,  Life of Moses , Trans. Abraham J. Malherbe and Everett Ferguson (New York: Harper One, 1978), 121. Here we begin to see some of how Gregory would describe  apatheia . Often this is understood as "passionlessness", but for Gregory it is slightly nuanced. That is, apatheia  is the "proper use of passions" (what we might understand better today as our desires); in this case it's not being excessive in what we are passionate about it, or at the opposite extreme com...

It has been some time since I last posted. I am sorry about that, but life has been very busy lately. I have now commenced research in the dissertation stage of my MA and my personality type is such that I tend to dive headlong into a single thought or idea and it's very difficult for me to concentrate on other things.... My wife says I go off with the "study pixies" because I even become difficult to communicate with at home... All this is to say that I will from time to time just share a few thoughts as I travel along the way to completing this dissertation. I hope that this may help me express my thoughts, but then also give you an insight into a man of God that I am completely fascinated with.... Gregory of Nyssa. Even though there are some 1600 years between our lives I find myself very drawn to the contemporary significance of his writings. I hope that the snippets that I post here from time to time will be helpful to you. I know that have been a source of inspira...